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Recently,

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I've been declaring
to anyone who would listen

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that I am a dangerous woman.

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(Applause)

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Now, declaring that boldly like this

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still feels a bit dangerous,

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but it also feels right.

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At this time in my life,

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about to be 77,

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I have --

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(Applause)

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I love when you're applauded
for your age --

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(Laughter)

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but I'll take it.

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(Applause)

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About to be 77, I realize
that I have nothing left to prove,

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less to lose,

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and I'm more impatient about everything.

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The true, slow pace towards equality,

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the rise in sexism, racism,

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violence against women and girls ...

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And I'm angry, too,

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at the climate deniers
who are stealing the future

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from our children and grandchildren.

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Friends, we are living in dangerous times.

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And such times call for all of us
to be more dangerous.

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Now, what do I mean by this?

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I don't mean being feared.

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It's not that kind of dangerous.

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But I do mean being more fearless.

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I mean speaking the truth

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when silence is a lot safer.

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I mean speaking up in rooms
for those who aren't present,

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especially those rooms
where decisions are made

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about our lives and our bodies.

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We need to be in those rooms,

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showing up for one another,

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challenging the cultural construct

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that encourages us,
especially women and girls,

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to compete, compare,

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criticize.

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We have to end this.

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And speaking out

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against the policies and the politics

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that divide us and diminish
our collective power

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as a global community of women,

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and the men and the allies

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who stand with us.

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Becoming dangerous also means
embracing whatever risks are necessary

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to create a world
where women and girls are safe

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in their homes and at work,

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where all voices are represented

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and respected,

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all votes counted,

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the planet protected.

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And this is all possible.

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Because we're ready for this.

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We're better prepared
than any generation ever before us,

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better resourced, better connected.

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In many parts of the world,
we're living longer than ever.

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Women over 65 are among
the fastest-growing populations on earth,

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with the potential for becoming
the most powerful, too.

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Now --

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(Applause)

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What a change this represents.

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Postmenopausal women like me,
not that long ago,

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were considered useless

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or crazy.

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We were valued for caregiving
and grandmothering --

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and I really love that part.

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But we were pushed aside

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and expected to retire
to our rocking chairs.

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Women on the dangerous side of 60

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are not retiring.

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We are rewiring --

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(Applause)

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taking all that we know and have done --
and that is a lot --

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to redefine what age looks like,

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can do, can accomplish.

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But becoming dangerous isn't about
becoming a certain age,

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because at each end of the age spectrum,

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brave women and girls are stepping up,

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taking the risk to create change.

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I became a risk-taker
early in my life's journey.

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I had to,

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or have my life defined by the limitations

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for a girl growing up in the rural South,

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with no money, no connections,

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no influence.

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But what wasn't limited

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was my curiosity about the world
beyond my small town,

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beyond the small minds
of a still-segregated South,

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a world that I glimpsed in the newsreels

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at the one movie theater in town,

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and a world that got a lot closer to me

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when I met Miss Shirley Rountree,
my eighth-grade English teacher.

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From the minute she walked
into the classroom,

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her high heels clicking,

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she was a woman in charge,

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with perfect hair, signature red lips,

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colorfully coordinated, head to toe.

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I wanted to be her.

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Gratefully, she became my first mentor
and helped me become me.

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With her support, I got
a scholarship to college --

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the first in my family --

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and landed at a big state university,

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right in the middle of two
great social justice movements:

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civil rights for African Americans

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and equal rights for women.

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I joined both with enthusiasm,

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only to discover that my newfound activism

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and my fermenting feminism

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would often be in direct conflict
with my deeply embedded need to please

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and be popular.

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In my first job as a college teacher,
I broke the rules,

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and I encouraged students
to join me in the protest marches.

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And when I found out
that my male colleague

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with the same experience and education

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was being paid more than me,

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I mounted a personal protest.

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When my raise was denied,

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with the excuse that
he had a family to support,

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so did I as a single mom.

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But I dropped my protest to keep my job.

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Today, millions of women
are making this compromise,

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staying in their jobs without equal pay

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for equal work.

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And as one of the first women
on television in the '70s,

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I was warned that focusing
on women's stories

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would limit my career opportunities,

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and maybe it did.

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But I got to produce and host
breakthrough programming for women,

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while at the same time,

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remaining silent

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about sexual harassment

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and listening to consultants
who were hired to advise me

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about my appearance.

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"Become a blonde."

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I did.

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"Lower your voice."

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I tried.

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"Lower your necklines."

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I didn't.

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(Laughter)

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But I did wear those ugly anchor suits

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with those scarves that look
something like men's ties.

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And later, in the power
positions in media,

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often as the first or only woman,

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aware of being judged
through that gender lens,

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I struggled from time to time

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to find the right balance between
being a leader for women

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and not being entirely defined
as a woman leader.

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But today, I'm proud to be known
as a woman leader.

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(Applause)

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As an activist, advocate, feminist

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and as a newly declared dangerous woman,

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I'm caring less what others say

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and saying more clearly
what I think and feel.

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And let me be clear:

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I acknowledge my privilege
in being able to do that,

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to speak my truth.

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And to stand here today

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with this opportunity

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to talk to you about women and power --

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note I did not say "empowered."

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I don't think we're waiting
to be empowered.

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I think we have power.

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(Applause)

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What we need are more opportunities
to claim it, to use it,

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to share it.

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And yes, I know --

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there are women with power
who don't use it well or wisely

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and who don't share it.

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I've heard, as I'm sure you have,

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those stories that begin with,

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"The worst boss I ever had
was a woman ... "

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And we could all name women leaders
who have not made us proud.

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But we can change all of that

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with a simple but brilliant idea

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that I first heard from a risk-taking,
dangerous congresswoman from New York

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named Bella Abzug.

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Bella said, "In the 21st century,

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women will change the nature of power

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rather than power changing
the nature of women."

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From the moment I heard that --

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(Applause)

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I thought, "This is our call to action.

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This is our biggest opportunity."

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And as a journalist and an activist,

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I've seen this idea in action,

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documenting the stories of women
on both sides in long-term conflicts,

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coming together
and defying the official power

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to form alliances and find their own ways
to ending violence in their communities.

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And as an activist,
I've traveled to places

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where it's dangerous to be born a woman,

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like eastern Congo,

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where a war is being waged
on the bodies of women.

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There, at a healing and leadership
center called City of Joy,

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brave Congolese women
are transforming pain into power

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by training survivors of sexual assault

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to return to their villages as leaders.

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And at recent climate summits,

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I've observed women climate leaders
working behinds the scenes,

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out of the public spotlight,

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making sure that the negotiations
toward global climate agreement

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continue to move forward.

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So as we move forward
in our lives and work

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and we have more power and influence,

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let's change the nature of power

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by dismantling some of the barriers
that remain for those who follow

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by advocating and agitating

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for fairer and truer
and more equal representation

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in every room and at every table.

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Now, be warned:

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if you advocate for a woman

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for an open position or promotion,

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you could be challenged with,

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"You're playing the women's card"

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or "the race card"

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if advocating for a woman of color.

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I've had this experience,
as I'm sure you have.

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"Are you running an affirmative
action program here at PBS?"

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asked one of my board members
when, as a new president,

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I announced my first hires
as five qualified women.

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Now, my affirmative action had been

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to ask that the search firm
bring me a candidate list

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that included the names of women
and people of color

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who just happened to be, in my judgment,

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the best candidates
for the position as well.

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I say, dangerous women

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and our allies:

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it's time to play the women's card,

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play the race card,

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play all our cards.

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(Applause)

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Not to win the power game,

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but to lead to better outcomes

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for everyone.

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And it's time, too,

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to discard that scarcity theory,

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the one that says,

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there's only room
for one of us at the top,

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so protect your turf,

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don't make friends or allies.

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Changing the nature of power

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transforms "protect your turf"
into "share your turf,"

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it encourages coalitions,

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it builds alliances,

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it strengthens and sustains friendships.

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My women friends
are my source of renewable energy.

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(Applause)

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So are my mentors, my champions,

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my supporters, my sponsors,

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and all of the ways that we can
and do show up for each other.

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We can become our sources
of renewable power

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for each other.

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And along the way,

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we need to take better care of ourselves,

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and here, I am not the best role model.

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I don't meditate.

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I don't exercise regularly.

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But I do live aerobically.

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

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Because I believe we can't be dangerous

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from the sidelines,

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and there's just too much to be done.

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So let's use all our power.

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How about the power of money?

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Let's allocate more
of our philanthropic dollars,

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our campaign donations,

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our investment funds,

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to increase economic and political equity.

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And let's leverage the power
of media and technology

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that we have
in our hands, quite literally,

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to elevate each other's stories and ideas;

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to practice civility;

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to seek the truth,

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which is diminishing

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and is threatening
free and open societies.

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Yes, we have all that we need
to move our communities forward.

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And the best thing we have,

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and what we must remember,

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is to be there for each other.

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We will move forward together,

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willing now to take more risk,

00:15:36.116 --> 00:15:38.665
to be more fearless,

00:15:38.689 --> 00:15:41.655
to speak up, speak out

00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:43.449
and show up

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for one another.

NOTE Paragraph

00:15:45.782 --> 00:15:48.225
George Bernard Shaw once wrote

00:15:48.249 --> 00:15:53.734
that he believed in his opinion
that his life belonged to the community,

00:15:53.758 --> 00:15:56.856
that the harder he worked,
the more he lived

00:15:56.880 --> 00:16:00.803
and that he wanted to be
thoroughly used up when he died.

00:16:01.509 --> 00:16:03.200
He went on to write,

00:16:03.224 --> 00:16:06.804
"Life is no brief candle to me

00:16:06.828 --> 00:16:09.022
but a splendid torch

00:16:09.046 --> 00:16:11.831
that I have got hold of for a moment

00:16:11.855 --> 00:16:15.668
before passing to future generations."

00:16:16.532 --> 00:16:21.002
I, too, do not view my life
as a brief candle,

00:16:21.026 --> 00:16:23.781
although I am burning it at both ends.

NOTE Paragraph

00:16:23.805 --> 00:16:25.130
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:16:25.154 --> 00:16:28.469
And I do want it, and me,

00:16:28.493 --> 00:16:33.192
to be thoroughly used up when I die.

NOTE Paragraph

00:16:34.231 --> 00:16:37.166
But at this point in my life's journey,

00:16:37.967 --> 00:16:40.543
I am not passing my torch.

00:16:41.247 --> 00:16:45.532
I am holding it higher than ever,

00:16:45.556 --> 00:16:48.090
boldly, brilliantly,

00:16:48.981 --> 00:16:54.916
inviting you to join me
in its dangerous light.

NOTE Paragraph

00:16:55.710 --> 00:16:56.876
Thank you.

NOTE Paragraph

00:16:56.900 --> 00:16:59.534
(Applause)