Dearest Reader,
Do you know the name: Shirley Chisholm? I suppose I first heard of Congresswoman Shirley Chisolm in college. But I definitely know that once I heard of her, I would never forget her legacy. Shirley Chisholm, a Brooklyn, New York native of Caribbean descent, was the first black woman elected to the United States Congress in 1968 and dared to be the first black woman to run for president of the United States in 1972. Actress Regina King produces and stars in a Netflix feature film about the famed politician that premiered last month and is now streaming. Shirley (2024) tells the story of Chisholm’s presidential campaign and all the obstacles she faced in her bold and genuine, albeit unsuccessful, bid for the presidency. But most of all, the film is about setting a righteous example of democratic participation.
As King’s film illustrates, Shirley Chisholm was a former teacher, director of child care centers, a feminist, a staunch supporter of black life and the working people of America. When asked in Shirley what her campaign for president is about, she says, “trying to give politics back to the people.” Chisholm challenged the status quo by running against a stable of old white men vying for power in a country reeling from the achievements and ongoing tensions of civil rights and women’s rights among other movements. All the other candidates looked the same and their politics weren’t particularly inspiring. Some like George Wallace, who survived a devastating assassination attempt in May 1972 on the campaign trail, were outright bigots. Ironically, Wallace’s near death experience halted his campaign and rattled his rigid segregationist position, perhaps with some inspiration from Chisholm.
Chisholm defiantly confronted these men’s so-called leadership and attempted to inspire greater participation of every day people in national politics. In fact, one person Chisholm recruited for her 1972 campaign staff was a young Barbara Lee, who she inspired to register to vote. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1998 and still in office, Congresswoman Lee would go on to be longest serving black woman in the House and consequentially the highest-ranking Black woman in the chamber. Rep. Lee was mentored by Shirley Chisholm and carries on her bold, loving and defiant example. In fact Lee modeled such leadership this year by running for the Senate challenging fellow Democrats Adam Schiff and Katie Porter. Although Lee’s Senate bid was unsuccessful (her first time not winning a campaign) she said, “I’ve been persistent, and every step of the way there have been roadblocks and obstacles,” she told the LA Times. “But again, this is such an example of a Black woman’s life.”
Just as Chisholm endorsed racial equality and abortion rights in her presidential campaign, standing apart from white male colleagues, Lee has made a mark in Congress. She was famously the only member to vote against “open-ended war powers following 9/11 [and] before joining Congress, she was one of the only members of the state legislature to challenge California’s ‘three strikes’ law.” Both of these principled decisions resulted in death threats and hate directed at the lawmaker though she remains undeterred. When asked about her Senatorial bid, she said “The whole thing started with believing that African Americans deserve to have a seat.” There have only been 3 black women to ever serve in the Senate.
In fact, as the film illustrates, black women who stand up are often exposed to racism, sexism and violent threats. We see this today with threats against any black woman who dares to break new ground whether in film like Halle Bailey in Disney’s remake of The Little Mermaid or plays like Romeo & Juliet on the West End with Francesca Amewudah-Rivers or prospective royalty like Meghan Markle or Harvard’s first black and second woman president Claudine Gay or in politics with the first black woman in the White House, VP Kamala Harris. This shouldn’t be so pervasive, but until racism and sexism no longer close doors to opportunity, black women will remain under threat. Therefore we have to do a better job at protecting black women instead of feigning surprise every time these abuses happen.
In the documentary Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed (2004) Shirley Chisholm along with many of the real-life characters in the film are interviewed about the 1972 campaign. In the documentary, Chisholm reveals she suffered at least three serious violent threats; one of which is in Shirley of a knife wielding white man screaming racist and sexist statements. In a moment of frustration in the film King as Chisholm says, “[Maybe I’m] too sentimental…I just see what’s going on in the world and the agony of people. It moves me. These politicians around here, they don’t care…[they] just don’t care. And I don’t know how to not try.” Chisolm reminds me of the kind of women I grew up around, women who made a way where there was none. Women who were driven to solve problems plaguing our communities. They weren’t incentivized by money or status as much as a longing for relief from collective suffering.
In a similar moment in the 2004 documentary with Chisholm herself she says, “People mouth the term democracy, [but] in real practice it’s not carried out. And a lot of people wouldn’t tell you that publicly, but I’m going to tell you publicly, it’s not carried out in the real sense of the word. When you realize what goes on behind the scenes…when you realize how people bargain for votes; how people make a deal in order to get three more delegates to a convention...It’s participation, but that’s [not a democracy]…at what a cost.” Despite losing her presidential campaign, Chisolm made history and inspired people like Lee or even Georgia’s two-time gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to participate in electoral politics “unbought and unbossed,” like her 1972 campaign slogan. Chisholm served in the House representing Brooklyn until 1983 and supported progressive legislation on domestic workers’ wages, education, health care and other social services for inner city residents, Native American land rights, refugees’ human rights, opposing war and militarism, as well as, advocating for women’s rights.
To my mind, Shirley Chisolm’s ascent has meaning akin to youth protesting at her alma mater Columbia University and other college campuses right now; modeling a moral confrontation of American values. What does America stand for and what is the citizen’s role in upholding those standards? In 1972 Chisholm sued network television’s ABC and CBS for not including her in televised debates despite laws on the books requiring she have equal time. However, she only won because she wittingly challenged those attempting to break the law. As Chisolm famously said, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair.” And if there was ever a time to watch Shirley on Netflix (and Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed available on Amazon Prime) to remind us of our personal and collective power, it is now.
With Love During End Times,
Agunda