Shaking up local and national politics by becoming the first African-American congresswoman and the first black (major party) presidential candidate, Shirley Chisholm left an indelible mark as an "unbought and unbossed" firebrand and a leader in politics. Formed by her early years in Barbados and Brooklyn, her political development and outlook did not follow the standard of the civil rights and feminist establishments. Rather, Anastasia C. Curwood argues in this new biography, she took her own path, making signature contributions as a forerunner of black feminist power—centering black women in a movement that sought to create a broadly democratic force through multicultural, multigenerational, and cross-gender coalition-building. Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics presents a “comprehensive political biography” that moves beyond symbolism, weaving Chisholm's public image with her private experiences to create “a definitive account of a consequential life.”

Brian Purnell, author of Fighting Jim Crow in the County of Kings: the Congress of Racial Equality in Brooklyn, joins in conversation.