On the morning of Wednesday, November 7, 2018, I was sitting in my office at the Texas AFL-CIO building, square between the Texas governor’s mansion and the state capitol, ruminating on what had been one hell of a weird election night.
On the one hand, progressives had picked up nearly a dozen seats in the Texas Legislature. It was an outcome that would surely result in better public education policy and diminished attacks on workers, queer kids, immigrants, and other recurrent targets of right wing bullying.
On the other hand, Beto O’Rourke was this close to beating Ted Cruz in the race for U.S. Senate, but he came up short. Justin Nelson was this close to beating Ken Paxton for state attorney general, but he too came up short. And Donald-fucking-Trump was still the president.
As I mulled the future, Cecile Richards — all six feet of her, with her striking golden hair, barreled into my office, unannounced. She stopped at my desk and said “Ugh, Jeff Rotkoff. Your desk is a mess. You need to clean this office.” She paused and caught her breath. “I’m sorry,” she continued, “that was such an Ann Richards thing of me to do.”
“I’m here because I’m giving a speech at lunch about Texas politics and I need you to go over the election results with me so that I can leave these people inspired,” she said.
Cecile Richards lost her battle to cancer today. She was 67 years old. But throughout the past 18 months, following an impossibly aggressive diagnosis, she never stopped looking for opportunities to leave people inspired for a better future.
From her time as a union organizer in East Texas, to her work at Planned Parenthood, to her latest project at Abortion in America, Cecile was a fearless, joyful warrior, and I believe she knew the power of her words and her example. She was unafraid of bullies, and she was an unapologetic believer that the future can be as bright as we work to make it.
Cecile also loved her home state, and she never gave up on Texas.
Throughout the last decade or so, I would often get a text or call from Cecile, “Jeff, I’m going on MSNBC,” or “Jeff, I’m talking to so-and-so” — usually a progressive billionaire.
She always wanted the latest data on why progressives around the country should invest in Texas. She knew that the people of Texas deserve a government so much better than the one we have. That every Texan deserves a life of dignity, safety, respect, and joy.
Today, with millions of Americans, I will grieve. I will grieve the start of the second Trump administration and the untold harm it will bring. I will grieve for Cecile’s husband Kirk, and her kids and grandchild. And I will grieve for the loss of my friend.
But then I will get back to work. Cecile Richards believed the future is ours to make, if only we have the courage to fight for it. Let’s dig deep and find ours.
