Come Join the Parade.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Paige La Grone Babcock or Kate Wingate
Paige 615-258-3966; Kate 615-352-8718
paigelabab@comcast.net or kzwingate@yahoo.com
http://www.nashvillemau.blogspot.com
www.mothersactingup.org

MOTHERS ACTING UP HOSTS MOTHER’S DAY PARADE AND RECLAIMS MOTHER’S DAY

Web-based Grassroots Movement Mobilizes Thousands of Mothers* To Move From Concern To Action
“It’s time to invest in the global family and divest from war”

May 1, 2006, [Nashville, TN] – Mothers Acting Up (MAU), an organization dedicated to mobilizing the gigantic political strength of mothers* to ensure the health, education and safety of every child, along with Nashville Peace & Justice Center, CodePink, Peace Roots Alliance, Wild Oats and Plum Good Food today announced that on Mother’s Day, May 14, at 12:30pm, mothers and their families will come together at Fannie Mae Dees Park (Dragon Park) to express their personal commitment and invite their communities to join them to prioritize and protect children.

On Mother’s Day weekend, Mothers Acting Up (MAU) will host events—ranging from mini tea parties, to radio addresses, to outrageously costumed parades—that reclaim Mother’s Day as it was originally envisioned in 1870; a day when mothers would gather to protect the lives of our human family. After the Civil War Julia Ward Howe wrote in her journal, "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters, to prevent the waste of that human life that they alone bear and know the cost?"

Drawing on Julia Ward Howe's original vision of a Mother’s Day for Peace, MAU began in 2002 with one event in Boulder, Colorado and has spread rapidly due to the resonance of its message with people from all walks of life. Over the past three years, MAU has hosted 45 events from Sitka, Alaska to Memphis, Tennessee, all organized by mothers*, many of whom had never taken political action before. Along with Boulder, Parades will be held in Vashon Island, Seattle, Denver, Nashville, Manhattan, the Bronx and more. This movement is enabling mothers* to find their voice and move from concern to action at the local, national and global level.

The purpose of the 2006 MAU Mother’s Day celebrations is to inspire, educate and engage local communities to move from concern to action on issues confronting children worldwide. The events will include national collective action to educate communities about the US commitment to fund the Millennium Development Goals, a set of 8 goals to halve extreme poverty by the year 2015. “It’s time to invest in the global family and divest from war.” The action will be directed at Katie Couric and locally respected media figures –- Demetria Kalodimos in Nashville!!-- requesting their leadership in reaching a million mothers* who in turn will educate our communiti es and enter our halls of Congress to insist not another new nickel is spent the military until the Millennium Development Goals are funded. One event will have 8 mothers* on stilts depicting each of the MDGs!

Nashville organizers Paige La Grone Babcock and Kate Wingate met on a peace march earlier this year. Both mothers of young children, they immediately began to dream of a Mother’s Day reclamation event. In its inaugural year, the Nashville Mother’s Day Peace Parade will begin with gathering at Dragon Park for tricycle, wagon, stroller & wheelchair decorating. The Parade through Hillsboro Village will commence at 1:30 and return to the park at 2400 Blakemore where there will be a reading of Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation, entertainment, fellowship and refreshment. Local children’s entertainer Nate the Great will juggle and perform other feats of daring do; Nashville acoustic aggregate The Contrarians will provide a lively string band soundtrack. Wild Oats and Plum Good Food will provide cake, juice and water for Mother’s Day revelers.

About Mothers Acting Up
Mothers Acting Up (MAU) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing the gigantic strength of mothers* on behalf of the world's children. MAU offers a new breed of activism; one that is positive, accessible and supports mothers in making informed personal choices, inspiring collective action and influencing decision-makers. Through its annual Mother’s Day Parades in cities across the country, and other periodic events, MAU encourages mothers and others to publicly and passionately advocate for the world’s children. MAU is based in Boulder, CO. To learn more, please vis it www.mothersactingup.org.
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