One of the most fearless and audacious paths a Black woman could take in 1972 was to run for President of the United States of America. U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm did the unthinkable.
She also did so with grace, defiance and fortitude. The Netflix film Shirley, written and directed by John Ridley (12 Years A Slave, American Crime), is the biographical account of Shirley Chisholm’s journey navigating her way through one of the toughest political campaigns of her career — running for the highest office in the land. Playing the titular role is Regina King, who also serves as producer on the film. The film also stars Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, Dorian Missick, Amirah Vann, W. Earl Brown, Brad James, Reina King, with André Holland and Terrence Howard.
The film tonally sets us up to establish the kind of person Shirley is. When she is appointed as a member of congress, she is assigned by the Speaker of the House to the agricultural committee. Chisholm, being from Brooklyn, New York, with an extensive background on urban issues, did not see how serving her constituents on farming concerns would best serve them.
As she articulates this complaint to fellow congressman Ron Dellums (Dorian Missick), he advises her to do as she’s told. Chisholm does what is forbidden and goes directly to the Speaker of the House demanding to be removed from that committee. It is this aspect of her character and nature that captures the essence of who she is that helps establish how she’s able to handle the impossible, and as the story unfolds we realize it is actually possible.
The film Shirley exposes not only the misogyny and racism that Chisholm endured from white men but also from white feminists. Although the term “intersectionality” was not coined until 1989 by scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, the term Chisholm used back then to give some language for this lack of support from white women for Black women was “gender politics.” This included archival footage of feminist Gloria Steinem expressing her support for white male candidates. The film also scrutinizes the relationship between Chisholm and her husband Conrad Chisholm (Michael Cherrie). The man behind a powerful woman at that time also had his own insecurities of dealing with the weight of Chisholm’s fame.
The late Lance Reddick, who never disappoints, delivers a phenomenal performance as Wesley McDonald “Mac” Holder. He plays Chisholm’s advisor, and as the narrative progresses, there is some friction that develops as things get heated during the campaign. Christina Jackson, who plays Barbara Lee, also gives an incredible performance as the future U.S. Representative. We get to see a young Lee who is unsure and uncertain of herself in her own political identity and is convinced by Chisholm to work for her campaign. This inevitably changes the trajectory of her life.
But the performer who gives their all to this role with every fiber of their being is Regina King herself. Her accent, cadence, and emotions throughout the film were remarkable. In scenes where it was easy for the actor to break down wrought with anger or to cry her eyes out, King takes a different approach to emoting her feelings on camera.
It’s subtle, sophisticated, and complex. At times, you don’t know what Chisholm is feeling at that moment. Is she masking the pain to present a false sense of strength and confidence? Or is she in fact not bothered by the shortcomings she’s encountering and pushes on because that’s what she does best? It’s clear that King depicts Chisholm in a way that she felt was most authentic to how the iconic politician would respond in that moment, and I, too, believe she wasn’t super emotional about her losses or even her wins.
Costume designer Megan Coates provided some extraordinary looks for Regina King as Shirley Chisholm throughout the film — beautiful earthy tones and classic ’70s looks that definitely had a Harper’s Bazaar aesthetic to them.
One particular part of the film that stuck to me was Chisholm’s own words (and I am paraphrasing here) about deciding for a candidate that is the lesser of two evils. It got me thinking how not much has changed in our politics today since Chisholm ran in 1972. What if Shirley Chisholm ran for president during this election cycle? Would she endure the same kind of racism and misogyny that she did over 50 years ago? I think many of us from marginalized communities know the answer to this.
But that’s what this movie does: it makes you ponder the landscape of our politics from back then until now. And sadly, how not much has changed. I’m not certain if this was Ridley’s intent, but it was what I came away with after watching Shirley. I also learned a great deal about this woman that I’ve written about in the past. I thought I knew a great deal about her, but there is still more to discover about this phenomenon of a human being.
While my bias may lie a bit in how much I marvel over how spectacular Shirley Chisholm was, this film does her justice and Regina King’s performance is one that will resonate with you long after viewing the film.
Shirley premieres March 22, 2024, on Netflix.
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