In particular, she praised some of the women who paved the way for them and helped secure the passage of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right vote.
“Without fanfare or recognition, they organized and witnessed and counseled and marched and fought – not only for their voice, but for a seat at the table,” she said. “These women and the generations that followed worked to create democracy and opportunity in the lives of all of us who followed,” she said, adding that her efforts also paved the way for Hillary Clinton and the first Black President of the country, Barack Obama, banished.
“These women inspired us to pick up the torch, and fight … We did not learn their stories often, but as Americans, we all stand on their shoulders.”
Here’s a closer look at some of those women.
Shyamala Gopalan Harris
Kamala Harris spoke about the moral values her mother introduced into her about family, public service and her Christian faith.
“My mother instilled in my sister, Maya, and me the values that would map the course of our lives,” said Kamala Harris, adding that she raised her to be “proud, strong Black women and that she raise us to be proud and proud of our Indian heritage. “
She said, “My mother taught me that service to others gives life meaning and purpose. And oh, how I wish they were here last night, but I know she looks down on me from above.”
Mary McLeod Bethune
Constance Baker Motley
Fannie Lou Hamer
This civil rights icon, whose famous words “I’m sick and tired of sick and tired” is still a raging cry for activists today, was born the daughter of sharecroppers in Montgomery County, Mississippi, on October 6, 1917. Fannie Lou Hamer urged for voting rights and desegregation in the state, cooperating with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. She was even fired by a plantation owner for trying to register her in 1962 to vote and was also focal about her experience of forced sterilization in which she underwent a hysterectomy without her consent while in hospital for a minor procedure. .
In 1964, she helped find the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and challenged the state’s all-white delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1964. There, she gave a furious testimony to the Confidence Committee. about the violence she faced against White supremacists, even recounted an incident in 1963 in which she and other activists were arrested and beaten by police. She is also an honorary member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Diane Nash
Mary Church Terrell
The daughter of former slaves, Mary Church Terrell advocated for the right of women to vote and racial equality and fought against segregation. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, on September 23, 1863, she is a founder of the NAACP and helped found the National Association of Colored Women. She is an honorary member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Shirley Chisholm
Barbara Jordan
She and Harris shared a similar message in their speeches, saying it takes all Americans to change the country. As the Democratic vice presidential nominee put it on Wednesday, “there is no vaccine for racism. We need to do the job.”
“We must do the work to fulfill that promise of equal justice under law. Because here is the thing: none of us is free until we are all free.”
In 1976, Jordan talked about the significance of her taking the stage and quoting former President Abraham Lincoln.
“Now I started this speech by commenting on the uniqueness of a Barbara Jordan who creates a keynote address. Now, I’ll close my speech by quoting a Republican president and I ask you that if you listen to these words. by Abraham Lincoln, they relate to the concept of a rural community in which every last one of us participates:
“‘Because I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Anything that deviates here, in the measure of the difference, is not democracy.'”
CNN’s Shawna Mizelle contributed to this report.
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