Carolyn C Kilpatrick

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick represented Michigan's 13th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives from January 1997 to January 2011. Kilpatrick was the first chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus' Political Action Committee during the 109th Congress. She was also the first African American member of Congress appointed to the United States Air Force Academy Board.

Kilpatrick was born June 25, 1945, in Detroit, Michigan. From 1968 to 1970, she attended Ferris State University and received an associate's degree. In 1972, she received her bachelor's degree from Western Michigan University and in 1977 she received her master's from the University of Michigan.

Prior to being elected into Congress, Kilpatrick worked as a high school business teacher and served in the Michigan State House of Representatives. She served in the Michigan House from 1979 to 1996, becoming the first African American woman to serve on the Michigan House Appropriations Committee.

While in the United States House of Representatives, Kilpatrick served on the House Banking and Financial Services, and House Oversight and Appropriations committees, as well as the Joint Committees on Library. She worked hard to reduce discrimination; she worked to level the playing field for minority-owned media outlets and advertising firms that face discrimination from major advertisers. Her efforts were successful to secure a Presidential Executive Order compelling all federal agencies to increase contractual opportunities with minority business.

For more information on Kilpatrick's policy subject areas, committee appointments and sponsored/co-sponsored legislation during her time in the U.S. House of Representatives, please visit her profile on https://www.congress.gov.

Sources:

United States House of Representatives (n.d.). KILPATRICK, Carolyn Cheeks. Retrieved on November 21 2022, from https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/16302