Mother’s Day: To interfere or not to interfere, that is the question

Mother’s Day: To interfere or not to interfere, that is the question

“Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters, to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone bear and know the cost?”

Julia Ward Howe – famous for writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic – wrote this in her journal in 1870, just after the Civil War. She said this one question “haunted” her and responded by writing a Mother’s Day Proclamation, calling all women to rise up and oppose war on a day she named “Mother’s Day”. Today, as we mourn the deaths of our soldiers, embrace sons & daughters returning home scarred from the Iraq war, and hear reports of Iraqi casualties ranging from 30,000 (Bush Administration) to 650,000 (John Hopkins School of Public Health), it’s time to ask this question again and reclaim the original vision of Mother’s Day.

Howe wrote, “Arise, arise, all women who have hearts!” but somewhere along the way, breakfast in bed eclipsed this fiery call to activism. But all is not lost! After decades of burnt toast and loving messages, mothers have been sufficiently fortified and indeed are fulfilling Julia’s vision of uniting for our global family and are finding individual and collective ways to interfere. Mother’s Day is again becoming a day when we not only honor our mothers, but also their role in affecting social change in our world.

The Mother’s Day Proclamation urges women to “solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace”. Many of us know the grim statistics about our family’s and especially our children’s wellbeing around the world, yet often mothers – due to laws, societal norms or simply because we haven’t seen it as our role to speak out – have remained outside political circles. But in a world in which every other child lives in poverty, global warming poses an irreversible threat to future generations, and almost half of war causalities are children (source: UNICEF), the world needs mothers to interfere.

Let’s reclaim Mother’s Day this year by calling on congressional members and urging them to freeze military spending (the US military budget is already bigger than all other military budgets in the world combined). And begin to use some of those funds to find peaceful solutions to our conflicts, like contributing to building schools worldwide, funding our promised share of the Millennium Development Goals (eight international targets to end extreme poverty), and addressing global warming.

There’s no time to waste mothers – the United States has a new $699 billion* military budget, (renamed “security budget”) awaiting congressional approval, without a penny of that money going towards the three issues that pose the greatest threat to our global family: poverty, environment and the impact of war on children. Children's wellbeing is at the top of every mother's agenda. It's time to bring it to the top of our political agendas.

Recently, the first mother Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, was criticized for interfering by traveling to Syria to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad. In response she said, “As a mother, I will exhaust every remedy for Peace.” It’s hopefully a refrain we will hear more and more often, on Mother’s Day and whenever mothers interfere.

________________________________________________________________________
* includes supplemental spending for the “Global War on Terror” (source: Office of Management and Budget)

Juliana Forbes is a mother of two and a cofounder of Mothers Acting Up, a movement of mothers (and others) publicly and passionately advocating for the world’s children. www.mothersactingup.org

Jen Caltrider's Progress Now Action blog....

sings the praises of MAU over here.

Progress Now is an organization Mothers Acting Up supports and has partnered with in the making of both the Julia video, seen both below on this blog, and at Jen's blog linked above. MAU and Progress Action teamed yet again for the wonderful Grizzly video you see to the left in the sidebar of this blog. Haven't watched it yet? Check it out.

Local "Mother Power" Author Joins NYC Mother's Day Rally

Local "Mother Power" Author Joins NYC Mother's Day Rally

by Joan R. Simon

(May 9, 2007) Dr. Jackie Plumez, author of Mother Power and career columnist for the Larchmont Gazette, will be joining a group of women leaders on Mother’s Day, May 13th, for the 5th annual Mothers Acting Up (MAU) rally. The festive event will be held from 2:00 to 6:00 pm at the LaGuardia Place Community Garden at Bleeker St. in Greenwich Village.

Read the rest of the article here....

Strafford Mother's Day parade to celebrate world's children

Media Advisory for Mother's Day.

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR MOTHER’S DAY - May 13, 2007

CONTACT: beheard@mothersactingup.org

MOBILIZED MAMAS RECLAIM ORIGINAL PURPOSE OF MOTHER’S DAY

WILL UNITE FOR WELLBEING OF ALL CHILDREN

ACTIVITIES TO TAKE PLACE ACROSS THE COUNTRY

WHEN: Mother’s Day: Sunday May 13, 2007

WHERE: Events will take place in public parks and squares across the country in cities including: Flagstaff (AZ); Los Angeles (CA), Temecula (CA); Boulder (CO), Carbondale (CO); Portland (ME); Harbor Springs (MI); Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN); Manhattan (NY), The Bronx (NY); Oklahoma City (OK); Portland (OR); Philadelphia (PA); Charleston (SC); Nashville (TN); Austin (TX); Strafford (VT); Hartland (WI), and Milwaukee (WI) with more cities being added every day.

WHO: Mothers Acting Up (MAU): a national movement of mothers (and others) moving from concern to action on behalf of the world’s children. www.mothersactingup.org

WHAT: MAU’s 2007 Mother’s Day Reclamation Parades and other events (picnics, rallies, cake walks) celebrate Mother Leadership and the gigantic political power of mamas!
All events will include mothers (and others) — both costumed and on stilts — festive families of all kinds and other organizations. All will gather to honor the promise of our children’s lives, as we collectively kick off of a national postcard action aimed at Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to use her Mother Leadership in being an advocate for the Mother of all Agendas: to Protect our Global Family by championing the Millennium Development Goals; to Preserve our Planet by addressing global warming; and the True Cost of War by freezing U.S. military spending.

WHY: In 1870, Julia Ward Howe started Mother’s Day to unite mothers for peace and the wellbeing of ALL children. Her cry to action is still relevant in 2007 - mothers realize that we live in a world that does not prioritize or protect our children's wellbeing. This will not change without mothers (and others) finding the courage and commitment to speak out on behalf of not only their own children, but all the world’s children. MAU will reclaim the original meaning of Mother’s Day in communities nationwide — wresting the holiday from the hold of Hallmark — to passionately and publicly advocate for the world’s children. Everyone from shy visionaries to exuberant shakers & movers are welcome!

###

Mothers Acting Up is a non-partisan mother-led, mother-fed movement of mothers and others publicly and passionately advocating for the world’s children. www.mothersactingup.org

In peace.

Reminder: Mothering Chat tomorrow.

MAU Outreach: on Mothering Chat tomorrow.

Mother's Day Reclamation in Southern California.

OrganizerTiffany Bellah is buiding a new MAU community in Temecula, CA and is creating the area's first Mother's Day Reclamation event as outlined below, from the Press Enterprise.

Woman to promote mothers' group at fair

A Temecula woman will be promoting a national organization dedicated to helping women and children at the Antique, Art & Flower Faire on May 13, Mother's Day, in Rainbow.

Tiffany Bellah is a volunteer for Mothers Acting Up a national movement of mothers moving from concern to action on behalf of the world's children.

She will be at the fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

It will be held at Rainbow Oaks Marketplace, at the corner of Highway 395 and Fifth Street in Rainbow, four miles south of Temecula.

The first 50 moms to visit will get a free Mothers Acting Up handbook.

Information: www.mothersactingup.org

--Sean Nealon

Hip hip hooray!

Hip Mama's Susan Presley gets it, and tells you why, right here.

Earth Day.

Embracing the Mother Agenda and the issues of environmental preservation and sustainability, Mothers Acting Up had a booth at Nashville's Earth Day Festival in Centennial Park. Not at all surprising is that the HUGE event was chaired by a very active MAU Maven in her home community: Claudia Schenck, Office Director of the Tennessee Enviromental Council. Claudia and I made it onto the news speaking about why we gathered for Earth Day.

MAU's presence at the event was wildly popular with a hat making craft for the Mini-MAUs, and lots of good info for the MAUmas and pas.

Ms. Booty Homemaker Explains It All To You.: Mothering chat.

Come chat with me. Let's talk MAU Now!!

Ms. Booty Homemaker Explains It All To You.: Mothering chat.

As You Are.

Mother's Day fast approaches, with MAU events taking place in more than twenty cities!! It's a very exciting time for all of us as the anticipation mounts and good times roll....

You can learn more on our spectacularly redesigned and made-over website with RSVP ability for each event and recipes to build your very own MAU communities!

And just today, here we are in As We Are Magazine online.

Local Mamas to participate in final senatorial visit as part of Occupation Project.

MAU will again have a presence at this final scheduled visit to Tennessee Senators Alexander and Corker as part of the Peaceable Assembly and Instruction Project, itself a part of the nationalOccupation Project. If you'd like to visit as a sister participant to represent your faith community or other group and want to bring your child, we welcome you to sit with us, or to holler for tips on how to put a visit together. If you are doing comparative visits in your home state OR would like to, I'd love to hear from you!

You may well have heard or read of members of organizations being arrested in other states as part of the Occupation Project. As that is NOT an option for those of raising small children, our presence is not that of taking over the office of elected officials at any cost, but in arranging scheduled visits to share our thoughts, feelings, and requests. To join with other parents in expressing our concerns around the war, armed with a few basic facts and speaking with spirit from the heart is an empowering experience.

On our last visit earlier this month in Nashville, we had 4 local MAU mamas and a passel of kids-- let me tell you: having the babies and children present is POWERFUL. My own toddler has nursed, played cars with other concerned citizens, and cuddled and talked with me as I have addressed our leaders on these MAU visits. Those of us with small children in tow speak first, and exit early, so's to make our points and have a good showing, without over-testing the limits of our children and without distracting from other folks who've come to speak.

On previous visits our children ran around tables, laughed, cried, snacked, poked each other and in general had a merry old time. Without exception, the children have been warmly welcome and seen as a most positive part of the process and not as a hindrance, so if you'd like to come (OR plan something similar in your own state capitol) but are concerned about a child's presence, please know that this is an OK place for them to be. Additionally, should there be concern, the way we do our visits is NOT a forum for debate or anything other than peaceful witness, testimony and sharing. For our elected officials-- our public *servants*-- to see their constituency in action as families is very important and wonderful thing.

If you do plan to come, and I'm hoping to DOUBLE the number of mothers with children present, bring snacks, water, small toys and arrange to carpool if possible. In Nashville, I encourage mothers to wear aprons (a symbol of taking the work from our home & hearth to the public) and bring cookies, muffins, or cake to share with everyone. The below missive from our friends at the Peaceable Assembly and Instruction Project gives details of our scheduled visit.

If you'd like to join us and have questions about talking points or any other practicalities, please feel free to give me a shout: paige@mothersactingup.org

Dear Friends,
FRIDAY, MAY 4, we'll go for the last of eight scheduled visits to local Congressional offices. On April 10, forty people from twenty-two organizations attended a joint meeting with the State Directors for Senators Alexander and Corker. This time we'd like to have eighty. We've delivered about 460 support statements from Peaceable Assembly signers.
President Bush has promised to veto the current bill, because of partial troop withdrawal deadlines. We'll be asking the Senators to send him a bill mandating disengagement of all U.S. troops from combat in Iraq, and withwdrawal of all U.S. troops within a year. Neither the Senators, nor Congressman Cooper, have voted the way we asked them to, but most of us who participated in the earlier visits believe that we made them feel the heat of growing public opposition. Please join us for a mass turnout on Friday.
This is the last of the pre-scheduled visits, but as debate develops in Congress in future months on funding for the War, we may call on you again for ad hoc manifestations of public pressure.
Karl Meyer , Pam Beziat, Christina VanRegenmorter , for Peaceable Assembly project

LAST SCHEDULED LOBBYING VISIT

END THE IRAQ WAR NOW

=================================================================================

May 4 Friday 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m.

SENATORS CORKER and ALEXANDER 3322 West End Avenue – Building Conference Room #109

( we have cancelled the previously announced Alexander meeting for April 27 )

*Parking and assembly at 3322 West End Avenue for Alexander and Corker visits:

The building is set back from West End Avenue , at the corner of West End and Murphy Road . Heading west on West End, turn right onto Acklen Park Drive. Take immediate left onto Park Drive (inner drive).Continue to underground parking entrance of 3322 Building at corner. Free visitor parking for two hours is available near the entrance to the garage, but security desk tries to limit us to using six spaces, so you may help by finding on-the-street parking nearby, leaving these spaces for those with physical disabilities. Around the corner, to the northwest of the building entrances there are lots of open spaces in parking areas in front of several apartment buildings.

If you know in advance, please let us know which visits you will attend.

Organized by Nashville Greenlands/War Resisters League, 2407 Heiman St., Nashville 37208

615-322-9523 peaceableassembly@gmail.com

Endorse our common statement on line at http://www.petitiononline.com/tnpeace/petition.html

Mother's Day Fundraiser for MAU.

So perhaps you're going to reclaim Mother's Day an wrest the holiday from the profiteers of the big box stores and sappy commercials with a parade, a vigil a rally or a simple lunch from your well tended garden. But you still want to show mama some extra love. (And remember, mama might be YOU, or a girlfriend, or your sisters...)

Straight outta Boulder, home of the MAU Mothership, comes Boulder's Best Organics with beautifully handcrafted goods that'll nourish mama, align spending power with good practices, AND help fund the movement with a part of each purchase going straight to MAU. See the below description and details, and you can visit their website to see the products.

Mother’s Day Gift Fundraiser

Beautiful. Convenient. Eco-friendly. This Mother’s Day, Boulder’s Best Organics is offering something special for moms everywhere – organic Gift Collections and donations to MAU! This great gift is all organic and all from Boulder, CO! It includes a tea assortment, three-part facial care, essential oils candle, herbal soap, mints, and a lavender plant. Even the attractive Presentation Box is reusable and filled with eco-friendly cushioning. On top of all this, $5 of every Gift is donated to Mother’s Acting Up! Ordering is easy at www.BouldersBestOrganics.com, or at 303.499.ORGANIC (6742). Be sure to enter coupon code MAU for the donation, and share this idea with friends!

MAUs in Northern Michigan.

Kate and Copland, community organizers and facilitators of the Northern Michigan MAU community have started a blog! Check them out.

We Heart You, Madam Speaker of the House!!

A great quote from Nancy Pelosi in the Scholastic News for Kids, March 5, 2007 Edition 4:

“When people ask me what are the three most important issues today in Congress, I always say the same thing: our children, our children, our children. Their health, their education, their economic security, their families, their environment...and, of course, a world at peace in which they can thrive.”

Join Up! (in the news.)

... in which Colorado MAUs advocate for the right to education for all.

MAU at Compass Conference this weekend.

This weekend I’ll be leading the workshop MAU Now: The Joy of Activism—Mobilizing the Mamas. You can see below for a full on description of my workshop and a number of other wonderful workshops and events of the Tennessee Alliance for Progress annual Compass Conference. Nashville's Mothers Acting Up community organizers will be providing childcare w/ snacks and activities for the smalls so mamas and papas can do some activating. Childcare will be available from 9 AM – 2:30 PM with the understanding that parents will check in and take their children during breaks and mealtime. If you require childcare or intend to take my workshop, please holler at me, as it will allow better planning on my part.

More on Mothers Acting Up: www.mothersactingup.org

More on Nashville Mothers Acting Up: www.nashvillemau.blogspot.com

I hope to see some of y’all this weekend!!

In peace,

Paige La Grone Babcock

paige@mothersactingup.org

How would you like to spend this Saturday day listening to inspired speakers, networking with like-minded people, engaging in passionate discussion about pressing social issues, watching informative documentary films, grooving to great music and browsing a unique bookshop with hard-to-find books you've been looking for?

If this is your cup of tea, you need to attend the Compass IV Conference this Saturday, April 14, 9 am to 4 pm at Cohn Adult Learning Center, 4805 Park Avenue in West Nashville. The action packed agenda includes 12 workshops, including a free workshop on Global Warming, films, music, a bookshop and Keynote Speakers David Sirota and Paul Waldman. You can register at www.tennesseeallian ceforprogress.org. Cost is $25 per day. If you need financial assistance in order to attend, contact nellrose@earthlink.net.

Here's the agenda for Saturday.

Compass IV Workshops – Saturday, April 14, 2007, Cohn Adult Learning Center

Registration: 8 AM to 9 AM

Welcome and Report from Friday’s Strategy Session: 9 AM - AUDITORIUM – Dan Joranko, Tennessee Alliance for Progress Board Chair

Keynote Address: 9:15 AM – AUDITORIUM – Paul Waldman, of Media Matters for America, author of Being Right Is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success.

Break and Paul Waldman Booksigning: 10:15 AM

Morning Workshops: 10:30 to 11:50 AM

Doing Justly – LIBRARY – a workshop on faith, spirituality, morality and politics organized by TAP’s Doing Justly Project: Integrating Our Deepest Spiritual Beliefs Into Our Professional and Public Lives. Presenters: Dan Joranko, Tamara Ambar Losel, Ted Parks, Melissa Spas, and Harmon Wray.

Reducing Poverty and Inequality in Tennessee: What Works - ROOM 209. This workshop will look at successful programs and policies that are being used here and abroad. Presenters: Martha Wettemann of Tennessee State Employees Association, Rebekah Jordan, Midsouth Interfaith Network for Economic Justice, Jerry Lee of Tennessee AFL/CIO, and a representative of the Vanderbilt employee living wage movement.

Activism 101 - ROOM 201. Want to get active and make a difference but don’t know where to start? This workshop is for you. Presenters: Keith Caldwell, Coordinator, Nashville Peace and Justice Center, Jen Cartwright, former Education Director, Nashville Peace and Justice Center, and Megan Mecaraeg, Organizer, Jobs with Justice.

MAU Now: The Joy of Activism— Mobilizing the Mamas – ROOM – tbd.
(Fathers and all others who care about & for children are warmly welcome).

Mothers Acting Up will facilitate a conversation about parental activism: where are we on our current journey? What are the barriers and obstacles to parental activism? How can we overcome them? We will view Mothers Acting Up, the movie and participants will receive a copy of the Mothers Acting Up 2007 Mother Leadership Handbook and Engagement calendar. The Mother Agenda will be addressed and issues of the workshop include community building, Mother’s Day Reclamation, tabling, and advocacy for children in the offices of our representatives. Children’s activities and daycare provided.

Please contact nellrose@earthlink.net if you will need childcare. Presenter: Paige La Grone Babcock. paige@mothersactingup.org

Media Reform – ROOM 203- Learn what’s wrong with the corporate media and how you can become a media activist. Presenters: Ginny Welsch of Radio Free Nashville, Mary Mancini of Liberadio(!) and Elliott Mitchell is of Metropolitan Educational Access Corporation.

How to Write Op-Eds That Get Published - ROOM 204. - Get read! Get heard! Get blogged! Learn how to bring your activism onto the opinion pages of Tennessee’s newspapers, on airwaves, and into cyberspace. This workshop that will show you how to leverage your activism through the commentary continuum. The Forum is working to increase progressive voices in the mainstream media. Presenters: American Forum Executive Director Denice Zeck and Elizabeth Barger Chair of the Tennessee Editorial Forum.

Lunch: Noon to 1 PM – DOWNSTAIRS CAFETERIA

Films: 12:10 PM to 1:00 PM – DOWNSTAIRS CAFETERIA.
Collateral Damage: Bad Medicine in Tennessee
Scenes from Eternal Vigilance: The Fight To Save Our Election System, Q&A with filmmaker David Earnhardt.

Afternoon Workshops: 1:00 to 2:30 PM

Global Climate Change – AUDITORIUM - A Powerpoint presentation based on Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Presenters: Jennifer Tlumak, a graduate of Al Gore’s Climate Project and Rev. Jim Deming of Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light and Northwest Earth Institute. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Part of the Step-It-Up April 14 Campaign.

Afternoon Workshops: 1:10 to 2:30 PM

Passing the Torch: Youth Activism – LIBRARY - This workshop will be led by youth and adult staff working with Oasis Community IMPACT (OCI). OCI works with young people from two East Nashville High Schools, Stratford and Maplewood, to promote educational and economic equity for urban students, schools, and neighborhoods by cultivating grassroots leadership through a youth organizing strategy. This workshop will provide participants the opportunity to learn more about this work, to better understand why working with youth is critical, and some effective strategies for working with a new generation of change-makers.

Progressive Blogging – ROOM 121 - Sandy Smith Madsen of the award-winning blog, Tennessee Guerilla Women will bring together bloggers to share the secrets of their craft. Presenters: Chiara at Thoughts of an Average Woman, Callie at Red State Exile, and Rick at Coyote Chronicles.

Election 2008 – ROOM 203. Discussion of local, state and national candidates, voter suppression, paper-trail ballot boxes and other issues. Presenters: Dr. Sekou Franklin, MTSU Political Science Department, Jim Grinstead, Democracy for Tennessee, Chick Westover, Gathering to Save Our Democracy, and Seanna Brandmeir, President Tennessee Young Democrats.

Tennesseee’s Health Care Crisis – ROOM 201 - Discussion of uninsured problem, TennCare, single payer proposals and other options. Presenters: Dr. Jim Powers of Vanderbilt Medical Center, with Lori Smith of Tennessee Health Care Campaign, Jim Hudson of Physicians NAT Health Plan and Dr. Richard Braun.

The Politics of Crime and Punishment in Tennessee – ROOM 204 - Topics will include prison privatization, death penalty, racism in the criminal justice system, and restorative transformative justice as an alternative to our present retributive system. Presenters: Harmon Wray of Vanderbilt Program on Faith and Criminal Justice, Stacy Rector of Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing and Gail Tyree of Grassroots Leadership of Memphis.

Break: 2:30 to 2:45 PM

Music: 2:45 PM - AUDITORIUM - Renown Songwriter/Artist Robert Ellis Orrall will perform his hit “Al Gore” and other selections.

Keynote Address: 3:00 PM – AUDITORIUM – Activist and Media Commentator David Sirota, author of Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government – and How We Take It Back.

David Sirota Book Signing: 4:00 – 4:20 PM

MAU on Mothering chat tomorrow!!

I'll be the guest on Mothering magazine's online chat schedule Wednesday April 11 at Noon Central, representing Mothers Acting Up. This is the first of monthly scheduled visits to chat about MAU & mama activism. This month I expect to address building community, reclaiming Mother’s Day, and the Mother Agenda.

More here, including chat instructions.

If you’re up to it, stop by to lend some support and ask a question or make a comment, and please DO pass this reminder along to folks you suspect might be interested.

Conference on World Affairs in Boulder.

Conference on World Affairs Concurrent Events
Education, Microcredit, & Global Health Series

Presented by RESULTS, Mothers Acting Up, Boulder Friends of UNICEF & Engineers without Borders (CU Chapter)
April 10 - 12, 2007
On the CU-Boulder Campus

Tuesday, April 10, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. (Clare Small 207)
Can Microcredit End Poverty?

Panel: Bob Sample, RESULTS; Sue Dorsey, Executive Director, Friendship Bridge; Kerston Hostetter, Executive Director, Microbusiness Development Corporation

Wednesday, April 11, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (UMC 457)
AIDS, TB & Malaria: the Three Diseases of Poverty

Moderator: Christopher Smith, Executive Director, Boulder County AIDS Project
Panel: Dr. David Cohn, University of Colorado, Dr. Robert Belknap, University of Colorado; Jennifer Braun, International Midwife Assistance

Thursday, April 12, 11:15 - 12:00 noon (Norlin Quad – at the front of the library)
JOIN UP! To Send Children to School Around the World
Honorary Join-Up Leader: Magdaleno (Leno) Rose-Avila
www.sendmyfriend.org

(PS Harry Bellefonte will be presenting at Macky at 1pm on Thursday)

Thursday, April 12, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. (Clare Small 207)
Health Care for All: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?

Moderator: Howie Wolf, MD
Panel: Dr. Elinor Christiansen, President, Health Care for All Colorado (HCAC); Barry Keene, Business Consultant, HCAC; John Brackney, President, South Metro Denver Chamber & former Arapahoe County Commissioner

More Information: http://www.resultscolorado.org

Of noses, bums, and tall trees.

As women and mothers, we're the largest consumers for our households and families. Where we put the money speaks volumes about what we value. Which is why, when I look around my own home at the tail end of colds, pollen takeover, ear and upper respiratory infections, I see just how much tissue we've been using.

Adhering to the MAU principle of following the money and affirming with support, I look for ways to throw my monetary and ethical weight behind the Mother Agenda, looking away from Kleenex and toward products that are kind on my wallet, my baby's nose, and ancient forests.

For forest friendly tissue products, when cloth just won't do, I'll be printing this list for handy fridge reference where it can nestle up to my running grocery and household list. I encourage you mamas to do same.

Mother's Day Reclamation Update.

At this writing: Parades, cake walks, radical tea parties and other gatherings to reclaim Mother's Day will be taking place in the following cities:

Huntsville, AL; Los Angeles, CA; Boulder, CO; Carbondale, CO; Windham, ME; Harbor Spring, MI; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Manhattan, NY; The Bronx, NY; Oklahoma City, OK; Philadephia, PA; Charleston, SC; Nashville, TN; Austin, TX; Alexandria, VA; Strafford, VT; Milwaukee, WI; and Portland, OR.

More cities are being added daily, and communities are taking root.

If you are thinking of adding an event or your community is already thriving yet you do not see your city listed above, holler here: beheard@mothersactingup.org

Likewise, give us a shout if you're toying with the idea of hosting an event, but aren't sure you can manage it. It is NOT too late to get your parade on!! We're here to help you each step of the way, and no event is too teeny or humble to make a big mama rumble.

Shut down: build community, save energy.

Here's what this blogger will be doing this weekend instead of spending time here.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally & march.

You can find details over at Ms. Booty Homemaker Explains It All To You.

MAU at Tennessee Alliance for Progress annual conference.

TAP's Annual Compass conference details can be found here, and MAU's workshop overview is as follows:

Mothers Acting Up presents MAU now!: the Joy of Activism— Mobilizing the Mamas

(Fathers and all others who care about & for children are WARMLY WELCOME!)

MAU will facilitate a conversation about parental activism: where are we on our current journey? What are the barriers and obstacles to parental activism? How can we overcome them? We will view Mothers Acting Up, the movie, which gives a terrific overview of the movement: a magnificent revolution to honor the promise of our children’s lives.

The workshop will provide a copy of the Mothers Acting Up 2007 Mother Leadership Handbook and Engagement calendar for each participant family.

Points of focus in context of the Mother Agenda : community building, Mother’s Day Reclamation, tabling, and advocacy for children in the offices of our representatives. The goal of our sessions is to provide each participant with the tools to create and put on a Mother’s Day Parade or other reclamation event and / or start a Mothers Acting Up Community in their own hometowns.

A children’s workshop / activity—Mini MAUs in Community-- on Global Citizenship will coincide with the adult programming.

Speaking to the call for a Mother Agenda.

THIS IS NOT A CANDIDATE ENDORSEMENT, it’s a hopeful sign that when one leads others will follow!

John Edwards is listening to our call for a *Mother Agenda:

Yesterday, I delivered a speech in New Hampshire where I laid out a transformational change agenda to guarantee universal health care, stop global warming, close the education gap, end poverty at home, and make America more secure through an historic effort to reduce poverty across the globe.

Some Highlights:

• I outlined a plan I call "College for Everyone" that will pay for the first year of college for any student in America who needs it and is willing to work part-time.
  
• We need transformational change to stop global warming and create a new energy economy that helps fuel the growth of a secure middle class in the 21st century. By changing our energy infrastructure and investing in research, development and deployment of alternative energy technologies, we can create more than a million new jobs in America. We must set an example for the world by implementing a cap on carbon emissions and through dramatically increasing our national and individual energy efficiency.
  
• There's one other subject I talked about yesterday that is very important to me personally—and to the security of America. And that's global poverty. So yesterday I outlined my plan to tackle global poverty head on. We will launch a worldwide effort to bring primary education to every corner of the globe. We will invest in preventive health care through clean water and sanitation systems to give poor families a chance at healthy lives. We will provide the tools of local entrepreneurship and active citizenry that are the cornerstones of stable prosperity. And we will create a cabinet level position in the White House to elevate all our national efforts at eradicating poverty worldwide.

You can link to Edwards' full speech here.


* MAU is mobilizing the mamas in 2007 to build three major campaigns, collectively called the Mother Agenda: 1) Protect our global family: Champion the MDGs 2) For children’s sake: Preserve our planet, and 3) The true cost of war: Measure the impact on children . We are working in coalition with groups and mamas like YOU to educate our communities and decision makers about these three campaigns and build the political will to shape policies and redistribute money to care for our global family & planet. These three campaigns will run through all MAU’s Web actions, collective actions and field trips — the first action being a letter to our Congressional leaders, introducing ourselves and the Mother Agenda. Sign on to a part of the Mother Agenda here.

Greening up the post.

For a dime a day Greendimes will stop your junkmail, reduce paper use and waste, AND plant a tree for you each month. You can even sign up to give a gift membership.

Meet MAU and Giving Circle Maven: Ericka Carter.

Last year a couple of my friends and I started a Giving Circle with other women in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. We have met every other month since then to give to a local charity or cause. The Mothers Acting Up calendars have provided a wealth of information for our Giving Circle activities. We have been so awestruck by the work that so many women have accomplished all over the world to end poverty and suffering for women and children. The calendars are treasured! We keep them in our files to provide new ideas for future Giving Circles and as a great source of inspiration. Last January we gave money to a local organization that provides books to low income children in the Los Angeles area. Children receive books from six months to five years of age at their annual check-up; this idea was inspired by flipping through the pages of last year’s MAU calendar.

--Ericka Carter, MAU and Giving Circle Maven

The Transformative Power of Mother's Day.

In the hopes of inspiring others to reclaim Mother's Day Parades and other celebratory events, the following is MAU Maven Tina's first person account of her experience organizing New York City's first Mothers Acting Up Mother's Day Parade. Thorughout are photographs of that transformative event.

NEW YORK 2003.
I don't know why I sent off an email to Mothers Acting Up saying that I would organize a Mother's Day parade for them in New York City that first year. I'd never organized anything public like it before. I hadn't ever been that active in the past either. But I saw the smiling joyful faces of Beth, Erica, Juliana and Joellen in their wild and crazy hats acting up at their first parade in Boulder 2002, and something inside of me knew that I had to bring some of that joy in acting up to the streets of New York City.

A year earlier in September of 2001, I had given birth to my first born son just a few short days after 9/11 in New York City. The experience was shattering, traumatizing, life-changing. But most of all, I will never forget how very difficult it was to be unable to share the overwhelming joy of my new motherhood with family and friends- who were unable to fly to greet the new baby from overseas, or my neighbours- unable to smile in their shock and grief for what seemed like the longest time.

In the months that followed as I recovered and family and friends started trickling in my home as they dared to brave airplane travel again, I started thinking of the mothers of the terrorists. What were they thinking? How were they feeling? Is this really what they wanted for their children? How are they coping with their grief at their loss? Dare they grieve? Night after night I would sit in my rocking chair nursing my son and looking up at the moon thinking of them and all the other mothers across the world nursing their babies at exactly the same time. I knew I had to do something to bring people together. I knew I had to do something for my children, but I had no idea what I could do.

When the war in Iraq started, people began to descend on New York and angrily pace our streets with anti-war chants and anti-bush sentiment. Though I agreed with them I could not stand to see so much hatred spill out over our already scarred city. And I did not feel safe taking my son to any rally down there either.

Then, with a burning passion to do something but no idea what, I started an internet search and came across Mothers Acting Up through a link on the National Council of Churches website. As soon as I saw their parade photos I knew I had found what I was looking for. It was like an instant attraction. They hooked me and I've never let go since.

And so, with no experience of event organization, public planning or political activism behind me, only a burning passion, nay NEED to do something fun and spirited. I signed up. I shared my vision to unite diverse populations of mothers and others in one goal and I told them I'd do a parade for them in NYC.

What followed was a frenzied blur of activity and emails and conference calls as I realized there were other mothers out there wanting to do something and all learning at the same pace that I was. Their energy kept me moving forward. I was put in touch with another mother in NY and together we began to plan a march on the sidewalk from Washington Square Park to Union Square. We had a band and a speaker that my new friend had put together. With her contacts in NY we also had professional stiltwalkers/stilt dancers that attracted much attention. Most importantly we had an information table, which passersby could come to, grab a button, information on MAU and information on how to act up.

It was an anti-war/pro-peace rally with an enormous difference. It was filled with children and mothers and smiling and dancing and singing. We put an enormous amount of money and energy into it, and even though we spent much more than we could afford to, it was tremendously successful: we were even recorded as being one of the many events/ groups working to heal NY after 9/11 on some documentary (I can't remember the name of!) which was exactly how I saw what we were doing.

Ever since NY, I have seen the healing potential of these mother's day parades and how they bring people together. They are empowering, they are spirited and as far as I'm concerned divine. From my experience at this first parade in NY in 2003, to hearing about the Israeli and Palestinian mothers coming together on Mother's day in Jerusalem in 2005, to my long term dream of peaceful unity in Northern Ireland. NOW, I aim to have a parade of catholic and protestant mothers walking joyfully and peacefully in unison on the streets of Belfast. A tall order?! Not at all. If I can go from no event experience to organizing a parade in Union Square in New York City then I can do anything, especially with the support of the mothers at MAU behind me. To be honest, being a mother is still much more challenging than planning that event or anything else I do with MAU!

The trick I've discovered, is to take our personal pain, our distress, our outrage at the world the way it is and transform it bit by bit and piece by piece into a feeling of joy and hope
, as we begin to start envisioning and then working to transform the world into what we want it to be instead.

Tina is currently working to achieve her dreams as MAU's International Outreach Coordinator and the mum behind MAU UK. For all the juicy details on how to reclaim Mother's Day in the US, go here. To contact Tina and get the the scoop on Mothering Sunday, MAU style: www.mothersactingup.org.uk

Mobilizing the Mamas on MySpace.

Beth of Beth's Blog raps on effective use of MySpace for non-profit organizations. Her short list of organizations visited include Mothers Acting Up, and it looks as though we'll be speaking with her further about our MySpace experience.

Haven't joined us there yet? Come on over! We're finding MySpace to be a very effective tool for community building, networking and branding.

Actionable: Health Care for All Children.

A great many of us in this country have struggled to provide and keep healthcare for our families for various reasons. Sadly, we have not always been successful. It is a growing problem nationwide, and is especially so for our country's children.

The below is from the THCC (Tennessee Health Care Campaign), but the SCHIP reauthorization campaign is NATIONwide, so folks from all states are needed to raise their voices. SCHIP is State Children's Health Insurance Program.

It's easy to call and you don't have to sound like a policy wonk, just like a parent concerned for children. When you call, identify yourself, your city. If you don't know your representative, don't let that stop you. The operator will know where to direct your call by where you are calling from-- whoever you speak with will simply take a message and note your concern.

Children's Health Insurance - Calls are needed this week to Congress: Calls to ALL Senators and Representatives are needed now. Tell them we need at least $60 billion in new money for the SCHIP program for Reauthorization. Call Congress, toll-free 1-800-828-0498 What you should say? Congress must ensure that there are at least enough funds to cover the children who are eligible for SCHIP, but not yet enrolled. to do this, we will need at least $60 billion in new federal funds over the next 5 years. No child should lose coverage because there are not enough federal funds. The $60 billion includes funding to ensure that no one currently enrolled in the program will lose coverage because of a lack of federal funds. For more details, click here.

Meet Rita Sharmu: MAU Handbook Portrait.

There is a formula for ending extreme poverty within our children's lifetimes: money + mothers. When mothers get hold of money, good things happen. Girls go to school, kids get more protein, babies get immunized and moms are safer from violence and HIV/AIDS.

Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder and President of the Women's Edge Coalition, featured in the 2007 MAU Handbook, Mother Leadership

Click here for more info!

Get Your Parade On...

Arise!!

Marching to the tune of Mother Leadership in 2007, this Mothers Day-- May 13-- MAUs from coast to coast will be getting their parade on from New York City and the Bronx, to Austin, Nashville, Boulder and Carbondale, Alexandria, Vashon Island and the Twin Cities, too... More cake walks, teas, rallys and parades being added in cities and communities across the country weekly!!

Find a Mothers Day Parade near you, and / or watch the following, and get inspired to to host your very own! The MAUmas at the Mothership will be with you every step of the way and I stand ready to encourage, support, hand hold where necessary and celebrate YOUR community's victory in taking great strides in this magnificent revolution in the names of all our children:

March 17...

...is the fourth anniversary of the War on "Terrorism."

Events will be taking place all over the country and beyond to promote peace, including this one in Nashville (at which the local MAU community will have a strong presence)

Dear Mothers Acting Up and Fathers and Grandparents and Everyone Else,

Please gather with us to comemorate the 4th anniversary of the invasion of
Iraq at the Owen Bradley Park, on Division by the Musica Roundabout on
Saturday, March 17, starting at 2PM. There will be speakers and
performers and a gentle, peaceful ambiance. Around 3:30 we will gather up
strollers and babies and old shoes and walk to the Federal Building at 9th
and Broadway, where we will line the shoes up along the curb.(They will be
re-used and eventually donated.)

We hope that Mothers Acting Up will march as a contingent!?! And "Act Up"
at the Park beforehand!

We are collecting old shoes and labelling them with the names of
Tennesseans, friends and family members who have served in Iraq,
especially those who died there, and of Iraqi men, women and children who
have died in this conflict. The event is entitled "Walk in Their Shoes"
and is being sponsored by CodePink and other groups all around the
country. Please bring old shoes to the Peace and justice Center, or bring
them with you for labelling on 3/17. Also, please tell us names of any
friends or family members who have served in Iraq that you would like
represented by a pair of shoes.

We hope that you will participate in any way possible in this call for
peace rather than escalation. peace and love, Jane

What is happening in your respective community? Please comment below.

Elect Susie for President.

Despite the fact that it costs less to provide health coverage for children than for any other group, there is no such measure in place in the richest country on planet earth. We are NOT taking care of our own, through health care or health insurance. That's unacceptable.

Help share that message with Congress via petition by being one of at least 9 million signatories to stand up for the 9 million children in this country who have no health coverage.

This is Susie Flynn's message. With the Children's Defense Fund behind her, Susie Flynn is on the campaign trail.

Mom activism.

Mom Activism: It's been going on a long long while, despite the (right on, by the way) recent'ish' trend toward it. The media is catching on. Witness, for example, this piece about organized mothers starring Moms Rising from the New York Times last week.

And yesterday, there was this tee-ninesy little blip about Lorraine Gordon being a mother moved to activism with Women Strike For Peace on this All Things Considered Feature about Gordon's new book. (Fascinating and multi-faceted woman, Ms. Gordon.)

Nancy Oleson at MOMbo Radio is an inspiration in Minneapolis and beyond; she did this intriguing show featuring a slew of activist mamas, including MAU's very own Beth Osnes.

In simpler but no less real Everyday Mom terms of writer Miriam Peskowitz, she writes about the "weird"ness and obstacles to being an activist mother. She closes this excellent blog entry with the commitment and encouragement to others to "try on the politically engaged vision of being a mother and a woman in our worlds."

Our job, as Mothers Acting Up and friends is to build that bridge between MOM activism and Mom activism. That is, activism on behalf of mama herSELF and activism on behalf of the world's children-- not just the ones in our home or on our block. What's good for moms is good for kids is good for families is good for communities is good for the environment is good for peacekeeping is good for global citizenry, and so on. We may each start at a different corner, yet cannot deny that we're all eating of the same pie and a bigger piece for your daughter is also a bigger piece for a far flung son and mamas both hip and everyday, from here to Timbuktu.

Meet MAU Maven Nicole Warne-McGraw!!

I am blessed to have a mother who cares – cares not only for me, my 4 siblings, our spouses and our children – but a mother who cares for the children of the world. She, particularly, cares passionately for women through pregnancy, labor and birthing and for babies and their families in those priceless early years. She taught me -- through watching her do it over and over again -- the difference a thoughtful letter or call to a government official can make. She taught me -- through conversations on local, national, and world events -- to pay attention, care deeply, and create the world in which I want my children and grandchildren to live.

And now I am giving my daughters the same gift of a loving mother whose love is huge enough to encompass the world's children. I hope they learn through joining me at rallies, sitting on my lap as I write my Senator, playing on the floor as I make calls to encourage voter turn-out, and through our discussions of our dreams for how the world can be when we join together to make a difference. And I look forward to many more generations of a family caring for the world's family. I can hardly wait to see the world they will create!

--Nicole Warne-McGraw, many generational Activist & MAU Maven

MAU All Star: Nina Utne.

Increasingly I find myself using the phrase, "I can’t not . . ." I can’t not speak up and make myself visible in service to what I care passionately about . . . We each are being drawn to listen deeply and to act out of our instinctual knowing. What is it you can’t not do? Nina Utne, Chair and Editor-in-Chief of Utne magazine, featured in the 2007 MAU Handbook, Mother Leadership Click here for more info!

Meet MAU Maven Frances Higgins.

It was one of the best days my life. As Americans we have the right to express ourselves. It was so powerful to go with friends and children to the source, and speak our minds and be heard. For the first time I was doing something as an American that made sense. That took advantage of our right to politically express ourselves. It really wasn’t so hard; we had an agenda and posters and roles and if you got nervous, there was an entire group there supporting you. I felt like it was a truly meaningful day; when are we doing it again?

Frances Higgins, MAU Field Trip participant to CO Senators & Representative Udall. Mothers of Mothers Acting Up, along with members of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center and one devoted dad, filled a school bus with mothers, grandmothers and children of all ages. Amidst great chatter, earnest discussion and gales of laughter, the group split to go to the Denver offices of Senator Ken Salazar, Senator Wayne Allard and everyone visited Representative Mark Udall. At each office the exuberant group met with aides and presented material and asked questions about a 5-point agenda to “Invest in the global family, ensuring a secure future.”

Featuring MAU Handbook Portrait Ohki Simine Forest.

Ancient Native ways teach that there is nothing on Earth more powerful than a circle of decided women. In ancient Council ways, the circle of women is at the center of the community, holding the heart of all people . . . The Earth is calling for this return to Council ways, calling women to take up her Bow of Authority. Ohki Siminé Forest, Red Wind Councils, featured in the 2007 MAU Handbook, Mother Leadership

"Not Your Everyday Baby Shower."

MAU co-founder Beth Osnes is a woman of many hats, aprons and gloves; she includes in her wide array of spirited talents those of writer and performer. She is the author of Twice Alive: A Spiritual Guide to Mothering Through Pregnancy and the Child's First Year. Her article, Not Your Everyday Baby Shower, which originally ran in Issue 138 September / October 2006 of Mothering Magazine is currently the featured article on the esteemed mama-mag's website. The article is a wonderful resource for expectant mothers and host friends who want to create an uplifting and celebratory experience for the mother-to-be and her surrounding tribe.

The picture above is of my belly cast in progress at my very own blessingway -- a not-so-everyday-baby-shower given by my closest mama friends just a few weeks before giving birth to my son.

"Vote for Mom."

In response to this excellent article in last week's New York Times, Mothers Acting Up Co-founder Juliana Forbes (below) wrote the following letter to the editor:

Robin Toner’s article, “Vote for Mom” (1.29.07) asserts that Pelosi and Clinton have exhibited enough political strength to afford wooing voters by showcasing their motherhood. Perhaps also motherhood is seen now as a SOURCE of strength in political leadership. Mothers – traditionally the keepers of domestic issues – are recognizing that their children’s lives are at stake – and are claiming the “tough” issues of national security, the environment and international relations & development as their own Mother Agenda. Faced with sobering facts – today 1 child dies every 3 seconds due to mostly preventable causes and almost every other child in the world lives in poverty (UNICEF) – mothers are becoming a powerful lobby for children and view other mothers as most likely to protect children. The Motherhood Study reports that 92% of mothers care about the wellbeing of all children – not just their own – and 72% agree more mothers in political power in America would make life better for mothers and children. Maybe Pelosi and Clinton aren’t just being savvy; perhaps they truly see mothers leading a magnificent revolution to prioritize children’s lives.

Juliana Forbes
Cofounder, Mothers Acting Up
www.mothersactingup.org

MAU Maven: Anne Ross Lyon.

I’ve been writing my members of Congress and telling them,

“We, whose children are inheriting a world of pre-fashioned enemies, huge debt and un-kept promises to the world's children and mothers, have the opportunity to change that . . . MAU is not an organization with corporate structure, this is a movement – to make children central to the discussion of policy and politics and global concerns.”

I want to emphasize that the Mothers Acting Up movement expects a strong commitment to our children’s future from our elected officials. I tell them that I– with other mothers in America and around the world – am eager to work with our elected leaders to prioritize the lives of the world's children - our future leaders. P.s. I close my letters with a reminder that our children will be the ones picking good assisted care for us all one day!

--Anne H Ross Lyon, MAU Maven

Invisible Children.

Tens of thousands of children commute nightly in northern Uganda and an estimated 20-50,000 children have been abducted to fight as soldiers. We are demanding that our government help end the longest running war in Africa . . . Thank you for fighting for justice for people you may never meet, and knowing they deserve what you, and your own children would. Jason Russell, Laren Poole, and Bobby Bailey, Invisible Children, featured in the 2007 MAU Handbook, Mother Leadership

Click here for more info!

MAU Majora Carter on PBS's NOW!!

Hurrah!

2007 Mother Leadership Handbook portrait Majora Carter will be on the PBS program NOW, tomorrow, Sunday January 28.

Founder of Sustainable South Bronx, Majora's work is taking great strides toward environmental balance in her densely urban home community. Learn more about her appearance on NOW and tune in!

We're thrilled that Majora's efforts toward a better world for all of us are being celebrated.

MAU UK.

The MAU Mamas introduce to you: MAU UK!!

You can reach our MAU UK representative here to get involved with international communities, actions and Mother's Day reclaimations.

And you can join all of us with MAU UK in space right here.

We look forward to seeing you around, and to joyfully acting up globally.

MAU in space.

If you haven't checked us out and joined us here, come on OVER!

Featuring: Linda Armstrong, MAU Maven!!

A MAU calendar is on its way to President Bush! Unusual, yes! Why did I, a democrat and an absolute liberal, send Bush a Christmas gift? Well, I can easily go “negative” with today’s politics and the world situation, who can’t? I wanted to send some positive energy to our leaders. Maybe an impressionable support person will find it and reconsider their support of a child-unfriendly policy. Perhaps the bright colors will entice an aide to leaf through the pages and think, “This year, I can help stop AIDS in Africa!” Hey…I can dream, can’t I?

PS: I sent a MAU calendar to Bush last year, and received a lovely engraved thank you note. Now that’s acting up!!

Linda Armstrong, MAU Maven

Learn more about MAU from the Mothership

Marie Wilson: featured in 2007 Handbook.

Marie Wilson

Women in power have a chance to rewrite the meaning of the word, to have ambition for fairness, a just and safe world for our families and a more cohesive community acting for the common good . . . And we need not forfeit who we are and whom we love in the process.

Marie C. Wilson, The White House Project, featured in the 2007 MAU Handbook, Mother Leadership

Click here for more info!

Open letter and invitation to the 2007 Mama Party.

Calling all Joy Warriors!!

Mothers Acting Up enters the year 2007 ready to throw out the wide (hair)net, turn up the pink collars and tie the apron strings on tighter. If you're more a stilleto and power suit gal, or a designer diva, you're STILL welcome to the party; it takes ALL kinds for this magnificent revolution of mothers and others.

We're mobilizing the mamas this year around three major campaigns: 1) (the true cost of) war, 2) the environment, and 3) and the MDGs. We are working in coalition with groups and mamas like YOU to create vibrant kitchen table councils & communities in every state of the Union by year's end. Come on, come on.... And invite your friends, sisters, hip mamas, stitch & bitch buddies, bandmates, book group members, and prayer circles.

We're gathering on the internet en masse, to find our tribes up close and in person. Sign up on our website to be alerted to monthly actions, hook up with your local MAU communities, and gain access to a whole slew of simple recipes for ACTING UP. Join us on myspace! Comment here. And by all means, holler at us with questions, comments or proclamations of how you want to reclaim Mother's Day as a MAU in 2007, or create other community actions. We'd be thrilled and delighted to hear from you.

Mothers Acting Up is a mother-led, mother-fed movement of mothers and others advocating publicly and passionately for the world's children.

In spirited partnership,
Paige, for The MAU Mavens
Joellen, Juliana, Beth, Tina, Anjali and cohorts

Find Your Inner Grizzly.

If you've not given it a look, or need to cajole yourself or another out of wintry post holiday hibernation, give Find Your Inner Grizzly a look.

Grrrrrrrr.

Pie for all: New Year Greetings.

Give the world's children a bigger piece of the pie!! Inspired by the MAU Handbook, Fusako de Angelis, a Berkeley Mother Acting Up, created this New Year card utilizing the discretionary budget pie chart for the year 2006. Whoa. Click on the illustration above to see it larger.

Fearless Voices.

MAU co-founder and mama supreme Beth Osnes was chosen and announced as one of the Fearless Voices: Mothers Who Spoke Up in 2006 in the Huffington Post. Wa-hoo!


Who are YOUR nominees for mamas making a difference?