Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach (RIP)

"Any woman who choses to behave like a full human
being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as
something of a dirty joke."
Gloria Steinem

Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, who reported being raped in May 2007, was found dead, along with her unborn child, in January 2008 in the backyard of the suspect in the case, Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean.

"Several Congress members spoke of lack of leadership and accountability in stopping sexual assault. The same day as the sexual assault hearing, the Navy relieved two senior officers of the USS George Washington because of the injury to 23 sailors and $70 million in damage to the ship caused by a smoking violation. Imagine if commanders in units where rape occurred were relieved of command for the harmful actions of their subordinates. That would send a signal of zero tolerance of sexual assault, whereas in the current climate victims are intimidated and alleged perpetrators are given administrative punishment instead of court-martial."

Alice Paul (1885 - 1977)

Suffrage is the pivotal right. ~
Susan B. Anthony

While earning degrees in law and social work, Alice Paul studied in London and joined the radical British suffrage movement. She was jailed several times and returned in 1910 determined to put new life into the American woman's struggle for the ballot. The National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA), the old organization of Anthony and Stanton, was still focused on state-by-state campaigns, but Alice

Paul preferred to lobby Congress for an amendment to the Constitution.

She worked first within the NAWSA and then in her own rival organizations. She soon demonstrated her political savvy, stealing the limelight at Woodrow Wilson's inauguration with a gigantic suffrage parade. When Wilson proved slow to aid the suffrage cause, Alice Paul adopted the British strategy of holding the party in power responsible. Her group, then called the Congressional Union, campaigned against Democrats in the states where women already voted. Alice Paul led them in militant tactics, including picketing the White House.

After World War I broke out, tensions grew and the pickets were alternately threatened by hostile crowds and thrown in jail. Placed in solitary confinement in a psychopathic ward, Alice Paul was force-fed, but her spirit remained unbroken. In the 1920s her group, by then the National Woman's Party, set the agenda for feminism: the vote won, the next target would be an Equal Rights Amendment.

Clara Barton (1821 - 1912)

I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning
how to sail my ship. ~ Louise May Alcott

Clara Barton taught school and worked as a clerk in the U.S. Patent Office. When she 40 years old, the outbreak of the Civil War launched her on her life's work. She began to assemble and distribute supplies to the Union soliders. Knowing that nurses were urgently needed at the battlefield, she "broke the shackles and went into the field."

At Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Fairfax Court House, Fredrickburg, Antietam, and the Wilderness, she assisted the surgeons in stitching up wounds and in bloody amputations. Her life long timidity disappeared. She was calm and resourceful, always turning up with food and medical supplies just when they were needed most. Clara Barton gained national acclaim as "the angel of the battlefield," but she was also "everybody's old maid aunt," fussing over the men she called "my boys."

After the war she coordinated a national effort to locate soldiers who were missing in action. Barton threw herself into relief work in Europe and was impressed with the International Red Cross. She then lobbied for United States ratification of the Red Cross Treaty. She was the founder of the American Red Cross and served for many years as its president.

Susan B. Anthony (1820 - 1906)

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done
without hope or confidence. ~ Helen Keller

Susan B. Anthony taught school in New Rochelle and Canajoharie, NY, and discovered that male teachers were paid several times her salary. She devoted her first reform efforts to anti-slavery and to temperance, the campaign to curb alcohol. But when she rose to speak in a temperance convention, she was told, "The sisters were not invited here to speak!" Anthony promptly enlisted in the cause of women's rights.

In a lifelong partnership with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anthony's organizational skill and selfless dedication built the women's rights movement. The ballot, she became increasingly to believe, was the necessary foundation for all other advances. When she and Stanton published a newspaper, they called it The Revolution. Its motto was "Men their rights and nothing more; women their rights and nothing less." In order to press a test case of her belief that women, as citizens, could not be denied the ballot, Anthony voted. She was tried, convicted and fined for voting illegally.

For over thirty years she traveled the country almost ceaselessly working for women's rights. In 1906, her health failing, Anthony addressed her last women's suffrage convention. Although she sensed that the cause would not be won in her lifetime, she looked out across the assembled women and told them, "Failure is impossible."

Benazir Bhutto (RIP)

"I regret that I have but one life to give for my country."~ Nathan Hale

Benazir Bhutto 1953 - 2007

Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of a prime minister of Pakistan who held that post twice herself, died on Dec. 27, 2007 in a suicide attack on a political rally as she campaigned to hold that post a third time.

Ms. Bhutto, who was 54 at the time of her death, was a member of one of Pakistan's most prominent families, albeit one touched by tragedy. Her father was ousted and hanged by the Pakistani military and two of her brothers died violent deaths.

Ms. Bhutto took over the leadership of her father's party and became the first woman leader of an Islamic country when she was first elected prime minister in 1988 at the age of 35. She served a total of six years in office before being dismissed in 1996 amid widespread charges of corruption against herself and her husband. She took up residence in London.

In the summer of 2007, with the encouragement of Washington, she entered into power-sharing talks with Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who had seized power in 1999 from Ms. Bhutto's successor. But no deal was reached, and Ms. Bhutto returned to the country in October in an ambiguous position, not quite allied with General Musharraf and not quite opposed. When he imposed emergency rule in November, she waited several days before denouncing the move.

She was leading a rally for her Pakistan People's Party in the parliamentary campaign she hoped would restore her to power early in 2008 when she was killed.

Maya Angelou (1928 - Present)

Let me tell you the secret that has led me
to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity. ~ Louis
Pasteur

Maya Angelou, through her powerful writings, has inspired generations of women, African-Americans and all people who struggle to overcome prejudice, discrimination and abuse.

Throughout her life, Angelou has defied social norms. After being raped by her mother's boyfriend, she withdrew and was mute for five years. However, encouraged by her grandmother, who introduced her to literature, she gradually emerged as a talented artist. Her diverse career includes being the first black streetcar conductor in San Francisco. In 1954, Angelou turned to acting before she started writing while also working as northern coordinator and fund raiser for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

In the 1960s, Angelou began to focus on her writing and, in 1970, her first autobiographical work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, became a best seller and was nominated for a National Book Award.Angelou's writings have altered society for the better, bringing greater diversity into the theater and literature. Her autobiographical works provide powerful insights into the evolution of black women in the 20th century. In 1971, she became the first black woman to have a screenplay produced as a film -- Georgia, Georgia. Her writings have brought her numerous awards and have been nominated for a Tony Award, an Emmy Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

Madeliene Albright (1937 - Present)

Your aspirations are your possibilities. ~ Samuel Johnson

Madeleine Korbel Albright, sworn in as the 64th United States Secretary of State in 1997 after unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, became the first female Secretary of State and the highest ranking woman in the United States government. As Secretary of State and as U.S. representative to the United Nations before that, she has created policies and institutions to help guide the world into a new century of peace and prosperity. Concentrating on a bipartisan approach to U.S. foreign policy, she has attempted to create a consensus on the need for U.S. leadership and engagement in the world. Among her achievements are ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention and progress toward stability in Eastern and Central Europe.

Albright has dedicated her life to international study. After receiving her B.A. at Wellesley College, she studied international relations at Johns Hopkins University before earning her M.A. and Ph.D. at Columbia University. Before her appointment as Secretary of State, she had a diverse career. Albright was Sen. Edward Muskie's Chief Legislative Assistant; a Woodrow Wilson fellow; president of the Center for National Policy, a nonprofit research organization; and Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Women in Foreign Service Program at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. During President Clinton's first term, Albright served as the United States' Permanent Representative to the United Nations and a member of Clinton's National Security Council.

As a refugee whose family fled Czechoslovakia, first from the Nazis and later from the Communists, Albright represents the highest ideals and aspirations of immigrants who come to America seeking to make major contributions to our society. As a leader in international relations, she has helped change the course of history and, in so doing, has also set a new standard for American women and for women around the world.

Geraldine Ferraro (1935 - Present)

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out and meet it. ~ Thucydides

Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman nominated by a major political power as its candidate for Vice President of the United States.

A teacher and then attorney, Ferraro worked in the Queens, New York District Attorney's office, where she started the Special Victims Bureau. Ferraro ran successfully for Congress from New York City's 9th District in 1978. There, she was a women's and human rights advocate, working for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, sponsoring the Women's Economic Equity Act ending pension discrimination against women, and seeking greater job training and opportunities for displaced homemakers.

In 1984, Ferraro was picked to run as Vice President of the United States on the Democratic Party ticket, with former Vice President Walter Mondale as the candidate for President. In her acceptance speech, she spoke of the realization of the American dream: "Tonight, the daughter of an immigrant from Italy has been chosen to run for vice president in the new land my father came to love..." The ticket lost, but Ferraro's candidacy forever reshaped the American political and social landscape.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones (RIP)

1949 - 2008 (May the angels guide you home)

A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic (Joseph Stalin)

Stephanie was a well known known member of the Democratic Party and the US House of Representatives. Her constituency involved the people of the 11th District of Ohio.

She will always be remembered as the first African American who was elected to Congress from Ohio. In 2006, she was named Chairwoman of the House Committee of Official Conduct. A position that she was well suited for as she was a woman of intergrity and honesty.

During the 2008 Democratic primaries she was very vocal about her support for Senator Hillary Clinton. Even when it was not the popular stance to take amongst her peers.

In august 2008, Stephanie was found unconscious in her car, having suffered a cerebral hemorrhage due to an aneurysm in her brain. She was taken to hospital, where she died the next day.

She is sadly missed for her spirit, optimism and conviction of correcting the sexism prevelant in the Democratic Party today.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats. - B. C. Forbes

Hillary was raised in a middle-class family in Park Ridge, Illinois. She became one of America's foremost advocates for children and families; an attorney twice voted one of the most influential in America; a First Lady of Arkansas who helped transform the schools; a bestselling author; a First Lady for America who helped transform that role, becoming a champion for health care and families at home and a champion of women's rights and human rights around the world. In 2008, she became the first female to have her name in nomination for the US Presidency.

As the Senator representing New York after 9/11, Hillary has fought to strengthen the approach to homeland security and to improve communications and intelligence operations. As the first New Yorker ever named to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hillary has been a tough critic of the administration's bungling of Iraq and a fierce advocate for proper equipment, health benefits, and treatment for military families.

Hillary went to Wellesley College, where she was chosen by her classmates to be the first-ever student commencement speaker. Next came Yale Law School, where Hillary focused on questions about how the law affected children and began her decades of work as an advocate for children and families. Following graduation, she became a staff attorney for the Children's Defense Fund. After serving as only one of two women lawyers on the staff of the House Judiciary Committee considering the impeachment of Richard Nixon, Hillary chose not to pursue offers from major law firms. Instead she followed her heart and a man named Bill Clinton to Arkansas. They married in 1975 and their daughter Chelsea was born in 1980.

She led the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession, which played a pioneering role in raising awareness of issues like sexual harassment and equal pay. Hillary was twice named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America.

In the White House, Hillary led efforts to make adoption easier, to expand early learning and child care, to increase funding for breast cancer research, and to help veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome who had too often been ignored in the past. She helped launch a national campaign to prevent teen pregnancy and helped create the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which moved children from foster care to adoption more quickly. Thanks in part to her efforts, the number of children who have moved out of foster care into adoption has increased dramatically.

In 2000, Hillary was elected to the United States Senate from New York. As Senator, Hillary has continued her advocacy for children and families and has been a national leader on homeland security and national security issues.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Hillary worked with her colleagues to secure the funds New York needed to recover and rebuild. She fought to provide compensation to the families of the victims, grants for hard-hit small businesses, and health care for front line workers at Ground Zero. And she continues to work for resources that enable New York to grow, to improve homeland security for New York and other communities, and to protect all Americans from future attacks.

Hillary is strongly committed to making sure that every American has the right to vote in fair, accessible, and credible elections. She introduced the Count Every Vote Act of 2005 to ensure better protection of votes and to ensure that every vote is counted.

In 2006, New Yorkers reelected Hillary to the Senate with 67 percent of the vote.

In 2008, the nomination to run as a Presidential candidae in the Democratic Party was stolen from her by the boys club with its leader Nancy Pelosi who is a disgrace to honest, hard working women and men everywhere.