An Open Letter to the First Lady of Georgia and First Lady of Georgia’s House

Dear Mrs. Kemp and Mrs. Burns,

While I have come to motherhood later in life and by a different route than you both, I hope my open appeal to your maternal instinct can be interpreted as a compliment above others- not only are you the First Lady of Georgia and the First Lady of the Georgia House, but first and foremost, you are the mothers to Jarrett, Lucy, and Amy Porter, Jon Guerry Jr. and Wilson.

As mothers, and a woman who grew up on the other side of Winder from me with a daughter who taught first grade and as a retired educator, principal, and school counselor, I imagine you both flinched and closed your eyes as I did when you heard the news that Georgia’s children- our local children-were under attack. I know your husbands encouraged us all to hug our families tighter this week.

The challenge I have is that the child I hug, through fostering, came home sharing the fatalistic statements that classmates shared throughout the day: they think they’re next. While Commissioner Broce has tried to train us foster parents to deal with many things, there isn’t really a strategy for giving your children hope following a school shooting when the adults around them do nothing to prevent these from happening. 

I am a person of faith. I believe in prayer. 

I also value the Second Amendment, as I know you both do as well. I know the Kemp daughters learned just like I did how to responsibly carry. My Daddy taught me to skeet shoot over red clay farms & ponds in Good Hope and Social Circle. I know like Mrs. Burns’ boys, my grandfathers, also served in WW II- Airforce and Navy, respectively. 

I also know, like every other Southern woman knows, it’s better to show up late than ugly. 

…And what happened in Winder is the ugliest we’ve seen within our state. 

An oft-touted truism in Baptist circles is that while the husband may be the head of the household, everyone knows his wife is the neck, which may lead the head in the right way to go. 

So I will ask you now, from one mother to another, as the First Lady of our state and First Lady of our House, what will you do to ensure our children are safe? Will you convince your husbands to finally pass and sign safe storage legislation? Mrs. Kemp, You have championed the anti-human trafficking cause to protect young people, will you please take the next step to advocate for the safety of our state’s children? 

Some jobs aren’t made for men. 

They are only championed by the heart of mothers with tears in her eyes and pain in her heart-the pain of a community that is her own. 

In the past few days at least thirteen students have been arrested for making threats against schools across Georgia. While many like to label things an ‘Atlanta problem’, the days following Winder’s tragedy remind us this is a challenge all over Georgia. As of this writing, none of those arrested were from Atlanta. 

Southern women are often referred to as steel magnolias because of our inner strength and grace. Where others might crack or choose a more strident stance, women here influence through more subtle and sustainable means, often behind the scenes. 

With this in mind, I do not expect an answer to my open letter. I also do not expect your husbands to alter their outward stances. I only hope you will seriously consider my request, as only mothers can, and do what you can among the other women of the House and Senate. Just as the secretaries in the Capitol are the people who run that building, I know you both wield power behind closed doors.

I ask that you use your power now, for the good of Georgia’s children, so all may come home safely from school. 

Respectfully,

Lora S. Hawk