National NOW Election

I'm endorsing Latifa Lyles and her slate in this weekend's NOW election and here is why:

1. I have worked with Latifa in the past and she is always great to work with. I haven't worked on huge projects with her, but even small stuff matters. She was also a very welcoming face when I spent one year on the National Board back in 2003-2004.
2. Every membership organization I know of has seen a drop in membership numbers, so that we have as many as we do have is testiment to Latifa's hard work, especially with online membership.
   
3. The fact that she is young (33) and a woman of color does not mean that's why I'm supporting her. But it does put the exclamation mark on my endorsement! Not to mention that Sonia is also a woman of color.
   
4. She chose Sonia Ossario as her Executive Vice-president. Does her name sound familiar? It should, especially if you are in NYC. "She has appeared on MSNBC, Hannity & Colmes, the Glenn Beck Show, Impacto Nacional and other national and local news networks. She was profiled in El Diario/La Prensa and NY 1News."
5. Salon.com likes Latifa too! As for Patricia Ireland's comment that Latifa is partially to blame for the lack of an online precense, I'd like to piont out that the website has come a long way since 2001 and didn't look that different from when Terry was a vice-president. Olga Vives, current NOW Executive Vice-President, is supporting Terry and should also shoulder blame for the state of NOW's website.
6. Liz Gilchrist and Janice Rocco bring years of fundraising to the table - as do Latifa and Sonia.
   

Now this is a hard post to write because I have some dear friends in support of Terry's slate. But I feel like I must take a side and voice my opinion. When I turn on CNN and see the NOW President or a Vice-President, I want to see Latifa, Sonia, Liz or Janice. From the rumbles I've heard and I thank the Great Lakes listerv moderator for keeping the mud from flinging there, this is a down & out ugly campaign.

And here's another tidbit to consider if you are leaning towards Terry's slate - I have heard that PUMAs will be traveling to Indianapolis to punish Kim Gandy thru Latifa for supporting Barack Obama after Hillary Clinton lost the primary. This is DESPITE Kim & NOW's super early endorsement of Hillary, which I didn't support - I thought it was too early.

So on Saturday I'll be casting my vote for a slate whom I think can move NOW into a new century, connect with a new generation and will hold POTUS' feet to the fire on feminist issues. It shouldn't be cast as a minimal thing either that one of Terry's slate members is from Illinois and I will not be voting for her. That is all I will say about that, but I wanted to make it clear.

If you are traveling to the NOW Conference and want to meet up, please drop me a line!