Activists From Texas

"Her mantra was, Focus on the long-term goal, and figure out what you have to do to achieve it."

"She was willing to compromise and work with people of all political perspectives as long as she made progress toward her objectives."

"Euline's contributions to Denton are immeasurable. But she is remembered by her family most as a caring and giving spouse, sister, and mother. She will be missed by all."

"One of the few stories that captured my real feelings on the day we won, however, didn’t appear until a few weeks later, in the Milwaukee Journal: “Sarah Weddington looked uncomfortable as the women pressed close to her, offering their thanks. ‘If I hadn’t done it, someone else would have,’ she explained to them.” Indeed, I saw Roe as part of a much larger effort by many attorneys. I was the one who, through a series of quirks, stood before the Court to represent all of us. Had a different string of events occurred, another case might have been the one to make history."

"As soon as Sarah Weddington had my name on the affidavit, I had served my purpose...If she told me how and where to get an abortion (or introduced me to people who knew, since, as a lawyer, she might have to cover herself), she wouldn’t have a plaintiff. And without a plaintiff, somebody else might get their case before the Supreme Court first."

"The problem I see for younger activists is that today it’s harder to get a good job. It’s harder to make the money you need. I mean, we lived so simply. I watch my students and the tuition is so much higher and they’re working two or three jobs trying to support themselves. I think it is harder for people to have the time to be able to do the kinds of work we did, just because we didn’t have as many other demands on us as people who are of college age and a little bit older do."

"In law there are “magic words.” If one of them applies to what you are challenging, you have a good chance of getting it overturned. Linda and I used all the magic words that might possibly apply: The statutes were “vague” and uncertain on their face; they were “unconstitutionally broad” on their face in that they infringed upon plaintiff’s “right to safe and adequate medical advice” about the decision of whether to carry a pregnancy to term, upon the “fundamental” right of all women to choose whether to bear children, and upon plaintiff’s “right to privacy” in the physician-patient relationship; on their face they infringed upon plaintiff’s “right to life” in violation of the due-process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; on their face they violated the “First Amendment” prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion; and on their face they denied plaintiffs the “equal protection of the laws.”"

"In an insightful study of the two memoirs, legal scholar Kevin McMunigal argues that Weddington did not adequately inform McCorvey that her chances of receiving an abortion as the Roe plaintiff were slim, thereby allowing the vulnerable McCorvey to believe that being the plaintiff in the case was her most likely ticket to a legal abortion. Doing so, McMunigal states, was a questionable ethical decision on Weddington’s part, as she treated McCorvey as a stand-in for pregnant women as a whole, not as a client with needs and interests of her own. Ultimately, McMunigal maintains that McCorvey should have been treated with comparable ethical standards as patients seeking out medical care or participating in medical research, namely, being provided with comprehensible information about the various strategies open to her from which she would then be able to choose."

"Hays, who is currently a candidate for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, said she remembers Weddington a constant advocate for others. “She…taught me that you always help somebody out and connect them or open the door for them,” Hays said. “That generosity of spirit is too rare these days.”"

"Cruel and harmful"

"Support for abortion rights and legal abortion has actually increased over the years. And women have continued to access abortion services at pretty much the same rate."

"There is a reason that "roe v. wade" is the number one search on google today — American’s are waking up in disbelief and trying to understand how #SCOTUS is planning to eviscerate access to safe and legal abortion"

"Cecile Richards twitter account"

"Earlier this week, news broke that the Supreme Court, in a leaked initial draft of majority opinion, had voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case in which the court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction."

"Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) was named the Chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee on State and Foreign Affairs (SFOPS), on Monday. Chairwoman Lee is the first African American to serve as chair to the powerful committee, which has jurisdiction over the country’s nondefense international affairs. She says she will focus on reinvesting in the State Department."

"She was...the only member of Congress to vote against authorizing the United States to go to war. It earned her death threats and tens of thousands of pieces of hate mail. But nearly 20 years later, her Democratic colleagues and advocates call it one of her most prescient and career-defining votes, as Congress comes closer to finally achieving her goal: repealing the blank check she believes lawmakers gave to presidents to wage war in the name of fighting terrorism."

"Her lonely (2001) vote and her standing there was something that impacted me when I was in middle school, high school. It was our generation that was sent to war. ... The weight of those decisions is very much on our shoulders. And highlighting that, her exhibiting her courage in that moment, it certainly comforts me in moments I cast lonely votes."

"As military historian and retired career officer Andrew Bacevich notes, “... US troops are still present in something like 140 countries; Pentagon and national security state spending continues to increase astronomically.” When the National Defense Authorization Act for the next fiscal year came before Congress this summer, Senator Bernie Sanders proposed a modest 10 percent reduction in military spending so $70 billion could be re-directed to domestic programs. Representative Barbara Lee introduced a House resolution calling for $350 billion worth of DOD cuts. Neither proposal has gained much traction, even among Democrats on Capitol Hill. Instead, the House Armed Services Committee just voted 56 to 0 to spend $740.5 billion on the Pentagon in the coming year..."

"God, help has finally arrived. I am telling you, it’s been mighty lonely here... Some people say, ‘Don’t you get tired, or aren’t you going to give up? Wait a minute. I’m a black woman in America. You don’t get tired. You just keep at it until justice is done and until you get the job done."

"Kamala should be president...We know how to lead... We know how to help regain the soul of America. And we have our unique history in this country to be able to lead out of the White House as president and vice president."

"Let me tell you one thing on the disparities in the healthcare system: They have been with us since the first enslaved Africans were brought to America 401 years ago. This is nothing new. We’ve been fighting for universal, accessible, affordable healthcare; I mean, Black people have been fighting for this forever."

"The Democratic Party needs to learn that it’s got to be inclusive and democratic, which means listening to different points of view from young people, from the Movement for Black Lives, from our Dreamers, from all of our young people throughout the country—and to know that even though their proposals may be bold and different and visionary, hey, you’ve got to embrace visionary and bold ideas now if you really want systemic change."

"Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee was narrowly defeated Wednesday in her bid to break into House Democratic leadership, a loss she blamed on barriers for women of color. Democratic incumbents and incoming members who were elected this month voted behind closed doors for New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries over Lee for party caucus chair. The vote was 123 to 113. The contest for the Democrats’ No. 5 job pitted the progressive Lee, who would have been the first African American woman elected to the House hierarchy of either party.. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, said... members should have the “courage” to make their votes public. “It was very disappointing... because I think Barbara Lee has shown extraordinary leadership in her career... It’s about time that we have to say what we mean and mean what we say, which means rather than have secret ballots we should have public ballots... Because there’s this game that some of my colleagues play where they say one thing to one member and then say something to another member.”"

"U.S. Representative Barbara Lee took a decidedly radical woman-of-color position when she stood alone among the members of Congress to state her opposition to war in western Asia. She was one individual Black American woman refusing to fall prey to U.S. patriotic propaganda. If we take the idea of democracy at its word, it obligates my congressional representative and myself, as women of color, to protest not only this war but also the conditions that helped create it: namely, U.S. foreign policy."

"On September 14, 2001, three days after New York City’s Twin Towers were leveled by two hijacked airliners... Congress met to consider President George W. Bush’s request to wage war against the perpetrators. On the floor of Congress, speaker after speaker echoed the hurt, outrage, anger, and shock of a wounded nation. A flood of countrywide sentiment demanded action. Every single member of Congress—the House and the Senate—concurred. Almost. The vote in the House on the expanded wars act was 420 to 1. At this time of crisis, when there was much pain alongside many acts of heroism, one stood alone. Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California’s 13th District... voted against war. As Lee addressed Congress that fateful day, she spoke from her conscience, from her heart. She warned... “Let us not act so that we become the evil that we deplore.” ...For her calm, measured act of reason, which proved prescient, Lee received a torrent of harsh criticism, cruel words, and death threats. For the following weeks, she had to be blanketed by Secret Service agents for protection... This singular, lonely act of courage helped define Congresswoman Barbara Lee. But it should not overshadow a remarkable life and exemplary career both before and after her stand alone."

"“We know how to lead,” Lee said of Black women in the Democratic party, and beyond. “We know how to help regain the soul of America..." When Joe Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president this spring, he vowed to choose a woman to be his number two. Multiple candidates at the top of his short list were women of color. Black women are a demographic that’s powered the Democratic Party for decades—its “backbone,” Lee said. “Enough is enough. We’re here to stay. So just shut up.”"

"I think you have a convergence, or a confluence, that represents the intersectional nature of where people are in terms of economic security, racial justice, and social justice... There have been a lot of them working on a variety of military budget issues, police issues, justice issues. Now, I think they’re all coming together... it’s clear that people are hurting very badly. And, yet, they are told that “Well, the resources just aren’t there.” And of course we know that Republicans got their tax cuts, but the resources are really also within the Pentagon in terms of their wasteful spending... So I think connecting the two is what is taking place now, as people are suffering and living on the edge in such a profound way... the movement is really pushing the Congress and saying, “We need resources for our domestic priorities and investments in our domestic priorities… You can cut up to 40 or 50 percent out of the Pentagon budget and still have strong national security. So 10 percent is for starters, but it’s great, and I’m so glad we got there—because this $73 or $74 billion is badly needed today in our communities, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface... When you look at polling data, when you look at where people are on military policy and domestic policy—when it comes to making sure that these unauthorized wars, these forever wars, stop—the public is with us."

"It’s important that we leave our caucus unified, because it’s Democrats who are going to save the soul of America... You heard and saw what took place (in the race)... That’s something that women, especially women of color and African American women, have to face... That’s nothing new. It’s here, it’s everywhere. But I think we did a great job... We still have many glass ceilings to break."

"Lee said she was all for responding to the Sept. 11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people, but worried the authorization was too open-ended and was being rushed through Congress at an emotional time. Trained in psychiatric social work, Lee said she knew that “when you’re angry, when you’re sad, when you’re emotional, when you’re frustrated ... you don’t make hard decisions. That’s Psychology 101.” In a speech on the House floor, Lee implored her colleagues to “just pause, just for a minute, and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control.” Her plea went unheeded.... The first call she received after the vote was from her father, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, who told her always to look for alternatives to putting American troops’ lives at risk. “He told me, ‘That was the right vote, and you’re going to catch hell, but stand strong. You’re doing this for our troops, you’re doing this for the country,’” Lee said."

"Now this resolution will pass, although we all know that the President can wage a war even without it. However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. Our country is in a state of mourning. Some of us must say, let's step back for a moment. Let's just pause, just for a minute and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control. Now I have agonized over this vote. But I came to grips with it today, and I came to grips with opposing this resolution during the very painful, yet very beautiful memorial service. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, "As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore.""

"Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart, one that is filled with sorrow for the families and loved ones who were killed and injured in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Only the most foolish or the most callous would not understand the grief that has gripped the American people and millions around the world. This unspeakable attack on the United States has forced me to rely on my moral compass, my conscience, and my God for direction. September 11 changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us. Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States. I know that this use-of-force resolution will pass although we all know that the President can wage war even without this resolution. However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. There must be some of us who say, let’s step back for a moment and think through the implications of our actions today-let us more fully understand their consequences. We are not dealing with a conventional war. We cannot respond in a conventional manner. I do not want to see this spiral out of control. This crisis involves issues of national security, foreign policy, public safety, intelligence gathering, economics, and murder. Our response must be equally multifaceted. We must not rush to judgment. For too many innocent people have already died. Our country is in mourning. If we rush to launch a counterattack, we run too great a risk that woman, children, and other non-combatants will be caught in the crossfire. Nor can we let our justified anger over these outrageous acts by vicious murderers inflame prejudice against all Arab Americans, Muslim, Southeast Asians, and any other people because of their race, religion, or ethnicity. Finally, we must be careful not to embark on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target. We cannot repeat past mistakes. In 1964, Congress gave President Lyndon Johnson the power to “take all necessary measures” to repel attacks and prevent further aggression. In so doing, this House abandoned its own constitutional responsibilities and launched our country into years of undeclared war in Vietnam. At this time, Senator Wayne Morse, on e of the two lonely votes against the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, declared, “I believe that history will record that we have made a grave mistake in subverting and circumventing the Constitution of the United StatesŠI believe that with the next century, future generations will look with dismay and great disappointment upon a Congress which is now about to make such a historic mistake.” Senator Morse was correct, and I fear we make the same mistake today. And I fear the consequences. I have agonized over this vote. But I came to grips with it in the very painful yet beautiful memorial service today at the National Cathedral. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, ” As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore.”"

"She’s involved in the weeds of policy, she’s a coalition builder, she has respect for the institution, and yet is a change-maker,” he said. “She’s really someone who could be a role model to frankly a lot of the next generation of the members of Congress.”"

"Among my top priorities on this committee will be investing in diplomacy, foreign assistance, and development programs, which must be at the forefront of our approach, leaving behind the military first approach of the last 4 years... It’s also critical that we reinvest in the State Department and work to ensure our diplomatic corps and all aspects of our international affairs reflect the diversity of the country... This is a critical time for global investment and cooperation as we fight back a global pandemic, and we have much work to do."

"My lifestyle is pretty minimal. Just doing my part to make the planet a better place."

"When I turned 15 or 16 I realized that I did not have to eat meat, so I stopped. I went Vegan the same year I got in to bike racing: 1999. I was living in San Francisco and started racing on the track and lived with a bunch of vegans. To be honest, I never really liked eating animal products. It was just always in stuff I would eat. Y'know: burritos have cheese, pizza has cheese. But once I was surrounded by people who showed me that there were options, I stopped eating animal products right away. I was really motivated to start taking responsibility for what I put in my body."

"It's been at least 20 years. I used to eat burgers and steak, and I would just be knocked out afterward; I had to give it up. The first thing was dairy. I was about 24 years old and I had tons of acne and mucus. I met some random girl on a bus who told me to quit dairy and all those symptoms would go away three days later. By God she was right."

"If you eat chicken, maybe you're on one level. If you wear a mink coat, maybe you're on another level. But if you wear cosmetics, cosmetics that are tested on animals, then you're just unconscious. Really, my message is simple. It's a message of compassion. In this world that is spinning madly out of control, we have to realize that we're all related. We have to try to live harmoniously."

"Because superior non-animal methods are used for this exact training by military and civilian programs around the world, animals are clearly not required to meet your objectives. … I'm sure you agree that our military personnel deserve state-of-the-art training and that our country deserves to be respected for its civilized treatment of animals."

"When I was working at Planned Parenthood I was extremely pro-choice, I would say there was a definite conversion in my heart... a spiritual conversion. Every meeting that we had was, "We don't have enough money, we don't have enough money — we've got to keep these abortions coming," It's a very lucrative business and that's why they want to increase numbers."

"I call myself bisexual because I acknowledge that I have in myself the potential to be attracted – romantically and/or sexually – to people of more than one sex and/or gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree."

"Meat is a cultural construct made to seem natural and inevitable. By the time the argument from analogy with carnivorous animals is made, the individual making such an argument has probably consumed animals since before the time she or he could talk. Rationalizations for consuming animals were probably offered when this individual at age four or five was discomforted upon discovering that meat came from dead animals. The taste of dead flesh preceded the rationalizations, and offered a strong foundation for believing the rationalizations to be true."

"Through symbolism based on killing animals, we encounter politically laden images of absorption, control, domain, and the necessity of violence. This message of male dominance is conveyed through meat eating—both in its symbolism and reality."

"In ontologizing women and animals as objects, our language simultaneously eliminates the fact that someone else is acting as a subject/agent/perpetrator of violence."

"When we are meat eaters living among meat eaters, our world is reflected back to us, confirming our choices. When we become vegetarians, we stop being reflections; we may even be accused of breaking the mirror. … Just when we think our work is done, we discover that it has only begun: the challenge isn't becoming a vegetarian; it is being a vegetarian."

"Through butchering, animals become absent referents. Animals in name and body are made absent as animals for meat to exist. Animals' lives precede and enable the existence of meat. If animals are alive they cannot be meat. Thus a dead body replaces the live animal. Without animals there would be no meat eating, yet they are absent from the act of eating meat because they have been transformed into food."

"I coined the term feminized protein for eggs and dairy products: plant protein produced through the abuse of the reproductive cycle of female animals. Feminized protein is taken from living female animals, whose reproductive capacity is manipulated for human needs. The unique situation of domesticated female animals required its own term: a sexual slavery with chickens in battery cages and dairy cows hooked up to milking machines. … The radical truth is that people can be perfectly happy as vegans, but the dominant culture can’t or won’t acknowledge this. … Being vegan is an exciting, wonderful culinary experience and we probably don’t even know what’s possible because it’s still so new. … The process of objectification/fragmentation/consumption can be interrupted by the process of attention/nowness/compassion."

"I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter Because the flesh will get weak And the ashes will scatter So I'm thinkin' about forgiveness Forgiveness Even if you don't love me anymore."

"I've been learning to live without you now But I miss you sometimes The more I know, the less I understand All the things I thought I knew, I'm learning them again."

"When happily ever after fails And weve been poisoned by these fairy tales The lawyers dwell on small details Since daddy had to fly But I know a place where we can go Thats still untouched by man Well sit and watch the clouds roll by And the tall grass wave in the wind. You can lay your head back on the ground And let your hair fall all around me. Offer up your best defense But this is the end This is the end of the innocence."

"We can do the innuendo, We can dance and sing And when it's said and done We haven't told you a thing, We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry."