kaziaelle's review against another edition
5.0
Wise words from a wise woman. Published in 1970 and so many issues are still relevant today.
saragardinier's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
katrinky's review against another edition
3.0
Recommended from a bell hooks talk I listened to- she mentioned this book as an autonomous work by an influential African-American woman, telling her own, self-driven story. I'm not from New York, and am too young to have known Chisholm as an active political player, but I appreciate the frankness of her story and the detail in her campaigns and rise through the political ranks in her home state. Her language is old-fashioned to read today, for better and worse. It does make me pine for (and acknowledge the perennial shortcomings of) political activism via committee- it's how she got started, but it's also disheartnening to know it was as tedious a process to enact change at the neighborhood and city level in 1972 as it is today. I wish I'd known more about her when she was alive.
marenmk's review against another edition
Reading the beginning portion about her early life was interesting, but once she started talking about her political career it started to feel like a laundry list of elections and legislative actions. A good thing to have on record, but not a thrilling read. She still remains one of my heros.
boeschlauren's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Wonderful insight to such an incredible, groundbreaking woman.
library_kb's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This was an interesting listen that I wouldn't have picked up except for the @Libro.fm ALC program. I didn't know much about Shirley Chisholm before this book--I maybe had heard her name before but wouldn't have been able to place her in a role or time period. I did find it interesting to hear her experiences with politics as a Black woman--some of the things I would have thought would have ended much earlier than her political career (like the NY political clubs) and some things were eye-opening because they are the same conversations and experiences we are having today, with seemingly no progress made.