Four things Zandra Flemister, the first Black woman in Secret Service, will be remembered for

She supported a discrimination lawsuit brought against the Secret Service

After leaving the Secret Service, Flemister provided details in legal documents about how the agency did not allow her to enhance her career and how her credibility and competency were constantly questioned.

“I remained in the Secret Service because I wanted to be a trailblazer for other African-American women,” Flemister wrote in an affidavit that was part of a class-action lawsuit filed against the Secret Service in 2000, The Washington Post said. The suit alleged racial discrimination within the Secret Service.

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Due to Flemister’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, she was not able to continue the lawsuit. By 2011, she retired from the State Department due to Alzheimer’s at the age of 59. The lawsuit nevertheless continued, with more than 100 Black members of the Secret Service joining. In 2017, the Secret Service agreed to a $24 million settlement but did not admit to any wrongdoing.