06 oct 2004
This section is part of Beth's upcoming
book Twice Alive: A Spiritual Guide
to Mothering Through Pregnancy and the
Child's
First Year that will be published
by Woven Word Press in Feb. of 2005
Acting
Up with Mothers
Beth Osnes
My work with Mothers Acting
Up feels like a worthy fit for my passions and abilities. I trust and love the other
women I am doing this with and feel a
life-long commitment to the goals towards
which we are striving. It suits my mother
soul that this work feels constructive
rather than reactionary, which too much
political activism ends up being. As I
recoil from confrontational, negative approaches
to politics, this celebratory and positive
approach feels like a comfortable home
for my budding activism. If I'm going to
stand up and speak out for something, it
has to be in a way that feels true for
me or I just won't keep doing it. Anger
can't
sustain my commitment, but the belief in
every child's right to health, education
and safety can. I don't like name-calling
or
mud slinging. It's such an elementary thing—that you don't need
to make somebody else look bad to make
yourself look good—but doing just
that is a natural human reflex, one that
mothers
are constantly reprimanding in their children.
The words that keep coming back to me
as I
do this work are, "It's not about
what somebody else should be doing." In
discouraged moments, it's easy to fall
into a pit of judgment and start flinging
blame around at others. None of us are
innocent. We all participate in the oppression
of the world's children in myriad ways:
by the gas we consume, by what we purchase
and from whom, and, most insidiously, by
our silent compliance with the status quo.
For real improvements to start happening,
we need to realize our shared responsibility
for our world and act upon our ability
to change it for the better.
Reaching out
into the world through MAU feels
like a spiritual calling to the mother
in me. It is cousin to the urge that cooks
chicken soup for friends when loss strikes
their lives, or the urge that wants to
put my sweater around the shoulders of
a cold child on the playground. My response
to this calling is a political one because
politics, especially American politics,
have the most far-reaching effects on the
quality of children's lives. Whether or
not babies in South Africa get the AIDS
antiviral drug is based on a political
decision to allocate aid to that country.
Whether
or not millions of U.S. children receive
quality preschool through Headstart is
a political decision. Politicians determine
priorities for each nation's resources
and allocate funds accordingly. Since no
corporation stands to make a profit off
of lobbying for the health, education and
safety of every child, then I need to speak up and advocate
on these children's behalf. Indeed, who
else will give voice to the voiceless?
Mothers are a natural lobby for children.
The longer I mother and the more I identify
myself as a mother, the larger my mother
shawl becomes. I can feel it reaching
its protective warmth around the entire
world and its children within. And here's the
unexpected pay-off: I am warmed ten-fold.
Beth Osnes is one of the four co-founders
of Mothers Acting Up, a movement to mobilize
the gigantic political strength of mothers
to ensure the health, education and safety
of every child, not just a privileged few.
MAU is not only the invitation and inspiration
to move from concern to action, but also
provides the tools needed to become politically
active while chasing little ones under
foot. Check us out at http://www.mothersactingup.org! |
