Regina King Is Here to Make Sure You Know About Shirley Chisholm

The Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott

Bringing the life story of activist Shirley Chisholm to screen wasn’t an easy task for Regina King. “This has been a labor of love. My sister [Reina] and I have been at this for close to 15 years now.” Netflix’s Shirley (March 22) focuses on Chisholm’s long shot 1972 presidential campaign after she became the first Black woman elected to Congress. At times isolated from movements she had advocated for, like the women’s rights movement—which “was very disappointing and heartbreaking for her”—King’s Chisholm shows the woman behind the trailblazer. “She is a daughter, she is a wife, she is those things that we all, no matter what color you are, can relate to.” But she also got things done by “crossing party lines and getting some really huge changes, wage changes for Latino and Black people.” It’s in the expert hands of the Academy Award-winning King to show Chisholm’s full spectrum, especially in those incredibly important quiet moments. “They are quiet moments, but they’re so loud.”

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