Presidential 'Bonnet' opens door for generation of queens

She was wearing a lime green and aqua blue paisley polyester dress and panty hose with the reinforced toe sticking out of her white sandals.

It was 1972 and her biggest problem wasn’t the color of her shoes after Labor Day, it was the color of her skin all year long. That, and the fact that presidential candidates don’t wear heels.

When Shirley Chisholm announced she was running for president back then, the most common reaction was “President of what?”

And when Walter Cronkite let the world know that America’s first black congresswoman had her sights set on an even higher office, he actually said on the national news — and I swear I am not making this up — “A new hat, rather a bonnet, was tossed into the presidential race today.”

Most people my age don’t even know who Shirley Chisholm is. Quite honestly, the main thing I remember about her campaign was my third-grade teacher telling us how historical it was.

In hindsight, it probably took guts for her even to bring it up with a bunch of lily-white kids living in the suburbs. But my teacher was black, and for a woman who taught in an almost all-white school, Shirley Chisholm must have represented a miracle.

I don’t exactly remember what she said — her comments fell into the Charlie Brown-style “WHA-WHA-WHA” teacher talk I usually choose to ignore. But I do remember the look on her face was very different than the one she had she was talking about grammar.

I recently previewed a film about the Chisholm campaign, “Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed.” As I watched the documentary, I was moved to tears when I realized for the first time how this determined, rather prim woman changed things forever.

“I ran because somebody had to do it first,” Chisholm said. One of my favorite clips in the movie is Chisholm describing a white congressman’s reaction to her 1968 election to the House of Representatives.

“Mrs. Chisholm,” he said, “Can you believe they pay you the same $45,000 they pay me?” Did he think she marched up the steps of the House so she could clean it?

I love her reaction: “Mr. Congressman,” she retorted, “Yes, they are paying me the same 45 they’re paying you, and I’m paving the way for more people who look like me to do the same thing.”

Cut to 40 years later, when Oprah Winfrey makes billions and has more power than the president of the United States. Lest you think I’m joking, consider what would happen if George Bush said we should all read a particular book. Half of America would roll their eyes and look the other way. But if Oprah says we need to pay attention, we’re all ears.

Oprah may be the Queen of Talk, but Shirley Chisholm is one of the people who put her on the throne — something I’m sure Oprah is fully aware of and incredibly grateful for.

Shirley Chisholm didn’t just open doors for black women, she opened doors for all women.

Let’s be honest here. Once white women saw a black woman make a serious run for the presidency, it wasn’t too big a leap for them to realize they could do anything too. I’m humbled and amazed when I think about what she went through to blaze the trail for the rest of us.

Shirley Chisholm didn’t win the 1972 Democratic nomination, but she did get enough delegates to speak at the National Convention in Miami, something no woman of color had ever done before.

George McGovern ended up with the party nomination and Richard Nixon won the presidency. Proof that just because your skin matches the building doesn’t mean you deserve the Oval Office.

But the small woman in the white sandals put an idea into our consciousness: the idea that power doesn’t always come in a gray suit. Other people don’t get to pick your destiny; it’s something you get to choose for yourself.

Shirley Chisholm died Jan. 1. The movie about her life was completed just before she passed away. But the story she started has only just begun.