Against the backdrop of the final days of the Vietnam War, the "Second Wave" of the Women's Movement, the halcyon days of the Black Power Movement, and the initial backlash against the gains of the Civil Rights Movement, Chisholm forged a courageous and determined grassroots campaign that would set the table for the landmark 2008 presidential candidacies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Ready or Not: Shirley Chisholm for President re-creates the era of the 1972 Presidential campaign and posits Shirley Chisholm as the hero. The exhibition's timeline provides a running narrative that binds together artist interpretations of the social causes Chisholm championed, the constituents she fought on behalf of, the societal environment that surrounded her historic effort and the Congresswoman herself.