Tamika Mallory has never been one to sugarcoat the truth.
A Bronx native and lifelong activist, Mallory has made a career and a calling out of refusing to sit still in the face of injustice. By the age of 11, she was already active in the National Action Network, following in the footsteps of her parents who were founding members. In her twenties, she became the youngest executive director in the organization’s history. In her thirties, she helped lead the 2017 Women’s March, a protest that broke records and redefined what modern resistance looks like. Now, in her forties, she’s still in the thick of it, writing, speaking, organizing, and refusing to let history repeat itself without a fight.
Mallory’s activism is not performative or symbolic. It is lived, breathed, and deeply embodied. Whether she’s marching in Louisville for Breonna Taylor or addressing lawmakers about systemic inequality, she brings both fire and focus to everything she does. Her latest memoir, “I Lived to Tell the Story,” strips away any illusion of invincibility and reveals the human beneath the headlines. She’s a woman who loves, grieves, dreams, and bleeds, just like most women.
A Battle for Bodily Autonomy
When speaking with Mallory, she didn’t hesitate to name the moment America is in.
“Absolutely the war on women is real, and it has always been.”
Her words cut to the bone, not because they’re new, but because they’ve been true for so long. The current rollback of reproductive rights isn’t an isolated policy shift. It’s part of a broader, coordinated effort to shrink women’s power, starting with their bodies.
“There is truly fascism and authoritarianism in this nation,” she said plainly. “The only way that we will be able to defeat what we’re up against is by working together.”
To Mallory, this isn’t the time for ideological turf wars or siloed movements.
“People who may not have been good friends in the past need to get real cozy,” she added, because when human rights are under attack, disunity is a luxury the nation can’t afford.
For Black women in particular, this battle has always been layered. It’s not just about access to abortion or contraception. It’s about survival. Historically, Black women’s bodies have been commodified, criminalized, and controlled. Now, as reproductive rights are stripped away, Mallory emphasizes that the impact isn’t theoretical, it’s personal, it’s immediate and it’s deadly.
“Women’s rights are one of the premier things that people like to suppress because they know that when women are powerful, the world is powerful,” she said. “That’s the truth.”
Urgency Over Comfort
Mallory doesn’t minimize the emotional toll this work takes. In fact, she speaks openly about the fatigue that sets in after decades on the frontlines.
“The whole concept of ‘we need to rest’ sounds real good,” she admitted. “And certainly I’ve been on the battlefield for 30 years plus, so I need rest just like everyone else.”
But she’s also clear-eyed about what’s at stake.
“Right now we are in the battle of our lives,” she warned. “What happens in this particular moment will set the tone for generations to come.”
For her, the most frightening possibility isn’t just political defeat, it’s disengagement. The illusion that someone else will handle it.
Still, even in the midst of this fear, Mallory finds hope. Her eyes light up when she talks about the rising generation of organizers, those reshaping politics, culture, and community from the ground up.
“When I think about Zorhan Mamdani here in New York City, who has galvanized so many new voters and young voters as a candidate for mayor, that tells me that young people are paying attention more than ever,” she explained.
That attention, she believes, might just be the key to unlocking the future citizens deserve.
The Humanity Behind the Megaphone
Activists are often painted in broad strokes, loud, tireless, fearless. But Mallory challenges that mythology. She wants the world to know that behind every protest and press conference is a person with flaws, fears, and feelings.
“People don’t really think about Black women activists as being human,” she said. “We have all the same issues that every other woman is dealing with: good days, bad days, and in between.”
That’s part of why she wrote her memoir, to remind the world that she, too, is human.
“Whenever you are able to take the humanness of an individual away, it makes it easier for you to harm them, and to discard them, and to treat them less than who they are,” she explained.
This dehumanization is strategic. When society stops seeing you as fully human, it becomes easier to justify your oppression.
And yet, despite the harm, despite the exhaustion, Mallory continues.
“Women have dealt with this same behavior over and over again,” she said. “But still we rise. We continue to fight. And so I know we will defeat this giant as well.”
It was inside that spirit of collective fight that 21Ninety caught up with Mallory at the Pete & Thomas Foundation Gala, hosted by Megan Thee Stallion at Gotham Hall in New York City. The event, held in honor of Megan’s late parents, centered on education, housing, and wellness in underserved communities. For Mallory, who has long advocated for systemic change beyond just reproductive justice, this space was more than celebratory. It was strategic.
“Every time we get in rooms like this, we figure out strategies,” she said. “Strategies for ways we can coordinate to push back against what we see happening.”
That pushback is exactly what keeps her moving. Whether it’s defending reproductive freedom, amplifying young voices, or simply demanding that Black women be seen in full color, Mallory is walking her talk and she’s doing it with a clarity the world desperately needs.