I initially learned of Mothering Justice by way of an introduction facilitated by Civicize Me’s Shannon Garrett and became involved as a Movement Fellow. I see the Movement Fellowship as an opportunity to increase my personal network of women of color who are in the same place as I am: we have neither adequate political representation at the local, state and national levels nor enough collective wealth to directly influence the political process. What I do have—and the other ladies in my cohort do too—is “enough sense” to know that a lot of policy prevents Michigan families from obtaining basic resources and opportunities, thereby resulting in them being marginalized.
The upcoming launch of the West Michigan Mamavist initiative effectively establishes a local presence for Mothering Justice which is a statewide organization dedicated to returning decision making power to the ones affected by these decisions the most. The overall goal of the organization is to empower a well-organized group of mothers that will engage fellow mothers and law makers around a variety of issues that affect working families. I will be working on safety net advocacy.
What is a Mamavist you ask? A Mamavist is what we affectionately call our volunteers and activists. A Mamavist is a mother that stands up for her community, holding candidates and elected officials accountable for policies addressed via the Mamas’ Agenda: affordable child care, earned paid sick time, family medical leave, raising the minimum wage, saving the safety net, and women’s health. The Mamavist initiative falls underneath the newly-created MJ Action Fund umbrella which focuses on grassroots political engagement.
By empowering mothers to influence policy on behalf of themselves and their families, Mothering Justice hopes to change the future of families in Michigan for the better. So often women with children have to rely on others’ judgement on issues of health and financial security, and when they are not able to advocate for solutions to the problems they care about, a vital voice is missing from the discussion. This is why the Mamavist initiative was created and why I am excited to bring it to Grand Rapids.
The inaugural effort will be the “Phone-a-Friend” program where each participant will be asked to reach out to people in their network (or contact list) that they think need to be encouraged to vote this year. At Mothering Justice we like to say “No experience necessary, passion required.” Mothering Justice is a family of awesome people that will help participants every step of the way.
Mothering Justice is looking for mothers in the Grand Rapids area to work as ambassadors around issue advocacy and voter engagement. I will help you put your experiences into words to share with the public, and help you figure out how to get your friends and family to vote. Please join us for an information session this upcoming Sunday, September 30 at 2 p.m. at Local Mocha Coffee located in downtown Grand Rapids, or feel free to email me at [email protected] for more information.
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