|
13:04:20 |
Webmama_Tina |
todays chat we are so happy to have
paige back with us again! |
|
13:04:22 |
Webmama_Tina |
Paige La Grone Babcock aka
Ms. Booty Homemaker is a writer and
community organizer mobilizing mamas for
an apron-string revolution. Her return
to the pink collar world (after a year
tending hearth and raising baby) is as
work-at-home-mama for
Mothers Acting Up , for whom she is
National Outreach Coordinator and
Community Organizer. Paige hosts weekly
playgroups and monthly potluck socials &
salons, and makes regular visits (child
on hip) to the offices of her state and
local elected officials advocating for
MAU's Mother Agenda. Paige is currently
organizing Nashville's 2nd Annual
Mother's Day Peace Parade and developing
the workshop MAU Now: the Joy of
Activism, a template for helping
far-flung MAU mavens and other community
leaders share adapted versions of the
recipe in their own home communities. A
(slightly lapsed) voracious reader,
messy gardener, lusty cook and
chowhound, Paige is raising her son to
be a Joy Warrior, nursed on the literal
and metaphysical milk of human kindness.
She lives in a cozy urban East Nashville
cottage with her Beloved Mister, their
curly-headed toddler Ziggy, and a rescue
cat and dog. She dreams of raising
chickens in the country. |
|
13:05:39 |
Webmama_Tina |
Paige did you have anything add? |
|
13:05:40 |
Webmama_Tina |
:) |
|
13:06:05 |
MAUma Paige |
Just many kind thanks for having me
again and I'm so happy that Mothers
Acting Up |
|
13:06:32 |
MAUma Paige |
has gotten the kind of attention that it
has from these chats. So many new folks
are signing on to our website!! |
|
13:06:50 |
MAUma Paige |
I'm interested to know what brings folks
here today.... |
|
13:07:32 |
Webmama_Tina |
well since we are a small group today,
we can go around and see....angie, would
you like to start? |
|
13:07:44 |
Webmama_Tina |
i'm here to moderate, LOL! |
|
13:07:48 |
MAUma Paige |
and I'm ready to answer any questions
y'all might have about MAU or mother
activism in general. |
|
13:08:24 |
Webmama_Tina |
please post a single question mark to
let me know if you have a question for
paige...and we'll just go through the 3
mamas we have here now and see what
brought them to today's chat, to begin
with... |
|
13:08:27 |
Webmama_Tina |
anyone? |
|
13:09:23 |
MAUma Paige |
Or not...? |
|
13:09:29 |
AutumnMama |
? :) |
|
13:09:51 |
MAUma Paige |
Yes, yes. Ask away AutumnMama. |
|
13:10:12 |
AutumnMama |
I'd actually never heard of MAU till I
read the chat announcement on MDC, so
what can you tell me about it? |
|
13:10:59 |
MAUma Paige |
Mothers Acting Up was midwived into
existence in 2002 by four mothers in
Boulder, CO |
|
13:11:27 |
MAUma Paige |
who'd been lobbying their congressional
reps about Head Start programs and other
issues around schooling. |
|
13:11:32 |
Webmama_Tina |
don't mind me as i post welcomes and
reminders... |
|
13:11:36 |
Webmama_Tina |
Welcome to this week's Mothering
Sponsored chat! This is a moderated
chat. Please make sure you read and
fully understand the Moderated Chat
Instructions before participating in
this chat. Instructions can be found
here:
http://www.mommychats.com/modrules.htm
...A Friendly Reminder: Please do not
post unless it is your turn to ask a
question. If you have a question, please
post a single \?\" and you'll be added
to the queue. Have your question ready
when your name is called. " |
|
13:12:14 |
MAUma Paige |
These mothers, all of whom had some
background in advocacy and activism work
(largely with RESULTS, a wonderful world
hunger relief org) |
|
13:12:40 |
MAUma Paige |
were stunned to learn from their reps
that they, the congressional reps,
said, |
|
13:13:51 |
MAUma Paige |
\We're not really penalized or rewarded
for how we vote on these issues of
mothering,\" basically saying that they
weren't being incited to movement on
behalf of children, simply because there
wasn't a voice telling them it was
important. " |
|
13:14:34 |
MAUma Paige |
These mamas decided to raise their
voices and while they were at it, began
to inspire, educate and build community
with other mothers. |
|
13:15:36 |
MAUma Paige |
One mother calling for the *right* to
education is good, but many voices of
mothers calling for same is POWERFUL.
And put a mama on a pair of stilts:
you've got instant representation for
the gigantic political power of mothers,
who are changing not |
|
13:15:48 |
MAUma Paige |
only the playground, but public policy. |
|
13:17:03 |
MAUma Paige |
MAU exists as a web movement with
monthly national actions on behalf of
the world's children. We also now have
MAU UK, and just this year, I came on as
paid staff to help build real life
community and cohesiveness throughout
the year, and to work on our |
|
13:17:15 |
MAUma Paige |
signature Mother's Day Reclamation
events. |
|
13:17:54 |
MAUma Paige |
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. |
|
13:18:24 |
MAUma Paige |
This mother-led, mother-fed movement
offers programs including: Take Action:
The Mother Agenda; the MAU Handbook:
Inspiration & Tools for the Movement;
Reclaiming Mother's Day: Uniting for our
Global Family; and MAU Live!: Rehearsing
Activism. |
|
13:18:49 |
MAUma Paige |
The MAU Vision: We realize that we live
in a world that does not prioritize or
protect our children's wellbeing and
that this will not change without each
of us finding the courage and commitment
to speak out on their behalf. |
|
13:19:06 |
MAUma Paige |
By mobilizing our gigantic political
strength, we can ensure the health,
education and safety of every child, not
just a privileged few. Let us: whisper
this to each other, sing it out in the
streets, yell it from our rooftops,
declare it in our houses of |
|
13:19:22 |
MAUma Paige |
government: we will protect our children
with our personal and political
strength, wherever they live on earth! |
|
13:19:33 |
Webmama_Tina |
does MAU partner at all with \moms
rising\"?" |
|
13:20:36 |
MAUma Paige |
We are supporting orgs or one another.
You'll find us listed at their website,
and we embrace the actions that each org
produces. |
|
13:20:46 |
Webmama_Tina |
cool |
|
13:20:56 |
Webmama_Tina |
i like the power of onesie idea they
have, lol |
|
13:21:17 |
MAUma Paige |
We have yet to formalize a partnership,
but we very much support one another.
We're approaching similar issues from
different corners of the pie-- they
directly advocate for mothers. |
|
13:21:21 |
Webmama_Tina |
very cute...what you were just talking
about made me think of that...seemed
like something y'all could join forces
to do |
|
13:21:26 |
MAUma Paige |
WE directly advocate for children. |
|
13:21:30 |
Webmama_Tina |
ah i see |
|
13:21:36 |
Webmama_Tina |
was wondering what the difference was |
|
13:21:40 |
Webmama_Tina |
sounds great to have both then :) |
|
13:21:48 |
MAUma Paige |
Nashville's MAU community did do the
Power of Onsie Action. See here: |
|
13:21:55 |
Webmama_Tina |
http://www.momsrising.org/PowerofONEsie
for those that are not familiar with
what i'm talking about |
|
13:22:23 |
MAUma Paige |
http://nashvillemau.blogspot.com/2007/06/kindred-spirits.html
|
|
13:23:23 |
kellyboo |
? |
|
13:23:25 |
Webmama_Tina |
oh awesome! |
|
13:23:26 |
MAUma Paige |
In Nashville, our MAU community has
weekly Mobilize the Mamas play and
action groups. The children play, the
mamas (and daddies) act up. The Mini-MAUs
have the model of everyday activism
embroidered into their lives. |
|
13:23:36 |
Webmama_Tina |
kellyboo, go ahead, there's no one else
in line |
|
13:23:37 |
AutumnMama |
That's so cool! |
|
13:24:07 |
MAUma Paige |
So for a handful of those mornings we
decorated onesies and supported the
action locally / nationally. |
|
13:24:20 |
kellyboo |
ok, Paige, if we aren't fortunate enough
to live in an area with an active MAU
chapter but still want to do something
locally, what do you suggest? |
|
13:24:50 |
MAUma Paige |
Well, my job is to help build those
communities, so I'd say let's talk!! |
|
13:25:16 |
MAUma Paige |
I think each community has to be what it
is meant to be to best support its
larger community. |
|
13:25:26 |
kellyboo |
we actually already do - I'm Kelly from
memphis! |
|
13:26:30 |
MAUma Paige |
Right on! |
|
13:26:47 |
kellyboo |
? |
|
13:26:54 |
Webmama_Tina |
go ahead kelly |
|
13:26:55 |
Webmama_Tina |
:) |
|
13:27:32 |
MAUma Paige |
There actually is a community in
Memphis, but it's grown dormant. I'm
planning to come to Memphis this summer
to do a MAU Now workshop, and plan to
present at the Ghandi-King conference in
October. Those are both things around
which I hope to generate |
|
13:27:42 |
MAUma Paige |
renewed interest in MAU community
there. |
|
13:28:11 |
kellyboo |
I'm looking at the MAU website and it
suggests that we go and visit our
members of congress. can you give
specific details as to how to do that -
do you have to call and set up an appt?
what is the best thing to do to make the
visit 'count'? |
|
13:28:19 |
kellyboo |
cool on the memphis stuff, can't wait to
see you here. |
|
13:28:21 |
MAUma Paige |
In Nashville, we're largely mothers of
young children, which make playgroup
formats work for us. In Strafford, VT,
the women are mostly 50-80 +... |
|
13:29:24 |
MAUma Paige |
In order to make the visit \count\" as
you say, it IS preferable to plan it and
to get mamas and children all in
agreement to time / place / plan. And to
schedule it with a rep. " |
|
13:30:19 |
MAUma Paige |
But it isn't strictly necessary if you
just want to drop by! You can go and
fill out a comment card, leave a letter,
etc. Here in Nashville, we're lucky in
that our Congressional Rep office is in
the public library, |
|
13:30:31 |
kellyboo |
and how would you go about selecting a
topic to discuss? |
|
13:30:45 |
kellyboo |
i would imagine that just a general
\support our children\" won't do all
that much" |
|
13:30:51 |
MAUma Paige |
so after a slew of visits March, April &
May in big groups, we're now going by as
individual families once a week. |
|
13:31:00 |
kellyboo |
that's very cool |
|
13:31:06 |
kellyboo |
i'm going to look up my rep's office |
|
13:31:37 |
MAUma Paige |
You're right, Kelly. I would suggest
choosing an area of the Mother Agenda to
focus on. The True Cost of War is a very
hot and current one. |
|
13:31:49 |
kellyboo |
paige, i have to go now but i enjoyed
the chat! see you at the next one! |
|
13:32:01 |
MAUma Paige |
Given that our Congress just basically
voted for a blank check to fund this war
through the fall, it's imperative to
let |
|
13:32:38 |
MAUma Paige |
our elected officials know that mothers
will not stand for allocation of
resources this way. OUr children need it
more to combat hunger, poverty,
healtcare woes, etc. |
|
13:33:00 |
MAUma Paige |
Thank you for coming, Kelly! Feel free
to write me at
paige@mothersactingup.org . |
|
13:33:40 |
MAUma Paige |
Today in Boulder, their group is taking
a big old fieldtrip on a schoolbus! |
|
13:33:50 |
MAUma Paige |
To visit their rep's office!! |
|
13:34:00 |
MAUma Paige |
Here's the recipe for Field Trips: |
|
13:34:21 |
MAUma Paige |
http://www.mothersactingup.org/level3/recipes_fieldtrips.html
|
|
13:35:02 |
MAUma Paige |
MAU is strongly encouraging communities
to plan field trips through the summer.
Even if you do not live in a capitol
city, you have access to your reps w/in
an hour of your domicile in most
cases!! |
|
13:35:39 |
Webmama_Tina |
anyone with a question for paige, just
post a single question mark |
|
13:35:51 |
MAUma Paige |
These fieldtrips are so important to
teach ourselves and our children about
civic involvement, and they're mighty
empowering. |
|
13:36:17 |
MAUma Paige |
It's great for our public servants to
see that mothers are a force to be
reckoned with. |
|
13:36:45 |
Webmama_Tina |
are there any positive results you can
share with us paige? |
|
13:37:33 |
MAUma Paige |
the most directly accessed result is the
confidence of our community of mothers. |
|
13:37:57 |
MAUma Paige |
they now feel empowered to speak up and
out in a way that's largely new. |
|
13:39:09 |
MAUma Paige |
And that comes into play through all
things, from speaking to the playground
bully to advocating against budget cuts
of our public library (something that
would radically cut children's
programming) and speaking out for equal
access to culture |
|
13:39:17 |
AutumnMama |
? |
|
13:39:25 |
Webmama_Tina |
go ahead autumnmama |
|
13:39:26 |
Webmama_Tina |
:) |
|
13:39:30 |
MAUma Paige |
which equalizes folks. Such is the
nature of the PUBLIC in library. |
|
13:39:38 |
MAUma Paige |
Yes m'am! |
|
13:39:56 |
AutumnMama |
So, what can we do if we're too far away
from our state's capitol to go and visit
with reps?\ |
|
13:40:43 |
MAUma Paige |
Your rep has offices all over the state.
Not just in the capitol city, so you DO
have access. Look in your blue pages in
the phonebook and online. |
|
13:41:26 |
MAUma Paige |
I recommend popping into the office with
homemade cookies and a baby on your hip
to simply introduce yourself. Then
schedule a bigger visit with more mamas
and kids.... |
|
13:41:58 |
