{"id":2755,"date":"2025-12-06T13:01:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T18:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/?post_type=project&p=2755"},"modified":"2025-12-06T13:32:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T18:32:24","slug":"bring-u-s-together","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/project\/bring-u-s-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Bring U.S. together. Vote Chisholm 1972, unbought and unbossed"},"content":{"rendered":"
This poster shows a portrait of presidential candidate and U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm.<\/strong><\/pre>\n
The 1972 campaign poster supporting Shirley Chisholm, featuring the slogans \u201cBRING U.S. TOGETHER\u201d and \u201cUNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED,\u201d originated from her official Chisholm for President campaign committee during the Democratic primary season. Like many political posters of that era, it does not credit a particular designer. Instead, it was created and distributed collectively by the campaign’s communications team and supporting organizations like the National Organization for Women, which helped to amplify Chisholm\u2019s presidential bid. The poster’s purpose was clear: to introduce voters to a candidate who defied political norms and promote her messages of unity, independence, and integrity.
\nTo understand this poster\u2019s historical significance, it is important to consider the political and social culture of the early 1970s. The United States was deeply divided by the Vietnam War, and debates over women’s rights, economic instability, and ongoing struggles for civil rights. Although the 1960s had seen major legislative victories, American political leadership was still overwhelmingly white and male. Chisholm was elected in 1968 as the first Black woman in Congress, entering national politics at a moment when Americans across racial and gender lines felt disconnected from the political establishment. When she announced her campaign, she declared it marked \u201ca new era in American political history\u2026 Americans all over are demanding a new sensibility, a new philosophy.\u201d\u00b9
\nThe poster\u2019s design reinforces that call for a new direction in the monotonous establishment. The phrase \u201cBRING U.S. TOGETHER\u201d uses color to highlight the U.S., causing viewers to read it as both \u201cus\u201d and \u201cUnited States.\u201d This double meaning reflects her appeal to national unity at a time of social upheaval. Tammy Brown explains that Chisholm\u2019s appeal relied on her unique ability to \u201creconcile seemingly contradictory philosophies of racial, ethnic, and feminist pride with humanist and universalist ideals.\u201d\u00b9 This poster reflects that balance as Chisholm stands proudly as a Black woman candidate, inviting all Americans into a shared political vision.
\nThe bottom slogan, \u201cUNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED,\u201d was not just a catchphrase attached to the campaign but the defining statement of her political identity. In a political era filled with corruption and backroom deals, Chisholm emphasized her independence from party machines and elite donors. Anastasia Curwood writes that the slogan was \u201ca powerful statement of her personhood as a black woman\u201d and a direct challenge to \u201cwidespread cronyism in the Democratic establishment.\u201d\u00b2 By printing the phrase in red capital letters, the poster couples integrity to urgency and patriotic responsibility.
\nThe composition of the image further communicates Chisholm\u2019s political message. She is shown seated at a desk, mid-gesture, wearing a crisp white suit against a plain background. There are no flags, staged crowds, or elaborate props, like other posters of the time, only Chisholm herself in an active moment of thought and explanation. This choice pushes back against entrenched stereotypes of Black women in American culture. As Carole Boyce Davies observes, Black women leaders have historically been \u201cmarginalized\u201d and written out of political history.\u00b3 By centering Chisholm alone and highlighting her intellect, the poster asserts her legitimacy as a potential leader of the free world.
\nChisholm\u2019s candidacy also reflected the rise of Black feminist political thought during this period. Curwood notes that Chisholm viewed racism, sexism, and economic inequality as interconnected forces, emphasizing her belief that \u201cantiblack, antifemale, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing\u2014antihumanism.\u201d\u00b2 The poster\u2019s call to \u201cbring U.S. together\u201d echoes this idea that political unity must be rooted in justice and inclusion. Although Chisholm did not win the Democratic nomination, her campaign reshaped American political imagination. The poster stands as a visual representation of that transformation. It is bold in its colors, a stripped-down composition, and firm in its insistence that political leadership belongs to all Americans, not just those who have historically held power. As Brown highlights, Chisholm became \u201ca new face and a refreshingly candid voice\u201d to citizens craving honesty in government.\u00b9
\nFor those viewing this campaign poster today, it stands as more than a campaign artifact but as a testament to the enduring struggle for representation and equality in American politics. Its message of unity, integrity, and courage continues to resonate in a country still wrestling with questions of democracy and inclusion. Shirley Chisholm\u2019s call to \u201cBring U.S. Together\u201d remains as urgent now as it was in 1972.<\/p>\n
Footnotes\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
1Tammy L. Brown, \u201c\u2018A New Era in American Politics\u2019: Shirley Chisholm and the Discourse of Identity,\u201d Callaloo 31, no. 4 (2008): 1013\u20131025.<\/p>\n
2Anastasia Curwood, \u201cBlack Feminism on Capitol Hill: Shirley Chisholm and Movement Politics, 1968\u20131984,\u201d Meridians 13, no. 1 (2015): 204\u2013232.<\/p>\n
3Carole Boyce Davies, \u201c\u2018She Wants the Black Man Post\u2019: Constructions of Race, Sexuality and Political Leadership in Popular Culture,\u201d Agenda 25, no. 4 (2011): 121\u2013133.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This poster shows a portrait of presidential candidate and U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm. The 1972 campaign poster supporting Shirley Chisholm, featuring the slogans \u201cBRING U.S. TOGETHER\u201d and \u201cUNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED,\u201d originated from her official Chisholm for President campaign committee during the Democratic primary season. Like many political posters of that era, it does not credit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5851,"featured_media":3288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"project_category":[14,19],"project_tag":[843,839,842,844,840,838,841],"class_list":["post-2755","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-1970-1980","project_category-20th-century","project_tag-artasresistance","project_tag-campaigndesign","project_tag-graphichistory","project_tag-intersectionalpolitics","project_tag-politicalmessaging","project_tag-politicalposters","project_tag-visualculture"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/2755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2755"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/2755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3292,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/2755\/revisions\/3292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_category?post=2755"},{"taxonomy":"project_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tag?post=2755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}