The health effects of air pollution imperil human lives. This fact is well-documented.
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Our second phase was to develop a school curriculum that teaches tolerance, respect for differences, conflict resolution, anger management, and other attributes of peace.
Dallas was a Black and White society at that time; it didn't have the diversity it has now.
There is not an issue that a woman cannot bring a perspective to.
Well, I happen to believe all business is female business.
We can't go all over the world killing people because we disagree with them.
Our first phase was inviting all the women Ambassadors who were here from other countries and trying to get in touch with all the peace centers around the country in order to focus on increasing the volume and activity toward peace.
Right after 9/11 there was a magazine with a cover of kids, mostly 12-14 year-olds, who were being trained for military combat. I thought that this had just gone too far.
Within a month I announced I was going to start this initiative: A World of Women for World Peace.
I came up in a family oriented towards the sick, so I always felt an obligation for doing something.
All issues are women's issues - and there are several that are just women's business.
It takes ground activity to stimulate that Black vote.
I said we needed to organize women around the world to push peace.
Generally speaking, historically in this country, the care of a child has been thought of as female business.
This was the first time a woman in Dallas had won public office of any kind - even women questioned whether or not I was qualified, whether or not I could take it.
During the election, I had three male opponents and we went into a runoff. The front runner for the men was a native of Dallas who had run at large before, but I had a higher profile than him from my community service.
I try hard to convince them it's important - but there's a history of discomfort with minorities voting in some parts of this country, so most especially the older people have to get accustomed to it.
There are still traces of discrimination against race and gender, but it's a lot different than when I started out. It just comes quietly, slowly, sometimes so quietly that you don't realize it until you start looking back.
When you have this many losses, you don't have a following.
We're going to have to look very seriously at what we're doing right or wrong because we just keep losing.
I'm not the only one who feels the sting of continually losing.
We have to think about the future and what it is we want to accomplish from this party.
As lawmakers, we must assure the people of America that our nation will not experience the nightmare of the 2000 presidential election.
