by sheloves
[Scroll down to see how you can win a copy of Shayne Moore’s latest book, Refuse to Do Nothing.]
“I found changing the world happens right where we are … In the midst of motherhood, I slowly opened up my world to the possibility of being a change agent from my kitchen.”
By Shayne Moore | Twitter: @globalsoccermom
“When the true history of the antislavery cause shall be written, women will occupy a large space in its pages; for the cause of the slave is peculiarly a woman’s cause.” — Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass wrote these words almost 200 years ago. After escaping from slavery, he became a cementing force in the abolitionist movement against the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
In our world today we face another kind of slavery. Slavery isn’t new. The pursuit of wealth at the exploitation of another human being goes back to the beginning of recorded history. Unlike the past, slavery is now illegal everywhere in the world yet it thrives. There are estimated 27 million men, women and children in slavery today—more than ever in the history of the world.
Of these 27 million slaves today, it is estimated that 80 percent are women and children.
I am a mom—an everyday, ordinary mom who lives outside of Chicago, Ill. Everywhere I go around town, I see a smiling familiar face. If I am ever in need I am warmly taken care of with meals, childcare, and snow removal, you name it.
I have three children and I have been blessed to be a stay-at-home mom. Yet, in the midst of my mommy life, something nagged at my heart and mind. I was good at ignoring it. For years I pushed it away. Just do another load of laundry. Run to the store. Bath time, naptime, dinner time.
Before being a mom, I lived in the inner city of Los Angeles working as an inner city school teacher. It was an exciting time. I loved my students and all they taught me. It was satisfying to feel I was making a difference.
Then I got married, became a mom, and moved back to my hometown. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a mom and I don’t want anyone else to do my job. But it seemed I slipped into a “suburbian stupor.” My world got very small. Those long, blurry days of new motherhood found me with uncombed hair pulled off my face in a lopsided ponytail. My biggest concerns were making sure everyone was in one piece and fed.
Those where the days of finding Greta down the block on her big wheel wearing only a diaper, finding JD’s plastic dinosaurs on every windowsill, and when finding a sippy cup that didn’t leak was a monumental feat.
I wish someone had assured me this was appropriate and, in time, my world would open up again. As those babies grow and move out into the world, so will we.
I eventually woke up from my suburbian stupor. With the help of friends such as my co-author, Kimberly Yim, I learned about what was happening to other moms and their children around the world. My mother-heart broke and expanded, making room to care for more than the adorable people at my feet.
I found solidarity with women and mothers worldwide who are aware of the evils of modern-day slavery and who fight against it. Both on the front lines and right from where they are in their own communities.
I found changing the world happens right where we are. It can be small changes in thinking and acting that end up having snowball effects. In the midst of motherhood, I slowly opened up my world to the possibility of being a change agent from my kitchen.
I began to educate myself, blogged, traveled and even wrote a book—all from within the confines of my suburban life. I took inspiration from the abolitionist women of 200 years ago. These women were the cement of that movement. At a time when women could not hold political office, work outside the home, vote or do public speaking, these courageous and tenacious women fought anyway.
They fought slavery from their own communities. They educated, circulated information, formed sewing circles and made items to sell to raise money and awareness for the abolitionist movement. They stayed in community with other women who prayed, educated and boycotted any products made with slave labor.
In our book, Refuse To Do Nothing: Finding Your Power To Abolish Modern-Day Slavery, it is the spirit of these abolitionist women that runs through the pages and informs all we do today when we fight this evil in our lifetime.
As women, we have more power than we realize.
–We have relationship power. Our interpersonal networks run deep. We have power as mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, friends, church-goers, citizens–this list goes on. We can begin, like our abolitionist sisters from the past, to simply start where we are and with who and what is in front of us.
–We have advocacy power. We can lobby, vote and talk to our local and Federal law makers about what breaks our hearts. When women mobilize about causes they care about, politicians listen.
–We have purchasing power. Women control the economies of our homes. We have influence over corporations and products we purchase. Slavery is in every shopping mall in America. When ordinary women start to be informed and act, or stop buying certain brands or products, those producing the products listen. Hurt them where it counts. In the wallet.
I am not a policy expert or working full-time on the front lines in the battle against modern-day slavery. I’m just a mom.
Or am I?
I encourage all whose hearts are aching over the reality of modern-day slavery, and who don’t know how or where to start, to join us. Read Refuse To Do Nothing. Get a few friends to join you. In these pages you will find immediate and accessible things you can do right now to make a difference. Find our page on Facebook and stay in the conversation.
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Dear SheLoves friends, we’d love to hear from you!
Share how you’re planning on becoming a change agent against slavery. Comment on this story or share the link on your Facebook page (don’t forget to tag SheLoves Magazine, so we can see your post). Comment or share by Sunday, Feb 24 and we’ll enter your names into a drawing for a FREE copy of Refuse to Do Nothing by Shayne and her co-author Kimberly Yim.
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About Shayne:
Shayne Moore, MA is the author of Refuse to do Nothing: Finding Your Power to Abolish Modern-Day Slavery and Global Soccer Mom: Changing the World is Easier Than You Think. Shayne is a founder and sits on the board of directors at Redbud Writers Guild. With an MA in theology, Shayne is an active speaker and writer at www.ShayneMoore.com and tweets at @globalsoccermom. She supports and works closely with World Vision, ONE, World Relief and is a member of the World Vision Speakers Bureau.
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Image Credit: InterVarsity Press
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