This is how we build and sustain a movement: Gloria Steinem’s legacy

With the passing of Gloria Steinem, we have lost an icon and a friend. 

It is easy to forget how far women have come since Gloria began her activism in the late 1960s. Women did not have a universal right to credit, birth control, or abortion. More than 50 years later, we have seen some of these rights disappear. For the first time in a long time, many of us ask a painful question: Will our daughters have fewer opportunities than we had? 

In this time of uncertainty, let’s move forward asking ourselves: “What Would Gloria Do?” Her words will inspire our direction. Gloria reminds us, “The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day; a movement is only people moving.” Let’s make what we do each day matter. 

Gloria Steinem did. 

ERA’s former Executive Director Irma Herrera told me, “Gloria’s greatest qualities were her kindness, warmth, humor, and her dogged determination to keep the issues front and center.” ERA co-founder Nancy Davis recalls these traits about Gloria as she fundraised to push women’s progress. One of Gloria’s many famous refrains was, “We can tell our values by looking at our checkbook stubs.”

Gloria’s actions will inspire us as much as her words. Indeed, Gloria built political power for women in a way that changed hearts and minds. ERA Board member Paulette Meyers recalls sitting in a classroom in Texas with Gloria in the ’70s as she encouraged a small group of low-paid women workers to push for high wage male dominated jobs. A true believer that “empathy is the most radical of human emotions,” Gloria listened. Always generous with solidarity and respect, Gloria ensured that this circle of women left feeling strong and important. 

This is how we build and sustain a movement. This is Gloria Steinem’s legacy. May this legacy fortify and guide us in the toughest feminist battles to come. Rest in Power Gloria. Love and gratitude from Equal Rights Advocates.