THE MOMS OF PDX

Hundreds of mothers joined Black Lives Matter demonstrations on the streets of Portland as federal officers move in to stop protests.

• This self-described “Wall of Moms” linked arms to create a human barrier to protect protesters from federal troops, shouting, “Feds stay clear! Moms are here!” and turning “Hands up, please don’t shoot me,” into a lullaby. 
• On Saturday, dressed in white and wearing bike helmets, the mothers stood outside a federal courthouse for several hours before federal officers used tear gas, batons and flash bangs to disperse the crowd. 

Bev Barnum, the organizer of “Wall of Moms,” told Buzzfeed News, “We are about protecting peaceful citizens’ right to protest.” 

• Many of the Portland moms in attendance admitted to not having joined in any of the 50-plus days of protesting since police killed George Floyd. They said they were moved to action following the arrival of federal agents to “dominate” protesters.  
• Portland has a long history of protests, but an even longer history of deep rooted racism, starting in 1844, when Oregon, then a territory, passed its first Black exclusionary law.

For centuries, mothers have taken to the streets to protest and protect.

• In 1850, women in West Virginia organized Mother’s Day work clubs organized with a goal “to reduce infant mortality and improve sanitary conditions for mothers and families.” In 1873, writer Julia Ward Howe organized “Mother’s Peace Day,” encouraging mothers to support anti-war efforts “so that their sons wouldn’t die prematurely.”
• On November 1, 1961, over 50,000 women in 60 different cities went on strike to protest the testing of nuclear weapons. The “Women Strike for Peace” was predominantly made up of mothers concerned with “the effects of nuclear proliferation on the short- and long-term health of their children.”
• The first Earth Day is largely a result of young women, often mothers, writing senators expressing their concern for the “environmental threats to their children.”
• Over the past decade, groups like Moms Demand Action and Mothers of the Movement — a collective of women who have lost children to gun violence — have organized in response to guns in schools and at home.

BIDEN'S GOT A PLAN FOR THAT

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden unveiled his long-awaited caregiving plan Tuesday, outlining a $775 billion package that aims to patch cracks in the nation's ailing child care and elder care systems over the course of 10 years.

"We're always focused on shovel-ready jobs, what we can do immediately to get the money out to communities. But that's what care jobs are — they are shovel ready," Biden said during a speech in Delaware. "The workers are ready now. These jobs can be filled now. Millions of people, primarily women, can get back to work now, increasing the growth of the GDP and family income."

Here are some of the takeaways from Biden’s plan:

• Providing free pre-kindergarten to all 3- and 4-year-olds. 
• Subsidizing child care through tax credits to low-income and middle-class families.
• Providing access to child care on a sliding scale for families with children up to 5 years of age. A typical family will pay no more than $45 a week. 
• Increasing benefits for child care workers, including pay hikes, access to new federally-provided paid family, medical and sick leave, and affordable child care for workers' children.