Katie Milligan (Photo by Robert Fogarty)
Dear Clinton is a collection of photographs and letters explaining what public service bridge our students are building. This special collection was produced in partnership with Dear World, an innovative photography venture for social good.
Dear President Clinton,
I vividly remember sitting in my kindergarten classroom in Searcy, Arkansas being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I also remember proudly exclaiming, “I want to be the first woman President!” The most important part of this story was not that I wanted to become the President of the United States, after all I had just learned that a man from Arkansas was running for the same position, but that I was quickly met with retorts from my classmates about the fact that only men could become president.
Throughout my lifetime I have had countless women in my life that have set positive examples of what women can accomplish. I had a support system that consisted of teachers, grandmothers, friends, aunts, and my mother. It was their voices that drowned out the negativity of those who said women should be limited. What I have come to learn is that my type of unyielding support and encouragement is not a gift that every little girl is given.
The public service bridge I wish to build is a world where every little girl feels like she could become something great. I work for a world in which women and girls feel like their ability to get elected, promoted, or considered for a position is not hindered by gender and where the sense of self is based on accomplishments and confidence, not how other people limit or define us.
The first step in creating this world is to tell young women and girls that they are powerful, that they are valued, and that they are capable. It starts with the young women that we all encounter every day, our nieces, sisters, daughters, and friends. We must ensure that the positive voices drown out the naysayers. We need to have young women leaving high school believing that they can be mothers and CEOs, powerful and emotional, forceful and nurturing.
The truth is that this is not a bridge that can be built alone. Instead, we must all continue the work that men and women have started before us. I hope that one day little girls around the country will not have to consider the milestone of being “the first” but one of a long legacy of women that have shaped our country.
Thank you,
Katie
Responses