(CNN) — The president of Planned Parenthood called on white women to do more to “save this country from itself,” crediting women of color with many of the recent political victories.
The momentum from 2017’s Women’s March fueled protests against the Muslim Ban and inspired activists to demand accountability from Congress, in Hollywood and in the workplace, Cecile Richards said Sunday at the Women’s March #PowertothePolls rally in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“All across the country, the Women’s March inspired doctors and teachers and mothers to become activists and organizers and, yes, candidates for office,” Richards said. “And from Virginia to Alabama and to last week in Wisconsin, women have beaten the odds to elect our own to office. … Women of color, transgender women, rural and urban women.”
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Richards credited women of color with many of these successes.
“These victories were led and made possible by women of color,” Richards said.
She urged white women to join forces with women of color to change the nation.
“So, white women, listen up. We’ve got to do better. … It is not up to women of color to save this country from itself. That’s on all of us. That’s on all of us,” said Richards, who also heads the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
“The good news is when we are in full on sisterhood, women are the most powerful, political force in America,” she said.
