If I take a bump or bruise along the way, that's nothing compared to the sacrifices that the women whose shoulders I stand upon made along the way.
Interpretation
One's struggles are insignificant compared to the sacrifices made by those before us.
Valerie Jarrett's quote emphasizes an important perspective on personal struggles in the face of the immense sacrifices made by previous generations, particularly by women who paved the way for future progress. It encourages individuals to acknowledge their challenges while recognizing the greater battles fought by those before them, invoking a sense of gratitude and responsibility to honor their legacy.
In practice
During a speech on International Women's Day, this quote can inspire the audience about the importance of honoring women's sacrifices.
My theory is this: Rather than having commentaries from the cheap seats, get involved and see what you can do. What can you do around your own community, within your own family, to try to improve race relations in our country? I think this is a responsibility that we all have as citizens.
I still vividly remember the moment I let go of an embrace with my daughter on her college campus - that, in her opinion, probably lasted far too long. I left the most precious thing in my life in the care of an institution, and that's a very hard thing to do.
With women composing nearly half the American workforce and increasingly serving as the primary breadwinner for families, we can't afford to treat pregnant women differently than their counterparts, especially when slight job modifications could help them stay in the workforce at no risk to their health.
What makes a lot of sense is that, while people are incarcerated, give them the tools they need to be able to have a productive, lucrative living when they leave so they can provide for their families and break that cycle of recidivism.
We do have to ask ourselves as a culture, what do we want to be? You know, what are our founding values? And if we are a society where everybody should have that fair shot and get a second chance, then we should take the necessary steps to implement that and make it a reality.
The ADA was a landmark civil rights legislation. It was a bill of rights for persons with disabilities, a formal acknowledgement that Americans with disabilities are Americans first and that they're entitled to the same rights and freedoms as everybody else.
Many of us reject all of the inferior meanings and connotations that others project onto femininity - that it is weak, artificial, frivolous, demure, and passive - because for us, there has been no act more bold and daring than embracing our own femininity. In a world that is awash in antifeminine sentiment, we understand that embracing and empowering femininity can potentially be one of the most transformative and revolutionary acts imaginable.
I have been holding a dialogue with myself and girding myself to stand fast without running.
The women putting their lives at risk for our country deserve better than to be treated as second-class citizens.
The biggest mistake sometimes is to play things very safe in this life and end up being moral failures.
Never was the victory of patience more complete than in the early church. The anvil broke the hammer by bearing all the blows that the hammer could place upon it. The patience of the saints was stronger than the cruelty of tyrants.
It takes more courage to send men into battle than to fight the battle yourself.
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