Black Excellence: 7 Badass Black Women Who Paved The Way For Others

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Visualization is a big part of achieving goals, and for many Black girls around the world, visualization has been difficult because there were no Black women thriving in the spaces they wanted to be in. Young people need to see people who look like them, accomplishing dreams that look like theirs.

That’s why Black female trailblazers leave their mark, long after their careers and even lives are over. They pave the way for other Black women to rise up and dominate in spaces from which Black women had previously been excluded. This Women’s History Month, we celebrate these badass Black women who created a path for future generations of Black women’s excellence.

 

Shirley Chisholm

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Before there was Kamala Harris, there was Shirley Chisholm. Chisholm was the first Black woman to run for U.S. president in a major party in 1972 and the first Black woman elected to congress in 1968. During her presidential campaign, Chisholm was prohibited from appearing in televised debates and survived three assassination attempts. But she did not shy away from seeing her campaign through.

While Chrisholm did not get elected as president, she did serve for seven terms on New York’s 12^th congressional district.