California senator’s logo is a tribute to Shirley Chisholm, the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president in a major political party, in 1972

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Kamala Harris has entered the crowded Democratic 2020 race for US president with a tribute to a woman who broke barriers in American politics decades earlier.

The California senator’s logo is a nod to Shirley Chisholm, the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president in a major political party, in 1972.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Shirley Chisholm in 1972. Photograph: Don Hogan Charles/Getty Images

Harris, the former attorney general of California, has chosen a red and yellow design for her logo that resembles the campaign buttons used five decades ago by Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress.

“Shirley Chisholm’s activism, advocacy and willingness to persistently remind the nation of the work to be done on behalf of it’s people is an enduring legacy that lives on in the Senator and to honor that legacy in her own campaign for President was a no-brainer,” a campaign spokeswoman, Kirsten Allen, said in an email.

Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, has broken barriers throughout her meteoric rise in California politics. The Democrat was the first African American and first woman to be elected San Francisco district attorney in 2003 and state attorney general in 2010. In 2016, she became the second black woman and first south Asian woman elected to the Senate.

Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) Will thread info on Harris' announcement here, including staff hires and background info. Obviously it's heavy on symbolism: not only MLK Day announcement, but comes 47 years to the day as Shirley Chisholm's 1972 campaign kickoff. Even Harris' logo was meant as a nod to Chisholm pic.twitter.com/fhV5ha8I4B

She launched her campaign on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr Day, with an announcement on ABC’s Good Morning America. Harris has also planned a campaign rally on Sunday in Oakland, where she was born.

Harris, who unveiled a campaign slogan “Kamala Harris For The People”, is setting up campaign headquarters in Baltimore, with another office in Oakland.

Chisholm’s feminist mantra was “unbought and unbossed”, and when she ran for president, she faced opposition from white feminists and other Democrats.

Play Video 2:46 Senator Kamala Harris announces 2020 presidential bid - video profile

She was also known for her quote, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”

Harris’s fellow senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have also announced bids for the Democratic nomination, along with the former housing secretary Julián Castro and Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

Harris’s campaign video launch emphasized “truth, justice, decency and equality”, saying, “They’re the values we as Americans cherish, and they’re all on the line now.”

In recent weeks, the senator has faced scrutiny from some progressives over her prosecutorial record.