Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director, MomsRising.org, On HERVotes Launch
STATEMENT OF KRISTIN ROWE-FINKBEINER,
Executive Director, MomsRising
On HERVotes Launch
CONTACT: Gretchen Wright or Molly Tomlinson, 202/371-1999
August 24, 2010
We, the more than one million members of MomsRising from every state in the nation, love our families and our country. We know that the current extremist attacks on women’s health and family economic security are only serving to weaken the United States, not strengthen it.
That’s why, on the anniversaries of the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment and the 1963 March on Washington, which are this week, we join our colleagues in working to mobilize women voters in 2012 around preserving women’s Health and Economic Rights (HER rights) and build an even stronger nation that lives up to its full potential.
When family economic and health security is threatened, we are all threatened.
To counter these threats, MomsRising has joined forces with the leadership of HERvotes, which includes organizations that are on the very forefront of women’s equity issues, including organizations representing women of color, women’s faith imperatives, women labor leaders, long-standing organizations like the 130 year old AAUW, relatively new like the five year old MomsRising, and many more.
We have all joined forces in order to bring the power of grassroots on-the-ground and online organizing to mobilize women voters. This week, we are launching that effort with a cross organization HERvotes blog carnival and social media effort that can be found on many of the HERvotes partner websites; as well as with a collaborative national Get Out the Vote and voter registration effort that will mobilize people across the nation to vote, and to vote for candidates who support policies that will improve women’s economic and health security, building a stronger nation for us all.
MomsRising and the HERvotes organizations know and understand the power of the grassroots.
Through online and on-the-ground organizing, we’ve built a powerful force of more than a million moms, dads, and others who love their country, know the value of family, and who understand that a nation cannot be strong when half its population is not valued and heard. The combined grassroots force of the groups working together on HERvotes numbers in the millions.
We understand the power of women’s and moms’ voices and we will be amplifying those voices with the HERvotes blog carnival and social media project. When we share our stories and our voices with others, when we find common experiences and common beliefs, we can educate people, change minds, move public policy, and elect leaders who can change the world.
That’s the power of our democracy. Each of us can speak the truth, work to make change where we see injustice, and work together to build a stronger nation for all. And that’s the power of grassroots on-the-ground and online organizing. Millions of people can come together who know that politicians and policies that hurt half our population really hurt all of us.
We know that working together, we can mobilize people to vote, and to vote for people who prioritize women, moms, kids, and families on Main Street; not just corporate jet owners on Wall Street.
With the anniversaries of the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment and the 1963 March on Washington this week– and with the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial this Monday, we draw great inspiration from a man who, through the power of grassroots and commitment to what is right, ultimately changed the world. Dr. King knew that a nation in which people are disenfranchised and discriminated against is not a strong and a proud nation.
Women and mothers know that, too.
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MomsRising.org is an online and on-the-ground grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to achieve economic security for all families in the United States. MomsRising is working for paid family leave, flexible work options, affordable child care, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes so many mothers. MomsRising also advocates for health care for all, toxic-free environments, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. Established in 2006 and now celebrating its fifth anniversary, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families. In 2011, for the second year in a row, Forbes.com named MomsRising's web site as one of the Top 100 Websites For Women.
