Congress has never been more varied than it is now. When Chisholm attempted to break the glass ceiling, however, the same could not be said. She was the first Black woman elected to Congress during the racially charged time of the late 1960s.

Oprah Daily tells us that she was the first woman to bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 1972, and she represented New York's 12th District from 1969 until 1983. "Unbought and Unbossed," her campaign motto, sounds even louder now. Senator Kamala Harris recently used a logo that was similar to Chisholm's in her presidential campaign launch.

In American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century, Chisholm's speech "For the Equal Rights Amendment," delivered in 1970, is ranked number 91. (listed by rank).

Moreover, Shirley Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed, a documentary film shown on public television in the United States in February 2005. It was about Chisholm's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. Shola Lynch, an independent African-American filmmaker, directed and produced the film. In 2004, the film was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was named as a Peabody Award winner on April 9, 2006.