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Jodie Evans delivered the following comments after receiving the Teddi Winograd “Inside the Party” Award. The award was presented to Evans by Marcy Winograd, daughter of the late and much loved Teddi Winograd. 
Marcy, you are an inspiration to me and I was so thrilled to be sharing an action with you at the Pelosi book event this week. Loved that you came up with the perfect signage as soon as we sat down, a tip that has spread to all the CODEPINK’s around the country.
I am overjoyed and deeply grateful to receive this honor today. Teddy Winograd was an inspiration and rock. She lived her passion and her values, fearlessly yet with wisdom. Her heart was infectious and I want to grow up and be just like her. So when I heard I was getting this award I cried. I contorted my life and Dorothy's plans to be here. To invoke the power and heart of Teddy into my spirit a week before joining a gathering of CODEPINK activists at the DNCC.
And that it comes from Progressive Democrats of America....my family. Tim Carpenter was one of the my deputy campaign managers in the Jerry Brown campaign in '92. We worked together for a year, in a campaign about values. We broke all the molds, daily and when it was over we felt good about what we had done, not that we had lost anything, but grounded ourselves in our lives work. I was there in Boston 4 years ago at the founding of PDA and spoke at the first conference in WDC. I even re registered as Democrat. It is so hopeful to see how PDA has grown, how the pressure has been successful in state conventions and now in the national platform. Proving that if we have long term goals and organize for them we can achieve what we are working for. One step at a time. Sustained growth towards Peace and Justice. Very grateful to be part of the amazing family that is PDA.
And then to be honored with 2 of my mentors!!! Two of the women who taught me how to use my voice. The lionesses who in the face of injustice roar. They each in their own way have been teachers for me, in crucial moments in my life.
Maxine Waters came to Sacramento in '76 I had just been there 2 years. It was a time of enormous changes in Sacramento. It was an awesome class of members to the Assembly. And she was a powerhouse from day one. Then I worked with her around sanctions on south africa and when I was working with Aqeela in South central she took the most courageous stand for investigation into the CIA in the Los Angeles crack epidemic of the 1980s. She didn’t back down, speaking truth to the insanity that had rocked her community and left lasting scars. But working with her to end the war has been awe inspiring. She does not back down, she, Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee take enormous abuse and keep on holding to the truth without compromise.
Lila Garrett I met when I was running Jerry Brown’s Senate campaign in ‘80. She was just as ‘take no prisoners’ then as now. She would be in our strategy sessions pushing Jerry on Nuclear issues which was her passion at the time. She would not back down until we had an ad on television speaking to the issue. An Ad I believe she produced, directed and wrote. I would sit in wonder at how she had everyone turned into puppy dogs to her requests. It really revealed to me how few people stand on principle and how powerful that can be.
I stand here amongst the best, I stand as a proud member of PDA and the work of these last 4 years and a grateful member of CODEPINK: Women for Peace. The LA activist community has grown in size, effectiveness and power in the last few years, much of that is due to the courage, commitment and intelligence of Marcy Winograd. Your race for Congress gathered us together with a common goal and we have grown. We have grown to compliment each other, to learn from each other and to be a powerful voice in Southern California.
In my work, a lot of things weigh heavily on my mind -- life and death, suffering and the horrific abuse of power by the US, the value of our militarist stand against the world, the unraveling of the fabric of our country. The toughest questions are settled in the forum of the heart. And in my heart, I believe that history can not be made without us, the women. We are the glue that holds family tight and friends close. We are the link between one generation and the next. We possess the tender touch that nurtures the world. Yet we also possess the steel to fulfill our every duty at home and beyond. As women, we give all we have to the diverse lives we lead. In doing so, we shape human history.
In my limited life experience I have encountered so many amazing women who inspire me and help me become who I am. I am fortunate and grateful to have them in my life.
I accept this recognition with an open heart because I want you all to share in the great joy I feel today. This gathering, is in fact, a tribute to all of us.
