"People were threatened, folks was put in jail because we wanted people to try to register to vote."
~Unita Blackwell
"If I fall, I'll fall five feet four inches forward in the fight for freedom. I'm not backing off."
~Fannie Lou Hammer
"I have reached a point in my life where I understand the pain and the challenges; and my attitude is one of standing up with open arms to meet them all."
~Myrlie Evers
"You will undoubtedly hear of and encounter glass ceilings– invisible barriers that limit the heights to which you can reach in the classroom, boardroom, halls of justice and the state house– but know that you have the strength and courage to join with others to experience a breakthrough that benefits the current and future generations."
~Constance Slaughter Harvey
"I can share in their victory and their defeat. I have felt both. We're not trying to be better than men, we're just trying to join them.."
~Evelyn Gandy
"I can't do everything. But I can do something to help somebody. And what I can do I will do."
~Oseola McCarthy
"All serious daring starts from within."
~Eudora Wetly
"Let a new earth rise. Let another world be born. Let a bloody peace be written in the sky. Let a second generation full of courage issue forth; let a people loving freedom come to growth."
~Margaret Walker
The Mississippi Federation of Democratic Women is the state's official branch of the National Federation of Democratic Women and shares its ideals and goals. The MFDW has chapters scattered across the state and is working to establish an active presence in each county.
​
The MFDW was formed in 1983, when a group of interested women from across the state of Mississippi met when the State Democratic Executive Committee met in Jackson, MS. Their purpose was to establish a state federation of Democratic women. The counties that pioneered this effort were Adams, Harrison, Hancock, Hinds, Jefferson, Lee, Neshoba, Tate, Pike, Marion, Walthall, and Washington. The Democratic Party of the State of Mississippi provided initial and sustaining support of the federation.
​
We chose the name, Mississippi Federation of Democratic Women for the chapter and aligned ourselves with the National Federation of Democratic Women as a Chapter in full membership with the national group. The objectives of the organization are to unite women of the Mississippi Democratic Party, to encourage full participation of women in every level of the Democratic Party structure, and to promote the cause of the Mississippi Democratic Party.