7 Remarkable Women on the Moment They Got Fired Up
Something’s snapped. After the 2016 presidential election, women nationwide wanted to make a scene. We flooded streets in protest. We filled out ballots. Whispers gave way to battle cries. We didn’t do it for “attention”; we did it for progress. In “Fired Up,” ELLE.com explores women’s rage-and what comes next.
There's always that moment when the rubber hits the road. For millions of women across the country, that day was November 9, 2016. For other women, it was long before, when injustice came to their communities-when their boys were shot in the street or when their girls were denied aid by institutions meant to help them. For still others, it was only in the last year, after destructive patterns repeated themselves one too many times. In those moments, all these women didn't just see a problem-they saw a problem they had the power to fight and to solve.
Today, as these women converge-on the streets in peaceful protest; into the corridors of power in local, state, and federal government; online and in the workplace-they're motivated by the collective prospect of change, perpetually outrunning the fatigue that the unrelenting news cycle tells us is impending.
It's going to be a long haul. So we went looking for motivation from those who are leading the way. We asked seven women to tell us about the moment they said enough was enough: when they rallied against injustice, when they became activated, motivated, and mobilized-in other words, the moment they got fired up, and what drives them to keep going.
Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood and Author of Make Trouble
In twelve years of working for Planned Parenthood, I've gotten used to people coming up to me on the train or in the airport, often with a stricken look on their face, to ask some variation of: "How are you doing?" They seem to think working for social justice, or for an organization like Planned Parenthood, is some kind of trial or chore. Sure, it has its hard moments. But early on, I had an experience that crystallized for me why the fight for reproductive rights-the fight to give every person the opportunity and freedom to live their best life-is so important.
For as long as I've worked at Planned Parenthood, I've tried to spend as much time as I can visiting health centers across the country. One of those visits, which happened in my first years on the job, was to a health center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was an older building, very much in need of a new coat of paint. As we parked the car, I saw a young man and woman walking out the door together, into the parking lot. It was in the spring, right around graduation time. They couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen. The young woman was wearing a big varsity letter jacket that read "Seniors 2008." I didn't know their backstory. Did they have parents they couldn't talk to? Were they worried that they were pregnant? Were they trying to get birth control?
As I sat there and wondered, I realized that, for those teenagers, Planned Parenthood may have been the only thing standing between them and an uncertain future. It's not often that you get to see the immediate difference you're making in people's lives, but that day, I did.
I've always figured doing the right work means there will be some tough days. If there aren't, I should probably set my sights higher. Knowing there are people who get up every day and open the doors of health centers across America, and do everything they can to help people like that young couple in Albuquerque get the health care they deserve-that's what makes me feel fired up, and committed to this fight.
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
Dreamers make America more American. Their courage, optimism, and determination to succeed bless our nation each day. But every day since President Trump cruelly ended DACA, more Dreamers lose their status, and the Republican Congress refuses to protect their American Dreams. Members of Congress are trustees of the people-why are we here, if not to protect the patriotic young people who are determined to enrich and strengthen America?
So in February, I decided that I would share the stories of Dreamers from the House floor. The most eloquent statements are the stories of the Dreamers themselves: the young nurses and doctors, students and teachers, community leaders and family members, and men and women in uniform, who are American in every way, and who must be allowed to stay and contribute to our nation. Once I started, my Democratic colleagues sent me hundreds of Dreamers' letters and stories, which I was honored to read.
I thought I might get hungry or tired, but I was strengthened by the optimism, stamina, and faith that Dreamers show every day. People were talking about my shoes, but the reaction I received across the country was, You stood up for what you believe in. Frankly, sitting down for the State of the Union was more painful than standing up for eight hours in heels.
This year, strong and determined women across the country are standing up to demand their voices be heard. Together, we can build a future that honors our Founders' ideals of freedom, equality, and justice for all.
Senator Elizabeth Warren
A year ago, I went to the Senate floor to read a letter from civil rights leader Coretta Scott King about President Trump's choice for Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, and Senate Republicans didn't like that, so they tried to silence me. But I didn't stop-I kept going.
People have asked me how I felt when my colleagues kicked me off the Senate floor for speaking the truth. I'll be honest: I was mad-really mad. But this wasn't about me-it was about the tens of millions of women who are tired of being told to sit down and be quiet.
Instead of shutting us up, they've made us all louder. They can warn us. They can give us explanations. Nevertheless, we will persist.
Sarah Kate Ellis, President of GLAAD
Since the 2016 election, I wake every day fired up. But there was a pivotal moment last July when Donald Trump tweeted a ban on transgender people serving in the military, and that, for me, felt like a moment to get really loud. The day of that impromptu announcement was the first day of my vacation in Provincetown with my family. After looking at Twitter, I immediately got on a boat out of Provincetown to go hit the airwaves, to talk about how dangerous this ban was. These are Americans who are proudly and bravely serving our country, who even as they stand on the front lines are learning that they might be banned from the military, from doing a job that they are putting their lives at risk for. How disrespectful and despicable is that?
So we organized. We went out that week and asked Trump voters if they were for or against the ban, and they were in majority against the ban. Americans believe that not only do we want anybody who is willing and able to serve, but that we are proud of their service. We brought trans service members to the red carpet of the VMAs, in front of as many media outlets as we could, so that they could tell their stories. We invested in a documentary called TransMilitary, which premiered at SXSW, that dives deep into the stories of trans military service members. I take very seriously my job at GLAAD to speak for those who might not have a voice and to give a platform to those that might not otherwise be heard. We are determined to put a name, a face, a heartbeat to the people who are affected by this ban.
Trump has since doubled down on his tweet by laying more groundwork to make this ban a reality, proving to us that this fight is far from over. His position is so egregious, so nasty that it deserves every bit of our anger right back at it. So I never lose my way on it. I wake up every day ready to fight. I will not be fatigued. As an American and as a mother, I can't imagine letting someone fight for me and my family's freedom every day and not fighting for their freedom here at home.
Patrisse Cullors, Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter
I'll just keep it simple: the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the clarity that I received in that moment, that folks did not care that that black boy died. And that we're not interested in holding George Zimmerman accountable, that the public, the white public, allowed for that to happen.
I remember just feeling that the acquittal couldn't be the period to the story-that George Zimmerman couldn't just go home and that's how the history books were going to be written. That was the birth of Black Lives Matter.
Tarana Burke, Founder of #MeToo
Living in a small city, living in Selma, which is where I was living when we gave birth to #MeToo, and looking every day in the faces of these black and brown girls that we were working with-seeing visibly the trauma that they were holding, and recognizing that trauma because of something that I had held, and feeling like I don't have a way to help, I don't have resources. What I know is that, in our communities and historically in the way that I've worked, when there's a deficit, when there's a problem, we find a solution.
For me, a turning point was going to the local rape-crisis center in Selma, and having this white woman come to the door, not let me in, and say to me, "How can I help you?" And I said, "I just want to find out about what y'all do here." She had her body physically in the door. And she said, "We don't take walk-ins. If you have a situation, you have to go to the police station, fill out a report, and then somebody will meet you there." I promise you, I left there, and I got in my car, and I sat in my car for a minute, and I had that conversation with God. You know that moment, when you're just like, "I got a lot of work, I don't wanna do this." But I knew in that moment, these children needed something, and nobody was trying to provide it. Not in our community or outside of our community. And so, that was a spark.
Sofie Whitney, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Senior and Member of March For Our Lives
On February 14, my innocence was stripped away when a gunman with an AR-15 open-fired at my high school, killing 17 members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas family. I was numb, heartbroken, and scared. After the shooting, politicians offered us their thoughts and prayers. They told us what a tragedy it was-but this kind of mass shooting isn’t abnormal in our country. Gun violence isn’t abnormal in this country. Ninety-six people die every day in the United States because of guns, yet our politicians care more about money from the NRA then they do about the lives of their constituents.
My classmates and I refused to sit back and let what happened at our school become a sad statistic, so we spoke out. Armed with nothing but our intelligence and motivation, we took to social media and started the #NEVERAGAIN movement, advocating for common sense gun reform, so no one else ever has to endure what we went through on Valentine’s Day. From #NEVERAGAIN, the March for our Lives was born. A group of student survivors turned tragedy into action faster than any politician ever could.
What happened on February 14 is something that I will carry with me forever. I plan to fight for gun safety for as long as it takes, to fight for the 17 at my school who no longer can. In just two months, we have inspired millions of people all over the world to fight for what is right, and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. We will not allow our government officials to value special interest money over our lives. We marched for our lives, and we will continue to fight until we are all are safe.
Some interviews have been edited and condensed.
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