Join the Magnificent Revolution.

“Having never organized anything before in my life, I have to say that I hope that I am emblematic of a piece of some mothers/others can take away from this event: I'm doing this, essentially, by myself. And if I can do this, in the name of trying to step in the right direction on behalf of my two little girls, anyone can do it. I believe that these times provide fertile ground for the type of activism that MAU gives us the opportunity to be a part of, and I'm hopeful that I can help be a part of that work.” Helen Maye, (brand new!) Community Organizer and Mother’s Day Reclaimer: Portland, ME

Dear Reclaimers of Mother’s Day,

From the tips of the toes through the shimmy of my hips and on up up up…. I want to dance when I read Helyne’s words of empowerment, above. Yes, and yes, and yes!

To paraphrase Beth, one of the co-founding MAU mavens, never doubt that YOU are the perfect and most right one to speak out (and joyfully so!) on behalf of your children and ALL of the children.

So hold this kernel of knowledge in your hearts, sock it away in your bosom and add a little pep to your step as you heed Julia’s call to take it to the streets this weekend! Your town and her town and my town: we are one large wave of community, a force of mobilized mamas to be reckoned AND LAUGHED with. For we are Joy Warriors engaged in a magnificent apron string revolution to honor the promise of our children’s lives.

This Acting Up, it is serious business, and is most potent and most lasting when done from a place of enjoyment and togetherness. Throw your head back and sing, sing it loud, and with abandon, as in community we sow the seed our song in the fertile ground of hope.

Oh, and take pictures, will you? Write down what you see and feel and observe? And share it all with us later? Because we think not only do you look smashing, but know you are dizzyingly beautiful when you own your Mother Leadership. Really, we do. And that is something to celebrate all year long, and into next.

That the great human family may live in peace….

Paige for the MAU Mavens

--
Paige La Grone Babcock, National Outreach Coordinator & Community Organizer, MOTHERS ACTING UP: celebrating Mother Leadership in 2007

www.mothersactingup.org

PO Box 1244

Boulder, CO 80306

303.474.1286

paige@mothersactingup.org

Nashville office 615.750.3780

Mobile mama 615.495.1879

MAUs are reclaiming Mother's Day across the land.... join the festive revolution!! www.mothers-acting-up.blogspot.com

In peace.

Parenting & Politics Breakfast, this morning.

MAU is non-partisan, and does not endorse candidates.

It does, however, endorse active mother involvement in linking the personal and political. Here's a great opportunity to do just that.

Why does being political matter? How can I juggle civic commitments and parenting? How does parenting inform my politics?

Please join us for a discussion of Parenting and Politics on Wednesday, May 9
10:00-11:30 a.m.
1808 West End Avenue
(there will be signs in the building directing you to the event)

Former Tennessee House Majority Leader and Senior Advisor to Governor Phil Bredesen
Kim McMillan will join us in reflecting on her own challenges in rearing two children while working in politics

Ms. McMillan will then be joined by a panel of other active parents to discuss their own Parenting and Politics

Kristine LaLonde will moderate the discussion

Coffee, pastries, juice boxes, and fruit will be provided.


There will be childcare available, including arts and crafts.

The event is free and open to everyone. We are, however, soliciting sponsors for the event. For $25 you can help defray the costs of this activity; your name or the name of your organization will be recognized on the program.

Although RSVPs are not required, they will be helpful (please include the number of children and their ages).

Just email me directly at kristinelalonde@yahoo.com to let me know that you can come. Please forward this to any interested parents.


Sponsored by the Davidson County Democratic Party

Ms. Booty Homemaker Explains It All To You.: MBH Explains All on Mothering Chat tomorrow.

Ms. Booty Homemaker Explains It All To You: MBH Explains All on Mothering Chat tomorrow.

Local MAU and family highlighted for organic farming.

One of Nashville's own Mothers Acting Up, Nancy Van Winkle and family embrace the Mother Agenda's For Kids' Sake campaign, creating sustainable and organic agriculture that nourishes bodies and knits both family and community ever closer. The VanWinkle's Bramble Hill Farm was recently featured in the Tennessean, along with several other farming families up in the northern corner of greater Nashville in the White's Creek area.

Nancy, who has taken on the role of Sponsorship Maven in planning Nashville's 2nd Annual Mother's Day Peace Parade, will be on hand the day of the festivities with her family and sharing information about their beloved Bramble Hill Farm.

Playgroup / Senatorial visit / rain plan!!

Since we’re leaving for the Senatorial visit at 11, we’ll meet at Centennial Park Playground at 10 —we’ll be beneath the little gazebo if it’s raining.


I have posters and handbills, beautifully printed out by our sponsors at Kinko’s to pass out. Thanks to Kate for the handbill design and to Megan for hooking us up with the glorious color prints!!


IF you don’t come to playgroup, but want flyers / handbills, holler at me.

Earth Day.

Nashville MAUs on the news at Nashville's Earth Day Festival.

Photos of the day to come!!

MAUma to girlcott.

The Baby Bear Shop mama is a MAUma. We support the wonderful work she is doing in the community and in the world, by taking on advocacy for her own child to creating a cottage industry of ethical authority to serve all our children and to make a family living.

Baby Bear Shop is a luxurious way to pamper (and support!) activist mamas across the land....
TA DA! INTRODUCING NEW ORGANIC GIFT SETS! by BABYBEARSHOP™, a purely organic skincare line ‘just right’ for mothers, babies, and grown-ups alike who care about their health, the environment and having lusciously soft and healthy skin.

Indulge her with our Organic Gift Sets for the Boho Chic Mama and a little something for Baby. High design meets quality organic ingredients. Earthy, amber-hued bottles with vintage story-book illustrations, packaged in recycled kraft paper box with brown polka dot bow. Includes multi-use, completely natural and organic products to pamper Mama and Baby.

Look for Cheeky Baby Butter at Spa Nordstrom this month or check us out at Babiesrus.com!

Enter SWEETMAMA for free shipping now through 5/7. 10% off all wholesale orders through 5/7 - please fax orders to 650-327-1488 or email to shop@babybearshop.com.

Don't forget your sweet mama - order now for delivery by May 13th!

Scroll down to see an array of scrumptious gift sets and visit us online at www.babybearshop.com to make your purchase!

XO
BABYBEARSHOP
www.babybearshop.com
www.allthebettertokissyouwith.com

Hate crimes bill and mothers.

I called my representative about Hate Crimes... and the bill that goes up for a vote on Thursday.

I spoke with a staffer called Elizabeth and told her that as a citizen and mother, I felt strongly about the protection for ALL our citizens. I asked her how Representative Jim Cooper was going to vote, she said she did not know, but would take down my name, address and position on the issue.

Very simple.

I will continue to encourage folks to do the same. Go here for talking points and direction on how to act.

Everyone has a mother. Mothers protect their children and ALL our children. It's what we do. And keep doing.

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

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

Mothers Acting Up: As You Are.

Mothers Acting Up: As You Are.

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

Mothers Acting Up: Mother's Day Fundraiser for MAU.

Mothers Acting Up: Mother's Day Fundraiser for MAU.

Celebrate Earth Day Weekend with Mothers Acting Up.

Heya! Nashville’s Mothers Acting Up community is on the grow. Come build community, join in the fun, and get in on the ACTION. We are a welcoming community and a part of the larger national mother-led, mother-fed movement of mothers and others advocating passionately & publicly for the world’s children. If you haven’t yet done so, sign up on the website to receive monthly collective actions and be assured of all the latest news from local and national community organizers. www.mothersactingup.org

In this issue of the haps:

1) Friday 4/20 10-Noon: Mobilizing the Mamas Playgroup @ Centennial Park Playground

2) Friday 4/20 6-8 PM: Bring the Family Potluck Social & Salon CLIMATE PROJECT SLIDE SHOW PRESENTATION!!

3) Saturday 4/21 11-7 PM Nashville Earth Day Festival @ Centennial Park

Mobilizing the Mamas: Come one, come all.

Playgroup for mothers (and others) and their children.

Friday 4/20 (and every Friday!!) -- Centennial Park Playground, 10-Noon.

Bring outdoor play things (parachutes, bubbles, play silks, sidewalk chalk), blankets if you please, snacks to share.

Bring books or articles of interest to our growing mother activist community, as well as questions, comments and friends.

Build community, make new friends, hang with old ones.

From this point forward, we’ll be focused on actions well integrated into our playgroup time, as well as planning for the Mother’s Day Peace Parade. During the month of April, we will join with our sisters in action at MomsRising and decorate onesies as part of the Mother’s Day geared Power of ONEsie campaign. From MomsRising:

DECORATE A ONEsie & MAIL IT TO US: Make it personal! Over the next several months we'll be collecting ONEsies to display around the country. Simply get a new or used baby onesie (or a small kids t-shirt) and make it your own by decorating it with fabric paint, markers, or even rhinestones. Joan says, "I had fun doing a couple of ONEsies with my young daughter... and I was struck by what she wrote on hers, 'Love, love, love and more love.' She understands." You can add catchy slogans, hold a ONEsie decorating party, and/or have kids help with the project. *Mail Your Creation by May 1, 2007 to Be Part of a Fabulous Mother's Day Extravaganza: MomsRising, P.O. Box 19596, Seattle, WA 98109. (In case you forget the mailing address and other details, we set up a website for your easy reference: http://www.momsrising.org/PowerofONEsie)

We’ll have paint and some new onesies, but bring some to recycle as well!!

*** On inclement weather days we’ll gather at the downtown public library on the second floor in the children’s area.

Bring the Family Potluck Social & Salon

Friday, April 20, 2007
6:00p
Bring the Family Potluck Social and Salon

Mothers Acting Up has a potluck, the third Friday of each month, at the Friends' Meeting House, 530 26th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37209 (map).

April 20: We'll gather to sup, laugh, discuss Mother's Day parade planning, and build community. In celebration of Earth Day, (East Nashville’s own) Jacob Gordon, a recent graduate of Al Gore’s Climate Project, will give a slide show and talk about global warming and what we can do as citizens to address it!

Nashville's Mothers Acting Up community celebrates all families and all children. We heartily welcome you to join with us in fellowship. Bring the family! Bring friends. Our gatherings are always nursing friendly and open to ALL kinds of families: old, young, rich, poor; hip, hippies and anti-hipsters all; GLTB friendly; all colors, faiths and orientations; all styles of parenting from mainstream to super crunchy.

Please bring a dish to share. Drinks will be provided. In the spirit of community work together and of being kind to the earth, we'll use real dishes and wash them afterward.

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

Here are links to MAU's national website and blog, and to Nashville MAU's blog. For further information, contact Paige La Grone Babcock, paige@mothersactingup.org, Nashville office 615.750.3780, Mobile mama 615.495.1879.

Nashville MAU at Nashville’s Earth Day Festival

Saturday 4/21 11-7 PM; Centennial Park!

Our booth host an activity for children and other lovers of crafty fun, recycling treasures into hats to be worn as sun protection and decoration at the upcoming 2^nd Annual Mother’s Day Peace Parade (hosted by MAU at Dragon Park, Sun. May 13 12:30-3:30 PM).

Come on out and enjoy what promises to be a most enjoyable time!!

Nashville MAU welcomes all kinds of families into its ample bosom.

Come join the magnificent revolution to honor the promise of our children’s lives!!

In spirited partnership,

Paige for Nashville MAU

National Outreach Coordinator & Community Organizer

paige@mothersactingup.org

MAU at Compass Conference Saturday AM.

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.tennesseeallianceforprogress.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.

Local opportunities for MAU involvement and family fellowship abound, including weekly playgroups, monthly potluck socials & salons, regularly scheduled visits to state rep’s offices (next up: TOMORROW), MAU Now: The Joy of Activism—Mobilizing the Mamas workshop at this weekend’s Tennessee Alliance for Progress Compass conference, a booth the Earth Day Festival, and Nashville’s fast approaching 2^nd Annual Mother’s Day Peace Parade. Holler for details, or if you have interest in bringing Mothers Acting Up to your community.

March MAUs go out like lionesses...

Opportunities abound for community building, here are three THIS WEEKEND.


One) TODAY 3/30 MAU's regularly scheduled Mobilizing the Mamas Playgroup.

Friday 10-noon; Centennial Park Playground.

Bring sunscreen, outdoor toys (sidewalk chalk, trikes, beach balls, parachutes), snacks to share, your knitting or other craft if you like, ideas for Mother's Day op-eds & costumes, friends, family and welcoming attitudes.


Two) TODAY 3/30 One in a series of field trips to visit our state representatives along with Tennessee's Peaceable Assembly & Instruction Project, itself part of the national Occupation Project.

Friday 2:45-- outside Representative Cooper's office, downtown, Church Street.
These field trips are wonderful forays into civic and political egnagement In which which we lobby / advocate and appeal for / to our representatives to vote for peace. MAU’s role in this capacity is to show up passionate about our children’s welfare, ALL our children’s welfare, and to put real faces and bodies to Rep. Cooper’s constituency, as he is the person we visit today. MAU families and friends will gather in front of Cooper’s office (it’s inside the downtown public library, accessed from Church Street between the library’s main entrance and Provence) on the sidewalk at 2:45. I’m asking folks to bring with them their children, grandmothers, friends, welcoming spirits, homebaked cookies… whatever it takes to graciously thank Cooper for voting against appropriations last week, and to ask him to continue to vote for peace, thereby giving all children a bigger piece of the pie.

(NOTE: the next scheduled MAU group field trip was April 3-- this visit is in the process of being rescheduled! Write to Paige for details: paige@mothersactingup.org)


Three) Planning Meeting for Nashville MAU's Second Annual Mother's Day Parade for Peace.

Sunday afternoon. Write Paige for details: paige@mothersactingup.org

Living Green in Nashville and beyond.

Links to this great site keep popping up everywhere I turn, and seeing as one of the three campaigns that makes up the Mother Agenda is For Kids' Sake: Preserve Our Planet, it seems a good idea to share The Fun Times Guide to Living Green, where you can learn simple ways to make sustainable living fun and practical, reduce the size of your carbon footprint, and give children a bigger piece of the pie, for now, and for LATER. You'll find tips on how to make or use a rain barrell, how to reduce waste in general, and where to purchase bamboo panties!!

Playgroups.

The weather in Nashville now is GREAT. Everything's on the bloom, the sun is shining, and our community playgroup is thriving. Playgroups and potlucks help keep our community cohesive all the year through, and not just connected once a year at our Mother's Day Parade.

We meet each Friday at Centennial Park Playground in the window between 10 AM and Noon. We visit, share snacks, and do an action together whenever possible. These days, with the weather so accomodating to outdoor play, we have quite a crowd and we'll be parade planning, stilt building and costume making during our gatherings. Come join us! Bring friends, bring neighbors, bring grandmothers and fathers. ALL are welcome.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

2007_0317_143525AA, originally uploaded by Wingates.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

2007_0317_141328AA, originally uploaded by Wingates.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

2007_0317_142431AA, originally uploaded by Wingates.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

2007_0317_151401AA, originally uploaded by Wingates.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

Nashville MAUs at peace rally 3/17.

MAU at TAP Compass Conference.

Tennessee Alliance for Progress (TAP) – Compass IV Conference

April 13 & 14, 2007

Cohn Adult Learning Center, 4805 Park Avenue, West Nashville

Don’t miss TAP’s biggest meeting of the year. This two-day gathering of progressives from around the state will feature networking, workshops, skills trainings, films, live music, the TAP Long Haul Awards and Silent Auction, plus other events. This is THE statewide progressive gathering of the year in Tennessee. Keynote speakers will be David Sirota and Paul Waldman. David Sirota is a nationally renowned political commentator and author of the book, Hostile Takeover: How Big Business Bought our Government and How we can Take it Back. Paul Waldman is a senior fellow at Media Matters for America and the author of, Being Right is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn from Conservative Success. Visit the TAP website to register (click here).

Mothers Acting Up will be At TAP:

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.

Community Building ALL WEEKEND.

One organization has no hope of ensuring the health, education and safety of every child; generations of educated & committed communities absolutely can.

Our Spring schedule for the Nashville community of Mothers Acting Up is *packed*— it includes playgroups, potlucks, a peace rally, field trips to our representatives’ offices, as well as participation in Nashville’s Earth Day Celebration and a presence at TAP’s (TN Alliance for Progress) annual Compass conference!! All of this good community building culminates in our 2^nd Annual Mother’s Day Peace Parade at Fannie Mae Dees Park! Full schedule to come…

This weekend alone:

Friday March 16, 10-Noon

MOBILIZING THE MAMAS PLAYGROUP

@ Centennial Park playground

Bring friends, snacks to share, bright spirits. Over the next several weeks we’ll be working on stilt building and costume making leading up to Mother’s Day!!

In the event of significant rain or nasty weather, we now meet at the DOWNTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY on the 2^nd Floor in the Children’s Area.

Friday March 16, 6-8 PM

BRING THE FAMILY POTLUCK SOCIAL & SALON

@ The Nashville Friends Meeting House

Bring family and friends and a dish to share—we’ll share a meal, fellowship, and plan for our presence at the following day’s peace rally & march, as well as discuss the Mother’s Day Peace Parade.

Saturday March 17 , 2 PM

PEACE RALLY & MARCH in commemoration of the 4^th anniversary of the War in Iraq

@ The Musica Roundabout Park

MAU (and friends) will gather with babies and children together – we’re mamas. We’ll have snacks, cell phones, sunscreen, strollers, slings, backpacks—whatever makes us all comfortable and well nurtured. This event has been specially designed to be FAMILY FRIENDLY. MAUs will be peacekeepers and help one another mind the babes. Bring shoes and pots and pans and stilts (if you have them). Dress brightly and for fun and / or don an apron, if you care to. Wear comfortable shoes for the walk to the Federal Building.

Please see organizer Jane’s details below:

Dear Paige, Remembering last year at this time, I hope that all the
Mothers Acting Up and their babes and hubs and all will come to the

"Walk in Their Shoes" commemoration of the
4th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq this
Saturday at 2PM.We will gather at the
Owen Bradley Park, on Division & 16th, by the Musica Roundabout
for music, speakers and a peaceful ambiance.

At. 3:30 PM, we will walk to the Federal Building at Broadway & 8th,
carrying the signs and banners of our various groups. - hope MAU will
"march" under their signs!!! Or you may like to walk with the "Molly Ivans
Brigade" to honor that feisty progressive journalit's dying request that
we bang pots and pans and "Raise Hell to end the war!"

We will also carry old shoes, labelled with the names of Tennesseans,
friends and family members who have served and especially those who were
injured or killed in Iraq, and shoes with the names of Iraqi men, women
and children who have died in this conflict. The shoes will be lined up
along the curb in front of the Federal Building (and later given away).

Please come! With kids, strollers, old shoes or pots and pans if you have
them! Call for PEACE not endless escalation! Affirm springtime LIFE and
rebirth, not death and continued destruction! Things are in a great state
of flux at this moment - we can make a difference!

peace and love, Jane

A Time for Peace: Friday March 16.

The below comes to us from our friends at TAP (Tennessee Alliance for Progress.)

A Time for Peace rally and vigil at Legislative Plaza this Friday, March 16th, at 12:30 p.m.
to be followed at vigil at St. Ann's Episcopal Church at 6 p.m.

Mothers Acting Up: The Transformative Power of Mother's Day.

Mothers Acting Up: The Transformative Power of Mother's Day.

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.

In Peace....

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:

Sign On.

In coordination with the national “Occupation Project,” the Peaceable Assembly of Tennessee seeks to persuade our representatives to vote AGAINST any escalations in Iraq, supplemental appropriations for the Iraq War, or military attacks on Iran. We also seek to persuade them to sponsor or support legislation to instruct the President to begin to withdraw all U.S. military forces from Iraq, to be completed within 12 months. In short, we’re asking for:


No more escalation in Iraq
Support our troops by bringing them all home alive and healthy
End the war NOW
Prohibit a military attack on Iran


Why We Call Our Congress to Action:


Because we believe this war should never have been started. There were no WMD’s. There were no links to Al-Qaeda. There was no attack on the U.S.

Because more than 3,100 U.S. soldiers and 600,000 Iraqis have been killed

Because there are now 2 million Iraqi refugees and 50,000 more leave Iraq each month

Because at least $367 billion has been spent and Iraqi and U.S. citizens are in more danger than before it started

Because we know there is no end in sight except more loss of human life and financial resources unless our Congress takes up its constitutional power to end this travesty!

Sign on here.

Health Coverage for Children: a priority NOW.