January 6, 2003
Awakened Woman's Circle is working for peace
Mothers' group acts up for children
by Beth Osnes
During a heart to heart discussion with my good friend, I asked, more to myself than her, "What is more important than trying to make this world safe for children?" In my tangle of ambitions and desires, something within myself became clear at that moment. I knew I wanted to do something specific towards making this a better place for children to live. Along my own path, I try to help the kids in my life, by babysitting for a single mom living in a shelter whose son goes to my kid's school, or by sending a check when I get a mailing requesting funds for refugees in a war-torn country.
These efforts, though worthy, start to feel like simply damage control, rather than efforts towards the solution that stops the oppression of so many kids in the first place. As Jonathon Kozol says, "Charity for all its beauty is no substitute for systematic justice."
In response to that belief, myself and a few others began a movement called Mothers Acting Up that is mobilizing the gigantic political strength of mothers towards ensuring the health, education and safety of every child on earth, not just a privileged few. We had our first "Mothers Acting Up" Mothers' Day Parade this last May in Boulder to inspire local mothers to declare their intentions to speak out for children's well-being in all aspects of life. Amid audacious costumes of every sort, many of us donned stilts in the parade to show mothers as large, impressive, and a force to be reckoned with!
We maintain a website, www.mothersactingup.org, that provides one easy action a month that specifically addresses some crisis facing children toward which our actions will most likely have the greatest effect. We have over 263 people registered at MAU's from over nine countries. We're trying to inspire communities throughout the country and the world to hold Mothers' Day Parades, to set aside a day when that which mothers' hold most dear, the lives of children, can be a priority. So far we know there will be one in Wash. D.C., New Mexico and New York City this coming Mothers Day. Our ultimate goal? Nothing less than a complete transformation of our world's priorities so that children's welfare is top on the list!
So after getting our kids off to school, we mothers who make up the core of MAU gather around one of our kitchen tables to plan our next action, take care of the nuts and bolts of a movement, and to dream of future ways of transforming our world into a haven in which all kids can thrive. We laugh a lot together, speak passionately, cry sometimes, practice stilt-walking, but never lose faith in the aim of our efforts. Sometimes I feel too distant from the lives of these kids we're trying to help, and I wish to be doing more hands-on work. That opportunity may still arise in my life. Already we're making plans to join forces with a woman who will be traveling to Africa to learn more about AIDS orphans and bring their stories home.
As life stands now, I feel deeply satisfied and highly optimistic to have a community with whom I can act on behalf of my beliefs. It doesn't take away the sadness I feel regarding the plight of specific children throughout the world, but it does help keep despair at bay. I know it is the friendship and shared vision of these other vivacious women that sustains me in my commitment and in my ability to maintain hope.