Shirley Chisholm and the 10 other gallant Black women who have run for president

Monica Moorehead

Moorehead, of Workers World Party, ran for president in 1996, 2000 and 2016. In her 2016 campaign, she was asked how different her candidacy is from all the other left/socialist presidential campaigns. She replied: “We feel that our campaign is very unique from the point of view of showing class solidarity with the most oppressed, who are on the frontlines in the struggle against racist police violence, deportations and raids against immigrants, mass incarceration and for revolutionary socialism, which can only come about with the abolishment of capitalism.

“Another important aspect of our campaign is to help orient revolutionary activists on how to push the class struggle forward beyond the elections.”

Moorehead, born in Alabama during segregation, was politically active during her teenage years, distributing the Black Panther Party newspaper. She was banned from her high school band after refusing to play “Dixie” — a racist song.