PARTING SHOT
IF YOU ASK PEOPLE WHO WAS THE FIRST WOMAN TO PARTICIPATE in a presidential debate, or the first black person to run for president, you might hear names like Hillary Clinton or Jesse Jackson. In fact, the late New York Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm was the first woman to run for the Democratic nomination and the first black presidential candidate of any major party. “There are a lot of young people who don’t know the name Shirley Chisolm,” says Uzo Aduba, who plays her in Mrs. America (Hulu, April 15). “There’s a real desire to make sure that you get it right.” Chisholm’s story is just one part of the tapestry of stories told in the nine-part series which chronicles the women behind the various campaigns to help pass the Equal Rights Amendment in the early 1970s, including that of ERA-opponent Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett) and feminist icon Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne). But Chisholm’s name and legacy has largely been left out of the narrative of the women’s rights movement, and it’s time for that to change, says Aduba. “She’s been missing from the historical conversation.”
Illustration by BRITT SPENCER