Pushback is a signal of progress

1 min read · April 3, 2026
New Power Labs

There is a telling detail in the history of the American women's suffrage movement. Organized opposition – the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage – did not form until 1911. The suffragists had been fighting for over sixty years by then. A decade after the formation of the opposition, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, prohibiting the denial of the right to vote on the basis of sex. 

Organized, national opposition consolidated only once the movement had gained real traction.

This is a pattern worth holding onto right now. The current wave of equity, diversity, and inclusion rollbacks – corporate retreats, scrubbed language, cautious posturing  – is being framed as evidence that advancing fair access to opportunities was always the wrong direction. Yet, opposition of this scale and urgency tells a different story: people do not fight this hard against something that is failing.

This message surfaced in my conversation with Ray Williams (Black Opportunity Fund) last year, and it surfaced again in our New Power Network member conversation yesterday, with Nikko Viquiera (Race Forward), Mahlet Getachew (Policy Link), Lise Birikundavyi (BKR Capital), and Sadia Zaman (Inspirit Foundation). 

Pushback is not a signal to retreat. It is evidence that the ground is shifting and that the work needs to continue.

Narinder
New Power Labs

Like what you’re reading? Subscribe to get weekly Equity Shots in your inbox.