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10/11/06
If your ears are buzzing, it is because Joan Blades just wrapped up a presentation in New York, at the Women’s Media Center and she was talking about how wonderful all of you engaged mothers are. Emily McKhann, my business partner, and the ad hoc MomsRising on-the-ground reporter, was also there. Part of the discussion included Emily and Joan sharing with the group the Pennsylvania story and the progress that is being made there. Here are some of Emily’s “Treo” dispatches from the event:
10/11/06
This morning Joan and Kiki were on the Lisa Birnbach radio program on Greenstone Media. A great description from Kiki: Lisa, the host of the show, was great, supportive and a single mom with three children. She spoke of her own experiences in the past being asked, during a job interview, if she planned to have more children. She asked me great questions, such as did I have high expectations about the outcome of the legislation and I told her I always did. Except for those times in the past that I put on my black mourning dress in November at
10/09/06
The Huffington Post has a wonderful feature called "Becoming Fearless," edited by a very talented woman named Romi Lassally. To me, Kiki is the ideal representation of fearlesness, and right now, HuffPo is running a post that I wrote about Kiki and the remarkable campaign she has initiated in Pennsylvania, called, Fearless Kiki, so stop by!
10/09/06
Crossposted from Playground Revolution The New Republic last week published an essay about three books on motherhood with the inane title: "Mommies, Mommies, Mommies: Meow Mix." I'm not making this up. I couldn't make up a title with such a high cringe factor if my life depended on it. I won't link to it, because, a, you have to subscribe to TNR to get to it, and b, because if all of us smart annoyed moms start clicking their website, they win. Their hit numbers go up and yes, that's good for them. Mother snark has become a tried and true way for magazines and newspapers to ride our rage and rack up sales. We must resist. Glance at a copy on a newstand, then announce loudly to everyone in hearing range that this magazine is snarky and mean to mothers. But don't buy it. Sadly, I've already been in contact with an editor at TNR who seems to think it was a fine piece, and funny. She didn't respond to my charge that their standard for journalism on women's issues is astoundingly lower than their standard for covering other issues in the magazine. She sidestepped it. Snark is clearly okay when it comes to us gals, especially gals with kids at their side.
10/07/06
Parents' Action for Children has got what it takes, and then some. This very special organization, that focuses on action parents can take to make a difference in the lives of our kids, is the real deal when they say "action." Because of their commitment to make a move and use their voice when they see a need, I can say with great certainty, the families of Pennsylvania are grateful to these tremendous people.
10/05/06
Well, the blogs are keeping it going and it is awe inspiring. Over at MotherTalkers.com, Elisa has a fantastic conversation going on about single moms in the workplace. I really like this comment from "Shenanigans": If you've got someone in your office who has to leave early to pick up the kids regularly, figure out a solution. If they're worth keeping, put them on part time or figure out how they can do some work from home or have them put in time in some other way.
10/05/06
If you haven’t already noticed, for the most part, my postings are about food or eating or not eating—basically something involving the digestive system. And I’m not a cookbook author or even a hard-core chef. It’s just that when I was younger, I was told that one of the most intimate things you can do socially with another person is eat. It’s a concept that has stuck with me because it makes sense: Eating brings us together, fosters cooperation and encourages sharing—if not of food, then of emotional and intellectual expression. It is the reason why potlucks, block parties and school mixers are so popular. It is why the concept of the family dinner (or making sure you have at least one of the three daily meals together) is so important. And now experts are confirming what parents have assumed for years: that cooking together is as positive an experience for kids and parents as eating together.
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10/03/06
Politics TV is running video of the remarks made by Senator Hilary Clinton , Senator Barak Obama , Senator Chris Dodd , and Senator Ted Kennedy at last week's Capitol Hill screening of The Motherhood Manifesto documentary. It is amazing to watch these clips and to hear how personally the Senators talk about the importance of MomsRising.org, the MotherHood Manifesto, and the issues surrounding motherhood and family life that we all care so deeply about. (Senator Obama is especially moving.) Plus, you get to see our lovely Joan and Kristin too!
10/02/06
The same day Kristin and I were up on The Hill talking to federal law makers and their staff about the discrimination Kiki experienced because she was a single mother, Cooper Monroe was speaking on the Radio in PA about the need to pass the law to protect mothers that has been stuck in committee for the last 6 years. While Federal law makers were having a hard time believing that employers routinely ask women about their marital and familial status, Cooper was on a radio show talking to small business owners in PA that never want to hire a mother again. The callers insisted the PA law to protect mothers should not be passed because mothers with children are a hiring risk and they need to be able to ask so that they are able to avoid hiring them.
joan's picture
10/01/06
Across Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg, in Washington, DC, in the blogs and over the airwaves, our campaign for the mothers of Pennsylvania, and everywhere, reached new, exciting, and interesting heights this week. Let's start with Kiki in Harrisburg: Kiki delivered a 123 page, 5,200 name petition to key lawmakers in Harrisburg, much to the amazement, and befuddlement, of some legislative staffers. “That is not true!” exclaimed one staffer when Kiki told her that in Pennsylvania it was legal to ask about marriage and family in a job interview. The especially disturbing part about that exchange is the staffer works for Sen. John Gordner - who appears hell-bent to stall the legislation in his committee until it dies - as Mr. Gordner obviously isn’t sharing the legislation with people in his office. Kiki did learn from members of Gordner’s staff that within the past week or two, calls and emails have flooded their office from all over the country regarding that “mysterious” SB 440. (You guys ROCK!)

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