it takes education. as i said, when america made 12 hours of education standard, it gave us the best prepared workforce in the world. you saw what happened. think what would happen after world war i and how america moved. we were the best educated overall, country in the world. we led in the 20th century. as i said earlier, we know 12 years is not enough any longer to compete in the 21st century. study after study shows the earlier our children begin to learn, the better for themselves, their families and the nation. you know know the statics. it was very basic. that, if you come from a home where the mom or dad had books on the shelf and on the coffee table and read and come from a home with where mom or dad can t read or has a sixth grade education, the child coming from
the so-called biluild back bett plan. america gave us the betts prepared workforce in the world, you saw what happened. think about after world war i and how america moved. we were the best educated overall country in the world. we led in the 20th century. we know 12 years is not enough to compete in the 20th century. the earlier our children begin to learn, the better for themselves, their families and their nation. you all know the statistics and some of your teachers and husbands used to talk to me about this. it was really basic. when you come from a home where the mom or dat have books on the shelves and on the coffee table and read, and you come from a home where mom or dad can t read or has a sixth grade education or has a little difficulty, the
and my mom was whisked away to the hospital. good news, she came back. she s still alive today. even better news is son of immigrants, father with a sixth grade education, mother that didn t come to this country until she was 18 they had health insurance at a time when a lot of folks didn t and compared to today they did. so my dad was able to whisk her away to hospital. come back and we didn t go bankrupt as a result of having gone to the hospital. you are the first latino secretary of health and human services but your life is one of many firsts. firsts in your family to get a four-year degree. first latino chair of the ways and means committee. first latino california ag. i have to wonder if you are tired of being the first. i am happy when the title goes away because it s no longer a thing to have been the first because there are others who have followed. i was the first latino on the ways and means committee.
relates to health care but in those days it was a memory of watching my mother be taken away by my dad bleeding and what we find out later on in life is she had a hemorrhage. she miscarried. but all i knew was that we were told stay put. i think it was my aunt or uncle coming over and my mom was whisked away to the hospital. good news, she came back. she s still alive today. even better news is son of immigrants, father with a sixth grade education, mother that didn t come to this country until she was 18 they had health insurance when a lot of folks didn t and compared to today they did. so my dad was able to whisk her away to hospital. come back and we didn t go bankrupt as a result of having gone to the hospital. you are the first latino secretary of health and human services but your life is one of
testifying at the democratic convention. why is her story so relevant today? and why is her story so important for people to know? first, thank you so much for having me. i think fannie lou hamer s story is so important to know is because it s inspirational. it helps us to see how one individual can make a difference, despite having limited material resources. hamer had a sixth grade education. there were so many things that i think challenged her experience and today, it s very easy to come up with excuses to say why you can t be involved in the struggle for social justice. fannie lou hamer s story is an important reminder that regardless of what you have or don t have, you can stand up and call out injustice and you can demand better for the united states. and you know, her message was