In just two years, an American parents’ activist group called Moms for Liberty has enlisted more than 120,000 members across the US. Its mission is to stand up for parents’ rights at every level of government.
It was formed by two former school board members in the state of Florida and now has 300 chapters in 45 states with a goal to reach every one of more than 3,000 counties nationwide. It has endorsed candidates in 500 school board races, with more than half getting elected. The group has also managed to drive parental rights bills into law in several states.
There’s also a strong faith factor in the organisation’s rapid growth. “The truth of the matter is God has been with us from the very beginning. We started in my back bedroom with A$750 and a box of T-shirts,” said co-founder Tina Descovich. Her devotion to her family led her to become a long-term advocate as a mum who who was heavily involved in her children’s schools and education, joining nearly every committee available and serving on her school board and as Parent Teacher Organisation (PTO) president.
CBN News reports: “The issue of parents’ rights is now a top-tier political issue in the United States, with many parents seeing their rights under attack, from being denied any say in the classroom, to transgender issues, to mandating masks and vaccines during the pandemic.”
“Something really started to change. I started to see some of the assignments coming home that were concerning. The state had passed some really extreme standardised testing laws that were impacting districts all around the state and that kind of brought me to a new level, trying to get involved at the school district level and even going to state legislators. What I learned is that just a mum, an ordinary mum in a community, can really make an impact and impact change in a lot of these issues,” Ms. Descovich told CBN News.
She explained that thinking laid the groundwork for Moms for Liberty. “I did some self-evaluating. What am I going to do with all this knowledge that I have and that I’ve gained over the last four years? What am I going to do about the things that are important to me and my life, my children, my family, this country, education and how it’s failing American students right now? And the idea for Moms for Liberty came to fruition.” She met another concerned mother and former school board member, Tiffany Justice, who told her: “Yeah, we need to help American mums around this country.” So together they launched the national organisation.
“Our growth obviously is a huge win. We’ve had legislation, I think 14 different bills, over six or seven different states over just the last year, Parental Bill of Rights that have been passed in several states that our mums have been behind from the day they’re filed and they help get them across the House, the Senate and into governor’s hands and signed. So, the movement has just taken on a life of its own. Mums take it and run with our values and our issue of parental rights and saving education in America and they’re just doing a beautiful job with it,” Ms. Descovich proclaimed.
Opponents have labeled the mothers an “anti-government extremist group,” and staged violent protests against them. Vandals have attacked some of their venues, smashing windows and spray painting graffiti on buildings and landmarks. Protestors have closed off streets, terrorising participants at the group’s national conference and verbally abusing them at school board meetings. “They are trying to silence us and shame us for the work that we are doing,” Ms. Descovich observed, while vowing “that won’t be happening.”
She notes the Moms for Liberty also call themselves Joyful Warriors. “It’s a beautiful name, isn’t it? Warriors, that connotates and draws images in your mind of people that are fighting, that are in battle. They look maybe strong and courageous if you think of a warrior. But what does a mum look like? What does her face look like? When she’s out fighting for her children and her children are watching? You’re not going to look necessarily like a hardened battle warrior of old. You’re going to look like someone who is smiling, who is joyful. Your children are watching that you’re enjoying getting out there and standing up for them and fighting for their future.”
Ms. Descovich agrees it’s nothing short of a miracle Moms For Liberty has seen such rapid success. When asked: “Can you kind of see God’s handprint on getting this off the ground?” She replied: “100 percent. We have hit-piece articles written about us all of the time. How can two mums, how can just some mums that don’t have a whole lot of experience in education and doing the things that they’re doing right now, how do they grow a national movement in two years? How did they have five presidential candidates at their summit just in the second year of existence? Article after article is written that this person is behind us or this person’s money is behind us or this has happened. The truth of the matter is God has been with us from the very beginning and that is it.”
