Women’s Media Center Mourns Death of Robin Morgan, WMC Co-Founder, Poet, Journalist, Author, Activist, Feminist, Organizer, and Friend

Julie Burton, President and CEO of the Women’s Media Center (WMC), released a statement on behalf of the Women’s Media Center mourning the death of WMC Co-Founder Robin Morgan — poet, journalist, author, activist, feminist, organizer, and friend.

Julie Burton stated, "Robin Morgan was one of the architects of the contemporary women’s movement. Her global leadership for justice and equality, her work as a pioneering journalist who gave voice and visibility to women, and her fierce artistry as an internationally recognized poet and author of more than 20 books – these all constitute the legacy she has forged over decades of creative, cultural, and political work. Robin was one of the three founders of the Women's Media Center, and in the 21 years we worked together, we were honored to collaborate with Robin to build upon her lifetime of work advancing equal representation and opportunities for women in media and beyond. It was a privilege for WMC founders and staff to help her produce the award-winning podcast, Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan. We feel her loss immensely."

Robin Morgan, age 85, died just two days after her good friend and feminist partner, Gloria Steinem. Robin, Gloria and Jane Fonda joined together to found the Women’s Media Center with the aim of transforming the US media system so that women have an equal voice and place in media and beyond. We will carry on her work.

Jane Fonda, Co-Founder of the Women’s Media Center, shared these thoughts:

"Robin Morgan was an artist, a poet, an activist, and in my eyes, a living legend — a woman whose anthology series, Sisterhood is Powerful, Sisterhood is Global, and Sisterhood is Forever provided the evidence needed to launch a feminist revolution, and it was part of my feminist education that led to the movie, 9to5. Robin's podcast is where I go for hope. Her guests inspired us and her 'fighting words' told us what mattered in the big picture."

Fonda continued, "In my film career, I know that designers often offer beautiful clothes for interview and award show purposes. Imagine my surprise and delight a few years ago in learning that the esteemed House of Dior was honoring Robin Morgan, a feminist and women's liberation leader and one of the organizers of the historic 1969 Miss America pageant protest (and the designer of the feminist symbol of the raised fist within the Venus symbol), with a specially created T-shirt series honoring Robin's feminist Sisterhood anthology and its global impact. The small but mighty activist and literary force was being celebrated by the first woman creative director of Dior women's haute couture, ready-to-wear, and accessories collections, Maria Grazia Chiuri. What a beautiful and meaningful act showing the power of combining art and activism."

Fonda closed her statement with, "I have learned so much from Robin over the years. I love her and all that she has brought to the world, the women's movement, and to me on the most personal levels. I already miss her and my heart is broken."

Blake Morgan, Son of Robin Morgan, stated, "My mother Robin Morgan died peacefully in her sleep early this morning. Surely, she will be remembered for designing the iconic image of the women's movement (the fist in the circle of the women's symbol) and for her formative anthology, Sisterhood Is Powerful, for co-founding the Sisterhood is Global Institute with Simone de Beauvoir, for co-founding the Women's Media Center with Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda, for a lifetime of fierce feminism and fierce friendship. But first and foremost, she was an artist. Her art fueled her politics, fueled her feminism, fueled the way she raised me. She taught me that how one does anything is how one does everything—that the personal is the political, and that as she once wrote, 'Hate generalizes, love specifies.' I'll have more to say and more songs to write about her, but for now, I'll express my love and gratitude that so many of you knew and loved her as both my mother, and as your friend."

In 1970, Robin created the first feminist anthology, Sisterhood Is Powerful, which gave voice to widely diverse women activists and writers when there was no national feminist forum. It was later cited by the New York Public Library as one of the 100 Most Influential Books of the 20th Century. She used funds from its immediate best-seller publishing success to provide grants to women's groups. Following with a second anthology, she assembled Sisterhood Is Global, to provide an opening for a global women’s movement which to this day amplifies women’s voices from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Asia. Together with her friend and colleague, Simone de Beauvoir, she then co-founded The Sisterhood Is Global Institute, still going strong today. She went twice into Gaza with UNRWA during the first and second Intifadas to work with and write about Palestinian women. In the midst of all this national and global organizing and activism, Robin wrote twenty widely read, translated, and course-taught books of political theory and reportage, as well as books of poetry and fiction. She was a former editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine. She hosted and produced “Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan,” an award-winning podcast heard for 13 years in 112 countries. This was her influential, intelligent way of continuing a lifetime of activism, although she was in the second decade of living with Parkinson’s Disease.

Robin co-founded the Women’s Media Center with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem, twenty-one years ago to give voice to and strengthen democracy for women in media and beyond. During an interview about the Women's Media Center with Robin and Lily Tomlin on Fox 5 Good Day New York, Robin explained, "Our job is to make women visible and powerful in the media. And we do that through lots of programs — through training women in media skills, through SheSource, which is the go-to place for experts, through many programs and our radio program [now podcast], Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan."

Today the Women's Media Center produces original on-air and online journalism by and about women. WMC documents and fights structural sexism and racism in media. And the organization she helped create continues to advance opportunities for women in media through connected strategies of training women journalists and leaders and promoting them as experts to media.”

Earlier this year, to recognize Robin's work and impact on women and journalists worldwide, the Women's Media Center created the WMC Robin Morgan Sisterhood Is Powerful Award to be awarded to a leader who has made outstanding contributions for women’s and girls’ rights to equality and democracy, and has shown a lifelong commitment to the highest levels of integrity. The first recipient of the WMC Robin Morgan Sisterhood is Powerful Award was Margot Wallström, Sweden’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the first United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Margot Wallström honored Robin's legacy as a poet, by delivering her acceptance speech in the form of a poem that concluded with “Thank you for giving me this award. Like the pen for a girl, it’s more powerful than a sword!”

Robin hosted, wrote, and produced the award-winning WMC podcast, Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan. which is available on Apple, Spotify, iHeart Media, Google Play, Sirius XM, YouTube, and numerous others, including WMCLive.com itself--for streaming, download, and subscription. The podcast recently reached a milestone of producing 500 episodes.

In launching the podcast over a decade ago, the press release noted, "Women's Media Center Live goes behind the cameras and between the headlines with fresh stories and voices rarely heard, a “safe house” where extraordinary guests—national and international, famous and not-yet famous — can dare to be honest. Morgan discusses everything from politics to reproductive rights, from relationships to the arts, from global news to personal lives, with guests from across the spectrum — a mix of newsmakers and news media." Robin's goal was to "Expose the real impact of male-dominated media on men as well as women—and on democracy itself. It will feature intelligent, lively discussion—but no yelling!—and will be witty, audacious, factual, moving, hilarious, informative, quotable—and fun. Join us in making media history!”

For more information about Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan, see WMC Live with Robin Morgan.

For more information about Robin's work and life, see the personal website for Robin Morgan.

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