All Blog Posts

09/15/06

It is almost hard to put into words what it was like to be under one roof with 5,000 Pennsylvania women who are motivated for change. The energy was electric. Yesterday, a group of us including Georgia Berner, Georgia's friend Linda, Lindsay Patross, Lindsay's friend Breen and I staffed a booth for MomsRising.org at the PA Governor's Conference for Women. We were there, as we have posted, to tell people about the fact that in Pennsylvania it is legal to ask someone in a job interview if they are married or if they have children. Our mission was to help propel these 5,000 Pennsylvanians into action. From a booth with a great "MomsRising" red carpet and a beautiful MomsRising.org banner, we distributed The Motherhood Manifesto, the MotherHood Manifesto DVD and a fantastic handout. We even had a raffle for a 'Steelers' basket - which, in Pittsburgh, is always a hit. Mostly we talked, and talked and talked.

MomsRising Together

Cooper Munroe

09/13/06

Hi Everyone, This is Kiki checking in. I want to say a special “thank you” to Cooper for her wonderful blog posting. I am rather new to this blogging, but am grateful for its existence as a means for us to talk about this most important legislation. I did tell Cooper that she was meant to go to the screening of The Motherhood Manifesto documentary film, just as you are meant to be reading this blog right now. Georgia was meant to meet Joan for lunch while she was in California and hear about “Kiki and her story”. Is it really a coincidence that both of these women are from Pittsburgh, they don’t know each other, and individually find out about this legislation while out in California?

MomsRising Together

Kiki

09/13/06

I was shocked when I heard Kiki Peppard’s story of searching for work only to be repeatedly denied the opportunity to prove her worth and support her children simply because she was a mother. Her unrelenting commitment to passing a law in PA to protect other mothers from the discrimination she suffered has me in awe.

MomsRising Together

Joan Blades

09/12/06

Two of the more important things I have learned since becoming a mother are: 1) sometimes things happen for a reason; and 2) mothers, when moved to do so, will take the hill. For me, BlogHer ‘06 represents a perfect union of these lessons. I went to the BlogHer conference to talk about The Been There Clearinghouse, a site I co-founded a little over a year ago to help people displaced by Katrina. The Been There Clearinghouse took off when Hurricanehousing.org/MoveOn.org linked to us and sent evacuees our way. Within days, led by hundreds of networked “mom” bloggers, our site was sending help, one-to-one, to thousands of people.

MomsRising Together

Cooper Munroe

09/11/06

Out of school for eight weeks, my daughters and their friends start saying things like, “I’m bored,” and asking hopefully, “When does school start again?” I didn’t feel that way as a kid. I wanted warm summer days to magically continue through November, skipping fall altogether and going straight to Christmas. Today, my quest for the endless summer continues and when stores start “Back To School” sales, I get anxious. It’s not my kids going back to school that bothers me; it’s having to pack school lunches again.

MomsRising Together

Dawn Comer Jefferson

Childcare & Early Education

08/02/06

Illinois became the first state in the country to authorize universal preschool for all 3- and 4-year olds last week (Georgia and Oklahoma offer preschool for all 4-year olds).

MomsRising Together

Catherine

07/31/06

UPDATE: The Senate may vote on this issue within the next 24 hours. Please call your Senators and let them know what you think about linking a hike in the minimum wage to a cut in the estate tax. BACKGROUND: Just before leaving for their summer recess, the House passed a bill that would raise the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.25 to $7.25 over three years - but the other provisions in the bill make it very unlikely that it will pass the Senate.

MomsRising Together

Catherine

07/24/06

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. I suspect it’s because my daughter’s getting older. But everyone just looks so young to me now. Baby-faced men flash on my TV screen. They look scared and I imagine they had the same fear in their eyes on their first day of kindergarten. They are soldiers: Lebanese, Israeli, American. They are war criminals, some of them. My heart aches as I imagine their victims’ final terror. And the world makes less and less sense to me.

MomsRising Together

Ariel

07/24/06

Last week San Francisco passed an ordinance that is a bold step towards providing health care for all city residents. The plan is innovative, since it's not technically insurance - people covered through the plan must receive care in San Francisco through the city's system of public and community clinics and hospitals.

MomsRising Together

Catherine

07/12/06

Childhood obesity is the fastest growing health concern today. According to The National Institute of Medicine, since the 1970s, obesity rates have doubled for preschoolers aged two to five and for teens ages twelve to nineteen. Elementary school kids have it worse, with their obesity rate having tripled. Blame it on junk food, fast food, t.v., computers, Gameboys and a culture that glorifies couch potatohood. But at the same time we are raising chubby children, anorexia is also on the rise.

MomsRising Together

Dawn Comer Jefferson