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staykinduniversemike's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
ajmarinell's review against another edition
4.0
Shirley was very clearly still raw when she wrote this, which is what she acknowledges she wanted in the Forward. As I was reading I kept coming back to “the more things change, the more they stay the same” - while campaigning & primaries have changed so much, so many of the issues are the same, 52 years later. Her thoughts on racism & sexism & even racism vs sexism were so interesting. The position papers in the Appendix could’ve been written today.
mojojo720's review against another edition
4.0
This was a good and quick read. The Congresswoman covered the importance of coalition building, disappointment in white moderates who talk more than that act, the pitfalls of all or nothing activism that new activists often fall into, racial and gender equality, and reasoned critique of the Democratic party. She also spoke way ahead of her time about the bad possibility of one party minority rule by the GOP. She would be disappointed in us, I think.
There is obviously some dated information about politics and a lot of party and daily details about her process of running in the 1970s, but that's to be expected.
There is obviously some dated information about politics and a lot of party and daily details about her process of running in the 1970s, but that's to be expected.
lizmart88's review against another edition
3.5
Shirley Chisholm has a general memoir as well. This is specifically her remembering her 1972 presidential run. I found her memories to be clear and concise, and inspirational for today. I happened to be listening during the end of the 2024 election and the tough defeat of Kamala Harris. I was both inspired by women like Shirley who have risked their lives and spent their time and energy to make this country a better place for women, and depressed by how much patriarchy and misogyny we still face in this country. If you're into politics, this is an interesting read.
pinktotodile's review against another edition
5.0
First, this book was not easy to get ahold of. There is a single copy in my state's library system in the statehouse in Boston and it cannot be checked out. I did find a copy of it in the library of the college I work at, though higher education's hoarding and gatekeeping of information is a discussion for outside of a GoodReads review. In the end, I was able to find a used copy online that didn't make me entirely wince at the price.
The thing I appreciate most about this book is how candid Shirley Chisholm was about her run for President. "I ran because someone had to do it first." I don't know if this type of book would be considered radical in 1973, but a contemporary presidential candidate writing a about their campaign and where they had successes, failures, and room to grow in as much detail as she had, specifically, I think would shock the system. The thing about this book to me was that she wasn't writing this to market herself or for only her supporters; she was simply retelling the things that happened, passing down her story, in hopes that come 1976 or 1980 or so on that the next Black person, woman, or minoritized person to run for President would know that they could.
The thing I appreciate most about this book is how candid Shirley Chisholm was about her run for President. "I ran because someone had to do it first." I don't know if this type of book would be considered radical in 1973, but a contemporary presidential candidate writing a about their campaign and where they had successes, failures, and room to grow in as much detail as she had, specifically, I think would shock the system. The thing about this book to me was that she wasn't writing this to market herself or for only her supporters; she was simply retelling the things that happened, passing down her story, in hopes that come 1976 or 1980 or so on that the next Black person, woman, or minoritized person to run for President would know that they could.
seeceeread's review against another edition
I ran for the presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.
Chisholm believed in coalitions across minority (gender, race, ethnicity) groups, in anti-poverty policy (universal basic income, subsidized child care) and in representational identity politics (a Spanish-surname secretary, a Black cabinet member). She saw a candidacy like hers as necessary to force mainstream centrist politicians with flimsy rhetoric to make bolder policy commitments before earning the party nomination – to which she, and others in leftist coalitions – would then hold him.
There are a lot of specific details here about which person ran which campaign component, the numbers of votes needed for such and such a procedural step, and strategizing to both identify and speak with key audiences. Chisholm reveals some inconsistencies in her analysis. For example, she hold leading public feminists to different standards for endorsements than men.
Overall, I'm struck by parallels and the naked fact that electoral politics in the US has barely shifted in the past, oh, 50 years. For as much as people have been bandying Octavia Butler's name this year, I'm surprised I haven't seen more of Shirley's words in rotation.
Truly, ain't shit changed! Several of these sentences could be lifted directly onto pundit panels for this week's 2024 presidential election cycle (but imagine the candidate saying them 👀):
The kids believe that conventional politics is an absurdity.
No one was ready to take a Black woman seriously as a candidate.
Why is it that we are always shipping murderous weapons to dictatorships to repress their poor and dispossessed?
We have become, in the eyes of many, the arsenal of reactionary violence.
There is a good deal of evidence that the United States is moving to the right. Now the main form of the movement is a resurgence, and renewed form, of racial prejudice.
There isn't any difference between white conservatives and white liberals that makes much difference to us. The main thing we can see is that one talks a better game.
aschleicher19's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
author_d_r_oestreicher's review against another edition
dark
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
Shirley Chisholm published The Good Fight in February 1973 amid the optimism of Roe v Wade being decided (7-2) in January 1973 and the pessimism of Nixon’s reelection (49 out of 50 states) in November 1972. Shirley Chisholm, a Black woman, sought the Democratic nomination for president to unite Blacks, women, youth, and other minorities. They lost to the “arrogant white intellectuals” who “were convinced that they knew what minorities, women and other groups needed. Why bring them in?” Fifty years later, little has changed except that Roe v Wade has been overturned.
For my extended notes: https://1book42day.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-good-fight-by-shirley-chisholm.html
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Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexism, Abortion, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Classism