On the recordMarch 14, 2011
Thank you so much, gentlelady from the Virgin Islands. I am so pleased that you put this Special Order together to memorialize the contributions that African American women have made in this, our month of March, a tribute to all women. As the Democratic cochair of the Women's Caucus, I am particularly proud to talk about some of the accomplishments and challenges, quite frankly, of African American women in this country. It is so obvious that we have to honor some of our ancestors on whose shoulders we stand, women like Harriet Tubman, who led slaves out of slavery, even at the point of a gun, a rifle, a strong African American woman that really instilled the kind of self-respect and self-esteem in the African American community, that strength of character that has helped us survive all kinds of tragedies in our community. Sojourner Truth, of course, who really was engaged very heavily in the women's right to vote movement, in the suffrage movement. And of course Fannie Lou Hamer in Mississippi, who fought for the right to vote. And Rosa Parks, who fought to end the segregation in the South on accommodation. And really, moving through history, people like Madam C.J. Walker, first millionaire. So many people, I could just go on and on naming women in every field of business and entertainment, Oprah Winfrey, all the way of course to our very own first lady, our own great Michelle Robinson Obama.
