Meet the California ‘Mama Bears’ the Sacramento Bee Labeled ‘Extremist’ and ‘Radical’ – Opinion

I’ve said this since the beginning of the fight against California’s AB5, or anti-independent contracting law: What Sacramento’s power brokers are most afraid of is all of us regular folk figuring out that the battle is really us versus them, instead of liberal versus conservative. Regular Californians have joined forces against elites in order to defend their right to earn a living, as well as the laws such AB5, that affected all socioeconomic and political stripes of California.

Contrary to popular belief, Californians seem to be enjoying great success despite the failed recall. The media is launching a coordinated campaign to exclude and marginalize Californians instead of overlooking us.

I think it’s too late.

During the Newsom recall, I was heavily involved with the “yes on recall” side, as most conservatives were. What was encouraging and eye-opening to me were the number of women/moms who had never been politically involved and who even fell on the “liberal” side of the aisle who were fed up with the illogical mandates and who saw the consequences of the state’s experiment with the socialist utopia, and were fighting to end the supermajority.

Now, the Sacramento Bee, aided by the Pulitzer Center, has published a multi-part series about “extremism” in California, one of which is headlined:

“Equal opportunity extremism: How women seized the moment in California’s far-right radical politics”

What do they mean by “extremist”? Women/moms are those who protest against vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and CRT. They also include women/moms speaking at school board meetings. Yep, if you do that, you are now a radical, an extremist, and are being used by groups “rooted in white male supremacy” to advance an agenda the SacBee claims is anti-feminist, but you’re too dumb to realize that.

The women in extremist coalitions call themselves “mama bears.” They organize homeschooling pods and plan public protests against mask requirements and COVID-19 shots for students. They show up en masse to statehouses, school board meetings and city halls to fight against critical race theory and the “liberal agenda.”

Here’s the tagline:

“For much of the past two years in California, extremists have swarmed protests and local board meetings with a toxic mix of conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric.”

In the piece, the term “mama bear” is sneered at as some kind of dog whistle to indicate a woman with “extreme” and “radical” views. Oh, and if you’re involved in your community and advocate for your children the SacBee and the Pulitzer Center are now linking you with the United Daughters of the Confederacy and infer that you’re a white supremacist unless you can prove otherwise.

That’s totally different than what I’ve seen happening. What I’ve seen is a coalition of moms from across political, religious, economic, ethnic, and racial lines come together to fight for their children, and they’re having success – and that success scares those who would rather make our parenting decisions for us.

“Nobody else can protect my family the way I can,” [Denise] Aguilar said at the boot camp, while wearing a shirt that read “I don’t co-parent with the government.”

Experts also say they’ve noticed that women in extremist circles are co-opting popular slogans from progressive causes — particularly about bodily autonomy — as a messaging strategy. “Instead of it being about abortion,” Aniano said, “it’s about anti-vax conspiracies.”

Of course, the Bee profiled a few “mama bears,” painting their ability to organize, fundraise, and effectively communicate in a sinister light, even saying (not just inferring) that because women are generally less violent than men, that “hate groups” use women in leadership positions as fronts to give off a warm and cuddly image and defy “monitoring.”

That’s a ridiculous characterization, and it would be laughable if so many critical thinking-challenged people didn’t just lap it right up (looking at you, Eric Swalwell).

So, here are a few of the “mama bears” I know, and a few more whose work I’ve admired over the last year or so. Warning: More than two-thirds of these “mama bears” have voted for Democrats.

Karina PoszarA family lawyer from Hermosa Beach,

I voted for Newsom, something I’ve come to deeply regret- I never really bothered with politics, cared much about them, let alone paid any sort of attention at the local level.

Newsom made us shut down and sent our children to distant learning. I decided that I would vote for Trump. DeSantis’ response to my concerns was a sensible one. His priority was children. I was concerned about the potential for child abuse to go unreported by schools (schools have to report it), and the possibility of an increase in the abuse since the children will be home with their perpetrators all day. Remote learning was a disaster from the beginning and led to massive learning losses, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, among other things. Inspired me to find out more about local politics, and how I could get involved.

Mothers don’t have to be extremists if they want their children in school, even if it means avoiding ridiculous, non-data-driven Covid mitigation strategies, such as masks and mandated vaccines for those at lowest risk. Being called an extremist only motivates me to keep fighting for our kids — for a return to normalcy without politicians and public health “experts” telling us what’s best for our children. We, the parents, know best and must continue fighting. The only politicians fighting to maintain our freedoms are those on the right – it’s an easy choice, and if that makes me an extremist so be it.

Michelle GarciaA professional photographer

Following the passage of AB5, the anti-freelance laws, I found myself in a political bind. I was personally shocked at how AB5 had ended the gigging and teaching business that my close friends ran for 34 years. They were a dedicated husband and wife who worked hard and helped many families, schools, and churches. The absolute injustice of a law pushed as “justice for workers” by a union-owned politician who mocked her constituents definitely lit a fire in me and I became more interested in becoming involved politically. I gathered as many information as possible and attempted to raise awareness about how terrible AB5 was. I spoke with my representatives, supported every effort to repeal AB5, as well as the legislators who supported it.

Then with the pandemic lockdowns I witnessed the “rules for thee but not for me” attitude of leaders in government and institutions, and it became clear that if I didn’t get involved and stand up for my constitutional rights, which included being able to work as I see fit, then no one would.

Kenna DiGiovanniThe mother is from Northern California.

While I have never been shy about sharing my views, I’ve become noticeably more passionate and vocal ever since the statewide mandates and lockdowns began to directly affect our children. Two seasons of sport and nearly a whole year at in-person school were missed by my children. My children should not be forced to wear masks to school. I have repeatedly complained to the District Superintendent and Principal. In protest of the vaccine mandates that students have to be given, I won’t be giving vaccinations to my 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. I can’t help but feel like this is never going to end until all moms and parents say that it stops.

Nicolle YoungA stay-at home mother of six,

I was unable to attend a meeting of the school board until March 2020. After the COVID policies became law, I was acutely aware of how this system operated. The dysfunctional nature of the CTA and its effects on students was shocking. [California Teachers Association]My passion for keeping schools closed motivated me to look into what other options I had. Moms For Liberty came to my attention and I created a placer county chapter. Our group began attending board meetings immediately and fighting against the mask mandates. We are against CRT and have spoken out in support of restoring local control over schools so that they can be truly public schools. As a mother of several children, my passion is parental rights in education. If the COVID policy was not detrimental, it would have been just me. Now, I feel compelled to stand up for the rights of all children.

Moms in the Central Valley Lori Sundgren:

I am a mom of a senior in high school, as well as a working professional with a master’s degree. I work in higher education. I got involved when my son’s school and sports were shut down spring of his sophomore year and showed no sign of opening back up for fall. Let Them Play was a local organization that I joined. I used social media to communicate with the school board, and the other board members. Virtually, I was able to attend board meetings. I called the representative in the area where my son’s school is and encouraged him to vote “yes” on the Let Them Play Resolution, which he did. It was my first call to a legislator. Through the Let Them Play facebook page, which was created by another mother, I assisted in rallying other parents and their troops. A rally was held on a busy street corner. It was very well received and supported. A press release was sent to the media with the assistance of Let Them PLAY at the state-level. Two news outlets, along with the newspaper, were likely to receive it. The issue of children losing their childhoods was brought to a lot attention.

What was it that I wanted to do? What did I want to accomplish? It was simple.

And it’s not just moms who feel this way – future moms do too, like college student Marissa Forte.

I’m not a parent, but a STUDENT! I was a college student and had to endure the interminable online learning from the moment my high school closed down to the day that I started my first year at community college. This was the main reason I got involved.Although I could see the damage and the ruthless COVID responses, the more I researched, the worst I discovered about California’s normal operations was revealed. I found people like Assemblyman Kevin Kiley and other folks leading the charge for better leadership for our state & country.

I at first attended some “Re-Open CA” rallies in May 2020, but then it spiraled into different political events, rubbing shoulders with elected officials… it’s been a journey and it hasn’t stopped. So I decided to run for the Student Senate and won.

Michelle GoebelA mother in San Diego:

I formed a local group to reopen schools in June 2020. It grew rapidly and included many more across CA.

Board meeting after board meeting, I started to realize that no matter how much compelling data I shared with our local school board, county, or state reps, it truly didn’t matter, as our unions were calling the shots. I wasn’t tuned into local or state politics until the summer of 2020. It was obvious that decisions that had the biggest impact on our children came from officials who added one letter to their names, D. The fact that no official could vote for or oppose the party line of even the most damaging policies was truly eye-opening. It is my belief that more parents will pay attention to local elections and especially to school boards. I also hope that more parents run in the future.

Heidi HallThis is a Sacramento mom:

Before COVID, I was an extremely apolitical mother. I couldn’t have told you who was on my school boards or who my Assemblyperson was. Being the daughter of an educator in special education I thought that children living in CA would be able to receive a quality in-person education. But when Covid came along, it was shocking how CA treated school. There was ample data to show that the children weren’t at risk. While neighboring states made every effort to maintain schools, our state took all measures to shut them down. It was hard to see the contrast and I realized I had to act. The state of Texas has defied all science to favor politics, and it continues to do this.

I registered as a Republican in 2018 — after spending most of my life as a Democrat, NPP or Independent – realizing that my values are ones of choice, freedom, liberty and loving thy neighbor, regardless of how different they might be. They are what I desire for my students at CA. I want freedom, choice and liberty. I also want to show love and acceptance. This is why I was elected to the school board in November 2020. I’ll continue to advocate for students in California.

Sarah BurwickLos Angeles attorney, Judith:

We have two children, one for our husband (a 5 year old boy and another 2.5 years old girl). I read the 11/21 Sacramento Bee piece regarding “right-wing extremist moms” and had to laugh because it was so off the mark. I identify as liberal and though I am actually a Canadian citizen, I supported Biden’s presidential campaign.

I recently wrote a piece on Substack explaining a bit about how I started questioning the official covid “narrative,” so to speak.

I am most concerned that poor outcomes for children’s covid outcomes are not being given to the very least vulnerable. Because so many other people cannot, I have become more vocal and active. This issue has been so heavily politicized by the Left that many people fear speaking out to protest vaccination mandates or masks. They are worried about their career and reputation.. I feel for the parents who are afraid and these threats are very real. Since I don’t face all of these risks as a worker and have no fear of losing friends I feel that it is my duty to advocate for the parents who do.

Groups protesting school closings, mandates and quarantines are not far from right-wing extremist depictions in The Bee. Parents I’ve met come from all walks of life, including those with different religious beliefs, races, socioeconomic standings and religions. The common ground we share is that we want the best for our children and we know that a myopic focus on a virus with a 99.99% survival rate, while ignoring children’s other medical, education and social needs, will ultimately harm children more than it helps them.

San Diego’s Cynthia Kaui:

Since January 2021 I have been very involved in politics. In particular, I am a member of the San Diego Republican Party. Because I was unhappy with CA’s performance for so long, I assisted with recall. However, our COVID response was my biggest disappointment and it pushed me over the edge. School Choice/CRT are the causes I’m the most passionate and active with, and since March 2021 I’ve been a volunteer for Californians for School Choice.

Local schools – public, charter, and private, continue to double down on their insane vaccine mandates, even vaccine mandates for parent volunteers in some cases. They are about to learn that when you go after people’s children, you’ve really poked the wrong bear.