NOW President Kim Gandy

"Linking Arms in Dangerous Times" is a perfect theme for this year's conference. Indeed, with George W. Bush in the White House, women's rights are in greater peril today than they’ve been in nearly a decade. It's only been a year and a half since the Supreme Court handed Bush the presidency, but already he has used the bully pulpit to advance a far-right, anti-women agenda that gives lie to his campaign promise of "compassionate conservatism."

We can meet these challenges, and this weekend we will rededicate ourselves, in the words of our 1998 Declaration of Sentiments, to "the work that unites us." With your help, NOW will continue leading the fight against regressive policies and forging ahead to win true equality for all women.

I'm proud to welcome a wonderful group of speakers who will inspire us to even greater heights: Beverly Watts is president of the International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies; the Honorable Sharon Sayles Belton was mayor of Minneapolis until January; Susan Phillips is International Vice President of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union; and two fabulous feminist teens and best friends, Ana Grossman and Emma Peters-Axtell, are representing New Moon Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams.

JoDee Flockhart, who won a landmark judgment against Iowa Beef Processors after years of sexual harassment on the job, will accept our Woman of Courage award, and we will honor Capt. Brenda Berkman, who led the fight for inclusion of women in the New York City fire department and was one of the heroes at "ground zero" in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. She is featured in (and you will see) the wonderful video, Women of Ground Zero, created by our allies at the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.

We will also honor two extraordinary leaders with NOW's first-ever Woman of Vision awards. You already know Eleanor Smeal and Congresswoman Patsy Mink for their tireless work on behalf of women's rights. But more than that, they have been visionary in their leadership, daring to think and do the things that seem impossible to others — and they have changed the world for all of us.

These are indeed dangerous times — but this weekend we will plan, play, dance, laugh, exchange ideas, learn and celebrate with one another, and recommit ourselves to the work that unites us and propels us forward.

Yours in sisterhood,

Kim A. Gandy
President

• National Conference 2002 Information