FULL ARTICLE HERE

 

“First Lady Michelle Obama and actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Kerry Washington are sitting in the Blue Room at the White House. This trio of female forces, who know one another through their work on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, aren’t here just to catch up on life and gush over pictures of Washington’s baby daughter, Isabelle (with husband and former NFL cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha). They’re here today to spread a crucial message: This Memorial Day, America’s servicewomen, veterans, and military wives—courageous women—need our help.”

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CL: Kerry, your father served. Sarah Jessica, you have friends who have served. But even so, you were saying that this can be a difficult issue to understand and support. How so?

Kerry Washington: There is this idea that those who serve are untouchable heroes. [But] the more we hear what people are going through, [we realize] it’s what every woman is going through…. The challenges are just put under a magnifying glass because their lives are so extraordinary.

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CL: Kerry, I loved that you told Glamour in 2013 that you relied on friends, family, and a good therapist.

KW: I mean, yeah. Absolutely. I say that publicly because I think it’s really important to take the stigma away from mental health…. My brain and my heart are really important to me. I don’t know why I wouldn’t seek help to have those things be as healthy as my teeth. I go to the dentist. So why wouldn’t I go to a shrink?

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KW: They aren’t broken; they are heroes. They have extraordinary discipline, courage, and capacity—that’s what we can focus on.

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