Davis will produce and star in “The Fighting Shirley Chisholm”, a film about the first black woman to be elected into Congress.
According to Deadline, Amazon Studios won the rights to a new drama on Shirley Chisholm. And Oscar winner Viola Davis is set to play the trailblazing New York representative.
Viola Davis set to play Shirley Chisholm, first black woman in Congress https://t.co/eqRwv97nXh
— TIME (@TIME) November 30, 2018
Davis’ production company, JuVee Productions, which she co-runs with husband Julius Tennon, recently inked a first-look feature film deal with the streaming service. The film will be the introductory project under the new deal.
Chisholm was the first black woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress in 1968 and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination four years later. The Brooklyn-born politician was consistently a pushing for progressive causes, fighting against discrimination of African-Americans, women and LGBTQ people.
Chisholm passed away in 2005. No word on when production will start.
