King brings Shirley's story to forefront

Have you seen “Shirley” the Netflix film that focuses on the historic presidential run of Shirley Chisholm? Oscar-winner Regina King stars as Chisholm and also serves as producer alongside her sister Reina (who also appears in the film as Chisholm’s sister Murial).

- Yanina Carter

Oscar winner Lucas Hedges plays Chisholm’s national student organizer, Robert Gottlieb, and Christina Jackson plays campaign volunteer Barbara Lee, who (decades later) was also elected to Congress.

Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to the United States Congress, and in 1972, she also became the first woman to seek the presidential nomination from a major party.

King said the initial idea of doing “Shirley” came in response to the sheer number of people that the two sisters encountered who’d never heard the name Shirley Chisholm. "After so many times of having that experience, we thought, ‘Wait a minute, this is not right. When you hear just even the last name, Chisholm, you should think Shirley,'” King explained.