Liz Mikitarian lives in Brevard County, Florida, ground zero of Moms for Liberty. The retired kindergarten teacher saw the beginnings.
“We did not pay attention at first,” she says. She knew Tina Descovich, knew that Descovich had just suffered an embarrassing public defeat in a 2020 run to hold onto her school board seat in Brevard County. Mikitarian thought maybe Descovich was out for a little vengeance.
When Moms for Liberty started to take hold, Mikitarian still believed there could be conversation. She joined the M4L Facebook group, and when there was criticism of public schools, Mikitarian says she tried to provide, politely, explanation and context.
It did not go well. “I was attacked.” Mikitarian was targeted with now-familiar slurs. She was called a groomer, called a supporter of pedophiles. At first she was hurt; then, after calming down, she wondered:
Is this happening to other educators?
The answer was, of course, yes. STOP Moms for “Liberty” spread across the state of Florida. Mikitarian says that South Carolina was the first to reach out to find out how to get their own state movement going. Now STOP Moms for “Liberty” is in 46 states.
Mikitarian says their mission is to be a communications tool. “People are fighting the same battle,” she says, “but they don’t know it.” They share articles, resources, campaigns, and allow the growing pushback against M4L to become connected.
The United States, she argues, is “not for banning literature, not for excluding students, not for teaching watered-down history.”
Mikitarian calls STOP Moms for “Liberty” a movement, not an entity. “We are a totally grassroots movement. We’re not incorporated, we’re not funded the way the Moms are — who are funded by a lot of Republican heavy hitters.” SM4L leans on the kinds of social media tools that are free to use— Facebook, Tik Tok, even e-mail.
They were involved in the pushback against Scholastic’s announced policy of segregating diverse books; the publisher has since rolled that policy back. The group has also provided support for some school board recall campaigns and for pro-public school campaigns. Mikitarian says that school boards are “low hanging fruit” for those hoping to disrupt democracy, and they need to be defended.
And where M4L might need to publicize its work in order build its brand and attract funding, STOP Moms for “Liberty” is not worried about getting credit. Her message on the group’s website makes their focus clear:
The attempted takeover by this fear-mongering, dark money-connected, “nonprofit”, is discriminatory and designed to inject far-right Christian Nationalism into what is supposed to be an inclusive, neutral, and safe space for ALL children and teachers. Underserved communities are targeted by MFL accusations and insults. We stand united to support ALL students families and teachers without exception. We understand that when MFL claims they are a parents’ rights organization, that they have made it abundantly clear that they only mean some parents.
Mikitarian dismisses Moms for Liberty as “a fake organization doing the bidding of privatizers.” But “we are the definitely the majority. Moms for Liberty is not speaking for us.”
I reached out to Moms for Liberty for comment; if I hear from them, I will add that to this piece.
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