Shirley Chisholm & American Democracy

the race for the US presidency is moving forward as per usual and though i haven't been following, a dvd i was watching the other day got me thinking about it. i just happened to be watching Unbought & Unbossed: Chisholm '72 a documentary about Shirley Chisholm 1972 US presidency campaign. Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman in congress and the first black person and first woman to run for president. 

                                            

In Solidarity: Ending Mass Incarceration

Think of Haiti, think of Los Angeles
Think of South Africa, think apartheid
Sisphyian curse- Black America's
Forever to struggle
Against subordination at home; against oppression-
Fighting to ensure that justice
         and fairplay are assured
That Black America, America, remains
         an opportunity to the ambitious
A haven, refuge, to the oppressed
To the politically distressed of the diaspora.
When America assumed leadership of the free world
Black America assumed leadership of the Black World
To defend human rights to freedom, independence
        and self-determination.

Excerpt "God Bless Black America" Blood That Thickens: Short Stories & Poems by Maurice M. Horsham

I've heard people say that when America sneezes the Caribbean gets the cold. On the surface, this statement is more about the closeness of the region to the US, but it can be understood in so many ways. Does America just make the Caribbean sick?