MAMAs was officially established in 2019 and is based in the Chicagoland area. 

 

We work in communities with Mamas and Mama allies who are most harmed by police violence, surveillance, and deportation. Communities where young black and brown people are being heavily surveilled, religiously profiled, and routinely targeted by CPD , ICE, and the Department of Homeland Security.

 

Mamas can be found working with and supporting mothers of people who have been wrongfully convicted who tend to live in working class African American neighborhoods on the west and south sides of Chicago. We work with Latinx mothers who tend to live in Pilsen, Berwyn, and Cicero. We collaborate with Arab immigrant mothers concentrated in Chicago Lawn, Gage Park and suburbs such as Palos.

 

Collective members come to MAMAS through the coalitions we build with many Chicago-based movements and organizations. We connect with mamas parenting police torture survivors through movements like Black Youth Project; the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture (CFIST); and the Torture Justice Center. We met mothers targeted by immigration while connecting with organizations like Organized Communities against Deportation (OCAD). Arab immigrant and refugee mothers targeted by surveillance, militarism, and war connected with us through our work with the Arab American Action Network  (AAAN) and the United States Palestine Community Network (USPCN).

 

All of these organizations serve individuals across Chicago and in nearby suburbs such as Cicero, Berwyn, and Palos. Because these mamas are the experts on their lives and the challenges they endure, they are at the forefront of the decision-making and are the ones who lead our work.