What It Means to Be Part of the BAB Club

Baltimore County Board of Education Member Maggie Litz Domanwski

I want to start by saying this: the name “BAB Club” isn’t really my style. The words behind it aren’t words I’d normally choose. But sometimes a label sticks because it captures something real—something you can’t quite fit into a softer phrase without losing the strength of it.

And what it captures, at its core, is a group of women who are done shrinking.

Women who love their kids, love their communities, and love this state enough to tell the truth—even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it costs them something.

So if you’re here, or if you’re listening, and you’ve ever felt like you’re the only one thinking, “Wait… are we really doing this?”—you’re not alone. That’s what the BAB Club is. It’s not about being loud for the sake of being loud. It’s about being steady when everything around you is trying to push you into silence.

We’re Still Here—In Maryland

Let’s name something important: we’re still living in Maryland.

That matters, because it means we’re not watching these issues from a distance. We’re not commenting from the sidelines. We’re raising families here. Paying taxes here. Sending our children to school here. Building our lives here.

And we’re doing it while holding values that, lately, can feel like they come with a target on your back.

But we’re still here. And we’re not going anywhere.

What We Believe

The women in this club don’t all have the same story, the same background, or even the same personality. But we share a backbone of beliefs that shouldn’t be controversial—yet somehow have become exactly that.

We believe boys do not belong in girls’ sports.

We believe girls deserve privacy and safety in their own spaces.

We believe our children deserve a quality education—one that prepares them for real life, not one that lowers expectations and calls it compassion.

We believe we should be able to track how every dollar of our tax money is spent, because transparency isn’t a luxury—it’s accountability.

We believe victims should be treated better than criminals, because justice that forgets the innocent isn’t justice at all.

And we believe that standing up for these things doesn’t make you hateful. It makes you responsible.

The Quiet Strength Behind the Name

Here’s what people misunderstand: women like this aren’t driven by anger. We’re driven by love.

Love for our children.

Love for truth.

Love for fairness.

Love for the next generation of girls who deserve to grow up with the same opportunities we were promised.

And that kind of love isn’t passive. It doesn’t just “hope things work out.” It shows up. It speaks. It votes. It asks questions. It reads the fine print. It refuses to be bullied into compliance.

That’s why the name fits, even if we don’t love the words.

Because it takes courage to be a woman who won’t be managed.

The Elite Class: The Women Who Stand Up for Public Education

Now, within this club, there’s a special group. An elite class—not because they’re better than anyone else, but because they’re willing to endure what most people won’t.

These are the women who dare to stand up for public education.

Not against teachers. Not against kids. Not against schools.

For them.

For the idea that public education should be excellent, honest, safe, and focused on learning.

These women take the arrows.

They get mocked.

They get labeled.

They get misquoted.

They get talked about in rooms they’re not invited into.

And they keep going anyway—because they know what’s at stake.

They know that “go along to get along” is how standards fall.

It’s how parents get shut out.

It’s how kids get overlooked.

It’s how girls lose ground.

It’s how taxpayers get ignored.

It’s how the loudest activists win while the quiet majority wonders what happened.

These women refuse to let that happen.

They show up to meetings after long days.

They read policies most people never see.

They ask questions that make people squirm.

They speak calmly while others try to provoke them.

They stand there, steady, when it would be easier to walk away.

And they do it for one reason:

Because our kids deserve better.

This Is Bigger Than Politics

This isn’t about being “right-wing” or “left-wing.” This is about being rooted.

Rooted in reality.

Rooted in common sense.

Rooted in the belief that truth matters, and children matter, and girls matter, and safety matters, and accountability matters.

And it’s about community—because none of us were meant to do this alone.

The BAB Club isn’t a club for perfect women. It’s a club for brave women.

Women who are willing to say:

“I’m not the only one.”

“I’m not crazy for caring.”

“I’m not backing down.”

“And I’m not leaving my kids’ future to people who don’t even want to hear parents speak.”

A Call to Stand Together

So if you’ve been tired—if you’ve been discouraged—if you’ve been made to feel like you’re too much, too outspoken, too stubborn, too unwilling to just smile and nod…

Good.

That means you’re paying attention.

And it means you’re exactly the kind of woman this moment needs.

Let’s be inspiring, not because everything is easy, but because we’re still standing.

Let’s be unifying, not because we agree on every detail, but because we agree on what matters.

And let’s be the kind of women who can look our kids in the eye and say:

“I didn’t stay quiet.”

“I didn’t look away.”

“I stood up for you.”

That’s what it means to be part of the BAB Club.

Not the words.

The courage.