When will stop having to fight?

As we continue on this wild ride, I reflect on the progress women have made—and continue to make—across every industry, I can’t help but wonder, like so many of us, whether our hard-won gains are at risk of being erased. Will history repeat itself, pushing us backward instead of forward? While these thoughts can be unsettling, I refuse to let recent events drag me into a spiral of anxiety, sadness, or despair, and I will not allow you to either! Because the truth is this: movements are born out of conflict.

If we look back over the past 100+ years of women fighting for equality, we see that every milestone was forged in the fire of struggle. Without setbacks, without the glaring injustices that demanded action, there would be no victories to celebrate. From the women’s suffrage movement to the civil rights movement, from Black Lives Matter to today’s battles for reproductive rights and gender equity, women—especially Black women—have always risen in the face of adversity. Movements create change.

History proves this time and again. Sojourner Truth, in her powerful 1851 speech “Ain’t I a Woman?“, shattered the illusion that women’s rights belonged only to the privileged. Lucretia Mott, widely regarded as the founder of the women’s suffrage movement, laid the groundwork for generations of activists. Susan B. Anthony dared to question why women were denied the right to vote in America. And Gloria Steinem’s “After Black Power, Women’s Liberation” ignited a new wave of feminism that still inspires us today.

I could go on and on because the truth is women have always risen to the occasion, no matter what the obstacles! We have to remember to celebrate those wins, no matter how small. Let those moments of progress remind you that nothing can stop us and nothing can hold us back.

Now is not the time to despair. Now is the time to unite. White, Black, all women—standing together, fighting for our rightful place in history. We are so much stronger than we realize. Together, we can. We have. And we will continue to move mountains.

With resilience, Hope and solidarity,