The Power To Change The Long Relay Race Towards Social Justice

Nadine Hack is a speaker, trainer, coach and author.

By Nadine Hack

Having been ‘advancing women’s rights’ since the 1960s as part of larger social justice movements, I would’ve liked for us to be further along than we are in 2024. You might imagine that I’m a bit fatigued, even disheartened six decades later. To the contrary, I’m as fired up as ever. I’m especially inspired by young activists around the world who are tackling myriad interrelated issues in new, dynamic, exciting ways. It’s called “intersectional organizing.”

They integrate addressing gender inequality into calls for an end to violent conflicts; enlivening the climate change debate; demands for economic equity; actions for racial justice; demonstrations for LGBTQ rights; protests for gun control; all part of a fervent appeal for a more inclusive, sustainable world.

In 1964 I volunteered with Bella Abzug at Women Strike for Peace and with Shirley Chisholm on her first campaign for the New York State Assembly.

My most cherished honor is being awarded the Shirley Chisholm Catalyst for Change award. I'd already been one of the first interviewees for the Shirley Chisholm Project archives at Brooklyn College. And, I'd been interviewed for the oral history book on Bella Abzug. These extraordinary mentors taught me early on that sexism, racism, classism, militarism, environmental degradation must be tackled in tandem.

I thought this was a sprint and we were going to change the world then and there; a few decades later I began to see it as a marathon and I had to pace myself for the long-haul; a few decades later, I now see it as a relay race. While I won't see the complete fruition of what I've worked for, I have a sacred obligation to carry the torch as long as I can, happy that several generations are working alongside me.

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