Podcast Summary: "A Black Woman for President" on New Books Network

Podcast: New Books Network
Episode: Dianna N. Watkins-Dickerson, "A Black Woman for President: Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun, and Kamala Harris" (UP of Mississippi)
Date: February 4, 2026
Host: Sullivan Sommer
Guest: Dianna N. Watkins-Dickerson

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode explores Dianna N. Watkins-Dickerson’s book, A Black Woman for President: Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun, and Kamala Harris, which interrogates the rhetoric, leadership, and legacies of the only three Black women to mount major-party recognized presidential campaigns in U.S. history. Through a womanist rhetorical lens, Watkins-Dickerson examines how these candidacies both reflected and shaped the intersections of race, gender, and political voice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Genesis of the Project and Scholarly Motivations

• (01:32-04:20)
  Watkins-Dickerson details her trajectory from education to political science, tracing the origins of her inquiry in undergraduate and divinity school experiences. Her quest centered on Black women’s agency in public life—especially how they speak, lead, and navigate the intersections of politics and faith.
  • "My heart for education stood at the intersections of activism and diversity... I wanted to move into politics or political science." (01:38, Watkins-Dickerson)
  • Influence of professors and HBCU roots on shaping her focus on Black women in leadership and rhetoric.

2. The Vital Role of Black Faith Institutions in Leadership Formation

• (04:20-06:17)
  • The book’s introduction, “Beyond the Pulpit and the Pew,” highlights the significance of Black churches and historically Black institutions as sites where Black women develop public voice.
  • "We can often cite or see Black women and we can also hear them... really where they begin to form their voice and often the roads that it kind of creates, where they can also find themselves on political stages." (05:55, Watkins-Dickerson)

3. Focus on Rhetoric, Not Just Biography

• (06:17-08:55)
  • The text is not a straightforward biography but an analysis anchored around the speeches—specifically, their candidacy announcements—of Chisholm, Moseley Braun, and Harris. Watkins-Dickerson’s approach allows readers to access these materials (often available online) and engage directly with the rhetorical environment.
  • "This book was different than I thought... it’s a book about their rhetoric and it's a book about these three speeches in particular." (06:42, Sommer)

4. Womenist Rhetorical Theory: Articulation and Centering of Black Women

• (08:55-13:46)
  • Watkins-Dickerson articulates her aim to demonstrate that communication studies can and must center Black women’s experiences and rhetorical strategies, rather than relying on Eurocentric frameworks (e.g., Plato, Aristotle).
  • "I don’t have to use center Plato. I don’t have to center Aristotle... when we think about Blackness and we think about womanhood and we think about Black womanhood in particular, there’s a way that we talk, there’s a way that we think, there’s a way we engage." (10:16, Watkins-Dickerson)

5. Inspirations and Intellectual Lineage

• (13:46-18:09)
  • Influences range from Chisholm, Moseley Braun, and Harris themselves to broader figures in Black literature (Octavia Butler, Toni Cade Bambara, Phyllis Wheatley), activism, and family/community leaders.
  • "I’m pulling from anyone and everyone and even from my own experiences, even from my own grandmother, other mothers, aunties." (16:35, Watkins-Dickerson)

6. Womanism vs. Black Feminism

• (18:09-22:58)
  • Womanism, she explains, is rooted in and centers Black women’s experiences more explicitly than mainstream or even Black feminism, with deeper ties to spirituality, Afrocentricity, and a sacred sense of ownership over the term.
  • "It begins and it ends with Black women’s experiences at the center... historically [womanism] has also been tied to Black faith and Black spirituality in very particular ways." (19:18, Watkins-Dickerson)
  • "Wait a minute, hold on. Your proximity to suffering... but that's not a term that you're able to claim. Right. And so it's even our own term." (21:56, Watkins-Dickerson)

Analysis of the Three Speeches

1. Shirley Chisholm’s Announcement (1972)

• (22:58-28:56)
  • While not the first Black woman to run for president (Charlene Mitchell was in 1968), Chisholm is the archetype for Black women’s campaign rhetoric.
  • Her speech—delivered at Rev. Gardner C. Taylor’s church—embodies fierce command and multi-layered rhetoric, using devices to energize both local and broader Black communities.
  • Memorable moment: Chisholm’s insistence on self-definition—"I want to be remembered as a Black woman who dared to be herself... that dared to be herself." (27:42, Watkins-Dickerson citing Chisholm)
  • Discussion of how her rhetorical legacy transcended caricatures and stereotypes foisted by the media.

2. Carol Moseley Braun’s Announcement (2003-2004)

• (31:46-39:39)
  • Often overlooked, Moseley Braun was the first Black woman U.S. senator and presidential candidate. Her rhetorical style is marked by cleverness, bridge-building themes, and the strategic use of persona (including her smile, both authentic and performative).
  • The setting—Howard University, with her son introducing her—signal both continuity and specificity in Black political traditions.
  • "The way that women in general, that just Black women, right? But women, in general, forcibly smile, and that smile becomes a performance... but when you see her in her speech... she uses that smile to her benefit almost to pull people in. But I’ve got some things I’m going to say." (35:36, Watkins-Dickerson)
  • Discussion on the under-researched nature of her legacy and an invitation for further research.

3. Kamala Harris’s Announcement (2019)

• (41:14-48:15)
  • Harris’s candidacy is unique as a contemporary case—with not enough historical distance for “closure.” Her campaign both inherits and innovates upon her foremothers’ rhetorical devices, but is constrained and shaped by current events and ongoing developments.
  • Watkins-Dickerson notes the challenge of writing about an “active” figure but also the opportunity to test theories in real time.
  • "She’s still doing something that’s particular to Black women... how they are, you know, thrust into the public eye as well, and how they're analyzed and caricatured." (43:14, Watkins-Dickerson)
  • Harris’s deliberate staging (eschewing both the Black church and HBCU settings) reflects both continuity and reimagination of political geography and symbolism.
  • "We are inventors, we are visionaries... we have economic power... and I’m going to stand in front of something that signals maybe for some violence, maybe for some a lack of freedom... and no, we’re reclaiming this for our own." (46:11, Watkins-Dickerson)

Theoretical and Practical Impact

Audience and Goals of the Book

(48:15-51:42)

• Written first for herself and her daughter, Watkins-Dickerson sees the book as relevant for all—Black women, HBCU graduates, members of the Black church, political science students, and anyone seeking to understand leadership and voice at the margins and the center.
• "[It’s] for everybody... anyone and everyone can learn from Black women’s experiences, Black women’s leadership, Black women’s visions for the future." (50:11, Watkins-Dickerson)

Womanist Hope, Joy, and Resilience

• A recurring motif is the insistence on joy and hope—not purely struggle—in Black women’s political expression.
• "In spite of everything that’s going on around them. Right. I still have joy and I’m still going to fiercely hold onto that joy." (51:18, Watkins-Dickerson)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

(Timestamps MM:SS)

• "I wanted to move into politics or political science... invested in conversations that you don't say at the dinner table. And those are politics and religion. Right." (01:47, Watkins-Dickerson)
• "I don’t have to use center Plato. I don’t have to center Aristotle... This is not throwing the baby out with the bathwater... When we think about Blackness and we think about womanhood... there’s a way that we wield words." (10:16, Watkins-Dickerson)
• "She was not the first Black woman to run for the President... we diminish and demonize Communist perspectives... you have Charlene Mitchell, right. In 1968." (23:47, Watkins-Dickerson)
• "[Carol Moseley Braun] talks about building bridges... where so many bridges are being burned across the world." (33:00, Watkins-Dickerson)
• "Kamala Harris... [is] able to exist in her ancestors’ wildest dreams." (47:45, Watkins-Dickerson)
• "The two people I thought about the most in writing the book were me and my daughter." (48:20, Watkins-Dickerson)

Looking Forward

Future Projects and Ongoing Research

• Watkins-Dickerson maintains an ever-expanding file of "Things Deleted from the Book"—testament to the richness yet untapped, particularly on Carol Moseley Braun and emerging Black women political leaders (e.g., Jasmine Crockett, mayors, and state and local figures).
• "There are others... that are mayors... so maybe someone’s looking for a dissertation... there’s so much more to write about... but it’s always about Black women." (54:41, Watkins-Dickerson)

Episode Takeaways

• A Black Woman for President is both a scholarly intervention and a celebration of the rhetorical genius and resilience of three Black women who aspired to the U.S. presidency.
• Watkins-Dickerson’s womanist framework offers new tools for understanding leadership, agency, and political hope.
• The stories and rhetorical strategies of Chisholm, Moseley Braun, and Harris offer blueprints not only for Black women, but for all seeking to reclaim voice and vision in public life.

For more from Dianna N. Watkins-Dickerson: watkinsdickerson.com | Social: @drdnwd
Host Sullivan Sommer: sullivansommer.com