QuoteProject
When I first ran for City Council in 2013, I was told over and over again that I would likely lose, and for reasons beyond my control: I was too young, not born in Boston, Asian American, female.
Michelle Wu
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote illustrates the perseverance needed to overcome societal biases and personal challenges in the pursuit of political office.

Michelle Wu's quote reflects the struggles she faced when she first ran for City Council, highlighting the intersectionality of age, race, and gender biases. Despite being told repeatedly that these factors would hinder her chances for success, she embodies the courage to challenge those stereotypes and advocate for representation and change in her community.

Themes

CourageRepresentationPoliticsBiasPerseverance

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be shared during a women's leadership conference to inspire young female leaders.

More from Michelle Wu

Aligning private development with community needs for equity and resiliency is one of the most powerful roles of city government.
Michelle WuRead
We can build wealth in all our communities, value public education, plan for our neighborhoods, invest in housing we can afford and transportation that serves everyone, truly fund public health for safety and healing, and deliver on a city Green New Deal for clean air and water, healthy homes, and the brightest future for our children.
Michelle WuRead
During natural disasters or emergencies, the most resilient communities - places that suffer the fewest casualties and rebuild more quickly - are not the wealthiest neighborhoods or ones that have spent the most on physical infrastructure, but rather the communities with the strongest social infrastructure.
Michelle WuRead
Free public transportation is the single biggest step we could take toward economic mobility, racial equity, and climate justice.
Michelle WuRead
I think if we're going to be serious as a city, as a country, about addressing climate change, addressing inequality and racial disparities, we have to start taking action at the scale that matches the urgency of the problems.
Michelle WuRead
Growing up, I never ever thought that I would or could or should be involved in politics. I didn't see anyone who looked like me in spaces of power.
Michelle WuRead

Similar quotes

I was in the Air Force a while and they had what they call "policing the area." That's where you looked around and if there's anything wrong here, there, anywhere, you took care of your own area. And I think that's a pretty good thing to go by. If everyone just takes care of their own area then we won't have any problems. Be here. Be present. Wherever you are, be there. And look around you and see what needs to be changed.
Willie NelsonRead
One isn't born with courage. One develops it by doing small courageous things-in the way that if one sets out to pick up a 100-pound bag of rice, one would be advised to start with a five-pound bag, then 10 pounds, then 20 pounds, and so forth, until one builds up enough muscle to lift the 100-pound bag. It's the same way with courage. You do small courageous things that require some mental and spiritual exertion.
Maya AngelouRead
So long as our Corps fields such Marines, America has nothing to fear from tyrants, be they Fascists, Communists or Tyrants with Medieval Ideology. For we serve in a Corps with no institutional confusion about our purpose: To fight! To fight well!
Jim MattisRead
My mother raised me to be bold. If I do not go, I will spend the rest of my life wondering what might have happened if I had." "If you do go, the rest of your life may be too short for wondering. - Asha & Rodrick
George R. R. MartinRead
Young Egyptians, gazing through the windows of the Internet, have gained a keener sense than many of their elders of the freedoms and opportunities they lack. They have found in social media a way to interact and share ideas, bypassing, in virtual space, the restrictions placed on physical freedom of assembly.
Mohamed ElbaradeiRead
When fear rushed in, I learned how to hear my heart racing but refused to allow my feelings to sway me. That resilience came from my family. It flowed through our bloodline.
Coretta Scott KingRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.