The Hardest Glass Ceiling
Take this little journey with me now by watching these videos and reliving some of the greatest moments in Democratic History, and know this: Hillary Clinton is a badass boss.
Last night a torch was passed but not necessarily in the way that was expected. Many tuned in to the Democratic National Convention to pay their respects and bid a fond farewell to Joe Biden, a man who lead us through the unimaginable. Getting to this moment took so much more than the last four years. We were not only able to honor someone who did the hard work as president to get our country back on course, but also to pay our respects a woman who should have been president, who made a tiny crack in a political glass ceiling that we are now closer to shattering.
I really liked the speeches from the first night of the Democratic National Convention. Truth be told, I am a political nerd who watches every night of each convention like it is the Super Bowl, interested to see which politician will rise to their peak and who we can expect to become a Democratic leader in the future. As I was waiting for the heavy hitters to start up the program for the night, I decided to post some of my favorite speeches from past conventions on Twitter. I’ve been thinking about those inspiring moments that were pivotal to me.
Full disclosure: I spent over an hour looking for already converted Al Sharpton video of his speech in 2004, that had me in stitches during a time I felt was incredibly heavy for our country. We had just gone through the Bush stolen election of 2000, and the hanging chad trauma was still alive and well for many of us. This was when I was about to start my second year of law school in an incredibly conservative town in Oklahoma, and I was looking for the liberal fuel that was non-existent in my academic life.
In 2004, we had Al Sharpton at his finest. Remember big Reverend Al, the one who was the first to call out the cheaters in the Republican Party when many felt that it was still too tacky to say anything in public? Big Al with his booming voice and his honest rhetoric gave me a glimpse of hope, when I had very little. I should also tell you that I do a killer Reverend Al impersonation and I spent the next year making my five other liberal friends in law school laugh their way through the second Bush election.
Watch this and I dare you not to smile:
What happened next on that summer night in 2004 was nothing short of fantastic. Remember that time when it was clear that George Bush had used Diebold to rig the election but everyone was doing their best Nixon cover-up act and if you even mentioned it in public you sounded like a crack pot? The MAGA movement copied that one too — they took our own outrage and pinned it to a distorted reality and sold it as solid gold. The only difference is they have no shame.
Back to the dark times of 2004. I was living at home in Arizona that summer with my best friend, and we were clerking in my home county. We were sitting cross-legged in our living room on a towel, eating watermelon because my mom still treats me like I’m four. Already a little high from my giggle fit after watching Al Sharpton basically tell a room of staunch Democratic supporters in a way that was colloquial and brazenly honest, “Duh, he stole this election and we don’t need to play nice about it,” I saw the keynote speaker come on stage. His name was Barack Obama. He was from Chicago. I had never heard of him.
I had sticky watermelon juice dripping down my arms with seeds stuck to my elbows because I was engrossed in my third Reverend Al impersonation of the night and reveling in being able to make everyone laugh. “If I tell you that we must LEAVE this arena, because you are in DANGER and then when we get outside I say there was no DANGER, then I HAVE LIED TO YOU.” I was crushing it, I promise you. Then I heard a firm but soft voice that I instantly felt I had heard many times before and Obama began to speak.
I could not believe what I was seeing and hearing. This young Illinois Senator had everything — the cadence, the articulation, the presence and the ability to write one hell of a speech. When he delivered his speech, it moved like a song that was written for that exact moment in time. This is what happens when a good speech becomes great. Think of Bob Dylan — one of our finest speech makers. You hear an entire symphony from one mouth that is only speaking words. It takes both the greatness of a brilliant writer and the perfect orator, who is full of another level of charisma. Barack Obama had it all.
Last night I felt the same way when I watched Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez speak. She owned the stage and the room and it was like she had been born to do this. I was so excited about what is to come and what she will be able to do down the road when her voice meets the perfect words at the exact right time. (Call me, AOC, we could make magic.)
I also loved watching Steve Kerr give his moving speech, as only a great coach can do. Steve was on the Final Four team in Arizona in 1988, when I was growing up in Tucson and I remember going to McKale Center at midnight with my mom and my best friend to welcome the team home after they lost to stupid Oklahoma in the semis. No wonder law school in Oklahoma was such a nightmare for me.
Steve Kerr was perfect for last night — he was as always passionate, articulate and authentic. Watching him felt like I was watching family and I was so proud:
While the purpose of the first night at the DNC was to usher in the new and give homage to the incredible lifetime of service that Joe Biden has given this country, I could not stop thinking about Hillary Clinton. In truth, this has been an issue for me since the Harris switch out in the bottom of the 8th inning. I kept thinking back to that poignant and graceful concession speech she gave in 2016, that was no doubt done to ease all of our pain and to protect the United States moving forward. Last night was especially bittersweet for me as a wonk, a writer and a woman.
I realize now that if Secretary Clinton had not spoken last night that her last, biggest impression would have been that beautiful and painful farewell speech, which only made us realize how close we almost came and how much we had really lost. But with her speech in Chicago last night, Hillary Clinton did what she does best: she showed us all that she has continued to grow, learn, evolve, and get even better.
Make no mistake — Hillary Clinton is again in an incredibly difficult situation. She seems to excel at them which is just another reason why she would have been such an outstanding president. To spend her entire life working toward realizing a dream that she was not able achieve, and still pass on the dream to another person, with no sense of narcissism or resentment, is an amazing feat. Hillary Clinton did just that and by choosing to focus on praising her feminist heroes, while elegantly acknowledging her shortcomings and turn that all into a strength was nothing short of genius.
Last night Hillary Clinton gave us Habanera from Carmen and she not only sang the lead, she played every instrument and performed every character in the masterpiece, on her own. I was especially moved by her recounting of taking Chelsea to see Geraldine Ferraro to accept the Vice Presidential Nomination at the 1984 DNC, and then thought of the anticipation we all had that everything would happen so much sooner. Pairing this moment with the hopes she has for her grandchildren and for their grandchildren, Hillary Clinton was able to remind us that we still have so far to go in securing this dream that is long overdue.
“Nearly sixty-six million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams…we kept our eyes on the future. Well, my friends, the future is here…Together we put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling…The future is here, it’s in our grasp,” declared Clinton with excitement last night. This future Would not have been possible without her.
Last night was really hard for me as a wonk, a writer, a woman and someone who loves Hillary Clinton. To add insult to injury, at the end of her brilliant speech, those bastard DNC producers really brought it home, and played Fight Song as she exited stage right. I cried like a baby.
I only hope that this time, enough Americans are able to take this election seriously, and push our country where she has yearned to be for decades. There is nothing we can do to correct the grave mistakes of the past that have led us to this place in history. But, we can vote for Kamala Harris and know that Hillary will continue to shoulder that regret burden for us all. That is what true leaders do.
Amee Vanderpool writes the SHERO Newsletter, is an attorney, published author, contributor to newspapers and magazines, and an analyst for BBC radio. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.
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All I could think of when Hillary was talking was this should have been her farewell speech . Not taking anything away from President Biden, just saying
The torch has been passed, now let’s finish the job.
VOTE!