One more achievement: While the story is driven
by Blanchett’s conservative powerhouse Phyllis
Schlafly, attention is paid to the women of color
who fought for civil rights and to make “second-
wave” feminism of the 1960s and ’70s —
successor to the suffrage movement — address
the obstacles they alone faced.
Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne) and Betty Friedan
(Tracey Ullman) are among the movement’s
white luminaries featured in “Mrs. America,” but
alongside them are African Americans including
trailblazing politician Shirley Chisholm and
firebrand activist and attorney Florynce “Flo”
Kennedy, who are played, respectively, by Uzo
Aduba and Niecy Nash.
While Chisholm is best known, “there are many
Shirleys of the world we have never heard of,”
Aduba said. “That’s why it’s so exciting to see a
project like this, telling not only Shirley’s story
but quite a few of these women that, I would
argue, the population at large doesn’t know
their names.”
Chisholm was the first African American
congresswoman, the first major-party black
candidate to seek the presidency and the first
female Democrat to run. She’s heard loud
and clear in episode three, which is anchored
in the 1972 Democratic convention and the
machinations that pit Chisholm against what
should be her sisters-in-arms.
In a revealing scene, Chisholm is pressured to
end her bid in favor of eventual Democratic
nominee Sen. George McGovern, with New York
Rep. Bella Abzug (Martindale) chastising her for
failing to get a campaign green light from the
power brokers.