Some may remember Gloria Grahame adorably performing this number in the movie Oklahoma.
When she appeared with Seth Meyers in April, 2015, Dame Helen Mirren irresistibly declared her love for Vin Diesel and her strong desire to be in a Fast & Furious movie.
Vin received her message and has responded because… you know … when The Queen of Broadway expresses a strong desire, it behooves you to reply.
OK, there’s been enough back and forth about Dame Helen Mirren wanting to join “Furious 8” – let’s get those contracts signed already!
A few months back, the Oscar winner said she’s dying to star in the hit franchise, and Vin Diesel said he’s ready to welcome Helen into the “Furious” family.
“I love Helen Mirren. Get your act together, Helen!” he told Access Hollywood at the opening of the “Fast & Furious – Supercharged” ride at Universal Studios on Tuesday, echoing an interview Helen gave in March in which she told Vin to get his act together and find her a role. “I love you!”
As much as I love Vin Diesel myself, I must admit that I have not watched a Fast & Furious movie but look forward to Dame Helen demonstrating her outstanding driving and sharp-shooting skills in the next one.
When you have two such accomplished women asking you to hire them to do the job they can do best, how can you say “no?”
I can’t! I can’t say no!
I hope you can’t either. We can’t vote for Helen to be in Fast & Furious, but we can help Hillary become the champion for all of us that we know she can be in the White House.
When Independence Day arrives, I am going to be missing our Broadway Queen of Hearts most heartily. No one can do that role like Dame Helen, and she has said that she will never play that part again.
Violence against women and girls is an epidemic of global proportions. Transcending geographic borders, economic and social class, religion and ethnicity, violence impacts women of all ages, in all communities around the world.
From domestic violence to sexual harassment, human trafficking to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation/cutting, far too many women in far too many places face violence or threats of violence on a daily basis. Today, estimates show that nearly 1 in 3 women has experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence – an astounding and unacceptable statistic and one of the most challenging barriers to women’s full participation.
The kidnapping of over 300 teenage girls at Chibok Government Girls Secondary School in Nigeria has captivated attention and headlines across the world, inspiring outrage, compassion, and calls to action. The girls were taken by Boko Haram, whose very name declares that education is sinful.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the girls, their families and those working to bring them home safely.
These devastating acts reflect a much larger problem – girls are being targeted and threatened with violence, kidnapping and more just for seeking an education.
That’s why the global community must stay committed to helping protect and promote girls’ education around the world so that every girl has the opportunity to live up to her full potential.
The numbers tell a hopeful story about progress in girls’ access to education over the past two decades. Here are some important facts and statistics about girls’ education in Nigeria and across the globe, and why protecting schools like Chibok is vital to girls, women, and the world.
FACTS: Why Education Matters
The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2013 shows that where the gender gap is closest to being closed in a range of areas—including access to education, health survivability, economic participation, and political participation—countries and economies are more competitive and prosperous.
Half of the reductions of child mortality between 1970 and 1990 can be attributed to increased education for women of reproductive age.*
A 2011 World Bank report found that investing in girls’ education and opportunities in Nigeria and 13 other developing nations could increase a country’s gross domestic product by 1.2% in a single year.
A 2002 study on the effect of education on average wages estimates that primary school education increases girls’ earnings by 5 to 15 % over their lifetimes.
FACTS: The Gaps that Remain
Girls and women continue to make up the largest share of the world’s illiterate population (61.3%), and literacy rates in Nigeria hover around 50 to 60%.
Gender gaps are especially wide in places like Sub-Saharan Africa, where 40.1 % of girls and 33.1 % of boys are not enrolled in secondary schools like Chibok. This translates into 11.8 million girls in the region not accessing the education they need to attend university, find work, achieve financial independence, and contribute to a growing economy.**
Girls also face early marriage as barrier to education, and should the girls from Chibok be sold into slavery or forced marriages, their chances of achieving their dreams will be all but dashed. In a study conducted in Kenya, researchers found that a marriage partner is associated with a 78 % increased risk of termination of secondary schooling.
Globally, there are 37.4 million girls not enrolled in lower secondary school compared to 34.2 million boys, a gap of 3.2 million.***
It’s an unfortunate reality that it takes an act of courage to seek an education in places like Nigeria. But the girls at Chibok, despite the threats, pursued an education because they and their families understood just how valuable it is. Their resolve will set an example for generations to come and exemplifies the importance of working for the advancement of girls and women across the world so that every girl has a chance to go to school, fulfill her dreams, and break the ceilings and barriers she encounters.
This Mother’s Day, let’s remember the mothers who are missing their daughters, in Nigeria and around the world.
* Emmanuela Gakidou et al., “Increased Educational Attainment and Its Effect on Child Mortality in 175 Countries between 1970 and 2009: A Systematic Analysis,” The Lancet 376, no. 9745 (September 2010): 959–74. Although economic growth was also significantly associated with reductions in child mortality, the magnitude of the association was much smaller than that of increased education. 21 regions, approximately 4 million out of the 8 million children whose lives were saved can be attributed to education for women.
** Shelley Clark and Rohini Mathur, “Dating, Sex, and Schooling in Urban Kenya,” Studies in Family Planning 43, no. 3 (September 2012): 161–74.
*** UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Global Education Digest 2011: Comparing Education Statistics across the World (Montreal, Quebec: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2011).
I was so thrilled to have Chelsea Clinton, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, as our very special 100th Guest on Mondays With Marlo. We discussed everything from her favorite memories of growing up in the White House, to her role in the Clinton Global Initiative University, to the prospect of her following in her parent’s footsteps by one day running for office. Chelsea is such a positive role model for young people everywhere, and I was absolutely charmed by her. Watch our full interview to find out what she had to say!
Chelsea Clinton shares in a new interview what it was like to grow up in the White House during her teenage years. Here, a throwback photo of Chelsea and parents Bill and Hillary Clinton back in 1997.Credit: Dirck Halstead/Time Life Pictures/Getty
Growing pains in the White House! Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton opened up in a new interview on Monday, March 17, about calling 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue home during her teenage years.
“I was always deeply aware that I was living in history,” Clinton, now 34, told Marlo Thomas in an interview shared by Huffington Post. President Bill Clinton‘s daughter would arrive home from school and walk through the receiving room, which she knew was a special place. “But then I would have dinner with my parents at the kitchen table every night!” she said with a laugh. “There was much about my life that also was normal.”
OH! This is one of those moments when I so wish I could have been in that crowd. This is a great read! Everyone knows who Chelsea and Sandra are. New Yorkers know Christine well. She’s the one with the auburn hair who stands just behind Michael Bloomberg’s shoulder in every shot she can get into and is probably going to be the next mayor. Nicolle Wallace? What can I say? Anyone who worked as hard as she did to try to get Sarah Palin to understand campaign tactics and foreign policy (or even history and geography) gets an A+ in my book! Wish I had been there. Fun read. HRC looms large, Rosenblum notes.
It’s been more than 30 years since women began to vote in greater numbers than men in presidential elections, and four since Hillary Clinton almost became the Democratic nominee for president.
But of course Hillary didn’t make it, and it’s going to be at least another four years before a woman is nominated by either of the major parties.
“We’re either not having the right conversation,” moderator Chelsea Clinton told the seven-woman panel and a full audience last night at the 92nd Street Y, “or we’re not being heard loudly enough, whether we’re running in heels, or flats or boots.”
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@U.S. Senate: Time to ratify LOST!
"... ratify the Law of the Sea Convention, which has provided the international framework for exploring these new opportunities in the Arctic. We abide by the international law that undergirds the convention, but we think the United States should be a member, because the convention sets down the rules of the road that protect freedom of navigation, provide maritime security, serve the interests of every nation that relies on sea lanes for commerce and trade, and also sets the framework for exploration for the natural resources that may be present in the Arctic." -HRC, 06-03-12, Tromso Norway
What a difference one woman can make!
"... whether it's here, in the absolute best embassy in the world, or whether it's in Washington, or whether it's elsewhere, what a difference one woman can make. And that woman is right here, the woman who needs no introduction, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton." 07.05.10 - Unidentified speaker, Embassy Yerevan
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“When people attack you, you always have to remember that a lot of what others say about you has a lot more to do about them than you.” – Hillary Rodham Clinton
The panelists after the debate. Dan Rosenblum
The Department of Homegirl Security 