Who is Cheryl Sabel? The personal is political. My life has prepared me for this office. I am a hard-working Alabamian with a commitment to social justice, and a vision to bring positive change to our district. The better part of my life has been dedicated to the struggle for equality and human rights and as your Representative in Congress I will continue this work. I have lived in Alabama all my life. I grew up in Birmingham, in a working-class family. My parents divorced when I was very young, and I was reared by my mother, with the help of my maternal grandparents and numerous loving aunts. As a child, I saw my mother speak out if she saw someone being mistreated. Even in her elder years, I saw her stand for what was right. She was a wonderful role model. When I was 13 and still living in Birmingham, the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed. I was about the same age as the four girls who were murdered. That tragic event, along with the images of police dogs, fire hoses, beatings, and slurs made a deep impression on me. I have never understood that kind of hate. I remember the marches and Dr. King's words, and they inspired me. I remember Governor Wallace's schoolhouse-door stand and how embarrassed I was. Shortly after I moved to Montgomery, I volunteered at the Southern Poverty Law Center in the KlanWatch Department. I later joined the staff and worked there for approximately two years. During that time, I went to Huntingdon College in the evenings to get my Paralegal Certificate. I then worked for a civil rights attorney for the next 6 years as a legal secretary and paralegal.   I am living proof of the need for social programs. There was a time in my life, as a single parent, that my son qualified for reduced-price lunches at school. I earned my paralegal certificate through state and federal grant programs -- funds that paid for my education and books. And my first house was purchased with federal assistance. I served as Executive Assistant to the first woman elected to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, from January 1993 until January 2005. I worked for her the entire 12 years she served on that Court. During that time, I read over one thousand trial court transcripts. I reviewed workers compensation cases where dedicated, loyal employees who worked for companies the better part of their lives, were injured on the job, and their employers did not honor their dedication and loyalty. I saw people whose lives were destroyed in personal injury and products liability cases. Children were used as pawns in divorce/child custody cases and there were horrific circumstances of neglect and abuse in termination of parental rights cases. And I witnessed the horrors of judges with an agenda. It matters every single day, in all kinds of ways who our elected judges are, from our appeals courts, to trial courts, and district courts. It matters. We need to do our homework!! Currently, I am the State President of the Alabama Chapter of the National Organization for Women, also known as AL NOW. I have traveled the state recruiting for NOW and speaking on behalf of womens equality. I have testified in numerous public hearings before the Alabama Legislature, fighting against bad legislation, and speaking in favor of bills that would help the common good.   I am a person of faith, but I do not wear my religion on my sleeve. I was reared Southern Baptist. My earliest memory is that of being in the same pew every Sunday with Mama and Papa (my maternal grandparents) and Sister (the older aunt we all called Sister) and my beautiful mother. I believe that the Religious Right has been instrumental in creating this culture of hate and pious hypocrisy in which we now live. My religious teachings serve me well: the greatest Commandment is that we love one another. We are all in this together when one group of us is discriminated against, we all ultimately suffer. I have served as a volunteer with the Lau Bach Literacy Program and Pets Are Working Saints (P.A.W.S. Ministry) with my sweet collie. After my close friend died of AIDS, I volunteered with Montgomery AIDS Outreach, and I later served on its Board of Directors. I am married to Wayne Sabel, a civil rights attorney. Between us, we have four children and three grandchildren.

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