Don't lose hope, the battle may be lost but not the war. Women need to come together as one voice.

1. A MOTHER’S CHARGE 1
A Mothers Charge
A Mother’s message of hope for Daughters
Kimberly Thomas-Shaw

2. A MOTHER’S CHARGE 2
Dear Daughter,
I saw it in your eyes, I see it today. You have lost faith, you have forgotten how far
women have come. Let me remind you of just how far we have come, and to Charge
you, Rally you not to give up~
First, I am proud of you, to see you rally, march and vote, this could not make my heart
happier. I fear that you may leave defeated, having lost a battle and direction, but I must ask
you to remember what it is you are fighting for and where it is we have come from. It is a
story as old as the Civil War and as young as the last state to allow women to vote just 32
years ago.
Woman's Suffrage is the right to vote in political elections. The 13th Amendment was
adopted in 1865, abolishing slavery. Women have only had the right to vote since President
Woodrow Wilson switched his stand on women’s voting rights from objection to support in
1920.
“Wilson also tied the proposed suffrage amendment to America’s involvement in World
War I (1914-18) and the increased role women had played in the war efforts.”
It took the State of Mississippi until 1984 to ratify the 19th Amendment granting women the
right to vote. While woman have been the back bone of this country, we have waited longer
than any minority for our rights and freedoms. Now is not the time to lose hope but to look at
what we have accomplished.
I am proud of what we have accomplished in such a short time, and your generation will
secure the rights and freedoms of more women to come.

3. A MOTHER’S CHARGE 3
How do I know this, there are more women in Congress and the Senate today, more
Millennial women are engaged in politics than ever before.
In one generation we have seen the greatest technology advances from the airplane to the
personal computer, to the internet and now robotic automation. There are medical advances
from the penicillin vaccine to heart transplants. This generation has the power to push for
more clean energy and establish life on Mars. Now is not the time to lose hope but to
continue on.
In 2007, Nancy Pelosi was the first woman elected as Speaker of the House of
Representatives. There are so many exceptional women in politics right now. Not to forget,
our Supreme Court Justices, like Sonia Maria Sotomayor or Elena Kagan and Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg.
So what has changed, how have we as women moved so quickly from suffrage to Supreme
Court Justice? Our voice, our vote and honestly, support. We are not the generations of the
past, I hope and pray that your generation continues to work together to see each other as
equals. Regardless of gender, race or creed. No longer should men look at women as…
“true” woman who should be …pious, submissive wives and mothers concerned
exclusively with home and family.”
Cult of True Womanhood
Understand this, women are still receiving less pay even after the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and
stories of income inequity are all to common. Occupational sex segregation where men
outnumber women in science and engineering fields is still an issue, and at the forefront is a
woman’s reproductive rights.
Woman’s Rights have been a fight as old as the Civil War but as young as the ERA (the
equal rights movement) was introduced in 1923 by suffragist leader Alice Paul, as the next
step in bringing "equal justice under law" to all citizens.
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any
state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of
this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

4. A MOTHER’S CHARGE 4
In 1972, the ERA was finally passed by
Congress and sent to the states for
ratification. The original seven-year time
limit was extended by Congress to June
30, 1982, but at that deadline, the ERA
had been ratified by only 35 states, three
states short of the 38 required to put it
into the Constitution.
Who will lead the charge to add the Equal
Rights Amendment to the Constitution, who will be the next Susan B. Anthony or Alice Paul,
who will follow Nancy Pelosi or Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
I am
confident I will see a woman president in my lifetime. With this generations science,
technology and immediate access to social media there is a global acceptance and
understanding. Remember, you are not the generation of the past, work together to see each
other as equals, regardless of gender, race or creed. Your generation can correct the
misleadings of our past and set the future for our country. Come together as one voice, join
your local League of Women’s Voters organization, get involved.
Do not lose hope, stay engaged and continue to “see that notion - that women and men are
persons of equal stature.”
Mother