#sholalynch

[projangeladavis]

[filmmakerstherapycouch]

“Listening is a magical tool and when sharpened can help you ask the right questions”💫 Excited about launching our latest project - using film as a form of therapy to heal and spark conversation that catalyzes action. An absolute blessing has been the support from industry game changers from #issarae to #sholalynch who’ve contributed their unique storytelling voices, sharing their tips when Filmmakers Therapy Couch was just a web series. 💜 The magical tool of listening has helped this concept evolve to include the type of projects that allow us to be leaders in the space where storytelling collides with inner transformation and therapeutic shifts. check out our new site: filmmakerstherapycouch.org + link in bio #filmtherapy #femalefilmmakerfriday #selfcare (at Brooklyn, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/B64mlE2F4F2/?igshid=du7qxeu4iajp

[auntcookieposts]

#documentary film about Shirley Chisholm by #sholalynch for #women’s history month! (at Brooklyn Historical Society) https://www.instagram.com/p/Buuwj9LlsgZWWC4s9uM459mSGMfXCAYW6oyiZ40/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=rxt4dvx31iyn

[blackwomenincinema]

Black Women in US Politics: Chisholm ’72 – Unbought and Unbossed (Shola Lynch, 2004).

“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 am equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people of America. And my presence before you now symbolizes a new era in American political history.” ― Shirley Chisholm.

 Courtesy of Robert Ball. https://mendolaart.com/project/robert-ball/

Shirley Chisholm’s political struggle is outstandingly documented in Shola Lynch’s Chisholm ’72 – Unbought and Unbossed. The film, which was released in 2004, presents the audience with a new nuance of what it means to be marginalized because of your race and gender, especially in 1970s United States. Shola Lynch, who is a black woman herself, used Shirley Chisholm as a portal that previews the lives of African American women in the late 1960s and early 70s.

On January 25, 1972, Chisholm defied all odds and decided to pursue the presidency of the United States. The film looks into Chisholm’s campaign as “the first Black candidate for president and as the first woman candidate to seek that office through a major party” (Marble, 2011, 6). Chisholm was the first black woman to attempt this.

Although Chisholm was already challenging stereotypes when she was elected as the first African-American congresswoman, her participation in the presidential elections was a revolutionary act that went beyond just race and gender. Chisholm was an advocate for issues related to poverty, war, racial injustices, and equality. Ironically, her race and gender were what limited her potential success. 

The film presents us with a variety of things that Chisholm defied and influenced, yet the most important thing that this film touched upon is its effect on African American women in the 1970s and beyond. Throughout the film, Lynch mentions the emerging women’s movement of the 1970s, a movement that was led by white women such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, who showed a great amount of support towards Chisholm’s campaign. She encouraged women to challenge the status quo and to question the lives “mapped out for them by society” (Marble, 2011, 7). However, the film revealed that the new feminist movement was a predominantly white women’s movement, and black women “fell in the cracks”.

Chisholm was able to create inclusion for Black women in the feminist movement of the 1970s. She did so through creating a sense of self-actualization among black women in the United States, and she did that through the influence she created by herself, especially as an African-American female figure in a leadership position.

But Chisholm did face a lot of challenges along the way, her “black womanness” was seen as a threat to both white and black men, she herself mentions that in the film. But while Chisholm was not exactly affected by the racist and sexist ideologies thrown at her, she was often discredited by white politicians for being black and discredited by black men for being a woman, which may have limited her political success. But it is clear that her intelligence, resilience, and persistence allowed her to become an influential African-American female figure despite all odds.

It is important to remember that Chisholm wanted representation for women and to show that black people can run for the candidacy, but to believe that that was her sole purpose discredits the impact she left as an African-American woman. While other women did try to run for the presidential elections of the United States, and some did challenge the stigma associated with it, Chisholm wanted to do more than that. She spoke about important issues, and was “undaunted, waging a passionate and earnest campaign promising to combat poverty and discrimination, protect the environment and unite a country fractured by urban unrest and the Vietnam War” (Williams 2018). In other words, Chisholm challenged the pre-existing dynamics of the country while fighting for non-gender and non-race related issues such as war and poverty, which was a challenge in itself.

Sources:

Marble, Stephen. (2011). Shirley Chisholm: Catalyst for change. (Brief biography)(Essay). Black History Bulletin, 74(2), 6-8. 

[thepeoplesfilmfestival]

Great film panel on Harlem Prpf Jamal Joseph, Prof Michael Gillespe, Shola Lynch + Prof. Paula Massood at The Media Summit by MOME at The National Black Theater going on until 5pm free .Stop by. Also pick up your tickets to TPFF 2018 & reserve tix for tpxpo2018 #sholalynch #mome #media #jamaljoseph #film #harlem #paulamassood #michaelgillespe #tpff2018 #nationalblacktheater

[junglehieroglyphs]

You wanna talk about some #blackgirlmagic!! #avaduvernay #sholalynch #the13 #docsgetreal

[whrsbblisa]

bell hooks and a panel of black female scholars discuss

[thedochound]

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (2012) Directed by Shola Lynch

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners tells the story of Angela Davis, well-known for her political activism in the 1960s when she was a Civil Rights leader with ties to The Communist Party and the Black Panthers. This doc is an intimate look into the life of a young, black female activist whose ideas landed her on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List and in jail for crimes that, if convicted, would lead to the death penalty. The amount of global support to free Angela, while she was incarcerated, speaks volumes of the power in her ideas. Angela Davis is a rare find in America's history - a political leader and philosopher with boobs and an afro to boot.

If you are a woman, this film will inspire you. If you are a black woman, this film is a must see. For everyone else, I think you'll like it too.

Sidenote: Although Angela is a retired professor, she will be a guest lecturer at UCLA in Spring 2014. She will teach at the school that kicked her out in 1969. What a full circle.

This film will: Make you want to be an activist, inspire you to take a philosophy class, and show you a kick-ass example of a strong, black woman

Filmmaking techniques to note:  For a film based mostly on archival footage and historical data, the intimacy to the subject is amazing. The use of original reenactments helped further the feeling of reliving history.

Some gripes:  I think there were some gaps that could have been explained better. The 3 counts Angela Davis was being tried for was not clear to me until close to the end of the trial. It was also unclear how the gunmen who took members of the Marin County courtroom hostage got a hold of the guns registered to Angela's name.

How long it took to make this film: 8 years

How the film got funded: 1/4 fundraising in the US, 1/3 fundraising in France, the rest by: BET, Jada Pinkett Smith/Overbrook Entertainment, and Jay Z's Roc Nation

Director's educational background: University of Texas and Columbia Journalism School

Other docs by the director: Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed (2004)

Mentor(s): Ken Burns

*The facts above are from: lifeandtimes.com, Wikipedia, and IMDB