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!
A Day in the Writing Life of Tonya Bolden
by Tonya Bolden
My process is rather messy, haphazard.
I start with research, hopscotching around primary and secondary sources until I have that Aha! moment—the moment I know where the book needs to begin. I research that moment in depth and then begin to write.
I know some writers can’t move on from chapter one to chapter two until chapter oneis perfect or near-perfect. Not me. I just push on through and then circle back.
I never know what a workday will be like. I’ve never been able to set goals as in, “I will write ten pages per day.” Sometimes at the start of a day I may feel certain that I’ll soon be keyboarding away, only to find that it’s not happening. So I don’t force it. I switch to some research I know I need to do (or to some housework that needs doing).
Visuals help me immensely to put myself in a subject’s shoes. With Speak Up, Speak Out! I surfed the net a lot for photographs of Bed-Stuy Brooklyn in Shirley’s day.
When working on her time in Albany as a member of the New York State Assembly I spent time gazing at images of the capitol building. Here’s how one writer described this building: “At first glance, it looks like it could be a Victorian estate, a humongous hotel with plenty of sleeping quarters, or a stunning Gothic castle with a gazillion windows and stairways one might find in another country.”
As I looked at exterior and interior images of this colossal building I imagined pint-sized Shirley Chisholm entering it, walking its corridors, addressing her colleagues on the floor of the Assembly Chamber. I also looked at old photographs of the DeWitt Clinton Hotel (now the Renaissance Albany Hotel) across the street from the capitol. That’s where Shirley bunked on the days that she was in Albany.
I looked at a lot of images of Shirley, images of her when young, images of her as a grown woman, images of her alone, with constituents, with friends and colleagues, with herfirst and second husbands.
And, of course, there’s lots of revising, revising, revising. The toughest part: cutting passages I’ve labored over and love because they really are TMI!
The best part: polishing the prose. Uppermost in my mind is something Toni Morrisonsaid: “The language must be careful and must appear effortless. It must not sweat. It must suggest and be provocative at the same time.” Morrison also said: “I only have 26 letters in the alphabet; I don’t have color or music. I must use my craft to make the reader see the colors and hear the sounds.”
My writing doesn’t always live up to this, but I try!
"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 witha major political party: Shirley Chisholm.
Click here for Rafflecopter giveaway!
"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 witha 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 speakup 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.
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.
Tonya Bolden has authored, edited and co-authored more than 40 books. Her work has garnered numerous awards, including the Coretta Scott King Honor, the James Madison Book Award, the NCSS Carter G. Woodson Honor, the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, D.C.’s Nonfiction Award, the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, the Virginia Library Association Jefferson Cup Award and the Cleveland Public Library Sugarman Award. Lauded for her skilled storytelling, impeccable research and lively text, Tonya lives New York City.
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!
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
Thank you to the author for her detailed explanation of her research for this inspiring book. I learned that this woman wanted to run for President and I never knew that before. She was ahead of everyone else.
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