When historians look back on this sordid moment in history, they will conclude that it was women, and feminists, who led the way out of it.
Editor’s note: The following is adapted from Spillar’s powerful opening speech at the Feminist Majority Foundation (publisher of Ms.) Global Women’s Rights Awards on Tuesday, Nov. 18, in Los Angeles. Head here for more of Ms.’ coverage of the event, or here for our Instagram highlights.
These past 10 months have been tough. Every day a fresh outrage, more trampling of the Constitution and a new attack on common decency. Taking a page from Hollywood, Trump and his administration seem to have embraced a strategy of “everything, everywhere all at once.”
But, unfortunately for them: The resistance has also been everywhere, all at once, too. We’ve been in the streets with record-setting crowds—in blue states and red states—in large cities and small towns declaring “No Kings!” And we’ve seen ordinary people courageously come to the aid of their undocumented neighbors they may not even know, here in Los Angeles where Ms. is headquartered, and in city after city.
The resistance has been in courtrooms all across the country, with determined plaintiffs and brilliant litigators challenging the illegal actions of the Trump administration … hundreds of lawsuits so far. And we’ve been vocal and outspoken; telling the truth and giving facts a chance to breathe in fearless journalism and powerful storytelling.
And among those leading the way are our honorees:
Jen Rubin and Norm Eisen of The Contrarian
Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward
Bess Wohl, Whitney White and Lisa Cronin Wohl with Liberation
Just like our honorees, the Feminist Majority and Feminist Majority Foundation are fighting on multiple fronts:
The Feminist Majority Foundation leads efforts nationwide to counter antiabortion extremist violence, and fights for women worldwide. Our Feminist Campus and Girls Learn programs support young feminist activists in colleges and high schools.
Thanks to our publication of Ms. magazine, feminists have accurate and timely information—the stories about women at a time when Trump and Vance literally want to erase us and re-write our history.
And thanks in part to the Feminist Majority’s work around the election mobilizing young voters on college campuses, we saw feminists winning in Virginia in both the governor’s and House of Delegates elections, with women’s votes driving the election victories. An historic 82 percent of women under 30 voted for Abigail Spanberger. And it was women who made the difference in Pennsylvania, where we successfully were able to retain three Democratic state Supreme Court justices critical for protecting voting rights, abortion rights and the state’s Equal Rights Amendment.
These three entities—Ms., the Feminist Majority Foundation and Feminist Majority—are branches of the same tree, with shared roots in justice and equality. Your support not only pays tribute to the game-changing work of our honorees, it fuels our work to meet this moment.
There is no doubt that when historians look back on this sordid moment in history, they will conclude that it was women, and feminists, who led the way out of it.
There’s no question that the challenges we face are tough. And meeting them may ask more of all of us than we thought we could give. But remember, all of us are part of something larger—a legacy of courage and conviction, of people who refuse to let the tides of regression wash away the progress we have made.
We know our rights were not won in a day, and they won’t be successfully defended by the timid. The gains we’ve made and the resistance against the reactionaries are built by people like all of us, who see clearly what is at stake and who choose, again and again, to keep going.
Dolores Huerta said it: Si se puede. Yes we can! That’s not an idle threat; it’s a promise. We can win and together we will. Loudly. Proudly. Wherever and whenever we’re needed. Even if it’s everything, everywhere, all at once.
