Melody Drnach Explains How Activism Works
Saturday April 8, 2006
Category: Abortion | Gender and Sexuality
By some freakish coincidence, Women's Issues Guide Michele Larsen and I have both sat down and had separate face-to-face conversations with Melody Drnach, NOW's VP for Action, within the past week. Everybody who's serious about women's activism in this country probably should at some point or another, both because she's an energetic and inspiring presence--I'm reminded of that third-quarter pep speech the coach always gives his team in the last 15 minutes of an inspirational sports movie--and because she probably knows more about how to protect women's rights at this precise moment in history than just about anyone else in the country.
So I was really glad to meet Melody; it was a memorable experience for me, and I came away from it feeling like I was really connected to the women's rights movement on a national level. But when Michele sat down with Melody, she did something very smart that I neglected to do: She asked for advice on behalf of her readers, and blogged the answers. And sure, it all sounds so simple: Gather, Learn, Educate, Talk, and Vote. But if we all did that, would an abortion ban have passed in South Dakota? Would we have a president who openly longs for an end to Roe v. Wade? And for that matter, would the Equal Rights Amendment have faltered 25 years ago?
Since Melody lives in DC, Michele lives in New Mexico, and I live in Mississippi, I think that's a pretty good indication that Melody is accumulating some serious frequent flyer miles--and, more to the point, that NOW is making a pretty big effort to expand its national activism efforts. Whether it works or not ultimately depends on how many people just think about taking Melody's advice--and how many actually do it.
See also:
By some freakish coincidence, Women's Issues Guide Michele Larsen and I have both sat down and had separate face-to-face conversations with Melody Drnach, NOW's VP for Action, within the past week. Everybody who's serious about women's activism in this country probably should at some point or another, both because she's an energetic and inspiring presence--I'm reminded of that third-quarter pep speech the coach always gives his team in the last 15 minutes of an inspirational sports movie--and because she probably knows more about how to protect women's rights at this precise moment in history than just about anyone else in the country.
So I was really glad to meet Melody; it was a memorable experience for me, and I came away from it feeling like I was really connected to the women's rights movement on a national level. But when Michele sat down with Melody, she did something very smart that I neglected to do: She asked for advice on behalf of her readers, and blogged the answers. And sure, it all sounds so simple: Gather, Learn, Educate, Talk, and Vote. But if we all did that, would an abortion ban have passed in South Dakota? Would we have a president who openly longs for an end to Roe v. Wade? And for that matter, would the Equal Rights Amendment have faltered 25 years ago?
Since Melody lives in DC, Michele lives in New Mexico, and I live in Mississippi, I think that's a pretty good indication that Melody is accumulating some serious frequent flyer miles--and, more to the point, that NOW is making a pretty big effort to expand its national activism efforts. Whether it works or not ultimately depends on how many people just think about taking Melody's advice--and how many actually do it.
See also:
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