The Shirley Chisholm Primary School is urging its present and future students to explore new territory in the tradition of their heroine.
April 4th, 2023, marked a historical event where The Vauxhall Primary School was formally renamed, in honor of Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm. A Barbadian-born powerhouse who has been listed among the greatest achievers in US history. Shirly Chisholm is the first black woman to be elected to the US Congress and run for president.
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Mia Amor Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, Linda Taglialatela, the US ambassador to Barbados, Kay McConney, Adrian Forde, Chad Blackman, the senior advisor to the director-general of the International Labor Organization (ILO), and Simone Walker, the chief executive officer of the Shirley Chisholm Education Foundation, were all present at the special ceremony.
Prime Minister Mottley noted in her feature address that Chisholm’s political endeavors were well-known locally because she set an example and served as a model for other politicians.
“When she made the decision to run for the presidency of the United States of America, it captured the imagination of this community. It wasn’t sufficient to them that she was the first African American woman to ever be elected to Congress and this community and this country knew that she – in the words of Star Trek – was going where no woman had gone before and where no black person had gone before. And I say that because that has been the spirit of this nation,” noted Prime Minister Mottley.
Shirley Chisholm will be honored with a year-long ceremony beginning on November 30, 2023, in Barbados and the United States, according to Mottley.
“It is no accident, I believe, that our Independence Day and Republic Day, is the birthday of Shirley Chisholm. It is an amazing coincidence. And her 100th birthday will be the next year 2024. We want to launch from November 30 this year, one year of celebration here and in the United States of America to celebrate the life as we come to the centennial anniversary of this great Barbadian woman,” she declared.
Chisholm embodied Barbadian grit. Speaking to the kids present, Mottley emphasized that although the trip would not be simple and they could encounter opposition, they must show resolve, graciousness, and thankfulness, much like Shirley Chisholm.
“It is not everything that you want or even need that you will get automatically but it is the perseverance, the commitment, the discipline that will change the outcome.”
“It is for each of us to believe in ourselves and know we can chart new territory and new ground,” the Prime Minister noted.
She added, “This country has been blessed to produce people who in spite of coming from a little rock, can make a difference across this globe and have made a difference and will continue to make a difference.”
In addition to a plaque with the new school name, authorities also revealed a sculpture of Shirley Chisholm, a mural titled Dream Believe Achieve: The Shirley Chisholm Story, painted by Barbadian artists Kwame Hunt, Sherri Nichols, Don Small, and Nikolai Charles, and the mural.
