My dad was a civil rights lawyer, and he was actually…

“My dad was a civil rights lawyer, and he was actually defending conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War.”

Cecile Richards

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Family background in civil rights law influences personal commitment to social justice.

In simple terms: Family shapes activist values.

Key Takeaway

Embrace your heritage.

Themes

activism family civil rights Vietnam War

Mood

inspired determined

Type

personal motivational

When to use this quote

political organizing
public speaking
policy work

Key Concepts

generational activism legal advocacy

Questions to Reflect On

How does your family history shape your goals?
What challenges arise from a legacy of activism?

A Different Perspective

Balancing personal life with activism can be demanding.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

Civil Right Civil rights Dad Lawyer Vietnam Vietnam war War

More by Cecile Richards

I worked with women who were nurses and workers, women who worked in hotels, janitors who basically cleaned buildings, worked two jobs just to…

Cecile Richards

We applaud Congress for extending equitable abortion coverage to female Peace Corps volunteers.

Cecile Richards

If you look at the workforce and the way our laws work around so many issues, it's as if women are supposed to retrofit…

Cecile Richards

I can't imagine that my children would have fewer rights, and less access to the safest, best health care.

Cecile Richards

Even though my mom was talented and had a college degree, she lived in the era when the conventional wisdom in Dallas was that…

Cecile Richards

The women who walk into Planned Parenthood clinics come from every background, every political persuasion.

Cecile Richards

The national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure and teenage girls are paying the real price.

Cecile Richards

All my life, I've been lucky to work in social justice, starting as a labor organizer working with low-wage working women.

Cecile Richards

Thanks to President Obama, being a woman will no longer be a pre-existing condition!

Cecile Richards

Dealing with men in Congress - for the most part, it's pretty dispiriting in terms of the lack of regard they have for women.…

Cecile Richards

I think we're all fighting for the day in which partisan politics is no longer something that is used to attack women's access to…

Cecile Richards

And because of President Obama, more women than ever are serving in the Cabinet and on the Supreme Court.

Cecile Richards

I'm grateful to women who have the privilege and ability to tell their stories and applaud them for doing that. And also recognize that…

Cecile Richards

It's better to be a corporation today than to be a woman in front of the Supreme Court.

Cecile Richards

The good news is when we are in full-on sisterhood, women are the most powerful, political force in America.

Cecile Richards

Explore all 39 Cecile Richards quotes

More Civil rights quotes

Every one knows that the exercise of military power is forever dangerous to civil rights; and we have had recent instances of violences that…

Samuel Adams

I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.

Thomas Jefferson

I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to…

Malala Yousafzai

The Patriot Act is certainly a concern; all of those things are dangerous. I think more important than me preaching is that we as…

George Clooney

American civil rights leader, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Lynching is a murder. For the past four hundred years our…

Malcolm X

“Why do we apologize for advocating for ourselves? Why do we apologize for taking up space that we are entitled to? Why do we…

Elizabeth Tambascio

We are a nation of innovators and problem-solvers who sparked revolutions in democratic government, civil rights, communications, flight, rural electrification and technology. We are…

Stanley A. McChrystal

“Mental illness is not something you misunderstand in this era. Get educated because bias is no different than racism.”

Shannon L. Alder

Civil rights leaders are involved in helping poor people. That's what I've been doing all my life.

Andrew Young

I grew up in the early '60s, and there was a lot of civil rights, a lot of unrest in our country.

Herm Edwards

The great paradox of the civil rights revolution is that instead of enforcing and expanding equality before the law, the revolution created differential rights…

Paul Craig Roberts

The world - and America - has been defined by people who haven't necessarily abided by the laws and the rules. Civil disobedience is…

Rory Kennedy

I do not believe that defending traditional marriage between one man and one woman excludes anybody or usurps anybody's civil rights and denies anybody…

Alan Autry