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"From Cecile Richards--the president of Planned Parenthood, daughter of the late Governor Ann Richards, featured speaker at the Women's March on Washington, and "the heroine of the resistance" (Vogue)--comes a story about learning to lead and make change, based on a lifetime of fighting for women's rights and social justice. Cecile Richards has been an activist since she was taken to the principal's office in seventh grade for wearing an armband in protest of the Vietnam War. Richards had an extraordinary girlhood in ultra-conservative Texas, where her hell-raising parents--her civil rights attorney father and political activist mother--taught their kids to be troublemakers. In the Richards household, the "dinner table was never for eating--it was for sorting precinct lists." She watched her mother, Ann, transform herself from a housewife to a force in American politics who made a name for herself as the straight-talking, truth-telling governor of Texas. But Richards also witnessed the pitfalls of public life that are unique to women, and the constant struggle to protect and expand equal rights--both exemplified by her marathon congressional testimony, where she held her own against hostile questions for five hours. As a young woman, Richards worked as a labor organizer alongside women earning a minimum wage, and learned that those in power don't give it up without a fight. Now, after years of advocacy, resistance, and progressive leadership, she shares her story for the first time--from the joy and heartbreak of activism to the challenges of raising kids, having a life, and making change, all at the same time. She shines a light on the people and lessons that have gotten her through good times and bad, and encourages readers to take risks, make mistakes, and make trouble along the way. Richards has dedicated her life to taking on injustice, and her memoir will inspire readers to hope and action"-- "From the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a memoir about learning to lead and make change, based on a lifetime of fighting for women's rights and social justice"--… (more)
User reviews
Don't skip the epilogue: Cecile says she gets asked almost every day by CEOs and people on the street, "What can I do?" She says this question is really: "Now that we can no longer take for granted that America will slowly but surely make progress our entire world seems to be spinning out of control and were fighting tooth-and-nail to protect our most human rights, how do we make it all better?"
This book is her response using her own experiences as examples; from the epilogue: "Right now, our country has some major soul-searching to do. We have to figure out how to address the fear and disruption that many people are feeling and continue to fight for the rights of women, immigrants, LGBTQ people, people of color, and anyone else who needs support. To do that we're going to have to ask tough questions speak clearly about what we believe and maybe even let of the political labels that have defined these kinds of debates for too long. Here's the good news, there's never been a better time to become an activist agitator or trouble maker. I promise you, doing something whether it's showing up at a town hall meeting, getting some friends together to start your own organization, or just refusing to keep quiet about what you believe feels infinitely better than sitting on the sidelines."
Of course, the people she mentions have always been in this position, and there have always been a few white men or people in positions of power who have been allies or accomplices to women, people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ. Hopefully what we see is that number of people allies and accomplices is rising as the vestiges of racism and sexism engage in their long drawn out death throws over the next 100 years or so (since that seems to be how long steps in human rights take). We need to be more.
As Cecile says, "Looking back on my life so far, the moments I regret most are the ones when I was too scared to take a chance. The moments when I didn't know what to do and so did nothing. In some ways, being an activist in public is easy. Standing up for yourself in your own life can be much harder." As an example, Cecile regrets not saying something when sexually harassed or finding out she was paid less for fear of losing opportunities to learn and grow in her career - and hopes that women soon won't have to experience the same.
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I wish the book had had less detail about the 2016 campaign. I enjoyed hearing about the Planned Parenthood testimony, Ann Richards's campaign, the Texas Freedom Network, and America Votes, but felt the 2016 campaign had too much detail comparatively. It was very important that she gave the names of Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, Lucy McBath, mother of Jordan Davis, Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, Geneva Reed-Veal, mother of Sandra Bland, Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton. But other places it just dragged.