Last week I viewed a film about the unexpected candidacy of a woman of color running for President of the United States.
The election year was 1972.
The presidential candidate was Shirley Chisholm.
The film, Shirley, is a timely watch, given the presidential election of 2024 and given we are on the eve of Black History Month. The movie is informative, from a historical perspective.
And inspiring from a leadership perspective.
(Of course, because Shirley is a motion picture, its content is dramatized at times and glamorized at times. But then, we want — no, we need — drama and glamor in biopic films, as these are not documentaries. Furthermore, what is entertaining need not always be mutually exclusive from what is educational.)
In 1968, Shirley Chisholm, of Brooklyn, New York, was the first African American woman elected to Congress. Four years later, she was the first African American and the first woman from either major party to pursue the Oval Office.
These facts alone show that Shirley Chisholm was courageous and a change agent, two crucial qualities of an effective leader.
But for me, the most powerful leadership takeaway from Shirley is Chisholm’s uncompromising commitment to her values, especially in the face of daunting personal adversity and societal discrimination.
In the movie, what Chisholm values most is access, opportunity, and justice for people — all people, as she understands that all people have equal worth. She pursues power, yes…but for the purpose of sharing that power — and her instrumental motivation concerning power is reflected in this line from the film: “My position and my messaging are very simple: I’m trying to give politics back to the people.”
Pursuant to this objective, Shirley shows Chisholm engaging with persons from all walks of life, from college students, who were typically undervalued by national candidates, to avowed segregationist and political opponent, George Wallace, to the founder of the Black Panther Party, Huey Newton.
She announced her candidacy for president on January 25, 1972. You can find her full speech from that announcement here.
The movie offers a consolidated, and mostly spot-on, rendition of that speech, the first part of which is below — and is quite poignant.
I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States of America. I am not a candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement in this country, although I am a woman and I’m equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political policies or fat cats or special interests. I stand here now without endorsements from any big-name politicians or celebrities. I do not intend to offer to you the tired and glib clichés which for too long have been an accepted part of our political life. I am the candidate of the people of America. And my presence before you now symbolizes a new era in American political history. I have faith in the American people. I believe that we are intelligent enough to recognize the talent, energy, and dedication which all Americans, including women and minorities, have to offer. We are all God’s children, and the will of each of us is just as precious as the will of the most powerful of us.
As a film, Shirley is not compelling because we are surprised by what happens “at the end.” Rather, Shirley is compelling because we are inspired by what happens “along the way.” We are invited into the journey of a leader who was kind yet strong (and yes, at times, stubborn). A leader who was noticed for being different but who remains noteworthy because she desired to eliminate differences. A leader who stood out for standing up to the establishment, more concerned about her significance than her success.
So give Shirley a go. Regardless of whether you approve of her policies, you should certainly appreciate her approach to politics, to leading.
Shirley, a Leader was originally published in Horizon Performance on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
