Shirley Chisholm: The Last Interview


Book Description

“All I can say is that I’m a shaker-upper. That’s exactly what I am.” —Shirley Chisholm When Shirley Chisholm announced her candidacy for the democratic presidential nomination in 1972, she became the first Black candidate for a major party's nomination—just four years after she had become the first ever Black woman in Congress. In this collection of interviews stretching from her first major profile to her final interview, this icon of iron will and unshakeable political principle reveals how her disciplined and demanding childhood and the expectations placed on her by the public shaped her into a force of nature and the ultimate people’s politician—tirelessly advocating in the halls of government for the poorest and most disadvantaged of the nation.




Shirley Chisholm: The Last Interview


Book Description

Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress in 1968 after campaigning under the slogan, "Unbought and Unbossed," and her political career never swerved from that principle--she was fearless, undaunted, brilliant, and always first and foremost a servant to nobody but the people. When Shirley Chisholm announced her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972, she became the first black candidate for a major party's nomination just four years after she had become the first ever black woman in Congress. In typical fashion, she acknowledged the landmark but knew it was beside the point: "I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman and I'm equally proud of that." What she emphasized was: "I am the candidate of the people of America." Her legacy has only further demonstrated her profoundly humane politics and her undaunted and tireless work ethic. In a set of interviews that extend from the first major profile by Susan Brownmiller to her final interview documenting her life and reflecting on her legacy, Shirley Chisholm reveals her disciplined and demanding childhood, the expectations on her placed by her family and the public, her tireless advocacy for the poorest and most disadvantaged in the halls of government, and the darkening course of American history. But on her legacy, Chisholm had one priority: "I'd like them to say that Shirley Chisholm had guts. That's how I'd like to be remembered."




Shirley Chisholm Dared


Book Description

Discover the inspiring story of the first black woman elected to Congress and to run for president in this picture book biography from a Newbery Honor-winning author and a Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning illustrator. Meet Shirley, a little girl who asks way too many questions! After spending her early years on her grandparents' farm in Barbados, she returns home to Brooklyn and immediately makes herself known. Shirley kicks butt in school; she breaks her mother's curfew; she plays jazz piano instead of classical. And as a young adult, she fights against the injustice she sees around her, against women and black people. Soon she is running for state assembly...and winning in a landslide. Three years later, she is on the campaign trail again, as the first black woman to run for Congress. Her slogan? "Fighting Shirley Chisholm--Unbought and Unbossed!" Does she win? You bet she does.




Unbought and Unbossed


Book Description

"A tremendously impressive book."--Washington Post "Her motto and title of her autobiography--Unbossed and Unbought--illustrates her outspoken advocacy for women and minorities during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives."--National Women's History Museum In this classic work--a blend of memoir social criticism, and political analysis that remains relevant today--the first Black Congresswoman to serve in American history, New York's dynamic representative Shirley Chisholm, traces her extensive political struggle and examines the problems that have long plagued the American system of government. "I want to be remembered as a woman . . . who dared to be a catalyst of change."Political pioneer Shirley Chisholm--activist, member of the House of Representatives and former presidential candidate--was a woman who consistently broke barriers and inspired generations of American women, and especially women of color. Unbossed and Unbought is her story, told in her own words--a thoughtful and informed look at her rise from the streets of Brooklyn to the halls of Congress. Chisholm speaks out on her life in politics while illuminating the events, personalities, and issues of her time, including the schism in the Democratic party in the 1960s and '70s--all which speak to us today. In this frank assessment, "Fighting Shirley" recalls how she took on an entrenched system, gave a public voice to millions, and embarked on a trailblazing bid to be the first woman and first African American President of the United States. By daring to be herself, Shirley Chisholm shows how one person forever changed the status quo.




Anthony Bourdain: The Last Interview


Book Description

The New York Times Bestseller The brilliant intellect and candor of Anthony Bourdain is on full display in this collection of interviews from throughout his remarkable career, with an introduction from The New Yorker's Helen Rosner. Anthony Bourdain always downplayed his skills as a chef (many disagreed). But despite his modesty, one thing even he agreed with was that he was a born raconteur—as he makes clear in this collection of sparkling conversations. His wit, passion, and deep intelligence shine through all manner of discussion here, from heart-to-hearts with bloggers, to on-stage talks before massive crowds, to intense interviews with major television programs. Without fail, Bourdain is always blisteringly honest—such as when he talks about his battles with addiction, or when detailing his thoughts on restaurant critics. He regularly dispenses arresting insight about how what’s on your plate reveals much of history and politics. And perhaps best of all, the heartfelt empathy he developed travelling the world for his TV shows is always in the fore, as these talks make the “Hemingway of gastronomy,” as chef Marco Pierre White called him, live again.




Joan Didion:The Last Interview


Book Description

The iconic writer whose prose was as influential and as it is unmistakably hers is joined in conversation with Sheila Heti, Hilton Als, Dave Eggers, Hari Kunzru and many more. Some writers define a generation. Some a genre. Joan Didion did both, and much more. Didion rose to prominence with her nonfiction collection, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, and she quickly became the writer who captured the zeitgeist of the washed-out, acid hangover of the 60s. But as a bicoastal writer of fiction and nonfiction whose writing ranged from personal essays and raw, intimate memoirs to reportage on international affairs and social justice, Didion is much harder to pin down than her reputation might suggest. This collection encompasses it all, in conversations that delve into her underappreciated mid-career works, her influences, the loss of her husband and daughter, and her most infamous essays. Far from the evasive, terse minimalist that has come to dominate the image of Joan Didion, what this collection reveals is a warm, thoughtful woman whose well earned legacy promises to live on for readers and writers for many generations to come.




Courage in The People's House


Book Description

"Colorado's first Black member of Congress tells the stories of nine U.S. Representatives who all shared pioneering qualities as African-American, Latino, female, or immigrant members of the House. All of them overcame significant obstacles to make important contributions to American history"--




She was the First!


Book Description

"A picture biography of educator and politician Shirley Chisholm, who in 1968 was the first Black woman elected to Congress and in 1972 was the first Black candidate from a major political party (the Democratic party) to run for the United States presidency. An afterword with additional information, photographs, and source lists are included"--




Nasty Women and Bad Hombres


Book Description

A look at how Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and American voters invoked ideas of gender and race in the fiercely contested 2016 US presidential election




A Political Education


Book Description

In 2012, Chicago's school year began with the city's first teachers' strike in a quarter century and ended with the largest mass closure of public schools in U.S. history. On one side, a union leader and veteran black woman educator drew upon organizing strategies from black and Latinx communities to demand increased school resources. On the other side, the mayor, backed by the Obama administration, argued that only corporate-style education reform could set the struggling school system aright. The stark differences in positions resonated nationally, challenging the long-standing alliance between teachers' unions and the Democratic Party. Elizabeth Todd-Breland recovers the hidden history underlying this battle. She tells the story of black education reformers' community-based strategies to improve education beginning during the 1960s, as support for desegregation transformed into community control, experimental schooling models that pre-dated charter schools, and black teachers' challenges to a newly assertive teachers' union. This book reveals how these strategies collided with the burgeoning neoliberal educational apparatus during the late twentieth century, laying bare ruptures and enduring tensions between the politics of black achievement, urban inequality, and U.S. democracy.