*“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” Few political declarations capture the spirit of Shirley Chisholm quite like that one.
The pioneering Black congresswoman understood that waiting for the powerful to make room for you was no substitute for claiming your place—and that lesson remains strikingly relevant as Americans prepare for another consequential midterm election.
Chisholm, who broke barriers in Congress and challenged the political establishment with an unprecedented presidential campaign, believed that meaningful change required people to reject limitations, organize and demand a voice in the decisions affecting their lives.
“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas,” she once said.
Those words provide a fitting backdrop for Shirley Chisholm: Unbossed & Unbowed, a one-woman play written and performed by Ingrid Griffith. The production revisits the remarkable life of a woman who refused to accept the limitations imposed on her because of her race and gender, offering a timely reminder that political power is not simply handed to those who have historically been excluded from it.
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The award-winning play drops November 2nd at New York’s West End theater and will tour the country after its New York run. Tickets are free for school groups. Others can purchase the modestly priced tickets at UnbossedUnbowed.com.
A woman who refused to wait for permission
Born Shirley Anita St. Hill in Brooklyn, New York, on November 30, 1924, Chisholm was the daughter of Caribbean immigrants. She built a career in education and early childhood development before entering politics, bringing firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing working families to her public service.
In 1968, she made history as the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, representing New York’s 12th Congressional District.
But Chisholm was never interested in being a symbolic presence. She wanted to influence policy, challenge entrenched power and advocate for people whose concerns were routinely overlooked by political leaders.
Her independence was captured in the campaign slogan that became synonymous with her name: “Unbought and Unbossed.”
The phrase expressed her determination to make decisions on her own terms rather than submit to party leaders, political insiders or expectations about how a Black woman should behave in public life.
“I have always spoken out for what I believe: I cannot be controlled,” Chisholm declared during her first congressional campaign.
Known as “Fighting Shirley,” she served seven terms in Congress, advocating for education, economic opportunity and programs benefiting low-income and working-class Americans. She also helped establish the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971, joining other Black lawmakers in creating a stronger collective voice within the federal government.
For Chisholm, breaking barriers meant challenging the assumptions that had restricted generations of women and Black Americans—and refusing to let those assumptions dictate what they could accomplish.
“We must reject not only the stereotypes that others hold of us, but also the stereotypes that we hold of ourselves,” she said.
‘No one gives away political power’
Chisholm’s boldest challenge to the political establishment came in 1972, when she launched her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. She became the first African American candidate to seek the presidential nomination of a major political party and the first woman to seek the Democratic nomination paving the way for future runs by Reverend Jesse Jackson, Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.
Chisholm did not win the Democratic nomination. But her campaign challenged the boundaries of American presidential politics and gave a national platform to people who had long been excluded from its highest levels.
Ingrid Griffith brings ‘Fighting Shirley’ back to the stage
For Ingrid Griffith, the journey to telling Chisholm’s story began with a discovery. Despite Chisholm’s historic achievements, Griffith realized she knew surprisingly little about the political pioneer.
Griffith, a Guyanese-born actor and playwright who immigrated to the United States at age 12, first became interested in Chisholm after watching a documentary about the Democratic presidential candidates of 1972. The discovery prompted her to investigate a woman who had helped reshape American politics but whose story had not received the attention Griffith felt it deserved.
“I’m from Guyana. The 1972 campaign was before I emigrated to the U.S. But I was surprised I didn’t know more about this African American woman who made history,” Griffith said. “She was the first at many things. But I hadn’t read about her in textbooks in the U.S.”
Griffith set out to learn more, eventually creating Shirley Chisholm: Unbossed & Unbowed, an award winning immersive solo performance that brings Chisholm’s life, political convictions and struggles to the stage.
For Griffith, telling Chisholm’s story is more than an acting exercise. It is an opportunity to make an overlooked chapter of American history accessible to new generations and encourage audiences to think about their own capacity to create change.
Unbossed & Unbowed offers a reminder that democracy depends on more than the promises made by candidates.
It depends on people who recognize their own power, participate in the political process and refuse to accept that the existing order must remain unchanged.
And through Ingrid Griffith’s portrayal, that message continues to reach new audiences.
The folding chair remains a powerful metaphor for Chisholm’s approach to politics: when the door is closed, find a way in.
When a seat is denied, claim one. And when the system fails to represent the people, organize to change it.
The 2026 midterm elections will determine every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and roughly one-third of the Senate. Those contests will shape which party controls Congress and influence the legislative direction of the country for the next two years.
Congresswoman Chisholm’s clarion call to all Americans was to get involved.
“Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth,” she said.
And now many more Americans will hear her words.
Article by Jazmyn Summers You can catch Jazmyn every morning on “Jazmyn in the Morning “on Sirius XM Channel 362 Grown Folk Jamz. Subscribe to Jazmyn Summers’ YouTube. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
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