California Congresswoman Jackie Speier has nominated Dr. Christine Blasey Ford for the prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Previous recipients of the award include Barack Obama, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, and Mitch Landrieu, the New Orleans mayor who called for the removal of the city’s Confederate monuments following the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, North Carolina.
The award is designed “to honor President John F. Kennedy and to recognize and celebrate the quality of political courage that he admired most.”
Rep. Speier called Dr. Ford “a true American (s)hero who sacrificed so much to do what was right for our country and for the pursuit of truth of justice.”
Nominating Dr. Christine Blasey Ford – a true American (s)hero who sacrificed so much to do what was right for our country and for the pursuit of truth of justice – for this year’s Profiles in Courage Award @JFKLibrary. She is an inspiration to us all.
— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) January 29, 2019
Dr. Ford sacrificed her privacy and risked her personal security last year to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about the assault she says she experienced at the hands of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She recounted what must have been one of the most painful experiences of her life for both the Senate and a worldwide audience, knowing that she would be putting herself at risk by doing so.
Six weeks after her testimony and questioning, Dr. Ford said she was still receiving threats, had had to move a number of times, and she still hadn’t been able to return to her job as a professor at Palo Alto University. Still, she said at that time that “Although coming forward was terrifying, and caused disruption to our lives, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to fulfill my civic duty.”
The Profile in Courage Award is traditionally reserved for public servants, but Dr. Ford showed incredible personal and political courage. While Kavanaugh was still ultimately confirmed, Ford ignited a national conversation about sexual assault. She sacrificed her own well-being to speak truth to power and we’re grateful for that.
(via Twitter, image: WIN MCNAMEE/AFP/Getty Images)
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