-
Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree to enslaved parents in the state of New York. By the young age of 13, she had been sold three times. She married an enslaved man at 18 and had 5 children. Truth's master, John Dumont, promised to grant her her freedom on July 4th, 1826. However when the time came, he refused to release her. Angry, Sojourner Truth escaped with her infant daughter to New Paltz, New York. -
Born in Connecticut, Maria became an indentured servant for a clergyman from the age of 5-15. She taught herself to read and write, and also attended school.
Maria married James Stewart in 1826 and became a member of the "free black middle class" of Boston. There she worked for various organizations, including one that worked for the abolition of slavery. Sadly, when her husband died, the executors of his will took all her inheritance through legal action.
(Nielsen) -
In 1827, after the emancipation of slaves in New York, Sojourner Truth sued her former owner, John Dumont, for illegally selling her young son, Peter. Truth was successful and took custody of her son. In doing this, she became the first black woman "to sue a white man in a United States court and prevail"(History). -
In 1831, Maria Stewart was on the the first women to respond to William Lloyd Garrison's request for Black women to write for his newly established paper, "The Liberator." In this year, Stewart published her first essay, "Religion and the Pure Principles of Morality." After this, she began her career as an orator during a time when women were prohibited from public speaker, especially to men.
(Nielsen) -
On September 21, Stewart gave an address in Boston's Franklin Hall to an audience of women AND men. In her speech, Stewart zealously tells of the prejudice toward Black women. She makes the point that regardless of their personality, moral character, and ingenuity, "it is impossible for scare an individual of them to rise above the condition of servants." Stewart also makes clear that Black women, if given the same opportunities and resources, could excel as high as any White women of the time.
-
While attending a Women's Rights Convention in Ohio, Truth delivered a speech in which she uttered the famous phrase, "Ar'n't I a Woman?" This phrase is controversial because it is not actually certain that she said this. What is certain, is the fact that Truth defended women's rights and ability. She said, "if woman upset the world, do give her a chance to set it right side up again." Women wanted to use their talents and knowledge to make the world a better place. Men had better let them. -
In 1992, Barbara Jordan delivered the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention from a wheelchair because she suffered from multiple sclerosis. -
On November 30, 1924, Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York. Chisholm’s parents are Ruby Seale and Charles Christopher St. Hill, and they are immigrants from Guyana and Barbados. -
Barbara Jordan was born February 21, 1936, in her parent’s home in Houston. Her parent’s names are Benjamin Jordan and Arlyne Jordan.
-
Barbara Jordan graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern University in 1956 and she was also accepted to Boston University’s Law School.
-
Barbara Jordan graduated from Boston University’s Law School in 1959 as one of only two African American women in her class.
-
In 1964, Shirley Chisholm became the 2nd African American in the New York State Legislature.
-
Kamala Harris was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California to her parents, Shyamala Gopalan and Donald J. Harris, that emigrated from India and Jamaica. She also lived with Maya Harris, her younger sister of Kamala Harris. -
In 1966, Barbara Jordan became the first African American woman ever elected in the Texas Senate.
-
In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman in congress.
-
In 1972, Shirley Chisholm became the first woman and African American to seek nomination from a political party.
-
On March 28, 1972, Barbara Jordan was elected president of the Texas Senate.
-
In 1977, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman and second woman ever to serve on the House Rules committee.
-
In 1977, Barbara Jordan heavily campaigned for the Democratic presidential candidate James Earl (Jimmy) Carter.
-
Kamala Harris graduated from Howard University in 1986.
-
Kamala Harris graduated from the University of California, Hasting College of Law in 1989.
-
Kamala Harris began her journey in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office in 1990 where she focused on prosecuting child sexual assault cases. Then she was recruited to work in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office as an attorney, then later became the chief of the Division on Children and Families.
-
In 2003, Kamala Harris was elected as the District Attorney of San Francisco where she created a program that allowed drug offenders to have the opportunity to earn a high school degree and find employment.
-
In 2010 Kamala Harris became California’s Attorney General and she oversaw the largest state justice department in the United States.
-
Then on January 20, 2017, Kamala Harris was sworn into office as the first Black woman and first Asian American to become Vice President. She also was the first graduate of a historically Black college to become Vice President.