Last year, a little girl had asked the US President Barack Obama in a letter why there were no women on dollar bills and coins… and now she has a reply from the world’s most powerful man.
Then third grader, Sofia, seems to be all for women’s right already with her telling Obama in her letter, “I am writing to know why there aren’t any woman on the dollars/coins of the United States. I think there should me more women on dollar/coin of the United States because if there were no woman, there would be no men also.”
She also pointed out to the President that there were many women who could be on their currency because they have great things.
Not only that, the girl also listed out a few suggestions that included Michelle Obama, Rosa Parks, Hillary Clinton, Emily Dickinson and others
While the letter written in a child’s hand writing is adorable, it did raise an important point and managed to draw the president’s attention, so much so, he mentioned Sofia during a speech in Kansas.
The President said, “A young girl wrote to ask me why aren’t there any women on our currency, and then she gave me like a long list of possible women to put on our dollar bills and quarters and stuff – which I thought was a pretty good idea.”
And in his reply Obama said would keep working to make sure the she grew up in a country where women have the same opportunities as men.
Sofia who is now nine years old and in the fourth grade says, “I was studying Ann Hutchinson, who stood up for women’s rights. Almost everyone who chose a boy, on their poster they had pictures of different dollar bills or coins with their person on it. So I noticed, why don’t women have coins or dollar bills with their faces on it?”
And since Sofia’s letter, there is also a movement called Womenon20$ that has demanded that women be included in dollar bills. Their website says, “Women On 20s aims to compel historic change by convincing President Obama that NOW is the time to put a woman’s face on our paper currency. But who should it be? We believe that’s for you, the public, to decide from a slate of 15 inspiring American women heroes.”
Here’s the letter:
