Ceiling by Ceiling: 3 Black Female Politicians Who Paved the Way for Kamala Harris

 by Dulcie Langley

When Kamala Harris stepped up to the podium in that car park in Delaware, her words served to unite the ambitions of women past, present and future. Having just become the first woman and the first woman of colour to be elected vice-president of the United States, her acceptance speech signified not only a historic moment for wider gender and racial equality but also a poignant renunciation of a president who unapologetically opposed such ideals. 

Of course, Harris’ momentous ascension to the second highest office in America would not have been possible without the pioneering black women that came before her. Today, I will be honouring the sacrifice and vision of three such individuals, who persisted despite vehement discrimination and thus made history. 

Carol Moseley Braun (1947-)

Carol Moseley Braun’s passion and aptitude for a career in politics was apparent from her early life in Chicago, as she came of age in the midst of the civil rights movement. While still a teenager, she organised and executed a sit-in at a segregated restaurant and also brushed shoulders with Martin Luther King Jr during a demonstration against housing conditions. After earning degrees in both law and political science, Moseley Braun exhibited her talent and mastery as a prosecutor in the office of the US attorney in Chicago. She tackled issues such as the environment, health and housing from 1973 to 1977, receiving the prestigious special achievement award from the attorney general for her work in this time.

In the late 1970s, Moseley Braun entered the political domain, elected as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. She then climbed the ladder to become assistant Democratic majority leader - the first black woman to hold the role. Upon her retirement from this position in 1987, she was named the “Conscience of the House”,  reflecting the high level of respect she had garnered from her peers. In 1992, she added another significant ‘first’ to her extensive list of accolades, becoming the first African-American woman to be elected to the US Senate as a representative of Illinois. Here she served for one term, during which she advocated relentlessly for gun control measures, the end of the death penalty and reproductive rights. The pioneer also staged a demonstration on the US Senate floor in the early 1990s against the regulation that prohibited women from wearing trousers, a rule which was later overturned on the condition that they also wore jackets.

In a statement that continues to resonate with modern audiences following Harris’ election, Moseley Braun confirmed: ‘I cannot escape the fact that I come to the Senate as a symbol of hope and change. Nor would I want to, because my presence in and of itself will change the US Senate.’

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (1932-)

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, born in 1932 in Los Angeles, certainly devoted her life to breaking through barriers and accumulating ‘firsts’. In 1972, she became the first African American woman from California to earn a seat in the House. She also served as the first female chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and gained a spot in the esteemed Appropriations Committee. In her legislative agenda, Burke fervently defended the rights of minority-owned businesses. As a proponent of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline, she was able to add two amendments to the bill, the first of which ensured the implementation of affirmative action programs, while the second required that the pipeline materials were manufactured in America. 

Burke was also a champion of women’s rights. In 1977, she became the first treasurer of the Congressional Women’s Caucus and aided in the extension of the Equal Rights Amendment by three years. Additionally, she presented the Displaced Homemakers Act, which sought to assist women in challenging circumstances when they re-entered the workplace. 

In 1978, Burke fought to protect pregnant women against workplace discrimination, before retiring from Congress the following year. The politician herself is most known for being the first congresswoman to be permitted maternity leave during her time in office. This remains a significant point, given that the women of today can still expect their performance as a wife, mother or spinster to be scrutinised at length if they dare to campaign for office. Society continues to explicitly emphasise the relevance of a woman’s marital status and sexual history to her efficacy as a politician, alongside the importance of her appearance being palatable. 

During Kamala Harris’s journey to election, many conservative media outlets aimed to dent her credibility as a candidate with headlines about her love life and relationships before marriage. And yet, Biden and Harris will succeed a twice-divorced president accused of numerous instances of sexual assault, having seemingly reached the White House regardless.

Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005)

Shirley Chisholm was a second-generation immigrant, born in Brooklyn to a Guyanese father and Barbadian mother. Representing the 12th district of New York, Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1969. She went on to serve seven terms, during which she introduced over 50 pieces of legislation. As a congresswoman, she continued to ardently advocate for the same issues she had pushed as a community activist: children’s education and welfare, a guaranteed minimum income for the impoverished, immigration rights and women’s rights. 

In 1971, Chisholm became a founding member of the National Women’s Political Caucus alongside Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. The following year, Chisholm shifted her focus to the US presidency and became the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's nomination. On announcing her presidential bid, she declared, ‘I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud; I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of the country; although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people, and my presence before you now symbolises a new era in American political history.’

Chisholm survived several assassination attempts during her presidential campaign, and was also banned from attending the majority of the televised primary debates. She took her own legal action to ensure she could participate, and nevertheless persevered.

Indeed, this trailblazer not only preached but practised her signature campaign slogan: ‘Unbossed and Unbought’. Kamala Harris, as the Democratic Party’s vice president-elect of today, has commemorated Chisholm by employing a similar logo to hers in her campaign.

Kamala Harris: ‘While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last’

As the vice president-elect casts her gaze to the future and sowing the seeds of legacy, it is essential that we remind ourselves that she would have no torch to pass on without first receiving it from others. The glass ceilings shattered by the likes of Moseley Braun, Burke and Chisholm have enabled our current strides towards equality and freedom. And whilst we do celebrate Harris’ momentous election, we look forward with anticipation to a time when the election of such a candidate is no longer considered remarkable - when such aspects of self are not deemed reflective of Americanness or competence, when success is achieved not in spite of but simply with an inherent identity, when there are no marked ‘black presidents’ and ‘female presidents’ but merely ‘presidents’. Indeed, Harris has secured her place in an ever-expanding timeline of ‘firsts’ for black women in politics, but this battle is far from over. And when the cheering subsides, the hard work begins.