NY’s Shirley Chisholm, still ‘Unbought and Unbossed,’ debuts on Netflix

A new film about late New York Rep. Shirley Chisholm zeroes in on her 1972 Democratic presidential run, which was famously the first by a Black woman for any major political party.

But at an advance screening of “Shirley” at BAM Rose Cinemas, a chief guardian of Chisholm’s historical legacy argued that her greater significance is “not for being a first, but for someone who just sparked a fire,” and that she is as relevant to the present political moment as she was a half-century ago.

“This film, I hope, allows you to be energized, to be motivated, to be inspired by Chisholm’s legacy,” said Zinga Fraser, director of the Shirley Chisholm Project of Brooklyn Women’s Activism at Brooklyn College. “She only wanted to be known as a catalyst for change.”

“Shirley” follows in the footsteps of “Selma,” “Judas and the Black Messiah” and last year’s “Rustin” as the latest movie about a pivotal African American historical figure. But unlike those others, “Shirley,” which will begin streaming on Netflix on Friday after a brief theatrical run, is the relatively rare film to center a Black woman.

“Shirley” was directed by John Ridley, who won the Academy Award for writing “12 Years a Slave.” It was also brought to the screen by two Black women: actress Regina King, who won an Academy Award for her role in “If Beale Street Could Talk” and plays Chisholm; and her sister Reina King, the movie’s producer, who plays Chisholm’s sister, Muriel. The King sisters have said for years that they wanted to bring Chisholm’s story to a wider audience.

A failed presidential run

The movie doesn’t recount Chisholm’s childhood, her years in Barbados or her political rise in Brooklyn. It instead focuses on the excitement and shortcomings of Chisholm’s presidential run.

“I’m paving the road for other people looking like me to get elected,” she says in the film, which also captures the tensions that arise as Chisholm’s supporters struggle…