Regina King as Shirley Chisholm is set to play the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. The Netflix biopic will chronicle her trailblazing 1972 presidential campaign and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Her boundary-breaking campaign was marked by its youth engagement as she tried to gain enough delegates to speak at that year’s Democratic National Convention.
The movie is written and directed by John Ridley, who won an Oscar for penning 12 Years a Slave.
Regina King said in a statement, “Shirley Chisholm’s fearless determination has been an inspiration to so many of us, and with this film we hope to inspire many generations to come. To collaborate once again with my friend and mentor, John Ridley, and the team at Participant, makes this decade-long journey even sweeter.”
Shirley Chisholm biopic
The two-minute trailer starts off with Regina King’s Chisholm announcing her presidential candidacy, as she says she’s paving the road for people who look like her to get elected. “You going to be president? You ain’t no man,” a little boy says to her during a street fair. “Maybe we should find your mother,” she responds.
She concludes the trailer by noting, “The people of America are watching us.”
Regina King leads the cast along with Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Terrence Howard, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, Dorian Crossmond Missick, Amirah Vann, W. Earl Brown, Brad James, Reina King and André Holland.
Watch the biopic trailer here:
The biopic will drop on Netflix on March 22.
The film is produced by Ridley, sisters Regina and Reina King, Anikah McLaren and Elizabeth Haggard. Jeff Skoll and Ted Gidlow are associated as executive producers.