It is now February which also means it is Black History month. This a great time to honor the heroes in black history who greatly impacted America’s history. For the next month, readers can find stories about influential blacks and African Americans who make Black History Month essential. Today Carol Moseley Braun is the subject.
Carol Moseley Braun was the first African-American woman senator, and the only the second one since the Reconstruction Era. Although Senator Moseley Braun was only in office for one term, she spoke up for issues surrounding civil rights, crime legislation, education, and families.
Edna and Joseph Moseley gave birth to Carol Braun on August 16, 1947, in Chicago Illinois. Moseley Braun was the oldest of her middle-class family; because of this, she was able to graduate from Parker High School with a Bachelor’s degree in political science.
According to history.house.gov, “In 1972, Carol Moseley graduated from the University of Chicago School of Law. In Chicago, she met and later married Michael Moseley. Moseley–Braun worked as a prosecutor in the office of the U.S. Attorney in Chicago from 1973 until 1977. In 1978 Moseley Braun won an election and became part of the Illinois House of Reps; she held this position for ten years.
Moseley-Braun vied unsuccessfully for the position of Illinois lieutenant governor; as a result of this, she was appointed as the recorder of deeds. Recorder of deeds was a major accomplishment for Moseley-Braun because she was the first African-American to hold an executive position in Cook County.
Moseley-Braun became unsatisfied with her position as recorder of deeds; so she contemplated running for Congress. Moseley-Braun was convinced that the politicians did not have the interest of the average American in their forethoughts. “The Senate absolutely needed a healthy dose of democracy,” she observed. “It wasn’t enough to have millionaire white males over the age of 50 representing all the people in the country.”
Moseley-Braun officially entered the race for Senate in November 1991. Moseley Braun making Senate was uncalled for because she had trouble fundraising. On top of that to win, Moseley Braun had to beat Dixon and Alfred Hofeld who were both extremely affluent. To win as Senator over all she had to beat Richard Williamson who used to work for Ronald Reagon; he was also a popular lawyer. Moseley-Braun once again one, capturing fifty-three percent of the vote.
According to history.house.gov, “In the “Year of the Woman,” Carol Moseley–Braun became a national symbol of change, reform, and equality. Soon after her election to the Senate, she commented, “my job is emphatically not to be a celebrity or a full-time symbol. Symbols will not create jobs and economic growth. They do not do the hard work of solving the health care crisis. They will not save the children of our cities from drugs and guns and murder.”
While Moseley-Braun was in office she covered a variation of problems that affected women and African-Americans. She aided divorced woman, by helping to make legislation that made it easier for them. Even though Moseley-Braun did not get elected in to Senate again, she was a big look into the future of what America should look like. Moseley-Braun gave all woman a taste of what they deserve, and how they deserve to be treated.
