On the anniversary of a woman's right to vote, the message from the Democratic Convention could not be any clearer. Women represent 51% of the 2008 delegation in Denver, Colorado. Women are the future of this party.
The last two days have been so inspiring to me as a young woman of color. Just yesterday, I attended an event called EqualiTea. There, we heard from Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Mrs. Sherod Brown and many others that have fought hard for women's rights. The most stunning speech came from Mrs. Sherod Brown who spoke about Congressmember Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who recently passed of an aneurysm. She talked about how brave and strong Tubbs Jones was and how dedicated she was to electing women into office. Just the day before she died, a candidate for office was promised a contribution from Tubbs Jones. On the day of her death, as she promised, Tubbs Jones had a contribution check delivered to this female candidate. We never know when the time will come, but that story - for which I am not doing any justice to - I was reminded yesterday that our actions must be consistent.
As you know, Mrs. Sherod Brown is Caucasian. Duhhhhh. The reason I even mention that fact is because of the way she spoke about her friend, a Black woman, Stephanie Tubbs Jones. It was the same way many of my community friends relate to me. It was not about race or what part of town her "sister" came from, Mrs. Brown admired Tubbs Jones as a lion roaring loud on behalf of ALL women. Brown spoke about how Tubbs Jones' life was threatened for her relentless advocacy for Hillary Clinton. It was such an emotional moment for every single person in that room to hear the true story behind her endorsement of Hillary Clinton. And all the time she stood strong in her beliefs. I am committed in saying that no other person could have delivered such a speech so resolving and clear but Mrs. Brown. The men in the room were even emotional.
Today, I went to the DNC Women's Caucus, for which I am a member. It was star-studded as we received messages from Eva Langoria, Rosario Dawson, Fran Dresher and Mrs. Johnson, owner of Johnson companies and hundreds of radio stations. WOW! What can I say but the day was emotional, yet I felt so proud to be a woman and was reminded of all the efforts our predecessors have made for us. There were a few crazies that showed up yelling Pro-Life antics. The crowd of at least 2000 people started chanting "O-BA-Ma, O-Ba-Ma, O-Ba-Ma." The guards took the guy away. Then another crazy person starting yelling "Hussein Obama, Hussein Obama" as if that was to get the crowd nervous. Again, the crowd ROARED, chanting "O-Ba-Ma." Our resolve was very clear in the audience. Nothing was going to lessen the message from the
amazing and powerful women speakers.
This afternoon, I attended an Emily's List event. There was a huge turnout. There was one young lady I stood next to and spoke with about our careers. She grew up in Montana, but currently lives in Michigan. We stood next to each other for over two hours and only at the end I found out that her grandmother was an original founder of Emily's List. She is not a delegate, but she was so moved to make the trip for this particular event. I knew immediately my job was to befriend her and give her a stronger connection to the party and the women's movement. I ended up giving her my Convention Floor ticket tonight because she needed to know how important and groundbreaking the actions of her grandmother were to women's privacy rights. She needed to feel the connection in a close way. Again, we never know when we will be called to act or sacrifice our gifts, but at this moment, I found a sister that I will communicate with for the rest of my life. Hopefully, I can get her to run for office.
This event featured Ellen Malcolm, president of Emily's List, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. All of the speakers were inspirational to the standing-room only crowd.
My soul was filled today with quality food for thought. I wish more young girls that lived my same childhood could have the same experience...the same inspiration.
