A new exhibition in Brooklyn is celebrating the life and legacy of one of America's pioneering political figures. Titled The Shirley Chisholm Way, Brooklyn's Blueprint for Change, the show honors the trailblazing congresswoman through a journey across the defining moments of her life. Organizers describe it as more than a display, presenting it as an activation and a portal to her legacy.
The exhibition is hosted at the Lefferts Historic House in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. It is the result of a collaboration between the Shirley Chisholm Institute and Prospect Park, whose president Morgan Monaco was among those marking the occasion. The two organizations came together to bring Chisholm's story to a wider public.
Visitors have a limited window to experience it. The exhibition runs from now until November 15, offering several months for the community to engage with the material. Organizers framed the timing as an opportunity to keep Chisholm's example in front of audiences at a moment they consider especially relevant.
The show is structured around seven key areas of Chisholm's life. These move beyond a simple chronology from birth to death, instead focusing on specific issues she pierced through as a catalyst for change. The path stretches from the inspirations she drew growing up with her grandmother in Barbados to the rooms where she was the only Black woman handling America's business.
Among the pieces on display are images that capture both her public and private sides. One shows Chisholm speaking with a young man in Brooklyn, presenting her campaign materials as the boy looks on with piercing eyes. Another shows her as a young woman, before she became the figure the country would come to know, standing in a dress that organizers say already hinted at the future ahead of her.
Chisholm's place in history runs through the exhibition. In 1972 she became the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, a campaign defined by her famous slogan, unbought and unbossed. Organizers recall that at times her microphone would be turned off intentionally while she was speaking, yet she carried on regardless, her voice cutting through without amplification.
For those behind the exhibition, the aim is to turn Chisholm's story into a question for visitors. They say they want the community to ask not only what Shirley would do, but also what they themselves will do. By engaging young people in particular, the organizers hope the show will serve as both a tribute to the past and a spur to action, with further details available through the Shirley Chisholm Institute and Prospect Park.