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I chose this quote because this explains how women are the same as men. This relates to my quote because we can't judge others based on their gender.

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"I think the day we stop thinking us or others as a man/woman while following our goals. That's the day we can really rise up to equality."

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"I think the day we stop thinking us or others as a man/woman while following our goals. That's the day we can really rise up to equality."

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NitikaS

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 "A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman."

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 "A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman."

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Melinda Gates

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"You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise."

When Dr. Maya Angelou was writing the poem, "Still I Rise," she was thinking about the history and future of African American people. But, I can't help but think that she was also thinking about the undervalued and overlooked qualities of a woman. It is a shame to say that even in the year of 2016, women are still treated as second-class citizens. In this great land that we call the United States of America, where we claim that all men are created equal, this can't be further from the truth. Women can do anything just as good, if not, better, than men can. They are not equally paid for the same work as their counterparts, they are thought of more than housewives, and because of the "lack" of masculinity in a woman, it is thought that women cannot work the same job as a man, just because they are a woman.

The systematic oppression of women has gone on long enough, and it's time to stop underestimating the power of a woman. Woman are powerful, beautiful, mysterious, brilliant, and nurturing. Over the course of history, we have seen that the power of a woman knows no bounds. We see women like Catherine the Great, who was the Empress of Russia, whose reign is unparalleled. Harriet Tubman, a slave woman, who led hundreds of men, women, and children to freedom in the north, through the Underground Railroad. Susan B. Anthony, said enough was enough, and started the women's suffrage movement. Since her death in 1906, there has been improvement for equality for women, but there is still a long way to go. Even now, as we underestimate the power of an American woman, I'm almost certain that on January 20, 2017, a woman by the name of Hillary Clinton will take her oath of office and assume the role as the first female President of these United States.

Make no mistake about it, the power of a woman is not to be underestimated. A woman is so powerful, she can make a man stop praying for someone else, get up from his place of authority, give up from what rightfully belongs to him, and come after his woman. And I'm sure you're asking, who is this woman? Who is this woman, that can bring down the king of kings, and the Lord of Lords? Who is this woman who can make the wonderful Son of God get up from his daily assignment, come to earth, and to come back down to earth. There is a woman, that makes Jesus moves, and this woman is called his church. The woman is a church, that is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And when the bride gets ready, that bridegroom (Christ) will come.

Cover Image Credit: Evageneva.com

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I go to a liberal arts college. The definition of a liberal arts college according to Wikipedia is a college that "aims to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capacities." When I read broad general knowledge, I believe this is talking about having a wide range of topics covered and viewpoints discussed. I have noticed that liberal colleges also focus on having diversity, whether that be in races, sexualities, genders, cultures, or opinions. That is all well and good in theory, but often it does not play out.

One specific voice that I barely ever hear from on my campus is Republicans. Obviously, if you've ever read an article of mine, you may have noticed that I am quite liberal. Initially, I loved the fact that everyone around me had the same viewpoints I had and thought the same way about everything. However, recently we had ROTC members visit one of my classes, and they talked about how the military can bring in a voice that is different from most of the other voices in the class. I am definitely not pro-war (and apparently neither are most soldiers, which was new to me), and was annoyed at first that they were even visiting (not that I don't respect soldiers, because I do). However, while they were talking, I realized that having various voices in class and around campus is incredibly important for discussions.

Since starting college in September, I have not come across a single vocal Republican. I have never had my ideals about the world challenged or questioned. Growing up in an environment like that can actually become toxic. Without opposing opinions conflicting with yours, it never allows anyone to reach further into why they believe what they do. I never thoroughly think about why I am totally against X or totally for Y, and I think that having knowledge about other opinions is critical in understanding your own. Knowing all sides of an argument helps you find the opinion/argument that most aligns with your ideals. Having other voices could even educate you on a topic you thought you were super knowledgeable about, but you actually were fed the wrong information sometime in your life and you never thought to correct it or fact check.

Having ROTC members come to our class and speak to us about their various beliefs made me realize that I had always had this thing against anyone in uniform, but really I just don't like the act of war. I realized that I still respect and appreciate the soldiers, and the people who fight for this country may even have some of the same views that I do.

Overall, although I may disagree with one political view or another, it is still important to understand and be knowledgeable about all views on a subject to better my own arguments and beliefs! This is definitely something I am going to work on from now on, and hopefully I will come across more diverse viewpoints as I go through college.

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Ever since I was a little boy, just playing with all my toy cars and drawing everything I could think of, I thought the United States of America was the best country on the globe to live in. I mean, we have everything from beautiful coastlines to vast mountains to picturesque meadows, so all the machinations within the nation should be equally hunky-dory, right? Wrong! And as a quick heads-up, if you're offended or triggered by my opinion, I understand and respect that because these are just my feelings on why America's where it is at this point in time.

Since Trump got elected to office back in November 2016, the state of affairs within the government has gone from one that our Founding Fathers are proud to a non-stop terrible episode of the Apprentice. While Paul Ryan did a good thing by leaving, his overall legacy will be a generally negative one, as far as America's concerned. for the Republicans. To make matters worse, James Comey, the same person who has been castigating Trump for being "mentally unfit", is directly responsible for him getting into the White House in the first place! If that's some screwed-up irony, then I don't know what's going on over in our nation's capital.

Truthfully, the way America's been going down the drain isn't solely the fault of Comey or Trump. As far as I'm concerned, I blame it on every side of the political spectrum. And no, I don't care who began what that one time or whatever, the bottom line is, America would have a much better reputation in the world if all of us didn't keep shooting ourselves in the foot.

I'm not shocked by the fact that everyone in politics will be prone to sniping each others' agendas, while unintentionally highlighting their flaws. When you add blind loyalty to the mix, it can turn solving problems within American society into a nightmare.

For the past several decades, the Republicans have tried to do anything possible regardless of American society's best interests, not helped by the fact that their actions are usually anchored by that "old white boys' club" mentality. Don't get me started on how they constantly say they're a champion for the working class, but in reality, they only line their pockets for a lot of stuff they don't even need to survive! The worst of it all is that they lied to us about the cause of a minimum of two wars, and for what? Total control on overseas countries they barely even studied in school and college!

While Democrats are a major influence on much of the progress America makes, they are NOT prone to any slip-ups that the people ended up suffering from. Much of the politicians on this side are campaigning with good intentions, but they're not striking with the intended tone. I agree that policy should come before personal agenda, something that the Blue side has been guilty of in recent years. In fact, all the identity politics, safe space and free speech conflicts on college campuses are mostly their faults, and taking those same concepts into the real world of politics only made it worse for me to support them more.

Independents don't play as much of a role in all this, but their biggest sin is not intervening to stop issues from getting as big as they are! Now, while I was a bit harsh in airing out my grievances regarding the drama surrounding society and politics, I am upset by the fact that we citizens are constantly suffering the consequences of political shenanigans.

As far as us, if we let this continue, the experts say that America will be in shambles by 2050; or worse, we could fall even harder than the Roman Empire. I know we don't deserve this happening to any of us, so, stop the downward spiral. Make a change.

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"You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise." When Dr. Maya Angelou was writing the poem, "Still I Rise," she was thinking about the history and future of African American people.

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I chose this quote because women rights shouldn't be any different than other human rights.