Laura Moser is a Jewish woman married to a Hindu man; she is a mother; she is a Congressional candidate; she’s a writer. She’s also a viral star, the mother of the toddler throwing a tantrum at President Obama’s feet in 2015.
This year, Moser stopped working as a freelance writer and reporter and decided to run as a candidate, and join the “Resistance” movement–all because of the 2016 election. Like it was for many, this election was a wake up call for Moser–who has said she could no longer ignore the great divide in the U.S. when it comes to racism and sexism, especially as a mother. In an essay she wrote for Vogue, she wrote about struggling with the election, and most of all, how to move forward–and what her goals as a candidate are:
“That all changed last fall, when, like many people, I was stunned by Donald Trump’s poll-defying election win. Right away I found myself in the front lines of the so-called Resistance. It started modestly enough. In the aftermath of November 8, I’d struggled, along with others in my social-media feed, with a way to object meaningfully to the new administration’s agenda. As President Trump quickly moved to limit immigration, civil rights, and environmental protections, I felt fear for my young children, and guilt, too—as if I’d somehow betrayed the unspoken contract all parents make to give our children a better life than ourselves.
I wanted to bring more compassion into government, while working on both national and local initiatives—from the rights of immigrants and women, environmental protections, and access to health care to Houston’s inadequate public-transportation system, traffic gridlock, and decaying infrastructure.”
Considering her Jewish identity, it’s not so hard to see why this election would also feel deeply personal and tied to her family’s roots, especially since her own family suffered through the Holocaust:
“My grandfather arrived in Houston in 1942 as a refugee from Nazi Germany. He had lost everything—his profession, his language, his money—but the city welcomed him, as it has hundreds of thousands of immigrants over the years. Because of my family history, Houston had always represented to me a place of hope and possibility, where totally dissimilar people could come together and make their own stories. I married a man whose Hindu father grew up in the rural north of India and whose Jewish mother grew up in the Bronx. Our Jewish children, with their father’s Indian last name and their mother’s bright-blue eyes, were now residents of the most diverse city in America.”
As a result, she came up with an amazing idea called Daily Action, which she explained:
“I came up with the idea for Daily Action, a text-messaging service designed to empower people like me, who felt helpless and afraid. Every day I would research a simple, concrete gesture we could make to participate in our own democracy. I announced the project with a short online piece. Then, using a program designed by Arun’s company, I sent subscribers a morning text message suggesting a short, specific action, usually a phone call, with a link to a relevant number in their region.”
Of course, all of this comes with a price, especially as a mother when there aren’t enough resources in the U.S. for parents:
“I already have not enough time with my family. There’s a reason such a small minority of women with young children hold seats in Congress.”
Moser is clearly an exceptional person for putting her own personal life on the line in order to lead a movement with the intention of helping others.
