Flatbush + Main: Brooklyn's Women Politicians

This episode was originally published on October 27, 2016.

In less than a week, Americans will go to the polls to choose a new president - and for the first time, one of the major party candidates is a woman. In episode 07 of Brooklyn Historical Society's podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia consider the important legacies left by several of Brooklyn's female politicians, and the intersectional nature of gender and politics in this incredibly diverse borough. They learn about the remarkable career of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm from historian Zinga Fraser, and draw connections between Chisholm's politics and today's political landscape. In their explorations of the papers of NAACP staffer Richetta Randolph, they expand definitions of what constitutes political work. In "Voices of Brooklyn," they listen to influential activist Elsie Richardson describe her interactions with Robert Kennedy during his 1965 visit to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford Stuyvesant. Finally, they welcome BHS Manager of Teacher and Learning Alex Tronolone, who plugs BHS's Election Day Professional Development programming for New York City's K-12 teachers.