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.