By NINA FURUKAWA Daily Press Mommy Page Editor
Hundreds of mothers and families from all over the United States and beyond will converge on Los Angeles this month for a weekend of potluck, workshops, planning and sisterhood.
The Mama Gathering is a conference and “celebration of mamas whose parenting and/or lifestyle choices set them apart from the main-stream and who want to connect with others who consider the same parenting and social issues,” organizers say.
The event is being produced by a small group of mothers interested in building on a community experience that began on the internet.
“Many of the people involved in the gathering became acquainted with one another on various online bulletin boards created by and for mothers who don’t quite fit the main-stream,” says Mama Gathering’s publicity coordinator Sarah Caudle. “We’re trying to create an opportunity for these mamas to come together in person to stimulate new ideas and to relate to each other on a more personal level.
The conference includes a feminism and popular media panel and discussion, creative writing workshops by acclaimed mama writers, presentations on peaceful parenting and political activism, and more. All workshops will be held Saturday, July 12 and childcare is available. Other events include a potluck and book preview on Friday, July 11 at a Westside park, and a Saturday night dinner and party featuring musical performances by parents, a reading by the original hip Mama, Ariel Gore, and speakers such as modern feminist icon Inga Muscio.
In a recent article on the Mothering Magazine Web site, Gathering producer Dori Lanni said the gathering is a conference, plan-ning and group therapy session all in one.
“Of course we’ll talk about parenting and the politics of motherhood, but we are also focused on feminism, reclaiming family and reproductive health from the medical industry, fighting racism, alternatives to mainstream education and media and how to take all of these ideas and concepts back home to apply to our own communities,” she said.
The Mama Gathering Web site said the event is organized by unpaid mama volunteers and funded entirely by registration fees and donations, with no corporate sponsorships. Families, dads and male partners are welcome. Participants must pre-register as space is limited. The deadline to register is July 7. For more information and to register, visit the Web site at http://www.mamagathering.com (As the editor of the Santa Monica Mom page, Nina Furukawa plans to start bringing readers news of upcoming family events in the area. If you know of any such events or are planning them yourself, please contact her via e-mail at or by faxing the information to her attention at (310-576-9913.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 1, 2003. Read the original PDF.