Women鈥檚 History Month 2022: Inspiring trailblazers, quotes
Women鈥檚 History Month is a celebration of trailblazers, innovators, champions and advocates. We salute these women year-round, not just in March:
Rosalynn Carter听触听Kizzmekia Corbett听触听Abigail Dillen听触听Marcia Fudge听触听Suzan Shown Harjo听触听Dolores Huerta听触听Sherrilyn Ifill听触听Blair Imani听触听Maya Lin听触听Cynthia Marshall听触听Sylvia Mendez听触听Dalia Mogahed听触听Rita Moreno听触听Ellen Ochoa听触听Gitanjali Rao听触听Megan Rapinoe听触听Shonda Rhimes听触听Geena Rocero听触听Michaela Ja茅 Rodriguez听触听MacKenzie Scott听触听Leah Ward Sears听触听Yara Shahidi听触听M.L. Smoker听触听Gloria Steinem听触听Linda Thomas-Greenfield听触听Kara Walker听触听Serena Williams听触听Shailene Woodley听触听Alice Wong听触听Bethany Yellowtail
Bethany Yellowtail
Bethany Yellowtail grew up on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana and went to fashion school in Los Angeles. She gave herself one year to get a job in fashion. She succeeded. By 2015, she started her own brand, . Her designs reflect her Indigenous roots.
She co-designed a scarf for the Indigenous Women Rise participants in the Women鈥檚 March in D.C. in 2017. It featured Indigenous women wearing war bonnets, representing empowered women.
Her B. Yellowtail Collective supports the work of other Indigenous artisans. She said she had to negotiate with many of the sellers to convince them to charge what their art is worth.
She supported the Standing Rock Sioux protesting the Dakota Access pipeline, designing a line of clothing and donating the profits to the tribe.
She created the Rez Girls Mentorship Fund to teach young Indigenous girls to believe they have the strength to do anything.
鈥淚 want to be able to employ my own people to sell my garments and help manufacture them so they can make a good living. It only makes sense. And yet, there really isn鈥檛 anywhere else in Indian country where something like this is happening.鈥�
鈥� Bethany Yellowtail
Alice Wong
Alice Wong is an activist for people with disabilities. She is the founder and director of , an online organization that works to expand society鈥檚 understanding of people with disabilities.
The project began as , which collected oral histories of people with disabilities.
In 2020, Wong won a Disability Futures Fellowship from the Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundations. The benefactors say the purpose of the fellowship is to 鈥渟potlight the work of disabled creatives across disciplines and geography and amplify their voices individually and collectively.鈥�
During the pandemic, she created the hashtag because, she said, California鈥檚 vaccination plan didn鈥檛 give enough priority to people with disabilities.
鈥淲hen I talk about visibility, I鈥檓 not sugarcoating it. It鈥檚 about being comfortable in your own skin. But the fact that there are people who are telling their stories by being visible, hopefully it gives permission to other folks who are still figuring stuff out. Like you鈥檙e not alone.鈥�
鈥� Alice Wong
Shailene Woodley
Shailene Woodley is an actress known for the 鈥淒ivergent鈥� movies and the鈥淏ig Little Lies鈥� series on HBO.
Her activism focuses on the environment.
She became a Greenpeace Oceans Ambassador in 2019 and joined the environmental group on an expedition to the Sargasso Sea that studied how plastic affected sea life. She joined Indigenous people in North Dakota to protest the Dakota Access pipeline and .
She is on the board of the progressive PAC Our Revolution, which teaches voters about current issues.
She and her mother formed the nonprofit , which aims to help young people attain emotional intelligence. The website says, 鈥淲e teach young people at critical life stages to practice empathy, compassion, initiative, responsibility and purpose 鈥� to create sustainable, positive outcomes.鈥�
鈥淎ll it takes is to pick up that one piece of trash you pass every day on your way to work. Or to turn the water faucet off when you're brushing your teeth from afar. Or to compost. Or to buy 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper. Or to utilize vintage stores and secondhand markets. Or to fully devote yourself to only buying vegetables from local sources. It is remarkably easy to incorporate sustainable choices into our everyday, busy lives.鈥�
鈥� Shailene Woodley
Serena Williams
Tennis superstar Serena Williams has been a role model for many. She also advocates for gender pay equity and racial equity.
With the Allstate Foundation, she is ambassador for a program that educates on the financial aspects of domestic abuse.
She collaborated with Helping Hands Jamaica to build a school. And she helped raise $3 million for Mahmee, a Black-owned health tech company that works to enhance postpartum and perinatal care.
鈥淭he success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you鈥檙e very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble.鈥�
鈥� Serena Williams
Kara Walker
is an American avant-garde installation artist. Her art often intentionally shocks. She combines detailed paper silhouettes, collages, drawings, paintings and other elements to tell stories of history.
An early work that brought her fame was a mural at the Drawing Center in New York. The Museum of Modern Art described the piece: 鈥淚n reviving the eighteenth-century cut-paper silhouette to critique historical narratives of slavery and the ongoing perpetuation of ethnic stereotypes, Walker has transformed the craft into a new type of epic history painting.鈥�
Her art continues to depict race and racism.
鈥淭he history of America is built on ... inequality, this foundation of a racial inequality and a social inequality [...] And we buy into it. I mean, whiteness is just as artificial a construct as blackness is.鈥�
鈥� Kara Walker
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Linda Thomas-Greenfield is a longtime diplomat. She now serves as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Joe Biden appointed her to the Cabinet-level post, and she was confirmed in February 2021.
Before that, she was U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 2013 to 2017.
, she described the U.N.鈥檚 role is battling racism:
鈥淭he United Nations is uniquely poised to galvanize change. This should be the place where we expose the racial discrimination endemic to our societies and to the world. This should be the venue where we recognize our shared humanity and work to remove the rot of racism from our foundations. And today, right now, right here, is the time to harness the energy, the optimism and activism of the next generation, and to do everything 鈥� everything 鈥� in our power to leave them with a less hateful, more hopeful world.鈥�
鈥淭he sad truth is that racism begets more racism. We must stop this trend in its tracks.鈥�
鈥� Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem is an icon of the early feminist movement.
Along with Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm, she started the National Women鈥檚 Political Caucus in 1971. Its goal was to find, train and support women seeking public office.
Her roots were in journalism, and she founded Ms. Magazine in 1971 to cover issues that women were facing. described its first issue, saying 鈥渋t captured the cultural zeitgeist of women on the cusp of a social revolution. The cover featured a woman with several arms, like the goddess Lakshmi, juggling more tasks than she could possibly handle.鈥�
Steinem was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.
鈥淎 gender-equal society would be one where the word 鈥榞ender鈥� does not exist: where everyone can be themselves.鈥�
鈥� Gloria Steinem
M.L. Smoker
M.L. Smoker is part of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes in Montana.
She was Montana鈥檚 co-poet laureate from 2019-2021. She works for equity of Indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest.
She also was appointed to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education by President Barack Obama.
Thunderous, her graphic novel for youths, follows the story of an Indigenous teen discovering her roots. It will be published next month. Describing the book, Smoker said, 鈥淒iversity in literature is so important to developing a new generation鈥檚 understanding of the lives and experiences of different groups of people and communities.鈥�
鈥淭he importance of new narratives that are formed from the creativity, resilience and power of Native American communities are necessary to correct the pervasive and damaging stereotypes, misconceptions and ideas that exist in this country about us."
鈥� M.L. Smoker
Yara Shahidi
Yara Shahidi is an actress known for her role as Zoey Johnson in the TV series 鈥淏lack-ish鈥� and 鈥淕rown-ish.鈥�
While she was in high school, she was an advocate for STEM, urging kids to study science, technology, engineering and math.
She also started Yara鈥檚 Club, which focused on overcoming poverty through learning.
As soon as Shahidi reached voting age, she created what鈥檚 now called We Vote Next, which urges young people to vote, speak out and get involved in the community. She expects to graduate from Harvard University this year.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檇 be doing the work I鈥檓 doing if I wasn鈥檛 constantly inspired by the other young people doing this work, by the other young people doing work I didn鈥檛 even realize had to be done. I feel like we constantly educate one another. Because we inherited a world in crisis, we enter this world inspired to make change.鈥�
鈥擸ara Shahidi
Leah Ward Sears
Leah Ward Sears was a lawyer before becoming a judge for the Atlanta City Court.
Next, she was the youngest person and the first woman to become a superior court judge in Fulton County, Georgia. In 1992, Gov. Zell Miller appointed her to the Supreme Court of Georgia. She was the youngest person and first woman on that court, too.
When she ran to hold onto the seat, she became the first woman to win a contested statewide election in Georgia. In 2005, she became chief justice of Georgia鈥檚 Supreme Court.
She was included on USA Today鈥檚 list of .
鈥淚 had very supportive parents that made the way for me, even at a time when there were very few women 鈥� no women, really; maybe two or three women 鈥� and very few, fewer than that, African American women heading in this direction, so there were very few people to look up to. You just had to have faith.鈥�
鈥� Leah Ward Sears
MacKenzie Scott
MacKenzie Scott is a philanthropist, writer and the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
After she divorced Bezos, she promised to give half of her money over her lifetime. Since the split, she has donated more than $8 billion. She says the recipients can spend the money as they wish.
Among her gifts:
鈥⒙燙ommunity in Schools, which offers services for at-risk students 鈥� $133.5 million
鈥⒙燞istorically Black colleges and universities 鈥� $800 million
鈥⒙營nternational Association of Blacks in Dance 鈥� $3 million
鈥⒙燭ribal colleges and universities, from Navajo Technical University in New Mexico to Salish Kootenai College in Montana 鈥� unspecified.
She no longer announces the grants. She allows the recipients to reveal the gift if they choose to.
鈥淲e are governed by a humbling belief that it would be better if disproportionate wealth were not concentrated in a small number of hands, and that the solutions are best designed and implemented by others.鈥�
鈥� MacKenzie Scott
Michaela Ja茅 Rodriguez
Michaela Ja茅 Rodriguez is a transgender actress.
After an award-winning portrayal of Angel in an off-Broadway production of 鈥淩ent,鈥� she took time off to transition.
For her lead role in the FX series 鈥淧ose,鈥� she was the first transgender woman to receive an Emmy nomination in a major role. She then won as best TV actress in a drama, making her the first transgender actress to win a Golden Globe.
Also in 2021, she was the first trans model to be featured on the cover of Latina magazine.
For her advocacy work, Rodriguez will receive the Stephen F. Kolzak Award from GLAAD at a ceremony next month. , GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said, 鈥淢ichaela Ja茅 Rodriguez is an undeniable talent who is changing the way audiences understand trans people while breaking down barriers for the trans community and LGBTQ people of color within the entertainment industry.鈥�
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 shattered that glass ceiling yet. It鈥檚 just a bit cracked. There鈥檚 great things in knowing that, and there鈥檚 also sad things in knowing that it hasn鈥檛 fallen to the ground just yet.鈥�
鈥� Michaela Ja茅 Rodriguez
Geena Rocero
Geena Rocero is a Filipino-born American model. She chose Transgender Day of Visibility to reveal in a TED talk that at birth, her gender assignment was 鈥渂oy.鈥�
She founded Gender Proud, a media company to give voice to transgender people and to promote justice and equality.
In 2021 she created 鈥淐aretakers,鈥� a four-part documentary about the caregiving work of Filipino Americans.
She lectures around the country to enlighten others about transgender people.
鈥淕ender has always been considered a fact immutable. But we now know it鈥檚 actually more fluid, complex, and mysterious. Because of my success, I never have the courage to share my story. Not because I thought what I am is wrong but because of how the world treats those of us who wish to break free.鈥�
鈥� Geena Rocero
Shonda Rhimes
Shonda Rhimes is one of the most powerful women in Hollywood. She has written and/or produced such popular shows as 鈥淕rey鈥檚 Anatomy,鈥� 鈥淪candal,鈥� 鈥淗ow to Get Away With Murder鈥� and 鈥淏ridgerton.鈥�
After many, many critics and others mentioned the 鈥渟trong female leads鈥� in her shows, Rhimes had had enough. She reprimanded people on : "OK. Entertainment industry, time to stop using the phrases 鈥楽mart Strong Women鈥� and 鈥楽trong Female Leads.鈥� There are no Dumb Weak Women. A smart strong woman is just a WOMAN. Also? 鈥榃omen鈥� are not a TV trend聽鈥斅爓e鈥檙e half the planet.鈥�
Rhimes also co-created Time鈥檚 Up, which pursues equal pay and an end to sexual harassment in the workplace.
鈥淣ot a single woman in the room could handle being told, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e awesome.鈥� I couldn鈥檛 handle being told I am awesome. What in the hell is wrong with us?鈥�
鈥� Shonda Rhimes
Megan Rapinoe
Pro soccer star Megan Rapinoe, a member of two World Cup winning U.S. women鈥檚 teams, advocates for women鈥檚 rights, human rights and LGTBQ rights.
In 2016, during an international match, Rapinoe kneeled during the national anthem to support the NFL鈥檚 Colin Kaepernick. Afterward, she said, 鈥淏eing a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it.鈥�
She and some of her U.S. women鈥檚 national team teammates sued the U.S. Soccer Federation over gender discrimination and unequal pay. ( recently saying that women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 national teams would receive an equal rate of pay in the future.)
鈥淚 feel like it鈥檚 actually everybody鈥檚 responsibility to use whatever platform they have to do good in the world, and to try make our society better, whether you鈥檙e an accountant or an activist or an athlete or whatever it is. I think it鈥檚 everybody鈥檚 responsibility.鈥�
鈥� Megan Rapinoe
Gitanjali Rao
At age 16, Gitanjali Rao already has a few inventions to call her own.
After hearing about the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, she invented an app that measures lead levels in water. She created a tool using genetic engineering to diagnose prescription opioid addiction early. And she set up an anti-cyberbullying service with Microsoft.
She was included in . Time magazine named her the , praising the science workshops she holds around the world.
鈥淢y goal has really shifted not only from creating my own devices to solve the world鈥檚 problems, but inspiring others to do the same as well. Because, from personal experience, it鈥檚 not easy when you don鈥檛 see anyone else like you. So I really want to put out that message: If I can do it, you can do it, and anyone can do it.鈥�
鈥� Gitanjali Rao
Ellen Ochoa
. On a 1993 mission, she was a mission specialist on the space shuttle Discovery. The crew studied the sun and its interaction with the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere.
In 1999, she was on the Discovery STS-96 crew that carried out the first docking to the International Space Station.
On her four spaceflights, Ochoa spent more than 40 days in space.
She was later director of NASA鈥檚 Johnson Space Center from 2013 to 2018. She was its first Hispanic director and its second female director.
鈥淎 hallmark of the Latino community is to help one another. If students are interested in a way to give back and help their communities, becoming a teacher is probably one of the very best ways of doing that.鈥�
鈥� Ellen Ochoa
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno is a longtime actress, dancer and singer. She was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York as a child. When she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for 鈥淲est Side Story,鈥� she was the first Hispanic woman to win an Oscar. She went on to win an Emmy, Grammy and Tony, making her one of the few people to win all four.
She earned a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004.
鈥淚 had no role models from my own community 鈥� there was no such thing. Earlier on, there were people like Dolores Del Rio, but I was too young for that 鈥� that was before me. There was really nobody out there.鈥�
鈥� Rita Moreno
Dalia Mogahed
directs research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. The organization researches and offers education to all on issues that affect American Muslims. It also provide statistics and facts.
She co-wrote 鈥淲ho Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think. That book culminated a six-year Gallup survey consisting of 50,000 interviews of Muslim in 35 countries.
鈥淚'm not in the business of changing policies. I hope to inform, not form, decisions.鈥�
鈥� Dalia Mogahed
Sylvia Mendez
Mendez v. Westminster was argued years before Brown v. Board of Education and isn鈥檛 as well known. Hispanic elementary school student Sylvia Mendez was barred from attending a whites-only school. , and the school district appealed in U.S. Court of Appeals. This time the family was represented by future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. The lower court鈥檚 decision was affirmed, confirming that school segregation was unconstitutional.
Soon after, California Gov. Earl Warren ended school segregation in the state.
In 2011, President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mendez.
鈥淭hat we are all individuals; that we are all human beings; that we are all connected together; and that we all have the same rights, the same freedom.鈥�
鈥� Sylvia Mendez
Maya Lin
gained fame when, as a Yale University senior, she won a contest to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Since then, she has created projects for many nonprofits. In 1988, Lin designed the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Civil Rights Memorial Center鈥檚 monument to civil rights in Montgomery, Alabama. The monument includes a granite wall with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., and a disk with key dates in the civil rights movement and a list of martyrs.
She says her art is about working with the environment. 鈥淎ll of my work is about slipping things in, inserting an order or a structuring, yet making an interface so that in the end, rather than a hierarchy, there is a balance and tension between the man-made and the natural."
鈥淭o me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. To be able to do what you want to do is incredible freedom.鈥�
鈥� Maya Lin
Cynthia Marshall
Cynthia Marshall made inclusion and diversity her goals when she joined the NBA鈥檚 Dallas Mavericks as CEO. She was the NBA鈥檚 first Black female to hold that position. She was hired after charges of sexual harassment within the franchise. Owner Mark Cuban told her to transform the culture.
Marshall had been an executive and chief diversity officer at AT&T when the company won Diversity Inc.鈥檚 Top 50 companies and Fortune鈥檚 100 Best Companies to Work For.
鈥淢y mother always put a math book in one hand and a bible in another and said if you keep your head in these two books, you鈥檒l get out and I didn鈥檛 realize what she meant out of and later I realized it was out of poverty.鈥�
鈥� Cynthia Marshall
Blair Imani
Blair Imani is a historian, writer and podcaster who . Her 鈥淢odern HERstory鈥� details the lives of 70 women and nonbinary individuals who have made their mark in society. But they were undercelebrated because they dwelled in marginalized groups: people of color, and those who are gay, trans, disabled or young.
said Imani is able to convey 鈥減rogressive lessons with vibrant visuals and a perky, quirky delivery.鈥�
鈥淚n 2015, I converted to Islam and quickly learned about the discrimination Muslims have been facing firsthand. As I began to wear hijab, my visibility as a Muslim women seemed to invite harassment. 鈥� A lot of people assume that I鈥檓 homophobic, or that queer muslims could not and did not exist. I do exist.鈥�
鈥� Blair Imani
Sherrilyn Ifill
Sherrilyn Ifill is the president of the NAACP鈥檚 Legal Defense and Educational Fund, but . The nonprofit fund is an advocate for racial justice. It seeks systemic changes to tackle inequality, voter suppression and attacks on democracy. It also works to uphold the civil rights struggles that have succeeded.
In her eight years as president, she expanded the staff, created an archive of successes and heroes, and formed a think tank to study systemic racism.
Her tenure began just after the Supreme Court reversed election law preclearance rules, which essentially gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Ifill wrote 鈥淥n the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the Twenty-First Century鈥� which details the devastating effects of lynching weaved into today鈥檚 society. When Maryland created a commission to study the effects of lynching, Ifill said, 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 address a sickness until you properly diagnose it.鈥�
鈥淚t is critical that we confront the fundamental flaws in our legal system that routinely allow innocent black lives to be taken with impunity. The insistence that our laws are colorblind, despite every indication to the contrary, makes our legal system complicit in condoning this reality.鈥�
鈥� Sherrilyn Ifill
Dolores Huerta
Dolores Huerta, labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Cesar Chavez, is a co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later become the United Farm Workers.
The 1960s grape boycott forced grape producers to improve the working conditions for migrant farmworkers. It eventually led to a union contract in the 1970s.
About the same time, Huerta met Gloria Steinem and soon became a force in the burgeoning feminist movement.
After winning a prize for her decades-long efforts, she used $100,000 to create the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which strives to persuade government officials that they must nurture and inspire community leaders.
In 2012, President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Huerta.
鈥淚f people don't vote, everything stays the same. You can protest until the sky turns yellow or the moon turns blue, and it's not going to change anything if you don't vote.鈥�
鈥� Dolores Huerta
Suzan Shown Harjo
Suzan Shown Harjo is a prominent advocate for indigenous peoples鈥� rights.
She is president and director of the Morning Star Institute in Washington, D.C., the nation鈥檚 oldest advocacy group for Indigenous peoples鈥� rights.
Also, part of her legacy is the fight to remove slurs to Indigenous people from sports team names.
She educates people about:
鈥⒙營ssues affecting Indigenous people
鈥⒙燣egislation to preserve Indigenous rights, hold onto language and traditions, tackle poverty, addictions and joblessness, and guard sacred lands.
The institute serves as a reminder of the promises that the federal government made to Indigenous peoples in exchange for their lands.
鈥淧eople who do not care for their young people and old people are decadent, decaying societies.鈥�
鈥� Suzan Shown Harjo
Marcia Fudge
Marcia Fudge, a lawyer serving in the U.S. House from Ohio, was named HUD secretary in the Biden administration.
Her immediate role was to stop evictions caused by the loss of income in the pandemic. Then she sought to reverse the damage from the previous administration, which had failed to support fair housing and other civil rights.
In her confirmation hearing, she said she鈥檇 work to end discriminatory housing practices and advance Black homeownership.
Fudge had previously told that the leader of HUD gave a false image of diversity but that the policies did little to tackle systemic racism.
鈥淗istorically, people of color and the diaspora have been at the bottom of the barrel, even as it relates to immigration. If we don't engage in the discussion, then what is it that we're saying to people? That we don't care?鈥�
鈥� Marcia Fudge
Abigail Dillen
Abigail Dillen is the president of Earthjustice, which fights for the planet. Her work includes lawsuits that aim to eliminate fossil fuels.
She succeeded in:
鈥⒙燝etting the EPA to set standards for disposing of coal ash;
鈥⒙燬topping a $2 billion project to transport coal energy;
鈥⒙燘locking permits for coal-fired power plants; and
鈥⒙燛nding funding for new coal plants.
She wants to move the United States toward clean energy sources.
鈥淓nvironmental racism is one feature of the systemic racism that drives shockingly disparate rates of death and disease for Black people, while making climate change a current, not future, catastrophe.鈥�
鈥� Abigail Dillen
Kizzmekia Corbett
Kizzmekia Corbett is one of the National Institutes of Health鈥檚 top scientists working on answers to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was on the NIH team that .
When she was a teen, her interest in science was reinforced when she was chosen for Project SEED, which brings exceptional high school students of color to summer chemistry labs at the University of North Carolina. Then she received a Meyerhoff scholarship for students of color to attend the University of Maryland 鈥� Baltimore County.
The program鈥檚 goal is to encourage more diversity in the science and technology fields.
Then she earned a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology at UNC-Chapel Hill.
In the early months of COVID-19, Corbett tweeted about Trump鈥檚 task force: 鈥淭he task force is largely people (white men) he appointed to their positions as director of blah blah institute. They are indebted to serve him NOT the people.鈥�
鈥淚f we can provide a vaccine to every single person that needs one, then in theory the health disparity for that disease would largely not exist. But of course, this is caveated because there are layers of disparities around distribution and access. When I think more broadly about health disparities in the U.S., 90 percent of it boils down to access 鈥� access to care, access to insurance, and access to knowledge.鈥�
鈥� Kizzmekia Corbett
Rosalynn Carter
As Georgia鈥檚 first lady in the early 1970s to Gov. Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter worked to improve the state鈥檚 mental health system. On the campaign trail, constituents had told her about the problems in the system.
While traveling the nation when Jimmy Carter was running for president, Rosalynn Carter promised that her top goal as first lady would be to help the mentally ill.
During Jimmy Carter鈥檚 presidency, Rosalynn Carter and the mental health commission brought about the Mental Health Systems bill, an attempt to improve support and protection for the mentally ill. It passed it 1980.
For decades, both Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter have worked with Habitat for Humanity to build and fix affordable housing.
鈥淲e know how to treat depression, we know how to treat mental illness, and we have not had the political will in our country to make it happen.鈥�
鈥� Rosalynn Carter
