Here is a gathering in my living room in Manhattan. It’s part of the reason Trump lost the vote on this island, and a reminder that our own free will gatherings are the basis of democracy, free speech, and social justice. Thank you to my friends @livinlikelarz @heyitisruby @wendywecksell for bringing this group of women together to support @gloriasfoundation and share space together. We are communal animals, and in the days ahead we must remember that there are others who share our hopes and ideas for the future. Photo by @sophiesahara
I voted early and I hope you will too! Photo credit to @inezandvinoodh @doubledutchcash
My apartment has never looked so good, and I have so many people to thank for that! Photography: @wabranowicz Styling: @mieketenhave Design: @hallworthandheathens Writing: @samedford in @archdigest Wardrobe Styling: @nina.clare @lilyetcie
My apartment has never looked so good, and I have so many people to thank for that! Photography: @wabranowicz Styling: @mieketenhave Design: @hallworthandheathens Writing: @samedford in @archdigest Wardrobe Styling: @nina.clare @lilyetcie
My apartment has never looked so good, and I have so many people to thank for that! Photography: @wabranowicz Styling: @mieketenhave Design: @hallworthandheathens Writing: @samedford in @archdigest Wardrobe Styling: @nina.clare @lilyetcie
My apartment has never looked so good, and I have so many people to thank for that! Photography: @wabranowicz Styling: @mieketenhave Design: @hallworthandheathens Writing: @samedford in @archdigest Wardrobe Styling: @nina.clare @lilyetcie
My apartment has never looked so good, and I have so many people to thank for that! Photography: @wabranowicz Styling: @mieketenhave Design: @hallworthandheathens Writing: @samedford in @archdigest Wardrobe Styling: @nina.clare @lilyetcie
My apartment has never looked so good, and I have so many people to thank for that! Photography: @wabranowicz Styling: @mieketenhave Design: @hallworthandheathens Writing: @samedford in @archdigest Wardrobe Styling: @nina.clare @lilyetcie
My apartment has never looked so good, and I have so many people to thank for that! Photography: @wabranowicz Styling: @mieketenhave Design: @hallworthandheathens Writing: @samedford in @archdigest Wardrobe Styling: @nina.clare @lilyetcie
It’s time that we choose our leaders from the whole population, not just half of it. I ran as a delegate for Shirley Chisholm when she ran for President in 1972. 100 years before that, the first woman Presidential candidate was Victoria Woodhull. And centuries before that, the people who lived here before Europeans showed up often had a more egalitarian system in which the leader was male, but a Council of Grandmothers appointed him and could replace him. Maybe we are just beginning to regain the equality that was already here. For instance, the suffragists gained their courage from Native American women who were their neighbors. For the last installment of my Substack series of political writings, I am sharing a piece I wrote in 1970 called “What It Would Be Like If Women Win.” You can read it at the link in my bio. Photo: National Organization for Women’s March for Women’s Lives on April 5, 1992 in Washington DC. Unknown photographer. From the archive of @gloriasfoundation
In 1996, I delivered a speech at Salisbury State University about the power that women voters effect political change. I still think the words I wrote back then are true: Progress lies in the direction we haven’t been. Vice President Kamala Harris says it every day on the campaign trail. We’re not going back! Revisit my 1996 speech on motivating women to political action via Substack at the link in my bio. Photo: Speaking in the 1970s. From the archive of @gloriasfoundation
Democracy exists when everyone has the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies. Here in New York, we have the chance to permanently protect our reproductive freedom in this state, including the right to abortion, by voting YES on Prop 1! Whether you are voting early or heading to the polls on November 5th, make sure you commit to vote YES on Prop 1. We’re not going back! @yesonprop1ny #YesOnProp1NY
A President who was truly of the people. Let’s take this moment to learn from his past about our future. Photo Credit: Associated Press
With buses of citizens heading to Pennsylvania each day to volunteer for Kamala Harris’ campaign, I’m reminded of my own trip to Philadelphia in 1992, when I campaigned for Lynn Yeakel. Yeakel, a community organizer from Philly, entered the world of politics after seeing the injustices of the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings. She took on Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter, who was so arrogant and bombastic that he accused Hill of “flat-out perjury.” Today, I see many parallels to that 1992 race. This Presidential campaign is not just a campaign to elect a qualified Democrat and our first woman President, but a campaign against truth decay! I wrote about campaigning for Lynn Yeakel, and you can now read it via Substack at the link in my bio. Photo: Campaigning for Lynn Yeakel in Philadelphia, 1992. Photographer unknown. From the archive of @gloriasfoundation
My grandmother, Pauline Steinem, was a great suffragist who fought for all women to have access to the vote. A century later, most elections are determined by female voters. In honor of Women’s Equality Day, I’m revisiting “How Women Live, Vote, Think…,” a 1984 piece I wrote for @ms_magazine that analyzed women’s voting patterns over time. You can access it via Substack at the link in my bio. Now the question is: What will women do on November 5th? Photo: A letter from Atlee Pomerene to Gloria’s paternal grandmother, Pauline Steinem, 1913; Courtesy of @gloriasfoundation
Bella Abzug was a sheer force. She fiercely campaigned for peace and justice – whether she was an activist organizing demonstrations against the Vietnam War or a Congresswoman advancing the rights of women and all people. Indeed, it was Bella who introduced the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in 1973 which, when signed into law, gave women the right to get their own credit cards. If you walked on the streets of New York with her, you would surely hear supportive shouts of citizens saying “Give ‘em hell, Bella!” With just 9 weeks until Election Day, I’ve decided to revisit this profile I wrote on Bella in 1996, when she was awarded ‘Woman of the Year’ by Ms. Magazine. You can read it via Substack at the link in my bio. Photo: Bella Abzug speaking in the 1970s. Unknown photographer. Courtesy of @gloriasfoundation
Honored to gather with @annieleibovitz @meena and friends old & new to support getting Kamala Harris elected this November! Extra thanks to @wisecookietreats for making it so sweet. Voting is not the most we can do, but the least. Visit www.go.kamalaharris.com to find out how you can phone bank, knock on doors, write letters, and fundraise. Now is the time for us all to do something and fight for the democracy we deserve! Photograph with Annie Leibovitz & Meena Harris by Jenny Warburg
Honored to gather with @annieleibovitz @meena and friends old & new to support getting Kamala Harris elected this November! Extra thanks to @wisecookietreats for making it so sweet. Voting is not the most we can do, but the least. Visit www.go.kamalaharris.com to find out how you can phone bank, knock on doors, write letters, and fundraise. Now is the time for us all to do something and fight for the democracy we deserve! Photograph with Annie Leibovitz & Meena Harris by Jenny Warburg
I had the honor of meeting this group of visionary artists, which felt like an experience reserved for the Metropolitan! From now until December 31st, their work is on sale via @sheerworldwide with a portion of proceeds benefiting @sirawareness and @gloriasfoundation In hard times, we will continue to find unique ways to gather, create, and take care of each other. Thank you @sheerworldwide for supporting mental wellbeing and community care when we need them most! Visit the link in my bio to explore the art for sale now through December 31st.
In 1996, I wrote a piece about Tanya Melich’s book “The Republican War Against Women.” Melich, at the time a lifelong Republican, bravely documented the party’s misogyny and abandonment of women. Read the original piece and see how far we have (and haven’t) come via Substack at the link in my bio. Illustration: Courtesy of Bob Englehart, (Dayton) Journal Herald.
Campaigning is always an adventure. As a volunteer, I’ve done everything from envelope-stuffing and phone-banking to researching and speech-writing. I’ve spoken with voters at backyard barbecues and to crowds at rock concerts. Volunteering as a citizen might include all of these activities, or something totally different. But no matter the task at hand, there is talking, listening, and figuring out shared solutions. With under a month until Election Day, I’m revisiting an excerpt I wrote in 2016 about the lessons I’ve learned from decades of campaign volunteering. Read it via Substack at the link in my bio. Photo by Jason Lauré. Boarding Air Force One to cover Nelson Rockefeller for @nymag in 1969.
This election season I’m looking forward to phone banking and doing whatever else I can to help those candidates that best represent our Democratic values and reflect our diverse country. I miss being out there on the road as I had been in other elections, but we each should be effective with what we can uniquely offer. I have always felt hopeful because I was out there with all five senses seeing what voters were thinking. I wasn’t always convinced the candidate I was supporting would win, but I almost always had a good time. One of those good experiences was campaigning for Barbara Mikulski, a working class social worker from Maryland who went on to be the longest-serving female Senator in U.S. history, who taught me how fun campaigning could be. Indeed, the campaign headquarters and resting place combined was a bright red RV called “The Mikulski Mobile.” I originally wrote about my memories campaigning for Barbara in 2015. Nearly a decade later in this election cycle, I’m reminded just how fun campaigning can be. Read my piece on Barbara Mikulski via Substack at the link in my bio. Photo: 1970s flier for the Manhattan Women’s Political Caucus’ ‘A Festival to Celebrate the Future’ featuring Mary Anne Krupsak and Barbara Mikulski. From the archive of @gloriasfoundation
One of my most unique campaigning memories: joining a Pearl Jam concert dubbed “Jesse Helms’ Retirement Party” to get out the Democratic vote in North Carolina. I wrote about that adventure, and you can read it via Substack at the link in my bio. I know the next three weeks will be filled with even more creative ways to campaign! Photo: Poster from Pearl Jam’s “Jesse Helms’ Retirement Party” concert in October, 1996. Artwork by Emek.
I originally wrote “The Tyranny of Expectation” in 2016. As the 2024 Democratic National Convention comes to a close, and Kamala Harris comes closer to being the official Democratic nominee, it felt extra timely. I have many memories at conventions past – from the 1968 Chicago convention when I witnessed protests against the Vietnam War and extreme police brutality – to 1972 when Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman to run for President – to 1984 when I saw what I wasn’t sure I ever would: a woman as vice president on a major party ticket; someone who wasn’t just symbolic, but had a chance of winning, Geraldine Ferraro. The full piece is available via Substack at the link in my bio. Photo: People for Chisholm, Official Ballot, 1972. Courtesy of @gloriasfoundation and Sophia Smith Collection.
