Shirley Chisholm receives posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom Award

On Tuesday, Bajan-American activist, congresswoman, and first black woman to run for president, Shirley Chisholm, received a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Chisholm was the first woman of color to run for president for a major party, and was also the first African-American woman elected to Congress in 1968 and was a founding member of what would become the Congressional Black Caucus. She was known as a champion of minority education and employment opportunities.

Chisholm, who died in 2005, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom along with 16 other notable Americans including persons advocate Billy Frank Jr., baseball legends Willie Mays and Yogi Berra, and entertainer Barbra Streisand.