Donna Pardue

“You can’t walk across a lake just because you change its name to “land.” Labels matter.”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water

“Then it came to me. The only way to be free was to forgive them—and forgive myself. It was advice I’d heard plenty of times, but on that day in the hotel, I was ready to do it. In an instant, I stopped expecting anything from them. Their approval, friendship, understanding, empathy, love. And I stopped believing that Dad, Mom, and Mona were right about me—or any of us. I didn’t want to carry around the burden of longing and guilt and shame anymore. I was done.”
― David Crow, The Pale-Faced Lie

“Like all movements of its kind, the push toward gender equality has been, and remains, a multifront challenge, but there is little doubt that the right to vote--and to have a voice in the democratic process--is fundamental for success. There can be no equality in a democratic society in which the government only listens to only some of its citizens.”
― Kristin Hannah, Stories from Suffragette City

“I don’t believe there has ever been a more terrible weapon in this world than the word they.”
― Cebo Campbell, Sky Full of Elephants