"At present, our country needs women's idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else"
About this Quote
Shirley Chisholm issues both a diagnosis and a summons. Speaking from the front lines as the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968 and a groundbreaking presidential candidate in 1972, she knew how American politics could grind down conviction and exclude new voices. Idealism, for her, was not naive optimism but a commitment to principle strong enough to resist the horse-trading and cynicism that often dominate public life. Determination was the stamina to push through entrenched barriers, the same resolve captured by her mantra, Unbought and unbossed.
The historical moment sharpened her point. The United States was convulsed by the civil rights struggle, the Vietnam War, and the nascent women’s movement. Institutions were distrusted and change seemed both urgent and stalled. Women were severely underrepresented in office, yet they were organizing in communities, schools, and workplaces, proving daily that care, pragmatism, and long-horizon thinking could solve practical problems. Politics, precisely because it shapes every other domain, needed that mix of moral clarity and persistence more than business, academia, or philanthropy.
Chisholm’s appeal resists essentialism. She was not saying women are innately purer; she was pointing to the political value of experiences long pushed to the margins. When people who have navigated exclusion gain power, priorities shift: child care, fair pay, reproductive autonomy, education, and public health move from afterthoughts to agenda-setters. And when more women lead, the culture of decision-making often changes, becoming more collaborative and less performative.
The line still lands today. Despite progress, women remain underrepresented and are often penalized for the very traits that make for durable reform: candor, coalition-building, and accountability. Polarization rewards spectacle over service. Chisholm’s challenge is to flood the system with a different energy, to insist that politics is a moral craft and to staff it with people who will not trade away their north star. Idealism to set the course; determination to hold it.
The historical moment sharpened her point. The United States was convulsed by the civil rights struggle, the Vietnam War, and the nascent women’s movement. Institutions were distrusted and change seemed both urgent and stalled. Women were severely underrepresented in office, yet they were organizing in communities, schools, and workplaces, proving daily that care, pragmatism, and long-horizon thinking could solve practical problems. Politics, precisely because it shapes every other domain, needed that mix of moral clarity and persistence more than business, academia, or philanthropy.
Chisholm’s appeal resists essentialism. She was not saying women are innately purer; she was pointing to the political value of experiences long pushed to the margins. When people who have navigated exclusion gain power, priorities shift: child care, fair pay, reproductive autonomy, education, and public health move from afterthoughts to agenda-setters. And when more women lead, the culture of decision-making often changes, becoming more collaborative and less performative.
The line still lands today. Despite progress, women remain underrepresented and are often penalized for the very traits that make for durable reform: candor, coalition-building, and accountability. Polarization rewards spectacle over service. Chisholm’s challenge is to flood the system with a different energy, to insist that politics is a moral craft and to staff it with people who will not trade away their north star. Idealism to set the course; determination to hold it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
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