8 Powerful Quotes by Women at the Democratic National Convention

I’m a pro-choice, feminist, sexual assault survivor with a chronic reproductive illness. Donald and his party think I should be punished for exercising my constitutional rights, and his rhetoric about women takes us back to a time when we were meant to be beautiful and silent. Meanwhile, 22 years ago, Hillary declared that women’s rights are human rights. And she made it possible for my fellow sexual assault survivors in my home state of New York to have access to safe, immediate care in any emergency room. Hillary knows that access and opportunity are the American promise – not transphobia, Islamophobia, xenophobia, and systemic racism. She knows that hatred of all kinds is ours collectively to change, not to ignite for the craven purpose of seeking power.

Hillary Clinton isn’t afraid to say black lives matter. She isn’t afraid to sit at a table with grieving mothers and bear the full force of our anguish. She doesn’t build walls around her heart.

Not only did she listen to our problems, she invited us to become part of the solution.

Leaders like Hillary Clinton who has the guts and the grace to keep coming back and putting those cracks in that highest and hardest glass ceiling until she finally breaks through, lifting all of us along with her.

That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.

I’m from a small town in South Texas and if you know your history, Texas used to be part of Mexico. Now, I’m 9th generation American. My family never crossed a border — the border crossed us. So when Donald Trump calls us criminals and rapists, he’s insulting American families. My father is not a criminal or a rapist. In fact, he’s a United States veteran. …

When he said that a wife who works is a very dangerous thing, he not only insulted me, he insulted my mother who worked as a special-education teacher for 40 years and raised four children while being a wife.

I want to grow up to be a lawyer so I can help other families, like us. I have hope. (Clinton) wants me to have the worries of an 11-year-old, not the weight of the world on my shoulders

I come to you as the daughter of a janitor, a daughter who believes in an America of opportunity. The hand of history is on our shoulders. We know how to build a future, a future that works not just for some of our children, but for all of our children. We know, and we must have the courage to make it happen.

This is about our values, our shared values with our candidates Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine!

We believe that no matter who you are, no matter where you’re from, no matter who you love, equal means equal. Hillary will fight to make sure discrimination has no place in America. And we’re with her!

As a child of Honduran immigrants, I am profoundly grateful for the access and opportunity that exists in this extraordinary nation. I was educated in public schools; my talents were nurtured through public arts programs and occasionally I needed a free meal to get through the school day. Not everyone looks at the millions of young people like me – children born into struggling families, children born to immigrant parents, children who are immigrants themselves – and sees an investment. But Hillary has spent the last 30 years proving what she sees in us. Not our color, gender, or economic status, but our capacity to grow into thriving adults able to contribute great things to this country.

Hillary and I share a few things in common. We both went to Wellesley College – so I know where she got her study habits. We are both mothers and grandmothers – so I know where she got her management skills. But we also know what it’s like to step off that plane with the words “United States of America” on it. She knows that safeguarding freedom and security is not like hosting a reality TV show. It is a complex, round-the-clock job that demands not only a steady hand and a cool head, but also a big heart. You are not just representing yourself, you are there for all of us.