“Unless we start to fight and defeat the enemies in our own country, poverty and racism, and make our talk of equality and opportunity ring true, we are exposed in the eyes of the world as hypocrites when we talk about making people free.”

Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress in 1968, representing New York’s 12th district for seven terms. With inspiration from a prominent constituent, Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, Congresswoman Chisholm used her perch on the House Agriculture Committee to shape the federal food stamp program. She became one of the architects of the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which to this day provides critical nutrition support for expecting and postpartum mothers and their children.

Image Caption: “With a beaming smile, Shirley Chisholm posed outside the East Front of the Capitol.” Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives.