Changing the Story: YES!

It's time to shop, reflect, give thanks, eat! During the upcoming feasting and holiday celebrations, may we celebrate in particular the individuals who are changing the world's story with the strength of their commitment; a story in which currently every other child lives in poverty, almost half of all war casualties are children, and global warming threatens every child's future.

Let's take time to honor mothers like the late Dame Anita Roddick who said, "I want to connect with people who share my outrage…But I also want to tell — and hear…stories that lift our spirits, that celebrate how glorious our planet is. Outrage and celebration — let's run this gamut together." Inspired leaders like Greg Mortenson who says, "When I look into the eyes of the children in Pakistan and Afghanistan, I see the eyes of my own children full of wonder. I hope that we each do our part to leave them a legacy of peace." Mamas and community builders like Tiffany Bellah, who says, "Having a baby changes everything. Since that wonder-filled day 6 years ago when Grace entered this world, I have been reaching out of my comfort zone. She has made of me a responsible revolutionary, and my role as her mentor and mother has propelled me to take an active part in forming the world she will be inheriting."

People who, when our common family is threatened, find the courage and strength to change the story. This holiday season, Mothers Acting Up* cheers, stomps, whistles and in every other way honors the individuals around the world who are taking action on behalf of our future generations. YES!!!!

Purchase the 2008 MAU Handbooks for story-changing individuals,
information and actions: www.mothersactingup.org

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

Mamamade 2007!

I'll be on hand all day tomorrow at Mamamade 2007 to sell MAU Handbooks (think of it as the Passport for the Movement, honoring the promise of our children's lives!). I'll have Nashville MAU aprons and recycled tees (see photos here for examples-- each is different!) and I'll have MAU bumperstickers, too: they're green and round and look great on strollers, water bottles, guitar cases, and wagons (both the Volvo and the Radio Flyer version). You can go home with a bumper sticker for a buck and a pledge (of your choosing) to lessen your carbon imprint and do something to green up your family's life.

With me through the day will be my boy, Ziggy, and a few of the Nashville MAU mamas; we'll be ever so glad to answer questions about our local community, help you fill out voter registration cards, sign you up for national and local action and news of community building, and in general, cheer you on... You go, mama!! Remember, being one of many Mothers Acting Up takes on many forms and is not so much one more dang thing to do, but just part of the fabric of how we live....

The 2008 Mothers Acting Up Handbook: YES!

The world's children have found a brilliant new advocate: mothers*. We're stretching our traditional roles to include publicly advocating for children and the world's children shout YES!

The 2008 Handbook includes the inspirational voices of Marion Wright Edelman (founder of the Children's Defense Fund!), Anita Roddick (The Body Shop), Harry Belafonte, Dolores Huerta, Ann Crittenden, Joan Blades (Moms Rising), Patricia Foulkrod, Muhammad Yunus, Representative Jan Schakowsky, Massouda Jalal and a whole cast of mothers* sharing their personal insights. Designed to uniquely appeal to mothers, the Handbook addresses two of the biggest challenges to mother activism: lack of time and how overwhelming the problems seem. By offering a daily entry point (with simple actions and accessible information set in a beautiful, inspirational and lively format) the Handbook provides tools in a language that engages everyone, policy wonk and new activist alike!

Full color, 6.5 X 9 inches, soft cover & spiral bound, two year-at-a glance section.

Price: $20.00

Listen Up.

Nashville MAU gets voice on Liberadio(!).

Upcoming actions and events.

Nashville area Mothers Acting Up upcoming actions and events:

***Nashville MAU has agreed to adopt two foster children for holiday giving through Centerstone and to do a toy drive for St. Luke’s Community House; contact Paige for details on how to contribute paige@mothersactingup.org

Friday Nov 2, 10-NOON Mobilize the Mamas weekly play & action group @ *Centennial Park Playground – meet MAU co-founders Joellen Raderstorf & Beth Osnes!!

Friday Nov 2, 7:30 PM MAU Live! Theatre for Empowerment (M)other performance @ First UU Nashville, followed by discussion and refreshments

Saturday Nov 3, 9-Noon Workshop for Activism facilitated by MAU co-founder Beth Osnes @ First UU Nashville, followed by brown bag lunch AND….

Saturday Nov 3, 1 PM Girlcott of Bongo Java on Belmont—bring the family!!

Monday Nov 5, NOON Join Go Green Nashville for Lunch and Learn @ Second Presbyterian on Belmont with a talk given by earth stewards Hector & Susie Black of Cookeville, bring your own lunches

Friday Nov 9, 10-NOON Mobilize the Mamas weekly play & action group @ *Centennial Park Playground

Sat Nov 10, Tennessee Statewide Church Women United Conference @ Alex Haley’s Farm in Norris; MAU Now Workshop will be presented

Sun Nov 11, 11:11 AM Worldwide Meditation for Peace with Nashville Peace Coalition and Veterans for Peace @ Centennial Park by the Parthenon

Fri Nov 16, 10-NOON Mobilize the Mamas weekly play & action group @ *Centennial Park Playground

Fri Nov 16, 6-8 PM Bring the Family Potluck Social & Salon Celebrate Thanksgiving by feasting and visiting @ Nashville Friends Meeting House, 26^th & Torbett. With our children, we’ll be making Holiday cards for peace to send to our Members of Congress and Senators.

Sat Nov 17, 9-2 PM Mamamade 2007 @ New Song Christian Fellowship Church, 2949 Nolensville Pike Nashville MAU will be selling 2008 MAU Handbooks as well as handmade aprons and Nashville MAU recycled tees!

Fri Nov 23, NO MOBILIZE THE MAMAS PLAY AND ACTION GROUP THIS DAY!

Tues Nov 27, 9:30 Downtown Public Library Story Time, followed by a visit to Congressman Cooper’s office downstairs

Fri Nov 30, 10-NOON Mobilize the Mamas weekly play & action group @ *Centennial Park Playground

*inclement weather meeting place for Mobilize the Mamas groups is the Downtown Public Library, 2^nd Floor, children’s area

Nashville MAU blog: www.nashvillemau.blogspot.org, sign up there for our list serve!

MAU on Liberadio this week.

Stay tuned for the podcast and syndicated showtimes, and in the meantime, check out the Mary Mancini's post here about MAU and this weekend's Nashville activities.

(M)other gets Critic's Pick in Nashville Scene!

Maternal Devotion

(M)OTHER Tennessee Women’s Theatre Project co-sponsors this one-woman show by Beth Osnes, co-founder and program coordinator of the Colorado-based national organization Mothers Acting Up (MAU). Osnes explores issues of mothering in a cross-cultural context, with focus on a fictional UN program called “Baby Swapping,” in which mothers from seven nations exchange their six-month-olds for one month. The result is an intimate look at the maternal experience across international boundaries, including an analysis of the interconnectedness between the women, their children and their countries. In conjunction with her performance, Osnes presents a Nov. 3 workshop that uses theater as a tool to empower maternal voices for public expression and civic participation. For more information, contact Paige La Grone Babcock at paige@mothersactingup.org. 7:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Church —MARTIN BRADY

Mothers Acting Up works to ensure the health, safety and education of the world’s children by mobilizing the political strength of *mothers.

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

Mothers Acting Up: Mobilizing Mamas Project in Top 100 for Case Foundation Grant!

Mothers Acting Up: Mobilizing Mamas Project in Top 100 for Case Foundation Grant!