In the first trailer for the upcoming Netflix movie Shirley, Regina King stars as the first Black woman to be elected to Congress.

Regina King as Shirley Chisholm

Chisholm’s story will be chronicled, showing her uphill battle and obstacles to win a seat in Congress as the daughter of a Barbados-born maid and a Guyanese laborer, her struggles to navigate Congress alongside her White male colleagues, and her groundbreaking 1972 presidential campaign.

Movie production

Produced by Regina King and her sister Reina King, Shirley also stars the late Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Terrence Howard, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson and more.

King, who spent 15 years producing the film, said the project was an incredible feat.

“It was always a little disheartening for Reina and I to have so many people over the years of our lives not know who Shirley Chisholm was,” King told Harper’s Bazaar.

“What she did was so pioneering. She was a true maverick and, you know, we use this term all the time, but she was a true first.”

King said they decided to release the film during an election year as they thought it would make for a more “impactful” release.

“As a team, we felt that is probably the best way we could possibly honor Shirley: to release her in a space that she created for herself.”

Regina King as Shirley Chisholm trailer

Shirley is will be released on Netflix March 22.

Democrat Don Scott made history Wednesday (Jan. 10th), after the Virginia General Assembly unanimously elected him as house speaker.

The vote makes him the first Black speaker in the Virginia House of Delegates’ 400-year history.

Del. Don Scott speaks on making history

“My first immediate emotion is just gratitude. I’m very grateful,” said Scott, overcome with emotion.

“The historic nature of this moment is not lost on me,” he told the House.

His political path

Scott’s path in politics is inspiring.

After serving as an officer in the Navy and while in his third year of law school, Scott spent nearly eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty in a drug conspiracy case.

“I made the dreadful mistake of going to pick up some money, some drug money,” said Scott, who noted that he had never been in any trouble before.

After being released from prison, Scott went on to finish his law degree and opened a law practice.

He was then elected to the Virginia legislature, serving as minority leader since 2022, before gaining his party’s backing for the chamber’s top post.

The historic swearing in took place in Richmond, once the capital of the confederacy and the city that just two years ago removed its last city-owned confederate statue.

What a full circle moment.

“We’re only a few miles from where the first slaves came into this country in 1619,” Scott said in an interview with CBS.

“Now 405 years later, you have your first Black speaker. So I’m very cognizant of the shoulders that I stand on.”

“I take it very seriously. And I’m humbled and I’m, I’m grateful for the opportunity.”

Don Lemon is coming back with a new show on his terms.

It’s called The Don Lemon Show

The former CNN anchor said in a post on Tuesday that he heard his fans and will be launching “The Don Lemon Show”.

“I’ve heard you … and today I am back bigger, bolder, freer!” Lemon said in a post on X.

“My new media company’s first project is The Don Lemon Show. It will be available to everyone, easily, whenever you want it, streaming on the platforms where the conversations are happening.”

The Don Lemon show will broadcast on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Lemon said he wanted to create a space for honest debate and discussion without the “hall monitors” and encouraged viewers to stay tuned.

Let go from CNN

Lemon was a staple at CNN.

He was let go from the news network in April 2023 after a series of on-air remarks and a scathing report from Variety that recounted an alleged pattern of misogynistic behavior toward colleagues at the network dating back at least 15 years. A spokesperson for Lemon at the time shot down the report in a statement to Yahoo News as “patently false” and “based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old anonymous gossip.”

In a post-CNN exit exclusive interview ABC24, Lemon addressed his departure.

“I don’t believe in platforming liars and bigots and insurrectionists and election deniers and putting them on the same footing as people who are telling the truth, people who are fighting for what’s right, people who are abiding by the constitution,” he said in the interview. “That would be a dereliction of journalistic duty.”