Regina King Stars as Shirley Chisholm, the First Black Woman in Congress, in Powerful Shirley Trailer

Regina King is bringing Shirley Chisholm to life.

In the first trailer for the upcoming Netflix movie Shirley, King steps into the shoes of the first Black woman to be elected to Congress. 

Chisholm’s uphill battle and obstacles to win a seat in Congress as the daughter of a Barbados-born maid and a Guyanese laborer are illustrated in the film’s sneak peek, along with her struggles to navigate Congress alongside her White male colleagues.

The film chronicles groundbreaking moments from her life, including her “audacious, boundary-breaking 1972 presidential campaign," according to a synopsis.

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The film, which is also produced by King and her sister Reina King, also stars the late Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Terrence Howard, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson and more. John Ridley, who was an executive producer on the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave, is the writer and director of the film. 

King, who has spent 15 years working with sister to develop the film, said bringing Chisholm’s story to film was an important feat. 

“It was always a little disheartening for Reina and I to have so many people over the years of our lives not know who Shirley Chisholm was,” King previously told Harper’s Bazaar. “What she did was so pioneering. She was a true maverick and, you know, we use this term all the time, but she was a true first.”

The Oscar winner also said they decided to release the film in an election year as they thought it would make for a more “impactful” release.

“As a team, we felt that is probably the best way we could possibly honor Shirley: to release her in a space that she created for herself.”

Shirley is on Netflix March 22.