If We All Hold the Plow
June 17, 2009
by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
|The following is an excerpt from the address Secretary Clinton gave in acceptance of the Alice Award, named for suffragette Alice Paul. Sewall-Belmont House bestows the award annually to honor outstanding contributions in breaking barriers for women.
Alice Paul was a visionary and a pioneer. She believed that gender equality was a moral imperative as well as a foundation for progress. And her struggle for women’s rights was built on the premise that no society or nation can reach its full potential if half of the population is left behind.
Now, we have seen that played out in our own country… The struggle for women’s rights and for women’s suffrage did not come easily; it was a very long haul. It took enormous persistence… But it was finally enshrined in our Constitution… And we know that where women flourish, families flourish, communities flourish, and nations flourish. That’s why this important mission of extending women’s equality and full participation is not finished, and we each have a role to play.
Alice Paul
What made Alice Paul so special was her fearlessness. I mean, she went where most men and women would not have gone. She took on every obstacle that came her way. She was a tireless human rights activist, an unyielding advocate for the equal rights for all women. Her Quaker upbringing instilled in her the value of simplicity, and to her, it was very simple: Gender equity was so self-evident that she often would express frustration that her motivating idea that women and men should be equal partners in society caused such a ruckus in so many places – not that I ever experienced that. (Laughter.)
…So we have traveled a long way, but I don’t think we have yet reached any destination that we can call our own and which gives us the opportunity to rest. There is so much work to be done to improve the status of women and girls in many parts of the world… And in the State Department, we have made it clear that human rights, and in particular women’s rights, are a central component of our foreign policy. I don’t believe that we can be successful in the many challenges that we face around the world if we don’t stand up for the rights of women. (Applause.)
Alice Paul was once asked why she never stopped fighting for women’s equality. She answered with a saying from her mother: “When you put your hand to the plow, you can’t put it down until you get to the end of the row.” So Alice Paul never put that plow down. Her work continues today not only through this wonderful home that was hers and a headquarters for the National Women’s Party, but through all of us…
So if we all hold on to the plow, it’ll go a little faster, we might get to the end of the row a little quicker. And if each of you thinks about ways that you can – here at home and around the world — make the continuance of this work part of your own lives, it will make a difference…
So giving heart and support to women who are willing to take steps to have their voices heard, to really take the risks that go with speaking out, running for office, starting a business, defending the rights of others, is so important. And it means so much… We have so many tools at our disposal that Alice Paul never had. And each of you here today has a unique ability to carry that message.
… I am more encouraged than discouraged. I am more optimistic because I think history is on our side. We can see the tectonic plates shift. And I know that each of us wants to see more progress on behalf of more women and girls, and together that’s exactly what we will help to bring about.
This is why I supported HRC- my concern now is that she not turn into an obamite but stays true to all we loved about her
I have no doubt that HRC will be a loyal team member. At the same time I trust that she will do what she can do for Human Rights, specifically Women’s and Girl’s rights, including providing internal pressure up to the point that it is possible to do. Outside agitator is not her role so other people need to do that.
Her speech at the UN Fourth World Conference On Women in Beijing, 1995 was historic.
Hillary Clinton you are so “all that”!!!!
So spot on – viewers, let’s all pick up that plow together.
It’s time we all work together and travel the last mile.
It’s time we all work together…
Agreed!
…and travel the last mile.
the last one?? (sounds so end-of-worldish…) How about “the many miles that lie ahead of us…”
—————–
Hillary *sigh*. sometimes just hearing her voice does a body good…
Swearing-in of Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues
http://www.state.gov/video/
In the literal sense of the title, I knew a farm woman who could heave 100 lb sacks of potatos all day long and another who milked 30 cows twice a day every day for years and the two best farm equipment operators in the neck of the woods where I grew up were women – talent and ability manifested, no questions asked, no qualms, no reservations, no issues, no hassle, no gender issues, just damn hard work to survive and all were equal – we must see from time to time that there are manifestations of equality, granted, so few and so slow but more is coming – I see another woman, and I forgot to reference it, is about to enter the big time NASCAR circuit. Keep putting the petal to the metal in all aspects of our collective lives. I see some real hope with TNA.
The phrase “Pentagon Defense Budget” is a powerful one. Eisenhower, when he left office, warned the US people of the dangers of a large defense budget, it would continue to grow. According to the Inter Press Service, the 2008 defense budget was $647.5 billion, while the budget for programs related to climate change were $7.37 billion.
Dollars are an indication of a countries priorities and a large defense budget must be spent in order to justify next year’s budget. How to do that–invent wars, etc. Always bad for women
Dollars for war harm women in a myriad of ways–not spending to reduce global warming, preventing a national health program, recruiting young people to fight with unreal descriptions of their enemy, but a belief that war is a solution warps our sense of humanity. Since women don’t usually participate in war, they are second class citizens. War gives men a sense of invulnerability, of being owed.
I support and admire women such as with Alice Paul. She and Hillary are role models. But they are up against a defense budget that determines US international relations and US domestic spending priorities and attitudes.
On a more positive note, the Dutch are part of a global project “Communicating for Change: Getting Voice, Visibility, and Impact for Gender Equality” financed by a Dutch MDG fund.
In addition to addressing equality in the US, would it be helpful to examine some of the differences between the US and countries such as the Netherlands and Canada regarding women?
I meant to leave my previous comment under “Shining a Light. . . ” Sorry.
Maybe I’m just tired, but this brought tears to my eyes.
its is not from youbeing tired, it brought some tears to my eyes
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