May 14, 2013
Mothers Turned Activists
The old saying goes that if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Here, from the Bill Moyers website, are brief profiles of six women who faced different kinds of adversity, heartbreak, or awakenings to problems affecting their community and, in their own version of “lemonade,” created movements for social change. Because they cared about their own children and other people’s children, they let their grief, worry, and anger compel them to take action, becoming leaders in ways they never imagined.
For related reading about how the personal can become political, learn about the activism that has emerged from many of the families who lost loved ones in the Newtown mass shooting this past December. See especially “Sandy Hook Moms,” from the Huffington Post. It’s an essay coauthored by four of the Newtown mothers who say they are not going to go away and will keep working for change. They want to celebrate their children’s lives “by turning this tragedy into a moment of transformation,” honoring the 26 lives lost “by advocating common sense solutions—solutions that address the issues that result in gun violence, including mental health policy, school safety solutions, addressing the isolation in our communities, and yes, gun safety and responsibility.”
