Tightrope Moms: Balancing hope’s tightrope
Forget NASCAR dads. Never-mind Grizzly Mamas. The Tea Party is yesterday’s news.”Tightrope Moms” and their families are the key constituency to mobilize to win during the 2012 presidential election cycle.
Tightrope moms are younger, more diverse [read women of color] and more open minded to new solutions than their media created counterparts. They’re, like most moms, poised in a continuous balancing act to work and pay the bills, raise their children and, ultimately, live their dreams.
- Tightrope moms aspire for a better world for their children and work hard to make sure they’re families have the best opportunities and a sense of safety and stability. Yet, they depend on services and their community and family to balance their careers, the needs of their children, and their personal hopes and dreams.
- They volunteer at community organizations, run the PTA’s and neighborhood associations, do all the work at the job, at home and in the community.
- They are the cornerstones of all community activity – from block parties to clothes swaps to child sports leagues. Long before “community organizing” was en vogue, young women of color having been organizing our communities all along.
So What makes them a key constituency? Why is targeting tightrope moms the strategic thing to do?
Well, to put it simply, they don’t vote in the numbers you’d expect based on their involvement in the community. Hmmm, makes you wonder if politicians are really listening to them.
If we can speak to their dreams, their hopes for a better future and listen to their creative solutions to the day’s problems, they’ll vote…and change the game in key swing states like Ohio, New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, Pennsylvania and more.
And guess what? They have something to say. Speaking and listening to tightrope moms and their issues will not only make for a better national conversation about the future; it’s the politically smart thing to do.
At the Center for Media Justice, we believe the power to communicate and imagine and organize for a better future must belong to everyone. Join us as we fight for a strong public voice for tightrope moms and imagine a new future together. Click the “like” button if you feel me.
Lisa Russ of Movement Strategy Center contributed to this blog’s content.
