We Rise: Speeches by Inspirational Black Women

by Michelle Obama, Amanda Meadows (Introduction), Shirley Chisholm (Contributor)(Narrator)

'WE RISE' is a rare compilation of memorable speeches delivered by celebrated African-American women from both past and present. Spanning decades and elucidating the fight for equality, it not only captures important pieces of black history, but reveals the struggle from a female perspective. The live recordings in this captivating collection are preceded by a short biography to introduce each speaker.

SPEECHES INCLUDE:

◆
Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention (2008)

◆
Shirley Chisholm on Equal Rights for Women (1969)

◆
Barbara Jordan, "Who Will Speak for the Common Good? (1976)

◆
Fannie Lou Hamer at the Democratic National Convention (1964)

◆
Rosa Parks at the Million Man March (1995)

◆
Myrlie Evers (widow of Medgar Evers, Chairman of NAACP, 1995-98)

◆
Dorothy Height (Chairperson/Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and longtime social activist)

◆
Anita Hill at Simmons College (2008)

◆
Dorothy Cotton at Cornell, MLK Commemorative Lecture (2007)

◆
Angela Davis, How Does Change Happen? at UC Davis (2006)





RUNNING TIME ⇒ 2hrs. and 8mins.

©2010 Phoenix (P)2010 Phoenix

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics, History, Audiobook, African American, Race

Audible Audio

First published February 1, 2010

About the author

Michelle Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mrs. Obama started her career as an attorney at the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin, where she met her future husband, Barack Obama. She later worked in the Chicago mayor’s office, at the University of Chicago, and at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Mrs. Obama also founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an organization that prepares young people for careers in public service. She is the author of the #1 global bestseller Becoming and the #1 national bestseller American Grown. The Obamas currently live in Washington, D.C., and have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Reviews

[Kameel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a refreshing change.... listening to these women and their infamous speeches. Inspiring!

[Shelley Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good collection! It had speeches from many different years, and I liked that speeches from the Democratic, Republican and Green Party conventions were all included. I hadn’t heard of Cynthia McKinney before, but I really liked the speech she gave when she was running for president. I have a lot of Feelings about the Green Party, and I definitely thought that the 2016 election was not the time to vote for a 3rd party (especially for Jill Stein). But I might have felt differently in 2008 if I’d been more aware of McKinney. Maybe partially in hindsight, knowing that Obama would have been elected anyway. Maybe every election is so important that it’s never the time to vote for a 3rd party. But she raised a good question: When is the right time? I really liked her statement that the only truly wasted vote is a vote against your conscience. I guess that’s the point that Green candidates always make, that if everyone voted how they truly wanted, then the Green Party would at least get the 5% they keep wanting to get similar representation to the 2 major parties.

I really appreciated Shirley Chisholm’s speech and her points about how black women have been left behind by both the women’s movement (not addressing the needs of women of color) and the civil rights movement (not addressing the needs of women). I wish I’d heard it years ago, I feel like it would have made me think about intersectional feminism a lot earlier than I actually did.

And of course I loved Michelle Obama’s speech. I listened to it right after finishing What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton, and I was so struck by how much more dynamic of a speaker Michelle Obama is. I know that her recording was just one little speech, and Hillary’s was a whole book, but Michelle just seemed so strong, relatable, and trustworthy. Love you, Michelle!

The part that surprised me the most was Condoleezza Rice’s speech to the Republican National Convention while campaigning for George W. Bush. I was surprised to hear that her father chose the Republican Party because Democrats wouldn’t register a black man to vote. I know that the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln, but I didn’t think things were switched around so recently. I was also surprised by all the Republicans cheering in the background as Condoleezza spoke about equality.

I had only 2 issues with this audiobook, which were that some of the older recordings were hard to understand, and that the person who read the bios for each speaker sounded like she was barely able to stay awake. But other than that, I think this was a solid use of 2 hours.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting collection of speeches. I appreciated that speakers from different political parties were represented. And though I found Condoleezza Rice's speech to be the least compelling, it was informative and was right to be included. The other speeches were empowering in the women's refusal to be silent in the face of oppression, particularly Barbara Jordan. The narrator who introduced each speech could be better, but aside from that, this was lovely.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Inspiring, strength, truths, power, respectful, dignified... These amazing speeches full of common sense, common courtesy, respect for all, desire to build a strong nation based on common destiny to form a national community.

If you want to be inspired, pick up this book to read or to listen to... I listened to the speeches and was so moved by the strength of their voices, spirits, characters, etc... that I picked up the book and read the beautiful speeches. They moved me to use my skills/talents to help build a national community that respects and protect human rights.

[Davina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps it was my politics, by the speech by Condoleezza Rice was the least interesting. The speech by Fanny Lou Hamer is chilling. If you have never listened to her speech at the 1964 Democratic Convention, you simply must. It is one of the most difficult to listen to, because of the harrowing description of the torture she had to endure. I also recommend the speech by Barbara Jordan. She was one of the most eloquent of Congresswomen. It's too bad she was taken from us far too soon.

[Kristin Towers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not expect these to be the actual recordings!

Admittedly, some of the comments made in a few of these speeches made me raise my brows in good (Chisholm) and surprised (Bethune) ways. But I appreciated the curation including both sides of important arguments and the context of not only the speaker’s life, but the political and social climate around when it took place; it was an important choice to help disrupt the impression of Black women as a monolith. The only change I could recommend is to have a through-line connecting the speeches; there was plenty to work with either in terms of religion, children as the future, womanhood, foreign policy, etc.

The longer I listened the more I appreciated the work these women were doing, in the myriad contexts in which they operated (some of it scarily relevant) and the more I wanted to go learn more about them.

[Coralie · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is very “middle ground” “don’t rock the boat” “patriotic” i feel like many of these weren’t incredibly inspiring or intended specifically for black women (like some of them were political campaign speeches…and one was for BUSH?!😭) it’s iconic black women speaking and that’s fine i was just hoping for something a little more pointed. not much really spoke to anything in me as a black woman (except for Shirley’s) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but i do like how the audio version is actual recordings of the speeches

[Feisty Harriet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A number of recordings of speeches given in the last 100ish years by Black and African American women in the United States. Some are political speeches, some are civil rights speeches, but they are excellent and a good bi-partisan cross section (including Condoleezza Rice and Michelle Obama). Some of the audio is a little scratchy and with a lot of interference, but that's hardly the women's fault, ya know?

[Cherie l brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring and uplifting political and motivational speeches by some renown African American woman. Especially enjoy Mrs. Obama’s get out and vote speech. I remember Rep. Shirley Chisholm grieving up as a preteen. So hearing her speech as a senior woman now was encouraging. From the woman that spoke on inequality of women and African American specifically, it was interesting that we still are fighting the same fight in 2022.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, but I would have liked a little more.

More from Rosa, more from Fannie, and more from a couple of women not in the book.

I did enjoy that the audio is the original recordings (for better or worse in quality). You can really get the emotions and understand what the tone was meant to be in each woman's speech.

[Valerie Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is kind of hard to listen to because the sound quality isn't great, but it is cool to hear the speeches in their own voices. It just seems a little random, this collection, and could be more robust.

[Anna Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio version - you can tell they used recording of the actual speeches.

An educational collection of speeches covering a number of recent decades, all of them informative and some of them very thought provoking ... asking why are some people so hateful.

[La-Shanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Rise offer listeners various perspectives on Black women in leadership and politics. I most appreciate there was no single party spotlight. For Mary McLeod Bethune, her featured speech was low nevertheless impactful.

[Madlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome speeches,

[LeeTravelGoddess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book of speeches, definitely worth the read— I thoroughly enjoyed it especially madam Shirley Chisholm!! 💚💚💚

[Kristin Roach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook version which is a compilation of the actual speeches from original recordings.

[Georgia Call · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish more speeches had been included.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but the sound quality wasn't great for some of the speeches and it was super hard to hear.

[julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful words which have sadly aged badly. Ever relevant recordings which mostly show how far we, as a nation, still have to go in order to live up to even the earliest speech’s aspirational words.

[Elizabeth Alfaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If a black man is a slave, a black woman is a slave of a slave"
EQUALITY is so elusive for women

[Danica is Booked · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the speech quality was bad which made it hard to hear. But I enjoyed listening to speeches given by Black women throughout history.

[Jan McManus · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels a little dated, but one particular speech will be forever seared into my mind. It's worth the read (or listen) for that very woman.

[Joanna Jann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspirational

[Xavier University Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good to listen to, rather than read, as you can listen to the speeches in the women’s own voices.

[Kim Stock]

Great collection of primary sources with varying views

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting to hear how the more things change the more things stay the same.

[Kryssa Jacynth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the speeches may have been somewhat lacking, but Shirley Chisholm truly blew me away

[Dawna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, but there were some areas where I wished they would’ve chosen a different speech (knowing that better options exist).

[Meghan Sarate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, powerful, and moving

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated the perspectives but I also don’t love political writing in general so wasn’t for me. Problem is with me not collection.