Their StorySwedish climate activist who began a solitary school strike outside the Swedish parliament in 2018, aged 15, which grew into the global Fridays for Future movement. She is autistic and has spoken publicly about it as part of how she sees the climate crisis clearly.Her collected speeches, published as 'No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference', are a direct primary source.See Their Full Story
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextBiles on taking risks, from a gymnast who reshaped her sport and spoke openly about athletes' mental health.Read More: Women in Sport
Their StoryAmerican gymnast and the most decorated gymnast in world championship history. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics she withdrew from several events, citing her mental health and a disorientation known as 'the twisties', and returned to compete at the Paris 2024 Games.Her post-Tokyo and Paris interviews are the clearest primary sources for her own framing.See Their Full Story
“ I can't overstate the biggest joy, which is really seeing yourself. I know I look different to others, but to me I'm just starting to look like myself. ”
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextDavis on refusing to treat injustice as permanent, a recurring theme in her lectures.Read More: Black Activism
Their StoryScholar and activist whose work on race, gender and the prison system has shaped decades of organising. Briefly jailed and tried in the early 1970s after guns registered in her name were used in a courtroom takeover, she was acquitted and went on to a long academic and activist career arguing for the abolition of prisons and policing.Her memoir and lectures, widely available online, are the fullest primary sources.See Their Full Story
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Contexthooks on choosing love as a form of resistance.
Their StoryWriter and scholar (born Gloria Jean Watkins) whose work on love, race, class and feminism reached far beyond academia. She wrote under a lowercase pen name, borrowed from her great-grandmother, to keep the focus on the ideas rather than herself.'All About Love' and 'Teaching to Transgress' are the usual entry points.See Their Full Story
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextKochiyama, a Japanese-American activist, on solidarity and interdependence across movements.Read More: Asian Voices
Their StoryJapanese-American activist interned with her family during the Second World War, who went on to organise alongside Malcolm X and across the Black, Asian-American and Puerto Rican independence movements for the rest of her life. She died in 2014.Interviews and archival footage from her later life are the clearest primary sources.See Their Full Story
“ Many of us can sashay through swung open doors of acceptance and opportunity with grace and ease: doors pried open with the blood, sweat and tears of those before us. ”
ScienceWomenShe / Her · Pronounced: HAY-dee luh-MAR
She / Her · Pronounced: HAY-dee luh-MAR
Source: Widely attributed to Lamarr · original link to be verified
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
ContextLamarr, an actress who co-invented an early frequency-hopping technology used in wireless communication, on being seen only for her looks.Read More: Women in Science
ContextAdichie's own working definition of the word, from her widely shared TEDx talk.Read More: Black Literature
Their StoryNigerian novelist and essayist whose books, including 'Half of a Yellow Sun' and 'Americanah', are read worldwide. Her TEDx talk 'The Danger of a Single Story' and essay 'We Should All Be Feminists' brought her ideas to an audience well beyond literary fiction.'We Should All Be Feminists' is a short, direct entry point before the novels.See Their Full Story
ContextFrom her TED talk, on how one-dimensional narratives flatten whole peoples.Read More: Black Literature
Their StoryNigerian novelist and essayist whose books, including 'Half of a Yellow Sun' and 'Americanah', are read worldwide. Her TEDx talk 'The Danger of a Single Story' and essay 'We Should All Be Feminists' brought her ideas to an audience well beyond literary fiction.'We Should All Be Feminists' is a short, direct entry point before the novels.See Their Full Story
“ Abolition is really about rethinking the kind of future we want, the social future, the economic future, the political future. It's about revolution, I would argue. ”
ContextDavis on abolition as a constructive project, not just the absence of policing and prisons.Read More: Black Activism
Their StoryScholar and activist whose work on race, gender and the prison system has shaped decades of organising. Briefly jailed and tried in the early 1970s after guns registered in her name were used in a courtroom takeover, she was acquitted and went on to a long academic and activist career arguing for the abolition of prisons and policing.Her memoir and lectures, widely available online, are the fullest primary sources.See Their Full Story
