In late January 1972, a petite African American woman took center stage in the auditorium of the Concord Baptist Church School in Brooklyn, New York. The room and rafters were overflowing with press and several hundred supporters, and all eyes were on the 47-year-old woman in a black-and-white brocade suit. There was loud applause as Shirley Chisholm stepped up, grinning broadly, waving enthusiastically and nodding appreciatively to the crowd.
“I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States of America,” she said, from under the glare of the lights and…