The Legacy of Gloria Steinem Today, we lost a giant! Gloria Steinem has taken her rest. Although, I did not call myself a feminist, I believed in every right the word was supposed to protect. I believed Black women deserved equal pay, safety inside our own homes, authority over our own bodies, and a seat at every table where decisions about our lives were being made. I couldn ’ t attach myself to a movement that often asked me to leave part s of myself at the door. The word feminist felt like an invitation into a house where I would always be a guest - but not a permanent resident. My hesitation wasn ’ t stubbornness ; it was based on feminism being presented as a movement built around the concerns of middle-class white women. Black women have always faced e mployment discrimination, racial violence, poverty, lack of childcare, involuntary sterilization, housing insecurity, and I distanced myself from the label of femin is t because these issues were not always treate...