Seneca Falls, 165 years ago today, began a movement that remains the unfinished business of the 21st century.
When,
in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of
the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position
different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which
the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to
the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes
that impel them to such a course.
We hold these truths to be
self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure
these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it
to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new
government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its
powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments
long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;
and accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right
themselves, by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But
when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the
same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism,
it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards
for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the
women under this government, and such is now the necessity which
constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled.
The
history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on
the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment
of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted
to a candid world.
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Back
on February 15 of this year, after Hillary was honored at the Pentagon
by departing Secretary of Defense Panetta, I posted this rationale for a
Library/Museum in Hillary Clinton's honor specifically in Seneca Falls -
the
only appropriate venue for our Hillary who occupies a very special place in women's history in
our country and in the world.
Over
her 20 years as First Lady, NY Senator, and finally Secretary of
State, Hillary Rodham Clinton has been honored with many awards.
Yesterday, she received another. Through all of those years, she has
also had a public office in which to keep and display them.
When
she was preparing to vacate her office at the State Department, I was
wondering where on earth she was planning to put all of these medals and
awards. As she is planning (this is one thing we know for certain) to
write another book, it seems logical for her to have a Library/Museum
where she can display publicly her work and all of the honors she has
received.
As the woman who has come closest to having smashed that
hard glass ceiling (which she still might do), and as a New Yorker,
she certainly deserves a special place in Seneca Falls. So let's roll
out this idea. Why wait? She needs a place for her honors, and she
needs it now.
*Like* this page on Facebook to help get the ball rolling.
Hillary Clinton
