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"Hi, I just wanted to urge you to resign because of what you're doing to the environment and our country."

Teacher Kristin Mink didn't hold back when confronting Scott Pruitt, the controversial head of the Environmental Protection Agency. When she saw him eating lunch at a Washington, D.C., restaurant, she knew she had to say something. She just didn't know what.

Then it hit her: "His actions are the source of so much of my despair for my child's future and frankly the future of humanity," Mink wrote to Splinter afterward. She decided to make it personal.

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With confirmation fast approaching, Democrats need to pick up one more vote against DeVos.

At noon on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, the U.S. Senate will vote on President Donald Trump's secretary of Education nominee.

This is normal. What's happening in the 24 hours leading up to the vote, on the other hand, is not normal at all.

In an effort to win over one of their Republican colleagues, Senate Democrats are pulling an all-night filibuster as they take turns making the case against Betsy DeVos, Trump's choice to head the Department of Education. For 24 hours, Democrats plan to hold the floor in the run-up to a vote that may very well determine the future of America's public education system.

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Muna Hussaini walked into her polling station near Austin, Texas, with her daughter on Election Day. Her excitement was weighed down by fear.

Now a mother of two, Hussaini was born and raised in the United States to immigrant parents from India. But as a Muslim woman who wears hijab, she's seen firsthand the angry and xenophobic rhetoric that still plagues this country. Sometimes, she still feels unsafe in her rightful home.

"This election has wreaked havoc on our family as Muslims, who have continued to look on in horror as women, Latinos, Blacks, gays ... so many have been denigrated," she confessed in a private post to tens of thousands of strangers in Pantsuit Nation, a secret Facebook group. (Her post is shared here with permission.)

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Lawyers' Committee

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights

'I'm going to keep standing up.'

For people who saw Hillary Clinton as a much needed step forward for equality in this country, this week's loss was devastating.

When the 2016 presidential election results came in around 3 a.m. Eastern time on Nov. 9, many people were hit with waves of emotion as this dramatic election cycle came to a close.

What would come next for America?

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Lawyers' Committee

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights

Most parents agree that our children are our future. But weirdly, statistics show that a lot of us don't actually vote.

Photo via iStock.

It turns out that having young children actually makes people a little bitless likely to get to the polls on Election Day.

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Lawyers' Committee

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights

'For my sweet super girl of a goddaughter who deserves to know that she can do anything.'

People have already turned out to vote in the 2016 election in record numbers, and many are hoping their efforts will elect the first female president of the United States.

Those who were alive when women didn't even have the right to vote are proudly casting their ballots in the name of busting through yet another glass ceiling.

It's inspiring that tons of people are coming out to vote. But what's even more inspiring is how many are dedicating their vote to women who've touched their lives on a more personal level.

People took to Twitter using #DedicateYourVoteToAWoman to share their dedications.

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"Hi, I just wanted to urge you to resign because of what you're doing to the environment and our country."

Mink walked up to Pruitt and introduced her toddler son — just so Pruitt would know whose future he was affecting.

Protecting our environmental future is more important than ever.

We should be worried. And, like Mink, we should speak out whenever and wherever we can.

With confirmation fast approaching, Democrats need to pick up one more vote against DeVos.

At noon on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, the U.S. Senate will vote on President Donald Trump's secretary of Education nominee.

Two Republicans have already indicated plans to vote against DeVos. It'll take at least one more vote to tip the scales.

There are a number of reasons to oppose DeVos' nomination that should have people on both sides of the aisle feeling a bit nervous.

So far, the filibuster is off to a strong start, as Democratic senators implore their colleagues to prioritize the welfare of America's students over party lines.

No matter how this vote goes, it's good to see the Senate living up to its potential as one of the world's great deliberative bodies.

Watch the 24-hour action from the Senate floor filibuster here:

Muna Hussaini walked into her polling station near Austin, Texas, with her daughter on Election Day. Her excitement was weighed down by fear.

Hussaini watched her 8-year-old daughter press the buttons in the voting booth. She cried.

Tuesday morning was full of hope and inspiration for the Hussaini family. But the next day, they woke up to an opposite feeling.

"What would be helpful [now] is knowing I'm not alone," Hussaini told me. "That if hate comes out in full force that I can keep my family safe."

'I'm going to keep standing up.'

For people who saw Hillary Clinton as a much needed step forward for equality in this country, this week's loss was devastating.

Today, many people are grieving. But if you look around you, you'll also see people doing something remarkable: They aren't giving up.

1. This woman is feeling more resolved then ever to keep fighting.

2. Another is trying to help others while simultaneously looking out for her own mental health.

3. And, in the midst of fearing for this country, this man wants everyone to know he's first and foremost an ally.

4. Christina learned words of hope and action can come to us in many ways. Even via text.

5. And, in the face of feeling like "them" again, this Middle-Eastern American man simply asks others to have empathy.

Emotions only take us so far. In the coming weeks, action is the next step.

Most parents agree that our children are our future. But weirdly, statistics show that a lot of us don't actually vote.

Justin Ruben, cofounder of the organization Parents Together, has a good idea for how to fix this strange phenomenon, though: parent-kid voting selfies!

The #FamilyVote photos started pouring in during early voting and haven't stopped since.

Here are mom and dad Belinda and Alex Reyes along with their kids, Gabriel, Vidal, and Sofia.

Tawaualla Foley said sharing this important election with her kids was one of the proudest moments of her life. "I was filled with so much joy," she said.

Jon Whiten and his wife took their young son to the polls. "Today, there were lessons we imparted all the way up and down the ballot," he said.

"Though all elections are historical, this one feels especially significant to me as a Hispanic female," said Denise Rivera, who voted with her 4-year-old son.

Kelli Soyer said, "It's important my daughter knows she has a voice and to use it."

And the photos just keep coming in from families all over the country.

"If we want parents' voices to be heard, we need to participate," Ruben said.

So get out there, America, and take your kids with you if possible.

'For my sweet super girl of a goddaughter who deserves to know that she can do anything.'

People have already turned out to vote in the 2016 election in record numbers, and many are hoping their efforts will elect the first female president of the United States.

It's inspiring that tons of people are coming out to vote. But what's even more inspiring is how many are dedicating their vote to women who've touched their lives on a more personal level.

1. This godmother dedicated her vote to her super goddaughter.

2. This husband dedicated his vote to a woman he loves and admires (his wife ... duh).

3. This person voted in honor of a woman who burst through another glass ceiling — Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress.

4. And here's an incredible dedication to a badass grandma and nana.

5. This daughter lost her mother six years ago. She thought voting for another woman who never quits was a fitting homage.

6. This man dedicated his vote to the millions of women in Saudi Arabia who need support now more than ever.

7. And this woman who followed that up by giving hers to a woman in Haiti who lost everything.

8. This woman cast her ballot for all the undocumented mothers who fear a Trump presidency more than most.

9. With this election rife with incidents of sexual assault, this woman dedicate her vote to all women suffering (often in silence).

10. This dedication is for the women whose progress was thwarted by a misogynistic world.

11. And finally, a dedication to all the women who sacrificed themselves so that we can have this privilege today.

A woman in the White House would mean we've made significant progress in the name of equality.