“Failure is Impossible!” That famous quote epitomizes Susan B. Anthony’s philosophy on life, and her approach to gaining the right to vote for women. Anthony was hard working, honest, enthusiastic, optimistic, and tireless. She is one of a handful of heroes who’s work inspires and drives me.

Anthony, like most of us, was not a single issue advocate. She was passionately against slavery and worked very hard as an abolitionist. She organized rallies, marches, letter writing campaigns, and more, in favor of ending slavery and giving blacks the right to vote.

When the Civil War started, Anthony and her colleagues tabled their efforts to get the vote for women. They were persuaded by their own consciences and colleagues in the abolitionist movement that they should support the War first, and then get back to women’s suffrage later.

The trouble is, after the War, their abolitionist colleagues evaporated, and there was no more interest in women’s suffrage than there had been before. In fact, in many ways women’s votes were less important than before, since they were no longer needed as allies in the fight against slavery.

So, why the history lesson? Activist, lefty women need to be very, very careful before they give up their own interests to a more general progressive cause. It’s easy to be persuaded that there is some other good that’s more important than say, defending abortion or access to birth control. There’s a seductive logic to “help us win back the White House/Senate/House/Whatever, and then we’ll be in a position to help you.”

Resist that logic, and remind yourself — when women work together, failure is impossible. This is a fight that matters.