After becoming this country’s first female vice president, Kamala Harris may once again make history by becoming the first Black and first South Asian woman to be elected President of the United States. As Harris makes her official nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago, The Root takes a look back at all of the Black women who ran for president.
1968: Charlene Mitchell
Charlene Mitchell was just 38 years of age when she entered the presidential race on the Communist Party ticket in 1968. Her running mate was the party’s national youth director Michael Zagarell. However, she only appeared on the ballot in two states.
1972: Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm, who famously ran for President in 1972, coined the phrase “unbought and unbossed” to express her liberation as a Black woman candidate. In 1968, she made history for becoming the first Black congresswoman (she served in the New York State Assembly). Chisholm possessed a background in education, and used her campaign to stand up for vulnerable groups.
1976: Margaret Wright
Civil rights activist and community organizer Margaret Wright followed Shirley Chisholm’s lead by running on the People’s Party ticket just four years after Chisholm ran for president. Wright held stints as a Black Panther Party education minister as well as a former factory worker. She advocated for labor rights and ending racism.
1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004: Isabell Masters
Isabell Masters, who worked as an educator, received a doctorate degree from the University of Oklahoma in Norman. She taught in various states, including Oklahoma, New York, Nevada and California. Masters bravely started her own political party called Looking Back and led presidential campaigns in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 — the most for a woman in U.S. history.
1988: Lenora Fulani
Psychologist Lenora Fulani ran for president in 1988 and became the first Black woman to have her name appear on every state’s ballot. She became an independent since she believed that the two-party system failed Black Americans. In 1985, she was the New Alliance Party candidate for mayor of New York City. In 1988, she ran for president as the nominee for that same party.
1996, 2000, 2016: Monica Moorehead
Teacher Monica Moorehead ran for president on the Workers World Party ticket in 1996, 2000 and 2016. The party used Marxist-Leninist teachings to supposedly empower the working class. Currently, Moorehead writes about culture, politics and world events.
2000: Angel Joy Chavis Rocker
Florida native Angel Joy Chavis Rocker ran for president in 2000 as a Republican — which made her the first Black woman in the history of the United States to do so. She was a passionate advocate of the two-party system and believed that Democrats took the Black vote for granted.
2004: Carol Moseley-Braun
In 1992, Carol Moseley Braun made history by becoming the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She then later ran for president as a Democrat in the 2004 presidential election. However, Moseley-Braun ultimately lost the Democratic nomination to John Kerry.
2008: Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia McKinney, a former six-term Georgia Congresswoman, ran for president on the Green Party ticket in 2008. She chose journalist and community activist Rosa Clemente as her running mate. After defeat, McKinney went on to become an assistant professor at North South University.
2012: Peta Lindsay
In 2012, activist Peta Lindsay didn’t meet the age requirement to serve in the role when she ran for president on the Party for Socialism and Liberation ticket (she was born in 1984). However, Lindsay did manage to make the ballot in 13 states.
2024: Kamala Harris
In 2020, Vice President Kamala Harris made history by becoming the first Black and South Asian American woman elected for the position. On July 21, 2024, President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Harris to be the new Democratic nominee for president.