Texan Women.

Whether it's pop culture, business, or the political arena, nobody represents #goals better than Texas women. As an ode to the Texan woman, I'm doing a personal countdown of my top 8.


#8) BESSIE COLEMAN
I didn't know she existed until searching Google for this post. She quickly made my list. I felt like the laziest piece of garbage reading about her life. At the time, nobody in the United States would teach a woman (nor African American, nor Native American) to fly a plane. Being 1/2 Cherokee + 1/2 black, and a woman, she taught herself French, SAILED TO FRANCE, learned to fly planes, and came back the first black woman aviator in the United States at the AGE OF 29. I'm 31, yall. Oh, and she DIED 5 years later when a presumably white male pilot crashes the plane she's a passenger on. I WILL NEVER SAY 'LIFE ISN'T FAIR' AGAIN.

FAVORITE Bessie Coleman QUOTES:

"I refused to take no for an answer."

“The air is the only place free from prejudices.” 

“I decided blacks should not have to experience the difficulties I had faced, so I decided to open a flying school and teach other black women to fly.”

#7) TAMI TAYLOR
Though she only exists in my dreams and streaming on Netflix, Tami Taylor is the Texan woman of my dreams and my utmost role model. She perfectly balances the roles of respectful wife, nurturing mother, and sexy firecracker. She stands her ground, is down to earth, loves wine, cusses sometimes, but always comes through for those she loves (including herself).

FAVORITE Tami Taylor QUOTES: 

"I think, as a parent, the best thing you can do is just don't try to fix it, just be there for her, just let her know you love her."

"I just want you to have faith in something. Something that can hold you when I'm not going to be able to hold you anymore."

#6) Tie for Texan First Ladies LADYBIRD JOHNSON & LAURA BUSH
There have been two Texan United States presidents, Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson and Republican George W. Bush. Both presidents were controversial at the time, but their beautiful, smart, classy wives were always popular with the country. One of Ladybird's campaigns was the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. Laura Bush had an approval rating of 82%, making her one of the most popular first ladies in our country's history (Gallup Poll Source). 

FAVORITE Ladybird Johnson QUOTES:

"The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom."

"Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest."

FAVORITE Laura Bush QUOTES:

"Americans pride ourselves on being a moral nation, on being the nation that sends humanitarian relief to places devastated by natural disasters or famine or war. We pride ourselves on believing that people should be seen for the content of their character, not the color of their skin. We pride ourselves on acceptance. If we are truly that country, then it is our obligation to reunite these detained children with their parents — and to stop separating parents and children in the first place." (June 17, 2018, in response to Trump's separation of families at the Texan border)

#5) Tie for Politicians, Senator KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Representative BARBARA JORDAN, and Representative WENDY DAVIS

Kay Bailey Hutchison served as a Republican United States Senator from the state of Texas from 1993-2013. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate, Hutchison also became the first Texas U.S. senator to receive more than four million votes in a single election.

FAVORITE Kay Bailey Hutchison QUOTES:

"We cannot afford to lose the Medicaid funding for low-income women."

"When it comes to dividing Americans on the basis of their gender, I know a little something about the subject."

BARBARA JORDAN
Raised in Houston’s fifth ward, Barbara Jordan shattered a lot of glass ceilings for her successors. In 1966, Jordan was the first black woman to be elected to the Texas State Senate (and the first African American to be elected after the Civil War Reconstruction Era). In 1972, she was the first black woman to represent Texas in the United States House of Representatives, and upon her death in 1996, was the first black woman to be buried in the Texas State Cemetery.

FAVORITE Barbara Jordan QUOTES:

"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminuation, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution. It is reason and not passion which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision."

WENDY DAVIS

Wendy Davis made national news on 6/25/2013, when she held an 11 hour long filibuster protecting Senate Bill 5, in support of women's rights. The filibuster played a major role in Senate Democrats' success in delaying passage of the bill beyond the midnight deadline for the end of the legislative session, though it ultimately passed in a second session. The filibuster brought Davis national attention, leading to speculation about a run for governor. She subsequently ran for governor in 2014, but lost to Greg Abbott. He is our current governor (2018) and up for re-election in November, by another woman, keep your eyes peeled for Lupe Valdez (and consider voting for her! I will be!). 

FAVORITE Wendy Davis QUOTE:

"I've found that the things worth fighting for are always the hardest....There is meaning in each of these fights, in speaking truth to power and giving voice to unpopular causes. There is value in fighting for something important to you, even when the outcome is not what you hoped it would be. So my advice to you: if you fail, fail big! Fail with flair! Fail trying to do something real, something hard."

#4) SELENA.
Sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Tejano" or the "Mexican Madonna," Selena was an icon who merged cultures in the mainstream. She married her first love, and never let her fame or success go to her head. In July of 1995, "Dreaming of You" became the fastest selling album by a female artist in pop history. Her career was cut short due to her tragic murder at the young age of 24. Governor George W. Bush declared April 16 "Selena Day," and she will be celebrated and remembered forever.

FAVORITE Selena QUOTE:

"Although my Spanish is a little week. I feel that I am Mexican. I am very proud of my roots. And since I was little we played Tejano music besides English music and country. It was something natural for us."

#3) COUNTRY SINGER/SONGWRITERS NATALIE MAINES AND KACEY MUSGRAVES. 
I sure do love me some Texas country. My favorite country is that with a progressive message, imagine that. Nobody serves that up better than Texas women. Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks committed career suicide standing up for her convictions, and time has proven she was on the right side of history. 

FAVORITE Natalie Maines LYRICS:

(in response to the George W. Bush fiasco)

"I made my bed and I sleep like a baby
With no regrets and I don’t mind sayin’
It’s a sad sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they’d write me a letter
Sayin’ that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over

I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and
I don’t have time to go round and round and round
It’s too late to make it right
I probably wouldn’t if I could
‘Cause I’m mad as hell
Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should"

Kacey Musgraves is my favorite solo artist of all time. I love her voice, her aesthetic, her brand, her lyrics, her stances, her presentation, and her down-home Texan roots.

FAVORITE Kacey Musgraves LYRICS:

"I ain't pageant material

I'm always higher than my hair

And it ain't that I don't care about world peace

But I don't see how I can fix it in a swimsuit on a stage

I ain't exactly Ms. Congenial

Sometimes I talk before I think, I try to fake it but I can't

I'd rather lose for what I am than win for what I ain't"

#2) BEYONCE. 
Yall already know this Queen doesn't need a description. We get to claim her as ours. Boom.

FAVORITE Beyonce LYRICS:

"When you lie to me, you lie to yourself. You're only lying to yourself. When you love me, you love yourself. Love God Herself." 

#1) Former Texas Governor ANN RICHARDS

She was the 2nd female governor of Texas. Remember the good ol days (1990-1994), back when our governor was pro-education, pro-minority rights, and pro-government efficiency? She SAVED taxpayers an estimated $6 million. She was born in Texas, grew up in Waco, went to Baylor, and earned her certificate for teaching from UT. She married her high school sweetheart, moved to Austin, and had 4 kids. The oldest is Cecil Richards, the former CEO of Planned Parenthood (and keep your eyes peeled for her future political run!). Her 1988 Democratic National Convention keynote address was listed as #38 in American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century.

FAVORITE Ann Richards QUOTES:

• "I'm delighted to be here with you this evening, because after listening to George Bush all these years, I figured you needed to know what a real Texas accent sounds like."
• "Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
•  "…two women in 160 years is about par for the course. But if you give us a chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."
•  "When we pay billions for planes that won't fly, billions for tanks that won't fire, and billions for systems that won't work, that old dog won't hunt. And you don't have to be from Waco to know that when the Pentagon makes crooks rich and doesn't make America strong, that it's a bum deal." 

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

(in no particular order)

JANIS JOPLIN
BONNIE PARKER (Bonnie & Clyde)
MIRANDA LAMBERT
KELLY CLARKSON
ERYKAH BADU
SELENA GOMEZ
HILLARY DUFF
JENNIFER GARNER
NORAH JONES
ST. VINCENT (ANNIE CLARK)
SOLANGE KNOWLES
EVA LONGORIA
CARRIE MARCUS (Neiman Marcus)
EBBY HALLIDAY
CAROL BURNETT
MARY KAY ASH (Mary Kay)
BETTE GRAHAM (creator of White Out)
JOAN CRAWFORD
FARRAH FAWCETT
JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT
JESSICA SIMPSON.
SANDRA BULLOCK.
RENEE ZELLWEGER
DEBBIE REYNOLDS (Will & Grace, Golden Girls)
SHERYL SWOOPS
CARO CRAWFORD BROWN (first Texan and first woman to win Pulitzer Prize in 1955)