Customer Reviews

Chisholm '72 - Unbought & Unbossed

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ok, I did not buy the DVD. Howver, I did see this film on an episode of POV which airs on the station PBS (Public Broadcasting Station). Regardless, the film was very well done. I love vintage footage so I was in heaven. This film has plenty of 1972 interviews, campaign commercials, demonstrations, they even play Shirley Chisholm's campaign song.

The documentary also did a great job of showing various points of view about the Chisholm campaign. It would have been real easy to manipulate the film so as to villanize those who didn't support Chisholm or did support and then turned later on it. The film is unbiased and honest. The participants interviewed made decisions like any human would. The viewer is given the opportunity to decide whether he thinks it was a good or bad choice.

My only criticism is that I wish I could've heard more about the other side of the campaign. How was Shirley Chisholm when the cameras weren't rolling or when the speech was over. There is a moment when Shirley is asked about an incident where she was almost stabbed in the back. She was naturally uncomfortable with that moment and she became a bit choked up. I wish there was more of that. It would have been good for people who want to follow in Chisholm's footsteps to see the personal struggles as well as the triumphs. But then the doc. is truly about her campaign. I'll just have to read her autobiography for the other details.

All in all, the doc. was very well done. It was educational, lively, exciting, and thought provoking. The real tragedy, though, isn't her defeat but that no one has picked up where she left off. The "dirty" politics that kept Shirley's campaign down are still well and alive today.

This documentary reawakens the political activist in us all! It's as educational as it is entertaining. Ms. Lynch reveals the American election process while unfolding the story and character of the vivacious Shirley Chisholm. I saw this film at the Sundance film festival and had to have it for my DVD collection. It'll fire you up and make you care again.

Shirley Chisholm ran for President of The United States in my favorite year, 1972. This fine documentary shows what a lot of guts and determination, along with real, concrete convictions, the lady had, and we can now fully appreciate what she set out to do. A real progressive candidate is such a breath of fresh air any time, and Ms. Chisholm was certainly ahead of hers. It's fun to see the vintage 1972 footage for all the wonderful fashions and hairstyles as well. I dig Shirley's suits, which matched right down to her blouse. Now that's style.

Shirley Chisholm truly was a Ground Breaking Soul Sister who made a change. this Documentary shows all the Politics&everything that went down with her 1972 Campaign. there should be a Film&also more determined minds to follow in her shoes because Shirley Chisholm truly was ahead of her time. she was truly one of a Kind.she was like a Modern Day Harriet Tubman meets Dr Martin Luther King Jr all rolled into one. Barbara Jordan made a Impact in DC but we haven't had another Shirley Chisholm&we need that spark now more than ever.

Chisholm isn't talked about much today. She seems to be forgotten by many.
With Hilary running many forget that Hillary wasn't the first woman to seek the nomination of the Democratic party. This DVD will really help you understand politics and what goes on behind the curtains. It's is strange Obama is leading with the delegate count. Yet many are suggesting he can't win and perhaps he should step aside. There are haunting similarities in the way Shirley was treated. She was often told she can't win step aside.
This DVD was made shortly before Shirley's death it appears (DVD is dated 2004 and she passed in 2005). She looked great in the more recent interviews contained in the DVD. Thank god she dropped those horrible wigs and went natural. 1972 was an exciting year. There were several serious attempts on her life during the election. George Wallace was shot during the campaign. Shirley tells it all. Who was a b*stard and who was a drunk. For this price Amazon is giving this DVD away. It really is a first class DVD.

Chisholm '72 (2004)
directed by Shola Lynch
approx 76 minutes

This is a very good PBS-style documentary on Shirley Chisholm's run for the Democratic presidential nomination. The movie is a good mix of historical footage and recent interviews with people involved in the race. 1972 was a very strange year in politics in general and in the Democratic Party in particular. At one point, more than 10 people were trying to capture the nomination. Unlike today where the DLC-dominated party makes pathetic efforts to appear "centrist", the runners in '72 knew they had to work for their vote rather than count on a Republican to screw up enough for voters to shrug their way to the polls. Nobody had to work harder than Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman in the US congress.

In this movie, you will see the brave Brooklyn woman who refused to step down when the majority of "leaders" in her own party wouldn't hear her out. You will see how she was abandoned by the congressional black caucus (most likely for being a woman) and by the mostly white "women's movement" (most likely for being black). These groups of course respected her efforts as a symbolic gesture within the establishment- "look how far we've come"- but they did not take her seriously as a candidate. The Black Panther Party was the only group in the so-called "progressive lobby" to rally behind her. You will see members of all the above groups give their thoughts on the election then and now, and whether they regret their decisions. You will also see some of her loyal campaign workers and the harassment that they underwent for refusing to go along with the status quo in their choice of candidate. Shirley Chisholm herself was physically attacked three times during the race, a tragedy which may explain why there haven't been many Shirley Chisholms since '72.

Like independent and third party candidates in later elections, she was blamed for "taking" votes from other wealthier candidates. In the primary, she finished 4th out of all the candidates, not bad for someone who was counted out from the start. Shirley Chishlom's own politics were very close to those of George McGovern, who went on to win the Democratic nomination and lose the 1972 election to Richard Nixon in one of the biggest landslides in American history. Her politics and campaign were not perfect, but I admire Ms. Chisholm for her efforts in '72 and afterwards. At the end of this movie, she reflects on democracy and the election process in a very personal and meaningful way. This movie is a suitable memorial to a inspirational figure in recent American history.

R.I.P. Shirley Chisholm, 1924-2005

I would like to thank the writer, Keith A. Beau for his ability to capture this valuable historical information about Ms. Chisholm and her life encounters during this very critical time. It is "a keeper", especially for those who are African American and other nationalities- in search of more Self-awareness and Diversity-awareness.

Before Barack Obama began talking about change, and saying that "his time had come," Shirley Chisholm, the first African American to run for President, was using these very same slogans in her 1972 campaign for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination. Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to Congress, intelligent, stubborn, outspoken, and optimistic, she knew her chances of gaining the nomination were slim in a field of white, powerful, politically well-connected older men, but she ran in order to create a precendent for younger generations of African Americans who were coming into full citizenship in the post-Civil Rights era. She described herself not as the black candidate, or the woman candidate, but the American candidate, who happened to be black and a woman. She presented herself as the people's candidate. Her platform was very liberal, like Obama's today: End the War (Vietnam), Universal Healthcare, Jobs. The similarities are remarkable enough to make one wonder whether or not Obama has modeled his campaign in part on her's.

People, know your History and great this DVD. The story of Shirley Chisholm's run the Presidency is both informative and inspirational.

THIS IS A GREAT DOCUMENTARY FILM/VIDEO it concerns a great political hero into a short doumentary so we can all recall the American crisis of the 70's concerning Black america, women and All america. This is an educational experience for all to see.

Our Political Leader Forever, Shirley Chisholm....Encore 2008!!!

NoW...Lets really be Honest and i mean Really!!

Who will carry on the dream of Shirley Chisholm's Legacy CLINTON or OBAMA...???

Our Next President must carry on the Political Agenda of Political ICON..Shirley Chisholm... instead of trying to copy her campaign and steal her lines and campaign agenda....LET US GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE!

LET US STICK TO THE FACTS... of the New Political Era which Shirley Chisholm founded.

As Political Pioneer Shirley Chisholm Stated in 1972 Presidential Campaign against Richard Nixon, On the News program ISSUES and ANSWERS...Show "Time for Shirley Chisholm" When she was asked if she would accept The V.P. Position??

She stated....
(She is running for the Presidency of the United States...and you can believe that)

Political Racism is still alive and we must look to our political LEADER SHIRLEY CHISHOLM Who addressed and conquered all of these issues and created much needed change in American so others like Barack Obama could follow in her footsteps.

"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." -Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005)

People are looking both Leadership and Change in the direction of the Country... so I would say Follow the Leader.. and this will define the Victorious Candidate.

In a career that boasted a number of impressive `firsts,' Shirley St. Hill Chisholm seized upon and expanded the political opportunities available to women and African-Americans in the aftermath of desegregation and the civil rights legislation of the 1960's

Power House, Shirley Chisholm,

American politician, the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress, and run for the Democratic Nomination to the Presidency of the United States in 1972.

"I am a candidate for the Presidency of the United States. I make that statement proudly, in the full knowledge that, as a black person and as a female person, I do not have a chance of actually gaining that office in this election year. I make that statement seriously, knowing that my candidacy itself can change the face and future of American politics -- that it will be important to the needs and hopes of every one of you -- even though, in the conventional sense, I will not win."

-- June 4, 1972

But, we all that Shirley Chisholm is a Winner and that everybody in america should constanly be reminded that she was te one that broke down all the political barriers to the progessive development of this country and that she was the Agent of Change that created a new America that did not exist before her 1972 Presidential campaign.