The Power of A Folding Chair
How the Outcome of the Georgia Senate Run-off Election Could Change Everything
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair.” — Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm described her first days on Capitol Hill— the first Black woman ever elected to the United States Congress — this way:
“I was miserable. The (other members of Congress) did not pay me any mind at all. When I would go to the lunch room to eat, they would not sit at the same table as I did; because I was a Black woman...”
Chisholm handled their impertinence with wisdom, dignity, a sense of humor and moxie. When she was asked one day to move her seat in the lunch room, in order to assuage the toxic feelings of a Representative from Georgia who would not sit near her, Chisholm instead convinced him to go sit elsewhere; and guess what? He did! Many took notice of the new Congress woman from New York’s 12th District, while some were even humored by her self-agency.
Later when Chisholm returned to Congress after her bid for the White House, her experience with her colleagues was different. She recalled:
“They treated me (pauses)…It was strange. They didn’t realize I was so smart. The men, they were really — Some of them approached me and said ‘you’ve got a brain’. I said ‘I’ve ALWAYS had a brain!’ (laughs). They belittle women so badly.”
Congresswoman Chisholm would enjoy seven terms on the United States Congress, from 1969 to 1983; and her legacy lives on.
Today, there are 22 Black women holding seats in the House of Representatives. Within the Senate, however, the “numbers” are abysmal.
When Vice President Elect Kamala Harris is sworn into office on January 20, 2021 there will be no Black women in the Senate at all. Black women will not have a seat at that the Senate’s proverbial table.
Although, as Congressswoman Shirley Chisholm said “If they don’t give you a seat at the table bring a folding chair.”
When Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win their races in the Georgia run-off election (Jan. 5th), the Senate will be evenly split — giving Madam Vice President Kamala Harris the deciding vote.
So, while Black women may not have a seat in the Senate, there’s a deeply powerful folding chair waiting to center her.
American democracy flourishes when we #winwithBlackwomen and when #Blackwomenlead. It simply does.
#OWNyourvote #Georgia… Own it for all of us.
