Tribute to Former Governor Ann Richards

By Ann Marie Shroeder
former SDEC26 Committee Woman

Tonight we lost a great Texan and a great leader, Gov. Ann Richards.

In 1990, when Gov. Richards was elected Governor of Texas, I told my Mom, "see a woman can be governor!" I was 20 years old, in college, and wondering what path I might take in life. My parents had been very politically active with AFSCME during the 70's and 80's, but the only politicians I ever saw them work with were men. Ann changed how I thought about government.

I'm sure she did the same for lot of other women and girls throughout Texas and our country. She worked toward getting young women interested and involved in government.

One of her quotes was printed in tonight's AP news release about her passing. She said she didn't want her tombstone to read "'She kept a really 'clean house.' "

She said she wanted to be remembered as someone who opened government to everyone. Indeed, as governor, she did just that.

I have a copy of her 1988 Keynote Address to the Democratic National Convention. Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were our nominees for President and Vice-President.

Here is an excerpt from that speech. Much of it still rings true today. It also made me realize that, tonight and for years to come, a granddaughter will be missing her grandmother dearly.

I’m a grandmother now. And I have one nearly perfect granddaughter named Lily. And when I hold that grandbaby, I feel the continuity of life that unites us, that binds generation to generation, that ties us with each other.

And sometimes I spread that Baptist pallet out on the floor, and Lily and I roll a ball back and forth. And I think of all the families like mine, like the one in Lorena , Texas , like the ones that nurture children all across America .

And as I look at Lily, I know that it is within families that we learn both the need to respect individual human dignity and to work together for our common good. Within our families, within our nation, it is the same.

And as I sit there, I wonder if she’ll ever grasp the changes I’ve seen in my life -- if she’ll ever believe that there was a time when blacks could not drink from public water fountains, when Hispanic children were punished for speaking Spanish in the public schools, and women couldn’t vote.

I think of all the political fights I’ve fought, and all the compromises I’ve had to accept as part payment. And I think of all the small victories that have added up to national triumphs and all the things that would never have happened and all the people who would’ve been left behind if we had not reasoned and fought and won those battles together.

And I will tell Lily that those triumphs were Democratic Party triumphs.
I want so much to tell Lily how far we’ve come, you and I. And as the ball rolls back and forth, I want to tell her how very lucky she is that for all our difference, we are still the greatest nation on this good earth.

And our strength lies in the men and women who go to work every day, who struggle to balance their family and their jobs, and who should never, ever be forgotten.

I just hope that like her grandparents and her great-grandparents before that Lily goes on to raise her kids with the promise that echoes in homes all across America : that we can do better, and that’s what this election is all about.

Let's all keep Ann in our prayers and thank our stars above for this great leader.

By Gail Beagle, Aide to the late Henry B. Gonzalez

Like Larry King said last night, "she was one of a million and she was a classy lady."

I will never forget when she was the keynote speaker at the San Antonio Black Tie Dinner in 1998.

Her memorable comment that night, which was addressed to an audience of predominantly lesbian, gay, bi and transgenderpersons, was "y'all need to run for public office".'

Tis sad news indeed but she will leave a lasting markon our memories forever.