Photo: Christopher Langford
The next day, Watts started a Facebook page for other moms looking to have a voice in the gun violence prevention movement. “I only had 75 Facebook friends,” says Watts, whose new book,Fight Like a Mother,is featured in this week’s issue of PEOPLE. “I really didn’t know what I was doing. I just knew something had to be done.”
The Facebook page took off “like lightning in a bottle,” and soon women from across the country were reaching out to Watts asking how they could start chapters in their home states. “Women decided they didn’t need to know everything to jump in, that we could build the plane as we flew it. We trusted that all of our expertise was enough, and that we would be able to find [more] where we had gaps. That was a winning formula for success.”
Today, the nonpartisanMoms Demand Action for Gun Sense in Americais the nation’s largest grassroots organization, with more than five million members.
Not only did the issue resonate for mothers, but Moms Demand is structured to empower its volunteers to take leadership positions — and many have gone on to run for office, includingGeorgia’s Lucy McBath, who is now a member of Congress.
Julian Dufort
As for the idea that reducing gun violence, which disproportionately affects Americans — the United States is home to 82% of gun deaths worldwide — is too difficult and complex to tackle, Watts says she “can’t fathom” the idea of giving up.
“It’s not an option for parents in this country, in particular, who are afraid for their children in their schools and in their communities. It’s not just the school shootings or the mass shootings, it’s the daily gun violence in city centers and in rural communities. We have to care about all of it.”
InFight Like a Mother,Watts also addresses the many setbacks and uphill climbs she has faced as an activist, writing that she has learned to “lose forward.”
“You have to understand going into this work that you are going to lose,” she says. “When you do, you figure out what you got out of it that makes you stronger and more effective. Then you take on that battle the next time and maybe win.”
source: people.com
