MAU Live heading south!!

CONTACT: Paige La Grone Babcock; paige@mothersactingup.org (615)-750-3780, (615) 495-1879 (cell)

***SAVE THE DATE: MAU LIVE! comes to Nashville Nov 2 & 3***

(M)OTHER HITS THE BOARDS

THEATRE FOR EMPOWERMENT PAIRED WITH WORKSHOP TO MOBILIZE MAMAS

“Once you get hooked on MAU’s positive breed of activism, the Nashville MAU community will be there with you to keep it going and growing.” –Paige La Grone Babcock, MAU Outreach Coordinator & Community Organizer

WHEN: Nov. 2, Friday at 7:30 PM

WHERE: First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1808 Woodmont Blvd.

WHO: Mothers Acting Up (MAU), working to ensure the health, education and safety of the world’s children by mobilizing the political strength of mothers.* www.mothersactingup.org

Nashville’s MAU community is honored and excited to bring MAU LIVE! and MAU co-founder Beth Osnes to town!! www.nashvillemau.blogspot.com

WHAT: MAU Live! Theatre for Empowerment: a one-woman performance by MAU co-founder Beth Osnes, (M)other explores what it might just take for the mothers of one country to authentically care about the mothers and children of another country. The fiction that the “other” is not part of the “mother” is washed away. What remains is a powerful affirmation of our interconnectedness in both our challenges and our solutions as a global community.

A Workshop for Empowering Mother* Voices: Nov. 3, Saturday 9AM-Noon, also at the First Unitarian Universalist Church

Beth Osnes will lead a workshop using theatre as a tool for developing our voices for effective public expression – of vital importance for any kind of civic participation. Goals of this workshop:

*teaching skills for effective vocal expression

*using our voices to ‘rehearse’ activism

*engaging all participants in actively devising solutions to obstacles

*conveying a model of activism that is positive and proactive

Background:
Mothers Acting Up (MAU) works to ensure the health, education and safety of the world’s children by mobilizing the political strength of mothers*. MAU inspires, educates and engages mothers (a gigantic force to be reckoned with) to prioritize children in our corporate and public policies through monthly Web actions, annual Mother’s Day events, field trips to elected officials, Girlcotts, and daily inspiration and tools found in a weekly calendar. MAU brings a new breed of activism to the political landscape; one that is positive, accessible and supports mothers in making informed personal choices, inspiring collective action and influencing decision-makers. MAU, founded in 2002, is based in Boulder, CO. MAU believes that when mothers lead, generations of global citizens will follow.

Let us:
whisper this to each other, sing it out in the streets,
yell it from our rooftops, declare it in our houses of government:
we will protect our children with our personal and political strength,
wherever they live on earth!

* mothers and others, on stilts or off, who exercise protective care over someone smaller.

Egg money.

You can line MAU's apron pockets with a little egg money by using Good Search! Just enter Mothers Acting Up as your charity, and get to gettin'! Search away....

Worldwide: children's mortality rate going down!!

UNICEF recently disclosed the good news: our investment in children's wellbeing pays off.

Global mortality rate for children under five is on the decline!

Global Action for Children, formerly a campaign, now a full-on organization, tells us all about it in their hot off the presses press release!

Congressman Cooper on the policy of the Iraq war.

Noting that everyone he talks to / hears from in Nashville (consider that Nashville's MAU community has been visiting his office every Tuesday for months!), Cooper talks tough in Sunday's Tennessean.

We like her. We really really like her.

“Surely this [award] belongs to all the mothers of the world. May they be seen, may their work be valued and raised. Especially to the mothers who stand with an open heart and wait. Wait for their children to come home from danger, from harm’s way, and from war. I am proud to be one of those women.“ --Sally Field, accepting her Emmy on September 16, 2007

So what did you think of Sally Field's acceptance speech (for lead actress in Brothers & Sisters) at the Emmys on Sunday night?

It's been a hot topic around the MAU offices with emails and links pinging from screen to screen, passionate dialogue ensuing.

Ultimately, though she screeched (wild Grizzly mama, anyone?), though she stammered and got flustered (don't we all at some point do that, particularly when we are passionate?), though she cursed (placing the God before the damn, something -- which, whether you'd choose to speak that way publicly yourself or no-- not even deemed censorship worthy by the FCC (in a 2004 ruling)), Sally spoke up for and about and *as* a mother. Both as a fictional mother of a son departed for war, and as a real life mama.

Could she have been a better spokesperson with more modulated tones and less alienation from the cursing? Sure. I thought so at first. And I was so bummed that her entirely eloquent words about mothering got lost in the brouhaha.

But in talking and talking about it, and in weighing and measuring what the Fox network found so reprehensible (censoring, for what it would appear, the personal-is-political content of Fields' speech by cutting the camera away and going to silence), I've come to see that in so calling attention to Fields' gaffe in the the field of societal mores, Fox helped assure Fields' position as not a lightning rod, but a beacon of light itself, to be heard and seen again and again expressing completely appropriate outrage that the children which have been passionately loved and mothered so well, the children for whom we wait to return from war, even go in the first place!!

Were it up to us as a whole, we mothers would declare ourselves and our children-- be they twenty months or twenty years of age-- free from the violence and the outrage of war. We would find another way.

Sally, we thank you for speaking from the Mother Heart when in this present day world it is so unfashionable to do so. We thank you for wearing your Mother Heart on your tear stained sleeve, and for daring to deliver a message for which you will be both reviled and championed. A mother's work, never done, should not ever be a popularity contest, and is, in the end, done for the sake of our childre. ALL our children.

If mothers ruled the world...

Local mothers continue their worldly role

How is it that a handful of local women take on the task of benefiting the world's children when their main office consists of a carriage house near downtown Boulder?

The four founders of Mothers Acting Up (MAU), a grassroots organization whose mission is to passionately and publicly advocate for children around the world, make it possible by following their own recipe for change.

Five years ago, Beth Osnes, Joellen Raderstorf, Juliana Forbes and Erica Shafroth decided to bring some joy and positivity into their activist work. They were disturbed by the decisions their federal leaders were making and how the consequences - ranging from environmental degradation to exploding military budgets - were affecting children everywhere. These mothers combined their proactive desires and determination to be heard in the political sphere and thus created MAU.

"Activism is often thought of as aggressive, angry, dangerous and risky, (more here....)

UP! Up with children.

Moms Speak Up across the nation. Come on over.

MAU at Gandhi-King Conference on Peacemaking.

The Gandhi-King Conference on Peacemaking takes place this year at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, TN. Nashville’s own Naomi Tutu (!!) will be the event’s keynote speaker. In its fourth year, the 2007 conference is themed Building the Beloved Community. Today, September 14, is the last day for a price break on an adult conference goer’s registration. Tomorrow, price goes from $50 to $75.

Mothers Acting Up will have a Saturday morning workshop called MAU Now: Mobilizing the Mamas, the Joy of Activism for mothers (and others) who want to build community in advocating publicly and passionately for the world’s children. MAU will have a Nashville MAU presence specifically, as well as MAUs from other locations. We’ll have a table with MAU literature and goods including the hot off the presses 2008 Handbook & Engagement Calendar, the 2007 edition MAU bumpersticker, as well as Nashville Mothers Acting Up tee shirts and mamamade aprons.

The conference should be a big time for ALL wanting to gather in the name of peace with justice. I’m bringing my family (husband and two year old), and encourage that you bring yours, too.

Volunteers for womaning the MAU table are needed! Please shout at me as per below if you are able and willing to take a shift or two.

In peace and in the spirit of community,

Paige

paige (at) mothersactingup (dot) com

Declare Yourself Independent From Junk Mail!

And just think of how much you'll reduce waste and demand for same, thereby protecting the environment For Kids' Sake!

Fall Calls to Action!!

At a recent United Nations summit meeting there was special session focused on improving the lives of the world's children. It was agreed that no authentic progress would be made until one fundamental question had been addressed: how do we get the people of one nation to actually care about the children of another nation?

From (M)other, MAU Live: Theatre for Empowerment



It's time to prove to the world, especially the U.S. Congress, that we DO care about the children of another nation AND are willing to make time in our hectic lives to prove it.

Congress will soon vote on ANOTHER $145 billion dollars for the war in Iraq (President Bush may ask for $190 billion, in addition to the $100 billion allocated at the beginning of the summer.) Our children and the children of Iraq are not safer and cannot afford this war, financially, emotionally or morally. It's time we expose the disproportional impact of war on children!

For ONE WEEK - Sept 14-21 - CALL your Members of Congress EVERY DAY to demand that we stop funding the war in Iraq (horrifically impacting hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children), and start spending our vital resources on protecting the world's children. SCHEDULE 10 minutes RIGHT NOW in your calendar, every day for one week, to call both your Senators and your Representative.

Your messages could sound like this: "My name is ______, I am a Mother Acting Up and I passionately urge the Senator/Representative to vote NO on the Iraq War supplemental spending bill. One of many reasons to Vote NO is: _______________. This war is not making our children safer; vote NO on more war funding. Thank you." (If you want to add a Mama Grizzly Bear growl to further get your point across, go for it.)


Click here for MAU's top ten reasons to VOTE NO and all you need to make your FALL CALLS TO ACTION.






Take action with your children: Chalk messages for Peace in public places with your children and/or friends. Bring activism into the daily life of your family. Along with beautiful peace signs and words of peace, give a call to action: "Ask Representative X at xxx-xxxx to VOTE NO on WAR FUNDING, for children's sake!"


Prioritizing the world's children is our charge mamas. Gentlewoman: practice your message aloud, stretch your fingers and begin dialing!


In spirited partnership,
The Mavens at MAU Central

Nashville MAUs put together 41 school kits for the MCC!!

This just in from Kate at Nashville Mothers Acting Up:

WOW! I set a goal of 5 school kits early in August, and by the end of the month we'd made 41! When the kids and I dropped them off at 10,000 Villages yesterday, the volunteers and assistant manager were overwhelmed by the bags and bags full of kits we kept lugging through the door. While we helped to unload them in the back room, Priscilla, one of the volunteers, told us what would happen to them next. They'll take a ride up to Indiana, where the MCC home office is, and then will travel by ship over to Iraq, where they will be distributed by the MCC workers over there. I'd love to see how they're received by the children themselves, and what they allow the kids to do in school. Such a small gift, but I'm sure it means so much to them.

At Suzanne's encouragement, we'll continue to work with the MCC and branch out into other types of kits. Here's a list of all the kits they request and distribute . I recommend that we make newborn kits next... More on that soon.

In the meantime, thanks to all of you who participated in this project -- it's quite an accomplishment, and so beautifully illustrates our mission to advocate for the world's children.
Kate

Grace Paley passes on.

Today, activist and writer Grace Paley passed on. She touched many lives.

Pictured here, L to R on Mother's Day at Strafford, Vermont's Mother's Day Reclamation Parade are: State Representative Margaret Cheney, former governor Madeleine Kunin, state poet laureate and event speaker Grace Paley, and Vermont Mothers Acting Up Organizer Danette Harris.

What a glorious group of women!!

Bianca Bean on Beth!

Beth and M(other) is the word on the blogging mama street....


and yes, Bianca, and all, her show is available to come to you. Just ask how!
Holler at MAU beheard@mothersactingup.org

This just in from a UK MAU man...

Hi Joellen,
Just a note to say I am still watching and marvelling at your progress.
It is great to know that you are getting so many volunteers up high on stilts although many of your photos show your ladies holding on to their spotters. Stiltwalking is like skating. You need courage to let loose of the support and once free the feeling is superb. But stilts need regular practice if only to remind your body functions about the change of centre of gravity which affects ones balance.

I do not expect any of your stilters to be as eccentric as me, but I did hope that one of your stilters would contact me back in 2003. I was a little disappointed when I heard from no-one. If you have time, have a look at YouTube and do a search for 'lampwort' to see some of my exploits on 2ft & 3ft peg stilts.
Also do a search for 'bicycle13' to see a 6yr old girl on 3ft & 4ft peg stilts. She only started stilt walking about 10 weeks ago and is enjoying the experience of being so high. She may give inspiration to some of your stilters.
Watching & supporting MAU from a distance.
Keep on acting up. Today's children are our future.
Roy Lambeth

Nashville MOTHERS ACTING UP: Friday 8/17:

Nashville MOTHERS ACTING UP: Friday 8/17:

MAU looking for Development Coordinator.

Development Coordinator, Mothers Acting Up

Reply to: Joellen Raderstorf, Executive Director

Starting Aug 15, 2007

If you have an appetite for raising money for social change, this is an outrageously great opportunity: great mission, great organization, great team!

Flexible hours, can work from home.

Volunteer position with potential to move into a paid position.

Become the Development Diva of Mothers Acting Up (MAU), a movement of mothers publicly and passionately advocating for the world’s children. MAU inspires, educates and engages mothers* a gigantic force to be reckoned with to prioritize children in our corporate and public policies. MAU believes that when mothers lead, generations of global citizens will follow. The organization is in its fifth year with a strong foundation and well-connected team.

All the raw materials are in place, awaiting someone who is inspired!

* mothers and others, on stilts or off, who exercise protective care over someone smaller

Qualifications:

• Love raising money for social change
• Development, Marketing and PR experience
• Familiarity with grant funding sources and processes
• Donor cultivation knowledge and/or experience
• Passionate commitment to a peaceful, child-friendly world
• Excellent communication skills
• Computer savvy
• Event planning knowledge and/or experience

Major responsibilities include:

• Work with MAU team to create development plan
• Pursue sponsorship opportunities for MAU’s 5th annual Handbook
• Support marketing and distribution of MAU Handbook
• Assist in planning, coordination and implementation of fall fundraiser
• Research and apply for grants (corporate and foundation) for MAU
• Maintain and enhance current donor tracking/management systems
• Provide donor cultivation guidance

Check out MAU at www.mothersactingup.org

joellen@mothersactingup.org

PO Box 1244

Boulder, CO 80306

303.474.1286

Mother puts the 'act' in acting up.

(M)other and Beth Osnes are leading up to a grand opening in September!!

Read all about Beth's new one woman show here. And by all means, if you're interested in bringing Beth's show / workshop / girlcott trio to YOUR MAU community, let us know: beheard@mothersactingup.org.

2007 Gandhi- King Conference on Peacemaking.

MAUs from all across the Southeast (and beyond!) are encouraged to attend this wonderful conference. We plan to have a strong showing of mobilized mamas from across the state and elswhere!! Want to hook up with us? Contact Paige: paige@mothersactingup.org

2007 Gandhi-King Conference on Peacemaking "Building the Beloved Community"
October 26-27


$20 - Students and Low Income ($30 on or after September 15) $50 - Adults ($70 on or after September 15)

Friday, October 26
7:30 am Registration opens in Theatre Lobby (ongoing throughout the conference) 8:30 am - 12:30 pm Youth Conference

Youth Component
The Gandhi-King Conference is teaming up with BRIDGES PeaceJam to bring local high school youth an innovative and interactive youth component which will occur on Friday of the conference weekend. Friday morning will begin with a plenary address by Rosa Clemente, followed by a selection of workshops specifically designed for youth.

Workshop topics include: Influences of Mass Media, Being Creators Not Consumers, Fair Trade, Alternatives to the Military, Voting, Global Citizenship, and Creating Our Communities.

The youth component continues Friday evening with a community performance event to be held at BRIDGES, during which artists will be sharing their messages of peace and visions of beloved community through music, spoken word, visual art, and dance. Youth sessions and Friday evening performance are open to all conference participants.

MAU at Maine Peace Fest.

The Maine Chapter of Mothers Acting Up was founded earlier this year by Helyne May with the goal of providing support for mothers who wish to advocate for peace but may not be able to attend weekly or evening meetings. The group began with the Mother's Day Reclamation Project to re-establish the original meaning of Mother's Day, according to the Mother's Day Peace Proclamation written by Julia Ward Howe in 1870.

Full article here.

MAU on Mothering Mag's Mommy Chats This Week!!

MAU outreach coordinator & Nashville MAU community organizer is on Mothering's Mommy Chats this week: Wednesday June 13 at 1 PM Eastern. Come by and talk about community building, mother activism, and summer family field trips to visit elected officials.

And here's the transcript from last month's pre Mother's Day chat.