Megan Matson
Leave My Child Alone
Previously Aired On: May 17, 2006 - Listen to this Show!
Some women trace their activism directly to their desire to leave the best possible world for their children. Megan has 3 kids of her own, started down the path of activism during the presidential primary when, as a Howard Dean supporter, she noticed how short-term everything is in politics. The trend ran counter to her own habit of contemplating the future her children would inherit.
Her solution was an organization: Mainstreat Moms Opposed to Bush. Now known as Mainstreat Moms Operation Blue (MMOB), the organization still displays the same activism and opposition to the Bush administration along with Megan’s conviction that motherhood is a “first identity” that unites women before political identity. The goal is to mobilize unregistered, likely progressive, single mothers.
Megan Matson is the prime mover along with Felicity Crush in the campaign against military recruiters on campus known as Leave My Child Alone (LMCA). MMOB teamed up with Working Assets and ACORN to fight the No Child Left Behind Act by attacking what Matson calls its weak link, the clause that requires public schools to provide military recruiters with student lists in exchange for federal funding. Matson and Crush see this tack as a way to galvanize parents who would otherwise be too intimidated by the vast scope of No Child Left Behind to protest against it.
In a style similar to an election campaign, LMCA operates opt-out parties, urging parents to remove their children from recruitment lists in a way that they might with unwanted telemarketers. These parties are pitched as a way to help people while having a good time while spreading the message: Keep your child’s contact information safe and away from military recruiters by submitting an opt-out letter in writing to your school districts superintendent.
LeaveMyChildAlong.org | Mainstreet Moms
