Ma Power!

By Harriet Barovick

Need a way to communicate your outrage over, say, the bulldozing of a forest? The President's policies? The car dealer down the block? Judging by the growing number of political, social and environmental activist groups started by moms and grandmas, you'd be wise this Mother's Day (May 14--don't forget!) to seek tips from your maternal elders. Here's a look at Ma Power, past and present.

GRANNY PEACE BRIGADE These 18 women, ages 59 to 91, protested the war in Iraq by trying to enlist with military recruiters in New York City's Times Square last October. Their arrest for disorderly conduct, trial and acquittal won them sympathy and headlines across the U.S.

RAGING GRANNIES Their cheesy jingles ("We're a gaggle of grannies/ urging you to get off your fannies") reflect the rebel 'tude of this global cabal. Members of a Palo Alto, Calif., chapter promoting fuel-efficient cars were arrested in March after chaining themselves to the gates of a Ford dealership.

VIRUS BEATERS Across Nepal 50,000 mothers, most of them illiterate, battled measles by delivering medicine and going door to door to publicize vaccinations at clinics. Result? The number of Nepal's measles-related deaths dropped 90% last year.

PLAZA DE MAYO Since the '70s, these two groups--mothers and grandmothers--have marched regularly in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the return of loved ones taken during a military junta's 1976-83 "dirty war."

ON THE WEB MomsRising.org co-created by a founder of MoveOn.org and MothersMovement.org are taking on issues from flexible work hours to voter registration.