Political Quotes

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I rise today to mourn and to join our Nation in mourning Dr. Dorothy Height. She was an American icon who dedicated her life to racial justice and to gender equality. And at a time when women and African Americans were regarded as second class citizens, this strong, powerful, beautiful African American woman stood up for us and she strove to change that and rose to become a key figure in the civil rights movement, meeting with first ladies and Presidents and heads of state. I want to step back for a minute because I look back fondly to the time when I first met Dr. Height, and it was more than 20 years ago as a young advocate working on domestic violence. It was through Dr. Height's voice and her leadership and her kindness and generosity of intellect and of spirit that enabled me to become a really strong advocate for domestic violence and to speak on behalf of the needs of African American women and women of color in a feminist movement that was not always open to those kinds of voices. It was really Dr. Height who enabled us to meet those challenges with our other feminist colleagues. And so I regard Dr. Height as a strong woman of color in the civil rights movement, but also a really strong feminist and a committed feminist. Just a few weeks ago, I greeted Dr. Height when she was out in my congressional district with her beloved Deltas. She was feeling as strong and healthy then and healthy of spirit and mind and intellect as she always had been.…”