By any standards, the massive Mothers for Liberty event in Washington, DC over Labor Day weekend was a failure.
“March for the Children” promoted on the National Mall Never happened. Reporters reported that inside the auditorium used by the group, the event began as follows: Approximately 300 participants in a space that can accommodate more than 3,700.
Donald Trump delivered a disorganized, low-energy speech. False claims Children were undergoing sex reassignment surgery at the school, and the only other headliners at the event besides Trump were Glenn Beck and Tulsi Gabbard.
Moms for Liberty The stars are fadinginclude Poor performance in recent Florida school board elections.
The group was initially anti-COVID mask and advocated for removing books from schools, but has now made a major turnaround. All-out war on transgender AmericansAs their DC program revealed.
Now seems like a good time to review the lessons we can learn from this, because there are several. First, Moms for Liberty is failing, and no surprise there: its early “success” was unsustainable and, frankly, undeserved. The group capitalized on a catchy name and a moment of fear for parents who were unsure where to turn as COVID closed schools.
As the coronavirus pandemic subsided, the group switched to banning the book in schools. It thought it could use its newfound influence to back opportunistic politicians like Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, riding a wave that would carry it all the way to the White House. But that didn't happen, and Moms for Liberty found itself without a durable political coalition or a winning strategy.
They may have thought that attacking the book would mean taking on American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and teachers unions. But they soon realized that it wasMajority of Americans dislike book bans.
So now they're targeting the transgender community. Why? Because all that's left of Moms for Liberty are the extremists who are obsessed with who can use which bathroom.
And that brings us to another lesson: Moms for Liberty's identity crisis and collapse proves that advocacy works. Book bans remain a problem, but they are fierce.Grassroots backlashAgainst them, Moms for Liberty is retreating.
Next lesson: if you can get them to escape once, you can do it again, and use love, not fear.
One example was a very different scene at the “Freedom for Moms” rally just outside Washington on Saturday. Reading Festival It occupied the fifth floor of the MLK Library.
Hundreds of children and families danced, played, made art, and listened to stories about all communities: Black, brown, Native American, LGBTQ, etc. Speakers read from “banned” children's books.And it takes three to tango” “The Lorax” and “We are the guardians of the water.“
Nobody blamed any group. “Addiction“Our country. A brutal painting of the vice president The image of him “kneeling over a dead bald eagle, with a communist symbol emblazoned on his jacket and blood dripping from his mouth” will be displayed as if at a Moms for Liberty event.
There was no hate, just joy and fun, making children and families feel welcome and setting an example in fighting prejudice and oppression.
This is important in ways big and small. I get as excited when this happens in my neighborhood as I do when I see famous examples. My friend Jamie Lee Curtis (who, by the way, deserved an Emmy for “The Bear”) and her Fierce Defense Remembering former NBA star Dwyane Wade's love and affection for his transgender daughter Ruby Supporting transgender children Like his daughter Zaya.
This is important because politics is downstream from culture, and I know it's only a matter of time before this inclusivity seeps into politics and policymaking.
So how do you accelerate change? Organize, speak out, and if you feel called to serve in public office, run for office. I can tell you from my own experience that it's easier than you think, it's not as scary as you think, and there's more support out there than you think.
And believe that caring for the people you love is a better way to save our country than attacking the people you hate. If that were the norm, political movements like Moms for Liberty would disappear. Let's make that happen, on our watch.
Svante Myrick isPeople who support the American way.
