Dear friend,

The Black women who came before me set the stage for where I am now – the 29th Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Shirley Chisholm was my representative in Congress — holding the seat I now represent today. My mother, Dr. Una S.T. Clarke, taught me the values of service, hard work, and how to look for every means of making good change happen.

But there are so many other Black women pioneers who haven’t had the light shone on them. Here are just a few of the Black women whose shoulders I stand on:

• Hallie Quinn Brown: Regarded as one of the greatest orators of her time, Hallie Quinn Brown was instrumental in establishing some of the same Black women’s organizations that I am a member of today.
• Susie King Taylor: Born enslaved, Susie King Taylor became the first African-American nurse during the Civil War and an educator of both freed and enslaved Black people, teaching them how to read and write.
• Willa Brown: Active in the Civil Rights movement, Willa Brown was the first Black woman to earn a pilot's license in the United States and the first Black woman to run for Congress. Through her training of hundreds of pilots, she played a crucial role in creating the Tuskegee Airmen.

These women deserve to be celebrated. The failings of our schools to teach this history and highlight these Black women are directly connected to the efforts being waged today to regress us to a time when Black history incorrectly wasn’t seen as American history.

That won’t happen on my watch, friend. I can because they could, and now it’s my time to stand up and fight against this wave of anti-Blackness.

But now, I need to ask for your help. I have a critical end-of-month fundraising deadline coming up, and we need to keep fundraising to ensure I have the resources I need. Will you power my work to make sure we all know that Black History is American history?

I’m proud to stand on the shoulders of giants like these women.

— Yvette D. Clarke