The BSPL (Bedford-Stuyvesant Political League) was a political organization formed by Wesley McD. Holder in the 1950s to challenge the white-controlled Democratic establishment in Brooklyn. This organization emerged from Holder’s successful campaign to elect Lewis S. Flagg, Jr., as Brooklyn’s first Black judge and represented an attempt to create sustained Black political power independent of traditional party machines. The BSPL functioned as an alternative to the regular Democratic clubs, advocating specifically for Black candidates and Black political representation in a community that had become predominantly African American. Despite its initial success with Judge Flagg, the organization struggled to repeat these victories due to vote-splitting among multiple Black candidates and the continued loyalty many Black voters maintained toward the established Democratic machine in primary elections.

A congressional district represents a specific geographic area within a state from which voters elect a single representative to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. In Unbought and Unbossed, Chisholm specifically discusses her representation of Brooklyn’s 12th congressional district, which she describes as predominantly composed of poor neighborhoods facing severe urban challenges. Her congressional district serves as more than just a political boundary; it represents the diverse, underserved communities—including Black, Puerto Rican, Jewish, Polish, Ukrainian, and Italian residents—whose needs had been historically ignored by the political establishment. The district becomes a symbol of Chisholm’s commitment to representing marginalized voices and addressing systemic inequalities in American society.

Gerrymandering refers to the deliberate manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor certain political outcomes or disadvantage specific groups of voters. In Unbought and Unbossed, Chisholm describes how Brooklyn’s congressional districts had been gerrymandered to systematically disenfranchise African American voters by splitting the Black vote across four separate districts. This practice ensured that Black voters remained a minority in each district and could not elect representatives who would advocate for their interests. Chisholm notes that one district was so bizarrely shaped it resembled the original “Gerrymander” creature drawn by a political cartoonist in 19th-century Massachusetts. The Supreme Court’s ruling requiring equal-sized, compact, and contiguous districts eventually eliminated these egregious examples of gerrymandering, creating the opportunity for Chisholm’s congressional district to emerge with a substantial African American and Puerto Rican population.

The machine refers to the entrenched Democratic Party political establishment that controlled Brooklyn politics through a network of district clubs and patronage relationships. This system operated by maintaining strict hierarchies of power, distributing jobs and favors to loyal supporters, and systematically excluding Black residents from meaningful political participation despite their growing numbers in districts like Bedford-Stuyvesant. The machine used various tactics to maintain control, including legal challenges to insurgent candidates’ nominating petitions, tokenism to co-opt potential troublemakers, and the strategic distribution of minor positions to create the illusion of inclusion while preserving real power for white politicians.