Today In Black Excellence: Shirley Chisholm, The First African Americanand The First Womanto Seek Nomination

Today in Black Excellence: Shirley Chisholm, the first African American—and the first woman—to seek nomination for President.

“I want history to remember me... not as the first black woman to have made a bid for the presidency of The United States, but as a black woman who lived in the 20th century and who dared to be herself. I want to be remembered as a catalyst for change in America.”

—Shirley Chisholm

Chisholm wanted to be remembered as a “catalyst for change.” What did she do?

Shirley Anita Chisholm was a politician, educator, and writer. There would be no Barack Obama or Kamala Harris without her—she was a trailblazer in every sense of the word.

Citing her “double-handicap” of being a Black woman, Chisholm initially rejected a political career but became increasingly engaged in fighting racial and gender inequality. She eventually joined the Democratic Party in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, winning a seat in the United States Congress in 1968, and becoming the first Black woman to do so.

What did she achieve in politics?

With a seat at the table, “Fighting Shirley” introduced over 50 pieces of legislation on behalf of the poor, protesting racial and gender inequality. She became a fierce critic of the Vietnam War when opposition to the war was considered radical. Her outspoken assault on injustice earned her few friends in the white political establishment.

While campaigning for the 1972 primaries, Chisholm was allowed only one speech in televised debates and was otherwise blocked from participation. Despite this, students, women, and minorities proved loyal supporters: In 12 primaries, she garnered 152 (10%) of delegates’ votes, despite a poorly financed campaign and widespread political hostility.

The 1972 primaries also displayed her remarkable character, when she chose to visit racist and segregationist Governor George Wallace of Alabama in hospital after a failed assassination attempt.

After retiring from Congress in 1983, Chisholm taught at Mount Holyoke College and co-founded the National Political Congress of Black Women.

Original portrait by Tumblr Creatr @banana-peppers

“It was an honor to create a piece celebrating Shirley Chisholm. She was the first Black woman elected to Congress and to seek a major party nomination for presidency. Her trailblazing career is truly inspiring and I wanted to capture her power, her bravery and her magic. Her motto Unbought and Unbossed implores us to forge our own path no matter what obstacles try to stand in our way."

—@banana-peppers

Prologue

pairing: iwaizumi x femblack!reader

synopsis: ballet au fic (updated weekly)

word count: 343

warnings: none

type: fanfiction

a/n: rewriting an unfinished story from wattpad. inspired by dance academy and dance moms. this is just a intro so the first chapter is coming after. i loooove dance academy btw^^

Charlène Aveline's Dance Company. A prestigious dance school that teaches children from 11-18. With 319 acres of land, the school is absolutely stunning. With fifteen different buildings including a shopping center for students, its better then most universities in Sydney. The most impressive however was the competitive team. There was an elite group of 6 or 7 senior dancers that traveled across the world competing with the best of the best in the industry.

Oikawa and Y/n. Now Oikawa has been his best friend for years. Iwaizumi was proud of his friend for being in the top two. Girls flocked to him after class and teachers constantly praised his ballet skills. Y/n had been Oikawa's friend for years. Iwaizumi was her friend too, but not as close as Oikawa was to her. Y/n and Oikawa fought for the top spot at the end of every semester and many students thought the couple would be cute together.

Many students, but not Iwaizumi. He knew Oikawa didn't harbor feelings for the girl, but knowing that the majority felt that his friend did made him believe it a little bit. Naturally Iwaizumi didn't get as much of the spotlight as his friends, but he didn't mind. With their next year of high school starting, Iwaizumi found it quite difficult to live in his shadow.

He snapped out of his own thoughts and continued drinking his smoothie. As the last day of summer vacation, Iwaizumi and friends were on the beach soaking in the last few days of summer. He watched Oikawa and Y/n sprint back to the rest of the group. He sighed. Oikawa seemed to have forgot his promise to help Iwaizumi over the summer.

At least he wouldn't have to worry about auditions this year. After being on the senior team for two years at least, you wouldn't have to audition anymore unless someone threatened your spot. He watched Y/n laugh as Oikawa whispered something to her. Iwaizumi huffed again. He was going to have to remind his friend about the conversation they had.

makes me sad fr when there's no comforting headcanons for my comfort character ):

paring: mammon x black!reader

synopsis: mammon has a lot of fans from modeling

word count: 441

warnings: jealousy jealousy jealousy

type: drabble

a/n: i really like the trope recently where the girl gets jealous and not the guy. probably should've done this prompt for asmo if yall want that..

The cafe was really cute and reminded Y/n of the human world. With an authentic menu of human food choices and the classic fast food style interior, Y/n felt at home. That was until a group of girls walked into the cafe. Mammon was busy placing the order for the two, when the three girls walked in.

The first had long black hair in a high ponytail with green eyes. She wore the same jacket Mammon usually wore which was a dead giveaway these were fan girls. The second had wavy blonde hair and her phone case was just cutouts of Mammon. She wore a tight black dress with flats. The third girl's brown roots were beginning to show as her hair was dyed the same color as Mammon's. She straight up wore a shirt that said I <3 Mammon.

Mammon finished placing the order and took a seat relatively close to the cashier. Y/n sat opposite to him. "Isn't this place amazing babe?" Y/n nodded slowly. "Yeah its great. Did you notice your fangirls." Mammon rambled on. "I love your hair today. And the outfit you chose is really marvelous." "Marvelous? Did Asmo teach you that word?"

The three girls then decided it would great to get an autograph. Y/n could understand. Mammon was undoubtedly the hottest demon in the Devildom and anyone would want to get his autograph. Mammon was so excited he had fans that he ignored the way they got close to him.

The girls giggled and began touching his arms asking about his workout routine. He seemed more then happy to share the details as the girls' eyes lingered at his chest. It seemed like forever before they finally went back to their table to eat. Mammon had a dopey grin on his face and that truly was Y/n's last straw.

"Mammon I can't believe you let them touch you like that." He looked up from his burger, "Like what? They just asked a few questions." Y/n crossed their arms and rolled their eyes. "They were obviously flirting with you." Mammon chuckled, "Everyone does. You get used to it after a while."

Y/n waved a hand in front of his face. "Um hello? I'm the person your dating. I should be the only one to flirt with you." Mammon put down his food and wiped the crumbs with a napkin. He took Y/n's hands in his. "Your really cute when you get needy for my attention. Don't ya worry though. Your the only one I have eyes for."

"I'm the only one dumb enough to date you."

pairing: tanaka x oc

synopsis: Ayano Shimizu is the perfect student, the perfect daughter, and everyone looks up to her. Her only problem is Tanaka keeps playing with her heart.

word count: 1.8k

warnings: heartbreak lol i luv crushing hearts

type: fanfic

a/n: one of my old stories so might be some mistakes loool but enjoy^^

"Did you see that Ayano?" Ayano nodded, "That spike was soo cool. I know you'll do great in your game!" Kiyoko tried to hide her smile, "You guys make quite the cute couple. Where's Saori and her brother?" Ayano shrugged, "Probably at home arguing over who ate all the cereal." Ayano grabbed her backpack as their coach blew the whistle, signaling the end of practice.

Ayano stayed behind to help Kiyoko lock up. This resulted in her hearing Nishinoya and Tanaka drone on and on about how they were going to protect her at night.

Toshiaki came to save her however, since he was coming from baseball practice. "Hey Tanaka, hey Noya, what're you guys up to?" "Nothing much, just protecting our queen Kiyoko," Nishinoya responded with a proud smile.

Tanaka nodded in agreement. Toshiaki was well aware of Ayano's growing feelings for Tanaka and a part of him felt bad. He knew what it was like to be the second choice, and he didn't want his older sister having a similar experience.

"You guys want to walk home together?" Toshiaki decided on asking the other four, thinking it would result in a fun conversation. They agreed and headed towards Kiyoko's house first, considering it was the closet.

The five of them talked about their weekend plans and the upcoming games they all had. Toshiaki had a baseball game on Saturday so he would spend his time after lunch on the bus to Tokyo.

Tanaka and Nishinoya had the preliminaries next week, and Ayano had a swim meet Sunday before going to the arcade. She wasn't too overhyped for it, but she was pretty excited. If they won, they would get to go to nationals automatically.

Well that was if they got first place. If they didn't, second to ninth place have to compete in another preliminaries that was even bigger than the one they were going to. Ayano wasn't worried however, considering she currently held the record in their prefecture for having the fastest butterfly. Their team was even considered one of the top five youth teams in Japan.

After saying their goodbyes to Kiyoko, the others headed towards the train station. Nishinoya's house was right across the street from it so it would just be Ayano, Tanaka, and Toshiaki on the train. Ayano swiped her student id to get to the subway before entering and taking a seat. It was pretty empty except for other students who also appeared to be in sports.

"So are both of you coming to the game next week? You can ride on the bus with us." Toshiaki shrugged, "I'm not sure if I can miss Monday practice though. If there's anything Tuesday I can make it."

"And what about you Ayano?" "Yeah I'll ride with you guys if you want me to. Is it cool if I bring Saori and Kazuo?" "Sure if there's room on the bus." Tanaka waved as he exited the train, leaving Ayano and Toshiaki to head home together.

"You think Yuuka is home?" Toshiaki pointed in the driveway, "If Mom and Dad are home then Yuuka definitely is. Choir is over like an entire hour before sports are."

Before either of them could unlock the door, Yuuka opened it. "What took you guys so long?" Ayano shrugged and let Toshiaki answer, "Maybe because baseball is time consuming. Your totally coming to my game tomorrow right?"

"I don't know should I support my little brother?" She pulled both of them into a hug and shut the door behind them. "I'll be there. Such a shame Ayano can't go though." "I'm glad you have something to do on Sunday. I don't need your encouragement."

Toshiaki pried himself out of Yuuka's arms, "What do you mean? Her encouragements the best." "You don't exactly yell Go Ayano! at a swim meet." "I understand your point, but your foods getting cold," Yuuka pointed into the kitchen. Their parents were already cleaning up which meant they had taken way too long.

Ayano sat down and rushed to finish her food. She still had to do her homework and exams to study for.

Next week was exam week and the last week before summer break. She wanted to at least pass so she wouldn't be grounded. Ayano quickly changed into a sports bra and sweats and sat cross legged in her chair.

Friday and Saturday were when exams were held, and club activities were cancelled next week. Ayano checked her calendar and made sure to add in the change of events. She was excited for summer since she would have more time to see her friends and maybe ask Tanaka on a date.

Sighing, she put in her noise cancelling headphones and began her homework.

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Saturday July 26th

"Great job, Ayano! Your time increased by 1.5 seconds." The girls swim team captain, Yuki Saito, congratulated her as she got out of the pool. "Thanks, but it's nothing too special. I've been trying to study more." "Studying is way more important. Remember we don't have to get first place." "I'm mainly worried about the relay. See you tomorrow, Yuki."

Ayano left Yuki and the others to lock up and headed towards Okazaki's house. She hoped she hadn't taken too long. Seeing as it was only six pm, she hurried to his house.

It was only a five minute walk and she stopped to get some snacks on the way. As soon as she knocked, Kimura answered the door with dripping wet hair. She ushered Ayano inside to the upstairs bathroom where Okazaki was desperately trying to do Saori's roots.

"Hey guys. Can I put the food in your room?" Okazaki nodded not taking his eyes off her head. Kimura stayed in the bathroom with the two and Ayano headed to his bedroom.

Having been to his house multiple times, she easily found his bedroom. He had even more band posters on the left side of his wall near his bed. Next to his bed was a shelf full of albums and below it was a mirror. On the right side, he had his desk and an ungodly amount of plants.

Ayano set her swim bag and backpack where everyone had set their stuff and set the food down on his desk. She joined the others in the bathroom were they were currently trying to dry Kimura's hair. Ayano chose to film the whole scenario and post it on her story.

After Kimura's hair was dry, she went back into the bedroom to pick a movie. "If we dry your hair faster, it will probably be a pastel pink instead of just pink," Ayano suggested.

"Are you sure that will work?" Okazaki looked skeptical. "It'll be some shade of pink and that's good enough for me. I just want to watch the movie." The other two shrugged and began drying her hair. "I have an idea, let me find some scissors." Saori ran off downstairs, her footsteps could be heard throughout the entire house.

Coming back out of breath, she handed the scissors to Ayano, "Put Okazaki's hair in a ponytail, but a really like small one. Then we can cut off the remaining hair. Or maybe put it in a bun." "Wouldn't it be uneven?" Okazaki questioned her.

Saori shook her head, "I can shape it up, I think. I watched my dad cut people's hair before." Ayano hesitantly took the scissors and removed the hair tie from her hair and tied up Okazaki's into a half bun half ponytail.

Saori gave her a thumbs up and Ayano began cutting. Once she was finished, she handed the scissors to Saori who began to shape it up. Ayano joined Kimura in the bedroom who surprisingly didn't have her hair in a bun. Ayano sat next to her and grabbed a bag of chips from the bag.

"What movie did you have in mind," Ayano asked the younger girl. "I don't know maybe a horror movie or something? I am pretty tired." "I guess everyones like that since we've been busting our ass over exams. It'll be over soon though and then-" Saori cut her off when she entered the room, "Summer break here we come! Introducing the new and improved, Kazuki Okazaki!" Saori sat down and Okazaki entered behind her striking poses.

His hair was no longer past his shoulder, but barely reached his shoulder. While he turned around, Ayano noticed his bangs hadn't been trimmed, but the back of his hair had. "And what do we call this style again?" Kimura asked, clearly not liking it. "Its called a wolf cut. Usually girls get it, but I tried it on Okazaki." "Yeah Kimura a wolf cut. Doesn't it look nice?" "I think you look like a werewolf." Okazaki threw a pillow at Kimura to muffle her voice.

"Ayano what do you think of it?" "It's unique I guess. You'll get every wolf in school for sure." "Alright I see you guys don't like it, but to me it looks great. Now what movie are we watching?" Saori joined Okazaki on his bed and grabbed one of his blankets. She laid on her tummy far away from him. "This escape room movie. It's about an escape room, but deadly." "Ooh I am so scared Saori. What's going to happen? We can't unlock the door?" Okazaki teased.

"This actually looks pretty scary," Kimura pointed out looking at the trailer. So the four of them agreed to watch the movie. They were all fast asleep before it could end however, and all you heard were the snores of four teenagers full of serotonin with colored hair.

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Sunday July 27th

"Ayano you can't be late for your date." "Saori my swim meet literally ended five minutes ago and how did you get back here?" "Well Tanaka was asking for you. Plus, your captain let me in. Now put your clothes on and go talk to your boyfriend."

"We're not dating, Saori." "Yet." "I'll see you in like five minutes." Saori nods and leaves. Ayano looks through the pile of bags to find hers and slips off to the restroom to change. She changed grey crop top and black shorts. Her favorite grey and white jacket complimented the look as she laced her sneakers and put her swim suit in a plastic bag before putting it in her swim bag.

Waving to her team, she set out to find her friends. Saori, Tanaka, Kazuo, and Toshiaki were waiting for her in front of the main doors. "Hey Ms. Nationals," Toshiaki teased as Ayano came up to them. "I'm just glad we even placed," Ayano replied slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Of course you placed. You guys are the best in the whole prefecture," Tanaka said. Ayano felt her heart skip a beat at his compliment as the four of them headed to the train station

Pt. 5

pairing: tanaka x oc

synopsis: Ayano Shimizu is the perfect student, the perfect daughter, and everyone looks up to her. Her only problem is Tanaka keeps playing with her heart.

word count: 1.0k

warnings: heartbreak lol i luv crushing hearts

type: fanfic

a/n: one of my old stories so might be some mistakes loool but enjoy^^

"Ayano maybe they were just hanging out. They were probably going to Nishinoya's house or something?"

Saori tried to comfort Ayano. "Yeah, you know how they are," Kazuo added. "Exactly, they're obsessed with her. They basically worship her. I never stood a chance."

Kazuo looked dejected, but didn't push it any further. "Maybe Tanaka was asking Kiyoko for advice. Since you guys are related and all." "I doubt it."

Ayano slumped down on the park bench, "I just don't get it. Kiyoko and I have similar features, and she would never date either of them." "I'm not so sure about that..," Kazuo said, sitting down next to Ayano. "Did you hear something we didn't?"

Saori questioned her brother rather aggressively. "Some people in our class say that Tanaka may stand a chance with Kiyoko. They're probably just fucking around though."

"Its cool guys. You don't have to try to cheer me up. I've got to head to the club room to get some stuff really quick though." "Ayano school is like a twenty minute walk from here, plus it's summer vacation. I doubt the club rooms are open," Saori tried to talk Ayano into staying with them at the park. "The volleyball teams room was open. Plus Yuki has the key and she'll be there too."

Saori and Kazuo gave up and let Ayano go. Ayano wasn't surprised, just disappointed. She had stopped counting how many guys lost interest in her once they saw Kiyoko. It had happened a couple times to Yuuka as well since Kiyoko and Yuuka were in the same class. Yuuka now wore green contacts and dyed her hair brown to remove any resemblance to Kiyoko.

Taking a shortcut through the fruit market, Ayano wondered why that always happened. If they looked similar, how was Kiyoko prettier?

Finally making it to the school, she went around back to where the separate building where the sport's club rooms were. As she expected, the boys volleyball one was open and she could loudly here Tanaka's voice coming from it.

Luckily, their club room was on the first floor. Yuki was already standing outside it dressed in a hoodie and sweat pants. "Hey Yuki, did you come from the pool?" "I was heading to the community pool after you got your stuff."

Ayano nodded and Yuki unlocked the door. The club rooms didn't have the luxury of air conditioning so Ayano could imagine how hot Yuki must be.

Ayano quickly unlocked her locker and began cleaning it out and putting any spare change she found in her purse.

"Alright Yuki I think I'm done. Nationals are in a week right?" Yuki nods, "We should probably practice sometime this week if we plan on winning." "If we don't win, there's always next year. I heard a lot of middle schoolers in the area want to join the team."

Yuki followed after Ayano and locked the club room, "New recruits are great, but they need to be able to produce results. I'll see you later this week Ayano." Ayano waved as Yuki hurried to the community pool. She debated going to talk to Tanaka and decided on facing him herself.

Every step, her heart beats grew louder and louder in her head. Turning up to the stairs, she could see the door was open.

Tanaka was loudly talking to Kiyoko and Kiyoko's voice could barely be heard. Ayano knocked on the open door before fully stepping into their view. "Noya? Is that you?"

Ayano's hope was instantly knocked down as she heard Tanaka's voice. "It's Ayano. I was looking for Kiyoko is all."

Ayano walked into the club room to see Kiyoko sitting cross legged on the floor and Tanaka, shirtless, in his locker. "Hey Ayano, what did you need?" Ayano shifted uneasily seeing that her worst fear was already confirmed.

"Could we maybe talk? Well actually I need to talk to both of you." Kiyoko patted the floor next to her and Ayano sat next to her.

Tanaka sat down next to Kiyoko and was closer to Kiyoko than Ayano would have liked. "Kiyoko, it's not your fault. Its getting to be annoying now though." "What do you mean?" Kiyoko gave Ayano a puzzled look.

"This. First the guys Yuuka were into, all fell for you once they saw you. Now Yuuka changes how she looks entirely. Now it's happening to me. You don't do it on purpose, but it just feels bad knowing Yuuka and I will always be second choices unless we never introduce the people we like to you."

Kiyoko was about to speak when Tanaka spoke over her, "Well no one is prettier than Kiyoko so she deserves all the attention." Ayano felt her heart crumble when Tanaka said that. Ayano stood up, "Well clearly no one is prettier than her. No matter what I do you stupid fuckers choose her. When I first got here last year, both my crushes left me to chase her. But I guess you don't know how that feels Tanaka since your so fucking obsesed with her." "It's not like you stand a chance against Kiyoko. It's obvious who the prettier cousin is."

"I can't believe I liked you Tanaka. I thought you were different. Kiyoko and I are nothing alike. She wears glasses, I don't. My hair is purple, hers isn't. My eyes are brown, hers aren't."

"I only pretended to like you because you looked like Kiyoko." Ayano couldn't believe the words coming out of Tanaka's mouth. "I see how it is. I hope you two have a nice summer." Ayano closed the door behind her and began running. She didn't know where she was running to, but she knew she couldn't stay there. Ayano thought that it wouldn't happen again, but apparently it had.

She wasn't watching where she was going and almost ran into Nishinoya. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Ayano why are you crying? You'll ruin your eyeliner." "It's nothing," Ayano tried to avoid finishing the conversation. "C'mon pretty girl, you can tell me."

"Tanaka is just dogshit. Him and Kiyoko can go to hell and be together forever there." Ayano continued walking, but Nishinoya followed her.

"It'll be okay. Tanaka isn't the only guy out there. I don't see how my best friend could hurt such a divine girl like you." "Since when did you learn big words, Noya?" "I'll catch you later, Ayano."