After the conclusion of the journal, Nardal began working as the secretary of Galandou Diouf, Senegalese deputy in the French National Assembly. She was actively involved in the demonstrations which followed the 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia, and went to Senegal in 1937 to try to rally others to the cause against the invasion. She was also active with feminist organizations including "Ad Lucem Per Caritatem" and the "Union Féminine Civique et Sociale" throughout the 1930s. When forced to flee France in 1939 because of World War II, Nardal boarded a ship flying under protection of the Red Cross. When the ship was torpedoed off the English coast, Nardal fractured both of her knees jumping into a lifeboat, and had to be hospitalized in England. She never fully recovered from her injuries.