{"id":8292,"date":"2020-02-20T14:21:51","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T20:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/?p=8292"},"modified":"2020-02-20T14:22:09","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T20:22:09","slug":"bhm-african-americans-in-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/2020\/02\/20\/bhm-african-americans-in-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"BHM: African-Americans in Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost 11 years ago, in 2009, President Barack Obama, took office and became the first African-African President of the United States.\u00a0This was a major advance in African-American political leadership. However, before this tremendous stride, there were many other excellent political gains made in the black community.<\/p>\n

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Hiram R. Revels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels<\/a> made history by becoming the first black man to serve in Congress. He was a Republican senator who represented the state of Mississippi.<\/p>\n

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Shirley Chisholm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nearly 100 years later, in 1969, Shirley Chisholm<\/a> became the first black woman to be elected into Congress. She represented the 12th district of New York. This was not Chisholm’s only political accomplishment. In 1972, she announced her presidential bid as a Democrat. Thus, making her the first African-American\u00a0to run for POTUS as a major-party candidate and the first woman to run for the Democratic party. Chisholm called herself a representative of the people, saying, “I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud…. I am the candidate of the people and my presence before you symbolizes a new era in American political history.”<\/p>\n

\"Image
Robert C. Weaver<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Robert C. Weaver<\/a>\u00a0secretary of housing and urban development in his Cabinet, making him the first African-American Cabinet member. Following his Cabinet position, Weaver became the president of Baruch College. Also, under administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Weaver helped established the Black Cabinet, a nonofficial\u00a0group of African-American public policy advisers.<\/p>\n

\"Patricia
Patricia R. Harris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

11 years after Weaver, Patricia Roberts Harris<\/a> was appointed as Cabinet member under the Jimmy Carter administration in 1977, becoming the first black woman to be a Cabinet member. She was Secretary of\u00a0Housing and Urban Development. Then, 1979, she became Secretary of\u00a0Health, Education, and Welfare. Prior to this, Harris served as\u00a0United States Ambassador to Luxembourg under President Lyndon B. Johnson, making her the first black woman to be an Ambassador. Harris was also the first to be in the line of succession to the presidency.\u00a0 Harris achieved many political accomplishments, but she was also the first woman to head a law school (Howard University, 1969).<\/p>\n

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Colin Powell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2004, under the presidency of George W. Bush, Colin Powell<\/a> was the first African-American man to be appointed Secretary of State. Despite this big achievement, Powell is most known for his military career, in which he received distinguished medals and honors.<\/p>\n

\"Condoleezza
Condoleezza Rice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Succeeding Powell,\u00a0Condoleezza Rice<\/a> was the first African-American woman to serve as Secretary of State. Also, during George W. Bush’s first term, Rice served as National Security Advisor; she was the first woman to hold that position.<\/p>\n

\"Obama
Barack Obama<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Serving from 2009 to 2017, Barack Obama<\/a> was the first African-American to serve as President of the United States. During his presidency, Obama worked towards improving LGBTQ+ rights, healthcare reform, and gun control.<\/p>\n

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Michelle Obama<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michelle Obama<\/a> was the first African-American First Lady of the United States. As first lady, she was a role model for women and advocated for poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating. She was also considered a fashion icon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Thanks for reading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Almost 11 years ago, in 2009, President Barack Obama, took office and became the first African-African President of the United States.\u00a0This was a major advance in African-American political leadership. However, before this tremendous stride, there were many other excellent political gains made in the black community. In 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels made history by becoming … Continue reading “BHM: African-Americans in Politics”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8292"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8292"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8380,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8292\/revisions\/8380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}