Looking Back, Learning Forward is a community-based effort to document the stories of people involved in the effort to pass the Reproductive Privacy Act (RPA). Signed into law in 2019, the RPA affirmed the right to abortion in Rhode Island – an achievement that took on additional import when, in 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Incredibly, the RPA made it through the General Assembly without the support of either the Senate President or the Speaker of the House. Instead, its passage was secured through a grassroots effort sustained by the work of a diverse cross-section of people from across the state. Crucially, that effort empowered many people often excluded from traditional political processes and involved an expansive understanding of politics that linked art, community building, and activism. One product of such expansive political work was the creation of a community quilt that will be on display at different locations over the next year. Through oral history collection and community-based sharing events, Looking Back, Learning Forward supplements the quilt through the preservation of the personal stories of the people who were involved in this pivotal moment in Rhode Island’s recent history. At the same time, it serves as a reminder of the power of everyday people to shape the world around them.