UNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED

by Shirley Chisholm ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 5, 1970

Fighting Shirley Chisholm burst upon the national scene in 1968 when she beat out James Farmer, former national director of CORE, for a seat in the U.S. Congress, thus becoming ""the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, a black, and a woman."" The original political maverick, Mrs. Chisholm managed to work her way up from the card party committee in a boss-run Brooklyn Democratic clubhouse to the New York State Assembly, breaking all the rules of political expediency, speaking her mind when and where she pleased, yet somehow surviving in the system. She reminisces about her childhood in Brooklyn with strict Barbadian parents, her career in early childhood education, and her ever-increasing involvement with efforts to advance blacks in Brooklyn politics. Her crisp comments on the ways and means of the U.S. Congress (""the senility system"") and her refusal to be ""educated"" to its unspoken rules are an inspiring example of righteous (but not self:righteous) criticism, and she also sounds off on the issues nearest and dearest to her heart: racism, poverty, the war, and Women's Liberation.

Pub Date: Oct. 5, 1970

ISBN: 098005902X

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION