Unbought and Unbossed

Unbought and Unbossed emerged in 1970 at the convergence of two transformative social movements that fundamentally reshaped American society and politics. The Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Liberation Movement reached critical junctures during the late 1960s, creating the political and cultural context that made Chisholm’s historic congressional election possible while simultaneously highlighting the limitations both movements faced in addressing intersectional identities.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s had achieved landmark legislative victories by the time Chisholm wrote her memoir. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in public accommodations and employment, while the Voting Rights Act of 1965 dismantled legal barriers to African American political participation. These victories enabled the court-ordered redistricting that created Chisholm’s congressional district and provided the legal framework for her electoral success. However, by 1970, the movement had evolved beyond its initial focus on legal equality to address economic inequality, housing discrimination, and systemic poverty—issues that feature prominently in Chisholm’s analysis.

The movement’s internal tensions also inform the political landscape Chisholm describes. The emergence of Black Power ideology in the mid-1960s challenged the integrationist approach of earlier civil rights leaders, emphasizing black self-determination and cultural pride.