Thread by @AliVelshi

1/12
17 days ago @VP Kamala Harris became the first woman of color, the first woman of south Asian heritage, the first graduate of an Historically Black College & University AND, the first Black woman Vice President of the United States of America. #velshi

@VP 2/12
Whether or not you share @VP Harris politics, who she is embodies the future of our country, one that is growing ever more racially diverse. #velshi

3/12
Harris’s history-making started years before her swearing in ceremony when, after becoming just the second Black woman to serve in the Senate, she announced her plans to seek the Democratic nomination for President. #velshi

4/12
Harris launched her candidacy on #MLK day in 2019 and when she did, she used a familiar but subtle red and yellow lettering and logo reminiscent to the one used by Shirley Chisholm. #velshi

5/12
Shirley Chisholm’s run for president fell short, but her impact on women, specifically women of color in politics and culture, was and is significant. Chisholm entered Congress in 1969, representing NY's 12th district #velshi

6/12
In 1972, Chisholm did what John Lewis might have referred to as getting into “good & necessary trouble”, when she chose to run for president. It was a long-shot campaign that she mostly financed with her own credit card, but it was much more than a symbolic gesture. #velshi

7/12
Chisholm’s slogan: “unbought & unbossed” was far more than just words for a campaign poster. She lived those words while breaking barriers for women, specifically black women, telling them all, “If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” #velshi

8/12
For Chisholm, who encountered sexism and racism her entire life, and certainly experienced and spoke about it in her political life, none of it deterred her from the bigger mission of embracing her history, who she was, and working towards change. #velshi

9/12
Historian, author and founder behind Black History Month, Carter G. Woodson, spoke of the importance of black history saying quote “We are going back to that beautiful history and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements.” #velshi

10/12
A year before Chisholm’s death she echoed that sentiment when summarizing her own life saying, “I want history to remember me not just as the first black woman to be elected to Congress, not as the first black woman…” #velshi

11/12
“… To have made a bid for the presidency of the United States, but as a black woman who lived in the 20th century and dared to be herself. I want to be remembered as a catalyst for change in America.” #velshi

12/12
Shirley Chisholm got what she wanted. In @VP Kamala Harris, she can see the success of the road she helped pave. #velshi