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Make Trouble by Cecile Richards Book Club Guide Introduction “Do I accept things the way they are, or questions authority?” Pg X Chapter One Don’t Let the Bastards Let You Down Antiabortion activists released misleading (and untrue!!) videos stating that Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue. Pg 2 Rick Perry states this was “a disturbing reminder of the organization’s penchant for profiting off the tragedy of a destroyed human life.” Ugh. Pg 4 Every detail matter during the hearing. The oppositions pointed out a designer decal on Cecile’s shoe: “The mention of my shoes was when I understood that I was going to be scrutinized from head to toe. That realization was later confirmed when the rightwing blogs went into a frenzy over the fact that I had not worn panty hose to the hearing.” Pg 9 “Many of the members of Congress who are the most obsessed with restricting women’s health care know the least about it.” Pg 12 “I saw firsthand how little interest there was in using hearings for actual information gathering. Most of the remarks by the members were geared toward television that they hoped would play well back home. There was a complete lack of empathy among the Republican members for the patients who rely on Planned Parenthood, and that was sobering.” Pg 16 Chapter Two Raised to Make Trouble Cecile on growing up in Texas: “everything was more fun because it was either against the rules or a sin.” Pg 23 “While we were growing up, our dinner table was never for eating it was for sorting precinct lists. The earliest photo I have of me walking is at age two, out on our front lawn with a yard sign advertising the congressional campaign of Barefoot Sanders, a progressive Democrat. Our afterschool activities were as likely to include stuffing envelopes at campaign headquarters as they were going to gymnastics or soccer practice.” Pg 27 Cecile wore a black band to school in solidarity with the end of the Vietnam War and was sent to the principal’s office. Cecile’s mother was outraged: “who does Principal Hestand think he is… trying to intimidate you just for standing up for what you believe?” Pg 33
Cecile’s mother ( Ann) was asked to help run a campaign for Sarah Weddington. Pg 37 Chapter Three Questions Authority Cecile’s father didn’t support all things women’s rights: “I realize now that for him (and for many other men of his generation), the prospect of total upheaval of the domestic scene must have seemed pretty frightening. Suddenly the tumult around women’s roles and aspirations wasn’t happening just on television; it was happening in our own homes.” Pg 43 At Brown, Professor Beiser told Cecile that she was just as smart as any student from the East Coast prep school scene. This is exactly what she needed to hear after feeling like an outsider her first few months in college. Pg 47 Chapter Four It’s Not the Work, It’s Who You Work With “If union organizing is a foreign concept to you, here’s a quick 101: Unions are one of the main ways workers can fight for good wages and benefits. Employers have a whole lot of power on their side, and the best way for workers to bargain with them is if they all stand together. And by the way, having strong unions doesn’t just make things better for union members: if you enjoy affordable healthcare, an eighthour workday, and weekends, thank the labor movement in America.” Pg 60 YAY RACHEL! Cecile and Kirk (her husband) moved to East Texas and upon arriving at their new home, their neighbors told them they were glad they moved since a “negro family” has previously lived there: “Much to their dismay, our house became the central gathering spot for African American nursing home workers… we had union meetings in the living room.” Pg 68 Years after Cecile and Kirk get married, she finds out that her father was upset that he didn’t get to “give her away.” Pg 71 Chapter Five Going for Broke in Texas Cecile and Kirk move back to Texas to work on Ann’s campaign: “Women had been behind the scenes, running Democratic campaigns across the state, for as long as anyone could remember… now they were doing it all for a woman and that was a great big deal. Everywhere I went women my mother’s age… would say ‘I never thought I’d see the day!’” Pg 86 Ann was up against Clayton Williams: “a Texas oilman and classic sexist pig… He joked about going across the border to Laredo to get ‘serviced’ by prostitutes, and once told reporters that rape was like bad weather: since you couldn’t do anything about it, you may as well lie back and enjoy it.” Pg 90 WOW WOW WOW.
“We had beaten the odds and elected a divorced, recovering alcoholic, feminist, progressive woman to be governor of Texas.” Pg 94 Unfortunately, Ann was not reelected for a second term as she was up against “babykiller” and “no guns” rhetoric. Pg 100101 Chapter Six Don’t Wait for Instructions Cecile starts her own organization to support public education and religious freedom. Pg 107 “By bringing together teachers, PTA activists, and progressives across the state, our motley crew began to stand up for public schools… At one point some board members wanted to remove a photograph from a textbook of a woman walking out the door of her house, carrying a briefcase and waving to her family, saying it encouraged women to leave their children. We tipped off the Today show and it made for great television.” Pg 110 Cecile worked with Nancy Pelosi when she decided to run for Democratic leader (and won): “As I sat at the table with the president and the leaders of Congress, I realized that it was the very first time a woman had ever been at this table.” Pg 119 Cecile starts another organization! This one was called America Votes which called upon grassroots organizers to work together to get people to the polls: “for the first time, all the progressive leaders got to know each other. It’s still crazy to think that it took organizing America Votes for the heads of the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, and the NAACP to get together.” Pg 119122 Chapter Seven Everything You Need to Know in Life, You can Learn on a Campaign Cecile and Kirk tried not to parent with the “we’ve always done it that way” mentality to teach their children independence. Pg 131 “Our life was such a matriarchy that when Daniel was three he said, “when I grow up, I want to be a woman.” This was less gender confusion than gender envy. The women he knew were in power, doing important and cool things.” Pg 133 “No matter how evolved you are, no matter your family makeup or the gender roles in your home, in any family with kids, someone has to remember the birthdays, make lunches, keep track of doctor’s appointments, give pep talks, and coordinate afterschool activities and holidays. For most of history, and often to this day, the default expectation has been that those responsibilities are women’s work.” Pg 139
Chapter Eight Say Yes Cecile starts work with Planned Parenthood: “Part of the routine of a new Planned Parenthood leader is to have a security team evaluate their physical safety…. I’d never had a job where security was part of the daily routine but quickly realized this was standard practice for Planned Parenthood CEOs around the country.” Pg 151 Cecile starts a project to overhaul the PP website: “as we suspected, about 95% of the visitors to our website were looking for something we were not providing: a way to find our closest Planned Parenthood health center.” Pg 155 Chapter Nine What Would Ann Richards Do? “To see mom evolve and change, right up to her very last years, was a gift for me. Plenty of people get more conservative as they get older. She got more radical.” Pg 171 Chapter Ten Resilience George Tiller was an abortion provider in Kansas. He was known for his ability to work on some of the most medically complicated cases and PP referred women to him often. His motto was to “trust women” and he fell into providing abortions after his father died and he realized he had been discretely helping women in their community and they didn’t have anywhere to go after he passed. George was outspoken and was gunned down while handing out programs for his church’s Sunday service. Pg 175176 Cecile heard rumblings that the Komen Foundation was no longer interested in working with PP. PP sent an email to their million plus supporters letting them know of Komen’s decision and how disappointed they were. The internet lost it and Komen eventually called to mend their relationship. Pg 182184 Chapter Ten If it Was Easy, Someone Else Would Be Doing It Margaret Sanger (founder of PP): “Shall five men legislate in secret against ten thousand women?” Pg 189190 Estelle Griswold was working with PP and purposely got herself arrested for handing out birth control to shed public light on the outdated laws. In the end, her case helped legalize birth control for married women. Pg 190
“The average woman in America who wants kids spends five years of her life pregnant or trying to conceive, and thirty years trying not to.” Pg 195 Cecile received a call from President Barrack Obama informing her that he is soon to announce that birth control will be covered for all women with zero copay. Pg 198 We miss ya, Obama! Wendy Davis prepares for her filibuster blocking a bill that would restrict the entire state of Texas to five abortion clinics: “The politicians' goal was clear: to end access to safe and legal abortion altogether.” Pg 200 Althought Wendy is successful in pushing the vote, the bill eventually passes. People came out to the capital to stand with PP: “As usual everyone had to go through security. But this time there was a rumor floating around that the Department of Public Safety was confiscating women’s tampons and sanitary napkins, apparently worried the women would throw them from the gallery onto the senate floor… It was irony at its finest: you could bring a gun into the state capitol, but not a tampon.” Pg 206 Cecile and Kirk were both working fulltime and had three children when they found out Cecile was pregnant with a fourth. They decided to terminate the pregnancy. Pg 210 Chapter Twelve All In Hillary to a PP crowd: “I have stood with you throughout my career, and I promise you this: as president, I will always have your back. I’ve been fighting for women and families my entire life. I’ll go anywhere, meet with anyone, and work my heart out to find common ground. But I’ll also stand my ground. I’m not going to let anyone rip away the progress we’ve made.” Pg 216 Cecile on Hillary’s campaign: “Just like with Mom, the attacks felt personal because they were personal.” Pg 224 Chapter Thirteen The Resistance Is Female After Trump was elected, women came together for the Women’s March on Washington which was later deemed the largest American demonstration in history. Pg 242 Cecile and Kirk try and talk sense into Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. It doesn’t work or go well. At least we learned Jared is super skeevy. Pg 248 Since the election, many women who had been silent supporters of PP have become vocal, outspoken supporters. Pg 250
Epilogue “Feminist” Is Not a Passive Label “There has never been a better time to become an activist, agitator, or troublemaker.” Pg 261 “It shouldn’t be up to women to dismantle the patriarchy, but we can’t sit around and hope someone else does it either. Feminist is not a passive label; it means speaking out and standing up for women everywhere, and also for yourself. One woman calling out an injustice is powerful enough; when we raise our voices together, we can shake the status quo to its foundation.” Pg 262 Discussion Questions Compare Cecile’s hearing on behalf of Planned Parenthood with Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president. The committee for the PP hearing was staffed with white men, mostly Republicans. How was she treated throughout the hearing? And how was this a consistent theme throughout her memoir? How did Cecile’s early life in Texas shape her commitment for social causes, speaking out, and activism? How can parents today use Cecile as an example for raising socially conscious children? Cecile’s parents were divided on issues pertaining to women’s rights. How did this impact Cecile’s upbringing and how does she view this as an adult / parent? Discuss Title IX and how it’s impacted females lives since becoming law. How have unions and organized labor shaped today’s America? Discuss the history, importance, and impact. Discuss Cecile’s stories about her many years in organizing. During Ann’s election, she was up against “Texas oilman and classic sexist pig” Clayton Williams. Who does Clayton remind us all of and why? What is emotional labor and how do Cecile and Kirk split those responsibilities? Discuss the importance of safety for abortion providers and PP leaders. Cecile advocated and campaigned on behalf of Hillary Rodham Clinton and wondered why it’s so hard for the public to trust women. Why do you think society distrusts female candidates? List all of the reasons why Trump is the worst (for women).
Related Articles & Links USA Today Title IX turns 45 today. Its impact goes beyond women playing sports. NYT A Professional Troublemaker’s Guide for Young Activists NYT A Brief History of Deadly Attacks on Abortion Providers Chicago Tribune After a life dedicated to social justice, Planned Parenthood's Cecile Richards says she has no plans to run for office — yet AFLCIO Our Labor History Timeline Washington Post Cecile Richards offers advice for professional troublemakers Washington Post There’s no way to replace Planned Parenthood Time Dr. George Tiller CoWorker: Planned Parenthood Shooting Is a Scary Reminder