What better day than President’s Day to drop the full trailer for Shirley, starring Regina King as trailblazing figure Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman from a major political party to run for President of the United States.
Chisholm, who has been a supporting subject in numerous projects, including the 2020 miniseries Mrs. America, has long been overdue to have her story told. In 1968, Chisholm became the first Black elected to the United States Congress, representing New York’s 12th district from 1969 to 1983. But that’s not all, as Chisholm broke another barrier in 1972 when she ran for President of the United States, becoming the first Black woman to seek a major party’s nomination for that office.
The film marks one of the final roles of the late Lance Reddick, who died suddenly last year. Also in the cast are Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, Dorian Crossmond Missick, Amirah Vann, W. Earl Brown, Brad James, Reina King, André Holland and Terrence Howard.
Here’s the official synopsis from Netflix: SHIRLEY tells the story of the first black Congresswoman and political icon, Shirley Chisholm, and her trailblazing run for president of the U.S. It chronicles her audacious, boundary-breaking 1972 presidential campaign.
This is a passion project for King, who worked with her sister Reina for over 15 years to get off the ground.
Ridley is best known as the Oscar-winning writer of 12 Years a Slave. He most recently directed sci-fi/romance Needle in a Timestack, and before that the unfortunate Hendrix biopic Jimi: All is by My Side. He has not found the same success as a director than as a writer.
Shirley hits Netflix on March 22nd.