This past Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell silenced Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren when she was barred from speaking on the Senate floor. McConnell told reporters, "Senator Warren was giving a lengthy speech. She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted." Since then, millions of people across the country have come to Warren's defense, taking to social media and reclaiming the last three words of McConnell's statement. Rather than insinuating that female persistence is bad and needs to be shut down, the internet used the Senate Majority Leader's words as a way of celebrating strong, persistent women, both past and present. Here are some quotes from women who "nevertheless ... persisted."
"I was raised to believe that excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism. And that’s how I operate my life." - Oprah Winfrey
"I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life." - Hillary Clinton
"The only tired I was, was tired of giving in." - Rosa Parks
"I freed a thousand slaves...I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves." - Harriet Tubman
"My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent." - RBG
"I speak not for myself but for those without voice... those who have fought for their rights... their right to live in peace, their right to be treated with dignity, their right to equality of opportunity, their right to be educated." - Malala Yousafzai
"A good education is a foundation for a better future." - Elizabeth Warren
"I trust the Constitution. Sometimes there's a mistake, but mostly we move forward. I think we are going to win just because I think justice will prevail. Is that crazy?" - Edie Windsor
"My message is really that racism has no place in the hearts and minds of our children." - Ruby Bridges
"I have no regrets. I don't believe in looking back. What I am most proud of? Working really hard...and achieving as much as I could." - Elena Kagan
"I did what my conscience told me to do, and you can't fail if you do that." - Anita Hill
"Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society." - Sonia Sotomayor
"I am desperate for change - now. Not in eight years or twelve years, but right now." - Michelle Obama
"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." - Shirley Chisholm
