Did Palin supporters swing the NOW election?
Last week, I posted about the National Organization for Women’s (NOW) exciting 2009 election, which pitted 56-year-old white activist Terry O’Neill against NOW’s 33-year-old black vice president for membership, Latifa Lyles. Considering NOW’s challenge to reinvent itself for a new generation of feminists, it was hard not to see the echoes of Obama in Lyles’ candidacy, not just because of her age and race but also the opportunity for change she offered in her commitment to technology and diversity. But last November’s history did not repeat itself at NOW’s national conference in Indiana this weekend. O’Neill won the election by a slim margin (some say eight votes). In a statement, NOW’s president-elect said that she was “honored and eager” to lead the organization.
Last week, I posted about the National Organization for Women’s (NOW) exciting 2009 election, which pitted 56-year-old white activist Terry O’Neill against NOW’s 33-year-old black vice president for membership, Latifa Lyles. Considering NOW’s challenge to reinvent itself for a new generation of feminists, it was hard not to see the echoes of Obama in Lyles’ candidacy, not just because of her age and race but also the opportunity for change she offered in her commitment to technology and diversity. But last November’s history did not repeat itself at NOW’s national conference in Indiana this weekend. O’Neill won the election by a slim margin (some say eight votes). In a statement, NOW’s president-elect said that she was “honored and eager” to lead the organization. O’Neill also told a personal story: My experience with domestic violence, as an abused wife left me humiliated and embarrassed. I only began to talk about this publicly five years ago as I realized that to keep quiet was to c
