National Organization for Women

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Visiting Key West NOW

Sunday, I arrived back in Tampa from a weekend packed full of Key West archiving, exploring, and connecting! Darlene, the president of Key West NOW, welcomed me, showed me around, helped arrange my lodging, and made sure my weekend was a success. I’m so grateful for all of her support and hospitality!

Thursday, I flew into Key West, had dinner with Darlene, and visited Stacey, who generously gave me several free passes to experience different activities around the island. After settling into the apartment where I was staying, I headed out for the Ghosts and Gravestones Trolley Tour. The tour took me all over the island, where I got to see many interesting sites and learn about Key West’s history. It was really well done and was a great way to start my visit.

Friday morning, I hosted our first recording session at the Key West Library. I recorded oral histories with Darlene, Liz, and Dave, who have all been active members of the chapter for more than 10 years. Each of them shared incredible insight into Key West NOW, the chapter’s history, and how its work has evolved over the years.

Afterward, Darlene and I met with the new Key West Mayor, Sam Kaufman, to connect and talk about how we can work together to uplift women and other marginalized people in Key West. He was very welcoming and had lots of ideas and plans for the community. I appreciate that he took the time to meet with us and was excited to hear about the work Key West NOW is doing.

 

Later that day, I met with Sheri to record her oral history. Her testimony focused on her best friend, Coney Gilbert, the former president of Key West NOW. Hearing Sheri talk about Coney and their friendship offered a really special glimpse into the people and relationships that have shaped the chapter over the years. These are exactly the kinds of stories we want to preserve through the Florida NOW Oral History Archive.

Friday night, I walked to the bookstore to pick up The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, one of our upcoming Anti-Racist Learning Book Club selections. From there, I walked to Amigos Tortilla Bar, picked up dinner to go, and took it to the beach. I spent the evening reading and watching the sunset.

Saturday morning, I went to La Creperie French Cafe for breakfast and explored the surrounding streets. The area was full of people and music, and I sat for a while at two different places, reading and listening to live music.

Later that afternoon, I went to the Key West NOW Women’s Forum and met with members of the chapter. There were three fabulous speakers, a Q&A, and a light lunch, and the room was packed. It was wonderful to see so many people come together and to spend more time with the members of Key West NOW.

After the forum, I rode the Conch Train and explored more of the town before ending my evening at Sunset Pier. I was so excited to discover that they offer vegan key lime pie, and it was absolutely delicious! The live music and sunset made for a relaxing end to the day. I explored a little more afterward, stopping by a place packed with people salsa dancing to music, before heading back for the night.

Sunday morning, I went snorkeling! I saw interesting coral and fish, and even managed to get seaweed stuck in my hair. Afterward, I packed up, said goodbye to Darlene, and flew back to Tampa.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to travel around Florida and document the history of our chapters. It has been extremely meaningful to learn more about the place, people, and experiences that have shaped Key West NOW, and I’m honored to help preserve these stories for future generations of feminists.

Thank you to Darlene, Sheri, Liz, Dave, Stacey, and everyone at Key West NOW for making this such a memorable visit. I can’t wait to go back and visit Key West NOW again!

I am currently working on downloading and transcribing those recordings, so they will be available in the near future. Reach out to me directly to schedule a chapter visit at kaitlyncomms@gmail.com.

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Follow up on FL NOW Conference Exhibitors by Judi Marraccini

By Judi Marraccini / 2026 Conference Chair

As Conference Chair, I had been introduced to many exhibitors before the conference.

My plan is to introduce you to some of them and review their organization in the next few FL Feminist issues.

First of this series: CWPFG (Children and Widows Protection and Fellowship Group.

Some long time FL NOW members have formed an organization, CWPFG International Inc. It is a charitable non-profit organization headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida, that focuses on empowering women and girls in remote areas of Kenya.

The Core Mission: The organization aims to help women and girls in Kenya overcome poverty, illiteracy, HIV and gender-based growth so residents can build stable lives.

CWPFG currently assists 10 villages with a total population of about 24,780. This is a remote area, near Lake Victoria. The main economic activity was fishing and now the fish have been depleted. Most women rely on small scale business funded by CWPFG and men do small scale farming for a subsistence economy.

The Programs that help women and girls are:

-The Deborah Ullian Kashdan Scholarship Program

-The F.W. Reproductive Health and Sexual Education Program

-The Natalie Andre Women Entrepreneurship Program

-The Doris Rosen Water and Sanitation Program

-The Lin Amendt Agi-Entrepreneurship Program

Natalie Andre has helped women buy 3 goats for each homestead. Why 3? Two Nanny Goats to give milk and be eventually be meat. One male to make the milk happen. Also in her program, feed is given to 100 chickens so they can lay eggs and eventually become meat.

Doris Rosen has provided cisterns to catch the rain water for a group of homesteads. Before the cisterns came to the village, women and girls would take containers to the polluted creeks and carry them many miles back home. Now, they will have clean water with just opening the faucet on the cistern.

F.W. has provided sanitary napkins, Contraceptive devices and sex education information. Just like in the United States, girls miss school because of their menses. Before the sanitary napkins arrived, girls were using dirty rags which often gave them infections.

Below is the story of one of the young women CWPFG has helped.

Would you like more information, please go to https://cwpfg.org/

Anne is 32 years old, has 5 children and shares a husband with 4 cowives.  She has been helped by the F.W. Reproductive Health and Sexual Education Program with free contraceptives.  She is now able sell vegtables with the help of the Natalie Andre Entrepreneurship Program .

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September’s Legislative Update

Written by Judi Marraccini / Legislative@flnow.org

After the Primary

The Florida Primary was on August 18th and I think the biggest surprise was Angie Nixon winning as the Democratic US Senator candidate.

Alexander Vindman lost the primary to state Representative Angie Nixon. Angie, a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member and also a grassroots activist landed a double-digit victory over Vindman despite being outspent by a roughly 10 to 1 margin.

National NOW PAC endorsed Angie in the race, so thank you for voting for her.

Many of FL NOW PAC endorsed candidates either won their seats in the primary or won the chance to continue onto the general election on November 3rd.

Please go to flnow.org/PAC to find out more information on these endorsed candidates.

Compiled by Judi Marraccini / Legislative@flnow.org

Save Our Services – No on 3  / A Coalition Opposing Amendment 3

WHO ARE WE?

Save Our Services – No on 3 is a statewide coalition of grassroots organizations, nonprofits, community leaders, labor organizations and students united to oppose a devastating tax shift onto working Floridians and seniors on the ballot in 2026, Amendment 3.

This effort is sponsored by Floridians for Shared Prosperity, a 501c(4) filed in Florida as a ballot issue political committee. This is not just about opposing a bad idea – it’s about building a Florida where prosperity is shared and where every person has the freedom to thrive.

WHAT IS AMENDMENT 3?

Amendment 3 is a constitutional amendment placed on the November 2026 ballot by the state legislature at the insistence of Governor Ron DeSantis. It will phase out non-school ad valorem property taxes, forcing local communities to either cut essential services or raise taxes & fees elsewhere to make up the difference.

  • ● Tax Shift: Amendment 3 would be a tax cut for the wealthy. Services would need to be paid for by raising other taxes on things like rental or commercial properties, hurting renters and small businesses. Vote NO on Amendment 3 to stop this scam and tax shift that will raise our costs and cut our services.
  • ● Services Cut: Amendment 3 will either raise other taxes or cut services communities rely on such as local hospitals, EMTs, fire rescue, disaster preparedness/recovery, programs that help kids like summer camps, parks, libraries, etc. Vote NO on Amendment 3 to stop this scam and tax shift that will raise our costs and cut our services.
  • ● Scam Amendment: Amendment 3 doesn’t explain to voters that this will cost Florida communities billions of dollars in funding for local programs. This is a handout for the ultra-wealthy. Working families and seniors are left to pay more through new fees and higher taxes or face major cuts to local services we rely on. Vote NO on Amendment 3 to stop this scam and tax shift that will raise our costs and cut our services.
  • ● Renters: This amendment does NOT eliminate property taxes for rental properties.That means when local governments need to collect more taxes, they’ll be coming to YOU. Not only will renters miss the tax cut, they will likely end up paying more as a result when landlords pass along higher property tax costs by jacking up rents, putting homeownership further out of reach. Vote NO on Amendment 3 to stop this scam and tax shift that will raise our costs and cut our services.
  • ● Small Businesses: Getting rid of property taxes will only hurt small businesses who are already struggling to stay afloat during an affordability crisis. There will be an amendment on the ballot this November to eliminate property taxes in Florida. If passed, it would further shift costs onto small businesses who will have to pay higher taxes and new fees, forcing them to close their doors for good or raise prices just to survive. This November, help protect the small businesses that are the backbones of our communities and stop costs from soaring by voting NO on Amendment 3.
  • ● Local Freedom: There will be an amendment on the ballot this November to eliminate property taxes in Florida. This amendment will move all the important decisions about quality of life away from you and your local community to unknown politicians in Tallahassee. Our communities will be forced to beg Tallahassee politicians for every dollar needed for essential services like hospitals, first responders, emergency response, and schools. Vote NO on Amendment 3 to stop the Tallahassee takeover and preserve our local freedom to decide what’s best for our community.