Polished Like Gold: Great Women
By SusanUnPC on March 10, 2008 at 10:04 AM in Hillary Clinton, Women and Children
| Thanks, IndyRobin, for the link to “Polished Like Gold.”
BELOW the fold, don’t miss Alegre’s description of Hillary Clinton’s historic 1995 speech in Beijing — when she defied the Chinese government and said that women’s rights are human rights. And, in the comments below, see Kat’s comment about how hearing Hillary speak that day changed her life. |
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And catch this video from Amber Tamblyn and America Ferrera: On Saturday night, Alegre wrote a wonderful diary at DailyKos and MyDD, “Hillary & International Women’s Day” — BELOW: |
Today is International Women’s Day and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate it than by recognizing one of the most well known and respected women of our time, Senator Hillary Clinton. I was just going to post Hillary’s statement regarding this important day, but as I started looking at all she’s done on behalf of women over the years I realized that simply posting her statement wouldn’t do justice to her lifetime of dedicated work on many of the issues that I’m passionate about and have worked to promote in my own life.
Alegre continues:
Now this video was put up by the campaign this time last year in honor of Women’s History Month, but (sadly) much of what she talks about is still true today and we still have a lot of work to do. Take a look…
Alegre added:
Now as many of you know, I’ve been posting something on these boards nearly every day since June about why I’m backing Hillary. It all started when someone asked us to convince her to back our candidate – here’s what I had to say…
Then she quotes from her diary in June 2007:
We’ve been led for well over 200 years by men and look where it’s gotten us. Over 30 years have passed since Roe and we’re STILL fighting for our right to choose – hell to even have access to birth control! Children make up a massive percentage of those living in poverty. Our schools are a mess in urban areas. Court rulings regarding child support and protection orders are virtually ignored, girls are literally starving themselves to death to achieve some ideal image as portrayed in our MSM, domestic violence isn’t taken seriously by our courts or even the cops… the list goes on and on and ON when it comes to the lack of respect for the rights of women & our children in this society.
Alegre says, “I’m sure you’ve all heard about Hillary’s speech at the U.N. 4th World Conference on Women back in 1995. I remember that speech and it’s stayed with me to this day. Here’s the money quote…”
If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely — and the right to be heard.
(Click here for full text and an mp3 of the speech)
“Out of the work done and the contacts made at that conference, Hillary, Secretary of State Madeline Albright were instrumental in setting up Vital Voices Global Partnership,” Alegre continues. “Here’s a bit about the work that this amazing non-profit is doing…”
Vital Voices Global Partnership is the preeminent non-governmental organization (NGO) that identifies, trains, and empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the globe, enabling them to create a better world for us all. We provide these women with the capacity, connections, and credibility they need to unlock their leadership potential.
We are at the forefront of international coalitions to combat human trafficking, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and all forms of violence against women and girls.
We enable women to become change agents in their governments, advocates for social justice, and supporters of democracy and the rule of law.
We equip women with management, business development, marketing, and communications skills to expand their enterprises, help to provide for their families, and create jobs in their communities.
Our international staff and team of over 1,000 partners, pro bono experts and leaders, including senior government, corporate and NGO executives, have trained and mentored more than 5,000 emerging women leaders from over 150 countries in Asia, Africa, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East since 1997. These women have returned home to train and mentor more than 100,000 additional women and girls in their communities. They are the Vital Voices of our time.
There’s much more in Alegre’s wonderful diary.
“Polished Like Gold”: Will any of us ever forget watching that remarkable video?
, the basis for the Best Motion Picture Nominee (Golden Globes) starring Brad Pitt.
, the novel by John Le Carre, a new motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
by 
* (Included in the 
* 
.by David Fredosso who wrote 2008's 
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