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MomsRising Adds Activism To Busy Days

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By LISA ZAGAROLI McClatchy Newspapers

Published: January 29, 2008

WASHINGTON - Amy Tiemann was a neuroscientist, then a high school teacher, next a mother.

The constraints of that third job inspired the Chapel Hill, N.C., woman to carve out time to reconnect with her own passions and put them into action. Now she is one of the leaders of a group of "naptime activists" who hope to make a difference in the presidential election and universal issues facing families.
Tiemann is on the executive board of MomsRising.org, an online organization of about 140,000 people trying to fit social activism in at times when they're not earning a paycheck, caring for a child or tending to a household.

"We are reaching out to women who have an impulse to make a difference but are so busy and overwhelmed that we have to reach them where they are," says Tiemann, author of the book "Mojo Mom: Nurturing Yourself While Raising a Family."

"The Internet is key because it allows us to work together across geography and across time. New moms in particular are so busy, and if you have one hour, even if it's at 1 a.m., you can find an action item to do right then."

Participants can sign a petition calling for an end to toxic toys, send an e-mail encouraging lawmakers to support health insurance for children or decorate a onesie (one-piece baby garments) with a legislative slogan that will later be strung across the front of a state capital building. (They call that the "Power of ONEsies.")

A current MomsRising effort is to lobby senators on fair wage legislation. The bill seeks to reverse the results of a Supreme Court ruling that fair pay discrimination claims must be made within 180 days of the salaries being set.

"We will have MomsRising members around the country showing up at their senators' offices," says the group's co-founder, Joan Blades of Berkeley, Calif. "It's a real reminder that they've got constituents, real people, that are counting on them to make this legislation pass."

The group counts among its successes a multipartner effort in Washington state to get paid family leave signed into law last year.

Blades knows about the power of online political activism. She also co-created MoveOn .org, the group that bubbled up after the Clinton impeachments. MomsRising tackles everyday issues such as maternity and paternity leave, flexible work schedules, health care for children and child care.

Women have been recognized as an influential political force in past elections, and the first presidential campaign with a serious female contender, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is no exception.

"'Soccer moms' was the political world's attempt to characterize who we are and what we care about," says Tiemann, the Chapel Hill mom. "With 'naptime activists,' we're actually telling them and ... saying this is who we are and what we care about and we aren't going to sit on the sidelines."

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