Maternal Justice

January 27, 2017

My first job out of grad school was working on Medicaid outreach. One of the first people who called me for help was a young woman of color who asked for my advice in accessing healthcare. She was experiencing complications in her pregnancy and didn't have insurance - she was looking for help on...

MomsRising Together

Khadija Gurnah

Health Care Maternal Justice Politics & Policy

January 20, 2017

Last Wednesday, I went to my Congressman’s office to hand deliver MomsRising’s healthcare storybook which has stories from moms and dads across the country, including New Jersey. I’ve called my Congressman’s office more times in the last two weeks than I have in the entire time I’ve been his...

MomsRising Together

S. Nadia Hussain

Gun Safety Maternal Justice

January 19, 2017

“True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Junior On Martin Luther King Day this past Monday, people around the country paid tribute to the legacy of a now celebrated leader who fought vehemently for equality, accountability and the...

MomsRising Together

S. Nadia Hussain

Maternal Justice MomsRising Politics & Policy

January 18, 2017

Best wishes to everyone putting your hearts and bodies on the line at women's marches and other demonstrations in your towns, states, and country because we believe a better America is still possible. Blessing for the Women's March By Erika A. Hewitt (Unitarian minister) May you be safe. May you be...

MomsRising Education Fund

Ruby Sinreich

Maternal Justice Politics & Policy

January 6, 2017

I begin each year with a women’s spiritual retreat at Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Haley Farm in Tennessee. This year Reverend Janet Wolf, Director of CDF Haley Farm and Nonviolent Organizing, shared a meditation based on Langston Hughes’ brilliant 1943 poem “Freedom’s Plow” that she had been using in her ministry on Tennessee’s death row consisting of both incarcerated “insiders” and “outsiders.” All of us were caught up in the poem’s descriptions of centuries of American struggle against oppression and for America’s promised dream of freedom and justice for all.

MomsRising Together

Marian Wright Edelman

Maternal Justice

December 16, 2016

International rates of maternal morbidity have been decreasing, however in the United States it's a different story. Pregnancy leads to the deaths of over 600 women each year in the US and US maternal mortality is at the worst it's been for 15 years. For black women, the outcomes are even worse,...

MomsRising Together

S. Nadia Hussain

Gun Safety Maternal Justice

December 12, 2016

In April 2015, we witnessed one of the worst videos of police murder ever captured on a cell phone. An unarmed Walter Scott was shot 8 times in the back while running away from South Carolina Police Officer Michael Slager. To further add to this harrowing situation, Office Slager is seen planting...

MomsRising Together

S. Nadia Hussain

Childcare & Early Education Environmental Health Family Economic Security Food! Gun Safety Health Care Immigration Maternal Justice Politics & Policy

December 9, 2016

How Grassroots Organizing and Popular Protest Defeated NC’s Bathroom Governor As a lifelong North Carolinian, I really appreciated this data-based analysis from Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling on how the Governor lost his re-election effort (the first to do so in NC history). First, polls show...

MomsRising Together

Ruby Sinreich

Breastfeeding Food! Maternal Justice Politics & Policy

December 9, 2016

December 10 is Human Rights Day . And right before the Human Rights Day this year, I received an e-mail from a mother, upset that her employer doesn’t support breastfeeding and that her supervisor told her “Not only breastfeeding moms are good moms, formula is as good.” I was saddened. I am sad...

MomsRising Together

To-wen Tseng

Health Care Maternal Justice

December 8, 2016

The New Jersey legislature attempted to stand up for the rights of incarcerated pregnant women, children and others by passing S51, which would have restricted the use of solitary confinement in state prisons. By vetoing this important legislation, Governor Christie has shown that he has no concern...

MomsRising Together