In fifth-grade social studies the topic of civil rights isn’t touched on too much. It does dig deeper than the “I have a dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr., but other speeches, incidents or players in the movement won’t be addressed until middle school. Shirley Chisholm is one of those historical figures that should be mentioned in that class. In 1968 she was the first black woman elected to the United States Congress and the first black woman to run for the President of the United States of America as she sought the nomination from the Democratic Party. Speak UP!, Speak OUT!, The Extraordinary Life of “Fighting Shirley Chisholm” by Tonya Bolden is out on Nat Geo Kids and does what they do best.
To celebrate Black History Month and the release of Speak Up, Speak Out!: The Extraordinary Life of Fighting Shirley Chisholm by Tonya Bolden (January 4th), 5 blogs across the web are featuring posts from the book and author, as well as 5 chances to win!
Nat Geo Kids always has a place at the table when it comes to children’s literature. Speak UP, Speak OUT!, is a different kind of book for them, but in a much more mature manner that still keeps the hallmarks that make their books stand out. This book is presented in a way that’s much more on level for those fifth-grade readers and up. It’s not loaded with illustrations, photographs or blurbs that are associated with their books.
Welcome to the Speak Up, Speak Out! by Tonya Bolden Blog Tour!
What readers get instead is a smart, intelligent, well-paced story about Shirley Chisholm. Most of the chapters are around six pages, while the longest chapters are 10 pages long. This length is great for those ages as they’re reading a non-fiction story. Chisholm’s public life reads like a taut political thriller. From the way that some of her classmates viewed her as she grew up in New York against WWII, to her early days in government the thing that always sticks out in her story is that, you can do it.
It’s positive, and even though she was facing vile opinions and violence from racist groups she saw the sunny side. Speak UP, Speak OUT! is a book that’ll provide some great talking points about a civil rights figure that always shared the stage with the big names, and excelled in their work to some degree, but doesn’t have as much recognition as them.
Five Fun Facts about Shirley Chisholm
by Tonya Bolden
1. As a girl and as a woman, Shirley loved to dance. She prided herself on her dance skills. At one point, the merengue, the tango, and the rhumba were among her favorite dances. “I come alive on a dance floor,” she told a reporter in the late 1960s. “I’m very creative. I use my hands and my body. Even now I amaze people when I dance.”
2. Shirley also did a lot of dancing with her fingers—on the piano, that is. When she was young, although her parents didn’t have a lot of money they scraped together enough for her to have piano lessons and to buy a piano on an installment plan.
3. Shirley spoke fluent Spanish. As a student at Brooklyn College she majored in sociology and minored in Spanish. Being fluent in Spanish definitely came in handy when Shirley ran for a seat in the New York State Assembly and later when she ran for Congress. Her assembly district and her congressional district had sizable Puerto Rican populations. Being fluent in Spanish also came in handy when Shirley was in Florida campaigning to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
4. When Shirley and her first husband, Conrad Chisholm, needed a vacation, they sometimes headed to Jamaica, West Indies, where Conrad was born.
5. Having a lisp didn’t stop Shirley from being a member of debate team in college. She was quite the star! Having a lisp certainly didn’t stop her from speaking up and speaking out later in life.
“The strength of Bolden’s skill as a researcher is evident; chapter by chapter, she provides succinct but critical context around the motivations and movements of Chisholm’s political career. An insightful and focused profile of a political trailblazer.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“This lively, detailed look at Chisholm’s personal and political life shines in its portrayal of a strong woman who never backed down…”
– Booklist
“Tonya Bolden brings Shirley Chisholm’s vibrant spirit to life…an engaging and readable style.”
– School Library Connection
From award-winning author Tonya Bolden comes a biography of the first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Black woman to run for president with a major political party: Shirley Chisholm.
Before there was Barack Obama, before there was Kamala Harris, there was Fighting Shirley Chisholm. A daughter of Barbadian immigrants, Chisholm developed her political chops in Brooklyn in the 1950s and went on to become the first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. This “pepper pot,” as she was known, was not afraid to speak up for what she thought was right. While fighting for a better life for her constituents in New York’s 12th Congressional District, Chisholm routinely fought against sexism and racism in her own life and defied the norms of the time. As the first Black woman in the House and the first Black woman to seek the presidential nomination from a major political party, Shirley Chisholm laid the groundwork for those who would come after her.
GIVEAWAY
- One (1) winner will receive a hardcover of Speak Up, Speak Out! by Tonya Bolden
- US/Can only
- Ends 3/6 at 11:59pm ET
- Check out the other stops on the tour for more chances to win!
Extensively researched and reviewed by experts, this inspiring biography traces Chisholm’s journey from her childhood in a small flat in Brooklyn where she read books with her sisters to Brooklyn College where she got her first taste of politics. Readers will cheer Chisholm on to victory from the campaign trail to the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol, where she fought for fair wages, equal rights, and an end to the Vietnam War. And while the presidential campaign trail in 1972 did not end in victory, Shirley Chisholm shows us how you can change a country when you speak up and speak out.
Blog Tour Schedule:
February 21st – Pragmatic Mom
February 22nd – The Nonfiction Detectives
February 23rd – Ms. Yingling Reads
February 24th – Daddy Mojo
February 25th – Mom Read It
Speak UP, Speak OUT!, The Extraordinary Life of “Fighting Shirley Chisholm” is by Tonya Bolden and available on Nat Geo Kids.
The video below from BBC World Service is a great overview of some highlights of her political life, specifically, her run for President of the United States.
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