Black History Month

To celebrate Black History Month, the women's political organization "Emily's List" will be highlighting favorite female African-American leaders every day on Facebook. 

In 1992, Carol Moseley Braun became the first woman of color to be elected to the U.S. Senate. She was also the first African American woman to win a major party Senate nomination. She remains the only African American woman to ever hold a seat in the Senate.

First elected to Congress in 1968, Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman to win a congressional seat, and in 1972, she became the first African American presidential candidate for a major political party. She was also the first woman to run for the Democratic nomination. Chisholm shattered the racial barrier, but saw the need for continued progress toward equality, saying, "I don't measure America by its achievement but by its potential."

In 1992 -- the Year of the Woman -- eight African American women were elected to the U.S. House: Corrine Brown, Eva Clayton, Barbara-Rose Collins, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Cynthia McKinney, Carrie Meek, and Maxine Waters.

In 2004 state Senator Gwen Moore was elected to Congress and Assemblywoman Lena Taylor stepped up to fill Gwen's seat. Then Tamara Grigsby filledLena's assembly seat -- elevating pro-choice women into all three seats!