Elementary school in Barbados has been renamed to honor Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm was a groundbreaking Black politician who championed and advocated for many, including the Black community. The first Black woman elected to Congress, her elementary school in Barbados was renamed in her honor.

She made history as the first Black woman ever to be elected to the US Congress in 1968 and again in 1972 when she became the first Black woman of a major party to run for president. After retiring from office, she worked as a teacher and public speaker, which is how she began her career. Chisholm died in 2005 at the age of 81.

November 30 of this year would have been Chisolm’s 99th birthday. While the history that she has made in the United States is well known, you may have yet to learn that Chisholm recently made it in the Caribbean, where she has roots.

Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York, to immigrant parents from the Caribbean; her father was from Guyana, and her mother was from Barbados. She was always proud of her Caribbean heritage. She was sent to live with her grandmother on a farm in Barbados when she was 3 years old and received most of her elementary education there.