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Hello and thanks for downloading witness history from the BBC World Service. All this week we're looking back at key moments in the history of the American presidency.

Today from our archives we bring you the story of Shirley Chism, who in

1972 became the first major party black candidate to make a bid for the presidency. She was also the first black woman

elected to Congress. In 2015 for Hana Haida spoke to Congressman Charles Rangel

who worked with Shirley Chism.

I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States of America.

Shirley Chislem announced her candidacy in a Baptist church in her district of Brooklyn

in New York.

I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am black and proud.

I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I'm

equally proud of that.

I am not the candidate of any political bosses or fat cats or special interests.

I am the candidate of the people.

And my presence before you now symbolizes a new era in American political history.

Shirley Chism was a fireball, a wind machine, and a remarkable woman and the first African American to achieve so many

spectacular political victories.

...