The fact that she is the first Black woman to hold the position means a lot to us. It gives us hope for the future, when you look at the US Department of Agriculture and you look at all of the actions we have suffered as Black people trying to get the programs that should have been available to everyone, to access them and feel that they were being implemented fairly – to actually have someone in the second position … really helping to oversee that and have a voice in places we don’t normally get a chance to be in, just to me meant a lot.

Shirley Sherrod

Shirley Sherrod (born 1948) is a former Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture. On July 19, 2010, she became a subject of controversy when parts of a speech she gave were publicized by Breitbart News, and she was forced to resign. However, upon review of the complete unedited video in context, the NAACP, White House officials, and Tom Vilsack, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, apologized for the firing and Sherrod was offered a new position. Sherrod later sued Andrew Breitbart and co-defendant Larry O'Connor for defamation, false light, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In October 2015, the suit was settled out of court on confidential terms.

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