Part OneWhen Shirley Chisholm was on the campaign trail for presidency, here is what she had to say: “black people are politically sophisticated enough to be aware of the fact that my candidacy is not to be regarded as a candidacy in which I can win the presidency of this country at this moment, but a candidacy that is paving the way for people of other ethnic groups, including blacks, to run and perhaps win the office. Or are we suffering so much from the inculcation of certain values in America that even black people can’t conceive at this point that a black person should run for president?” Unbought and unbossed, indeed! We will spend these days working at three points of rhetorical study for Chisholm: her campaign for congress, her campaign for presidency, and her autobiography. From there, we will go on to the speeches and talks by Barbara Jordan.
Before you move further into the readings for this unit, have a sit-down with Shirley Chisholm. Play these videos and pretend you are the interviewer:
In class, we will start viewing the documentary of Chisholm's 1972 campaign for presidency. Please start reading her autobiography. We will be talking about this book in the next class. You will need to actually print it out and bring it to class with you. Annotate your reading and bring it to class. Reference the film we watched together in your annotations.
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“That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once congressman, black and woman proves, I think, that our society is not yet either just or free.” ~Shirley Chisholm |
Part TwoNow we focus on Barbara Jordan. Jordan's political record is something of a phenomenon. In 1960, Jordan took the bar exam and set up a private law practice in Houston, Texas. In 1966, she made history when she was elected to the Texas State Senate, the first black person to do so since 1883 during Reconstruction and the first woman from Texas to be a senator.
As a state senator and Congresswoman, Jordan was known to focus on poor, black, and disadvantaged groups. One of her most important bills as senator was "The Workman's Compensation Act," further pushing the landmark legislation that offers benefits to injured workers. She also worked to broaden the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to include Mexican Americans in Texas and the Southwest. She is also, of course, well known for her speech where she advocated for President Nixon's impeachment in 1974 (we will listen to this in class.) In 1976 and again in 1992, Jordan was the keynote speaker for the Democratic National Convention, the first black woman selected to keynote a major political convention. When President Jimmy Carter wanter her to be attorney and U.S. Ambassador, she declined and chose to remain a Congresswoman. For class, you will each focus on one of Jordan's speech at the Democratic National Convention. For your writing for class, in 1-2 pages, perform a rhetorical analysis of the talk. Go back to the Rhetorical Frameworks tab on the site for ideas on how to get started with that. Be prepared to share your writing in class and submit it. Everyone should listen to Jordan's speech at the DNC in 1976. This is the presidential campaign that follows Chisholm's campaign where Nixon was elected president. You can chose to write about this speech OR about Jordan's speech in 1992. The 1976 speech is a landmark moment so we should all be familiar with it. |
1976 Democratic National Convention (listen to all 3 parts)
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Here is Barbara Jordan at the Democratic National Convention in 1992 (listen to all three parts if you choose this speech over 1976):
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