Description Shirley Chisholm was a shero, a born leader, and a pioneer for women and Black people in America. . She was an educator in her early career and later entered politics, becoming the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's nomination, and the first Black candidate to seek a major party endorsement. In 2015, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously. Shirley Chisholm was a difference maker who inspired and paved the way for other women, especially Black women, to become difference makers too. Her legacy lives on in the halls of Congress, in classrooms, and in the hearts of those she continues to inspire.