The world knows Wendy Davis as the state senator in Texas who filibustered for 11 hours straight against an bill that would restrict abortion. Unlike Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” she was not allowed to take a drink of water or go off-topic or even lean on the speaker’s desk.
What you may not know is that this was not her first filibuster. That was in 2011, when she filibustered against the mammoth budget cuts to public education of $5.4 billion, which crippled many schools and turned out to be completely unnecessary ( but the funding was not restored).
For her valiant resistance to the cuts, the Republican leadership kicked her off the education committee, but she continued to sit in on its meetings and even to offer legislation. She joins the honor roll today as a champion of American education and an all-around champion of courage in public life.
She knows more than most people how crucial education is, how it offers a lifeline to those who reach out for it. The following appears in the New York Times:
“My mother only had a sixth-grade education, and it was really a struggle for us,” she said in a 2011 video for Generation TX. She said she fell through the cracks in high school, and shortly after she graduated, she got married and divorced, and was a single mother by age 19.
“I was living in a mobile home in southeast Fort Worth, and I was destined to live the life that I watched my mother live,” she said in the video. A co-worker showed her a brochure for Tarrant County College, and she took classes to become a paralegal, working two jobs at the same time. From there she received a scholarship to attend Texas Christian University in Fort Worth — becoming the first person in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree — and then went on to Harvard. “When I was accepted into Harvard Law School, I remember thinking about who I am, and where I came from, and where I had been only a few years before,” she said.”
Wendy Davis is a true American hero. She has tenacity and guts. She has intelligence and wisdom. That’s a great combination.
She never forgot where she came from or how she got to where she is today.
She doesn’t use her life experience to tell others to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. She uses her elected position to extend a helping hand. She knows what free public education meant to her. She wants to keep the promise alive for the millions of boys and girls in Texas who are counting on her.
She is only 50. What a great future she has before her.
Now that Rick Perry is stepping down, I hope she runs for governor.
Brava!
Remarkable person. Thanks for sharing this additional information about her.
Senator Davis truly deserves this honor of being a “True American Hero”. The sacrifices she has made and the work she has done is sorely lacking amongst our government leaders. This country is lucky to have her! The sky is the limit Senator, keep striving. Thank you for being a light, a true leader and a friend to the potential and future of children.
thanks for your comments; I have worked with the Board of our local homeless shelter and see the issues from that perspective (after retiring from a long teaching career). What bothers me in particular is the feminization of poverty . Education Next puts out some of the “pseudoscience” that is being foisted on public schools and the director is quoted as saying it’s the breakdown of the family and single moms etc….. Education Next is already quoted as saying “broken” home is the problem so then the conclusion is don’t bother to look at intervening variables, it’s not inequitable resources (inequities among and between school districts, etc) , so let’s pin the blame on the single head of household (usually female) and let’s continue to blame and bash the teachers. Education Next has already decided the cause and then they spew out these “studies” “articles” to convince the pubiic reading the headlines (Education Next is responsible for the headline UPI sent out “teachers are pricey” ) When I put these building blocks together, though, I lose 1/2 of my colleague (even the women) who don’t agree with this perspective. Nuns on the Bus understand so I have their bumper sticker along with Elizabeth Warren on my car. I think you are accurate in your viewpoint just I can’t lead with that viewpoint because of the immediate reactions …. these issues bring on a “civil war” like the “reading wars” and the “math wars” etc. Keep up your good work and encourage your colleagues .
Thank you for your tribute to Wendy. She is our Texas hero, role model, and future governor of the Lone Star State.
Thanks for posting this article. Yesterday- on 7/9 I got to chat with Sen.Davis in Austin just before the launch of the Stand With Texas Women bus tour that is traveling to Dallas today and will be in San Antonio on Thursday and I personally thanked her for her hard work in both the 82nd and 83rd sessions on education funding and policy issues. I wanted to make sure she knew that we appreciated her efforts in regards to other issues as well that tend not to get as much media attention. One of the things she said before heading out on this trip around the state this weekend was she wanted to talk about was getting back on the special session schedule the Women’s Equal pay for Equal work bill that the Texas Legislature passed but was recently vetoed by the Governor. One thing she has always been good at is understanding how the multiple dynamics of education, fair employment and family health issues intersect. Here in Texas we are proud of her and proud of all the other State Representatives and Senators in the Texas Legislature who stepped up to support women’s autonomy in their personal medical decision making and family life.
I can’t watch those videos of her and the “people in the balcony” without crying.
First time I have said I am glad to be in Texas. Wendy has energized us and the movement for her to run for Gov. has begun. She is our Texas Treasure!
“she was not allowed to take a drink of water or go off-topic or even lean on the speaker’s desk.”
Was this in the Texas state senate or Guantanamo?
Character always shines and gains respect of common sense people. Politicians everywhere should start paying attention to “We the people.” Bravo Wendy Davis!
She has truly overcome the obstacles set before her… up until she was asked to support life for all unborn babies in Texas. I am deeply disappointed that a woman who has been through so much would choose to deny life and the opportunity to do what she has done to a segment of our population.
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.
Can’t wait to donate to her gov campaign, keep encouraging her to run.
She certainly managed to get her campaign off to a rousing start with her pink sneakers, strong bladder, and support for infanticide.
I hope she does run!!! She will lose by 60 points. Only the fringers support this brutal brutal procedure on healthy babies. The fact that Ravitch supports fighting for educating children but does not support fighting for their right to exist is a bit ironic.
Davis doesn’t necessarily have a strong bladder. She wore a urinary catheter for her filibuster. I look forward to supporting her rival. I don’t consider supporters of the sadistic torture of the unborn to be heroes.
What a heroine. But do you really think those nuts in Texas would really elect someone like her to the governor’s seat? Even the book companies think they are crazy and by what they propose and the type of legislation they love it is amazing she did what she did. That makes her even more of a heroine. She is someone all girls and boys should look up to for ethics and dedication.
I must admire Senator Davis for her grit and determination.
Does anyone know what bills/laws she has sponsored?
I hope she does run for governor of our Texas.
I know she tried to stop the budget cuts.
Given the dominance of far-right Republicans in the Texas legislature, I doubt any of her bills got anywhere.
She can run as the catheterization candidate.
Moving forward…..one action at a time! You are BOTH my heroines! You make a difference by focusing on the greater good!! YOU MATTER!!
I find it mind bogglinly paradoxical that teachers who love children so much after they are born should be so eager to support the easiest possible access to abortion, which must be considered a killing of a person (although a permitted killing, sort of like self-defense). What am I missing? I am not trolling, but am genuinely puzzled. Is it the coat hanger argument?
P.S. Many say they do not support abortion as birth control. I don’t see that it has any other function. I don’t seek a change in the Federal law at all. I’m just trying to understand the rhetoric and politics of abortion, most immediately here among teachers. I support abortion on demand. I just don’t see why we euphemize it. I think a woman has a perfect right to kill a child she doesn’t want to raise. But I don’t understand why she wants to pretend she’s not killing someone, same as a soldier on a battlefield, where killing is also legal. If I euthanize my cat, I don’t pretend I’m not killing it, dear to me as she may be. I hold her in my arms in a towel and let the vet administer the chemical and hold her as she dies. But I don’t pretend it’s part of my medical treatment. I kill the cat because I can’t care for her any longer in her state of deteriorating health.
I can get my mind around the thing itself, killing a helpless thing I own and have power over. I can’t get my mind around the arguments used to pretend an abortion is not the killing of a helpless human being over whom I have power. I’m bigger. The baby’s mine. I can legally kill it before 5 months or so (20 weeks). There’s no doubt the baby is human and alive. A member of the Taliban is a human being too, but we let Navy Seals go kill them in Afghanistan, or kill them with drones, and celebrate the killers as heros.
A mother decides her kid is too much for her to undertake. She kills it. It is her choice legally. What’s thei difference?
I, too, hope and pray that Davis runs for Texas governor. Here extreme position on late term abortions would most assuredly result in a 60 point loss for Democrats. The Huffington Post’s own poll showed that 60% of those surveyed support restrictions on late term abortions after 20 weeks (5 months). Even most pro-choicers believe that a “choice” should be made prior to 5 months. If Davis runs she will bring the abortion debate back to the national spotlight and will force Democrats to either defend or abandon what is clearly human infanticide in America. So, please Wendy, please put your pink shoes back on and run for Governor. Run, Wendy, Run!!
If Wendy Davis is a true American hero, I wonder whom else Diane admires.