Monifa Bandele
Blog Post List
Blog Carnival: A King's Work is Never Done - Continuing the legacy!
January 19, 2015Today, January 19, 2015, we reflect on a hero for justice, a servant to all, and a giant among people. Dr. Martin Luther King lived and died guided by his passion for peace, truth, and equality. He and thousands of women and men of his generation led a movement that transformed the social and political landscape of the United States and arguably the world. Dr. King's work to undo centuries of racism, classism, and injustice was powerful and successful, but in many ways, that work is not yet done. How could it be? No one lifetime can break down generations of structural oppression, and yet, in...
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We can no longer breathe.
December 15, 2014*It's time to make our voices heard to advance police reform nationwide and to end racial profiling: http://action.momsrising.org/sign/justicebrowngarnerall/
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BREAKING - No indictment. Enough is enough.
November 24, 2014It’s time to make our voices heard to end racial profiling and to advance police reform.Enough is enough.
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Support Leslie McSpadden, the mother of Mike Brown, and all families seeking justice
August 14, 2014Please add your voice to the growing movement of parents who say enough is enough! Let's stand together for Leslie McSpadden, mother of Mike Brown, and all families seeking justice.
Food Fight in Congress? Moms can end this!
August 8, 2014Lobbyist: We can't afford to give kids healthier meals Moms: We can't afford not to! Send a tomato to Congress! Take Action Ever wanted to send a rotten tomato to Congress? Now is your chance! Last month, U.S. Ho use members dealt a hefty blow to healthy school lunches. After years of hard work to get healthier meals that have more fruit and vegetables and less sugar, fat, and salt in school cafeterias across the country, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to let schools opt out of new nutritional standards! [1] Not okay. Pin-striped suited corporate lobbyists are selling out our kids...
Should Kids Drink Soda? New Report Raises Serious Concerns
January 31, 2014Ever have someone tell you they've got "the sugar" when you asked how they are doing? It's a old Southern term that means he/she is sick, stricken with a form of diabetes, and in most cases, type 2. Type 2 diabetes is a debilitating, life altering, deadly and preventable disease. For decades, it was considered a condition developed in middle-aged adults who had experienced a lifetime of nutrition imbalances. Sadly, there is a new growing demographic of people afflicted with this form of diabetes, our children. Their little bodies are facing the potential harsh health complications that come...
Not a joke - this actually happens
April 22, 2014Can you believe this? There's even junk food marketing in our schools. It's enough to have to deal with junk food marketing pretty much everywhere else. But it certainly shouldn't be reading, writing, and junk food ads in schools! Help us get junk food marketing out of our schools: http://action.momsrising.org/go/4604?ak_proof=1&t=4&akid=5397.None.xX_0n7 That's right! There are no national standards about what can, and cannot, be advertised to kids in schools, even though there are great new standards for what foods can be sold in schools starting next school year! Providing healthier...
Soda has got to go
June 23, 2014Ever have someone tell you they've got "sugar" when you asked how they are doing? It's an old Southern term that means he/she is sick, stricken with a form of diabetes, and in most cases, type 2. Type 2 diabetes is a debilitating, life altering, deadly and preventable disease. For decades, it was considered a condition developed in middle-aged adults who had experienced a lifetime of nutrition imbalances. Sadly, there is a new growing demographic of people afflicted with this form of diabetes: our children. Their little bodies are facing the potential harsh health complications that come with...
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Lobbyists Push to Weaken School Nutrition
June 11, 2014Where I live, school lunches used to be pretty gross. But I have to admit, I didn't know what horrible shape school lunchrooms were in all across the country until I watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.
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No More Junk Ads!
April 21, 2014What the what!? There is too much junk food marketing in our schools. It's enough to have to deal with junk food marketing pretty much everywhere else. But it certainly shouldn't be reading, writing, and junk food marketing in every hall of our public schools! Join us to get standards for junk food marketing in our schools: http://action.momsrising.org/sign/LWP/ Unfortunately, there are still no national standards about what can, and cannot, be advertised to kids in schools. That's right: None. This means that in some cases, kids are offered one snack while being encouraged through marketing...
Childhood Obesity Rates Drop in 18 States and One U.S. Territory
August 7, 2013A new report on obesity among preschool children enrolled in federal health and nutrition programs shows the nation is making important progress to reverse the epidemic. Among the places with declines, the U.S. Virgin Islands had the greatest decrease, from 13.6 percent in 2008 to 11 percent in 2011, and rates in Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, and South Dakota dropped by at least one percentage point during that period. Rates remained stable in 20 states and Puerto Rico and increased in only three states—Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. The authors cite several factors that may...
The Chicago Walk-out! Hear the stories of workers on the front lines
April 25, 2013Yesterday, Chicago’s fast food and retail workers stood up and said ENOUGH! The corporations they work for are raking in huge profits, but they don't pay their employees – mostly adults with families to support – enough to cover the most basic needs like food, rent, health care, and transportation. “Some months I have to choose between paying for healthcare and paying my rent” - Aime Crawford, 56 It's outrageous. That’s why hundreds of fast food and retail workers and their allies are doing something about it. They have launched a campaign and petition called Fight for 15! Join them. Hear the...
Supermoms vs. Superbugs! A Blog Carnival to Save Antibiotics
April 12, 2013MomsRising.org is thrilled to team up with the Supermoms Against Superbugs campaign! As the mother of two young girls, it is extremely important to me that parents and physicians have as many tools as possible in our toolbox to help keep all children healthy and safe. That's why when we heard about the dangers of overusing antibiotics in our food, we joined forces with Pew Charitable Trust, Consumers Union and the dozens of moms, bloggers and activists below to change this unhealthy trend. This carnival includes powerful stories like Sam's story of how in the course of eating one chicken...
Black Children At Greater Risk for Health Problems Because of Obesity
March 20, 2013African-American children suffer from obesity at a greater rate than any other group of children in the United States . There are many complex factors that contribute to this epidemic. But one factor, junk foods sold in schools, is being tackled by moms and dads nationwide. The USDA recently proposed nutritional guidelines on food sold in vending machines and à la carte lines and need to hear that we support them . And a study by Kids' Safe & Healthful Foods Project, a joint project of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that parents nationwide broadly...
Food Power Agenda
February 27, 2013We can't wait to see you this Saturday, March 2, 2013 at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott Hotel , located at 333 Adams Street in downtown Brooklyn. We've got lots of great people coming out and all we need is YOU! Here is the Food Power agenda! Don't forget to register - http://action.momsrising.org/signup/FoodPower/ 10:30 - 11:00 - Refreshments and Registration 11:00 - Welcome and Introductions, Monifa Bandele, MomsRising 11:05 - Overview of the Movement - Marty Kearns, PreventObesity.net 11:15 - Moms on the Front Lines: Tanya Fields and Migdalia Rivera 11:35 - Lunch (Buffet) 12:00 - Soul Food...
Moms, Death Row and Maryland
January 24, 2013Imagine if you were the mother of someone who was found innocent, by irrefutable new DNA evidence, after having been wrongly imprisoned and placed on death row for a crime he/she did not commit. For any mother, it would be horrifying. Shockingly, death sentences for innocent people are not rare. Nationally, 142 people condemned to death have been proven innocent of their crimes since 1976 . Today, moms can make sure that this never happens in Maryland again. *SIGN ON our letter to the Maryland General Assembly urging them to repeal the death penalty to make sure that no one in MD is ever...
Talking Turkey on Junk Food in Schools
November 23, 2012Whatever your cultural or ethnic background, conversations inevitably turn to food this time of year. Do you celebrate Thanksgiving or just “get together”? Do you eat meat and is it free-range? Are the vegetables organic? What is a healthy dessert? Gluten free? What about sugar? And then there is the ever-present concern; how will we all keep off those extra holiday pounds? Getting family members together with different practices, politics and palates for one big meal can be complicated and controversial. Lots of thought and effort go into the meals we serve at home and on holidays. And there...
New York Babies Roll On City Hall
October 11, 2012Last week, M omsRising.org along with over a hundred New Yorkers rolled on City Hall for a stroller brigade in support of working parents and their children. In addition to our partners at A Better Balance, Community Service Society, Make the Road NY, Working Families NY, and ColorOfChange, moms and dads came from all over the city with babies in tow to deliver more than 50,000 petitions and a message to New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn: Bring the paid sick days legislation to a vote! Why were these babies and mamas fired up? There’s a bill sitting in the New York City Council...
Reading, Writing, Math, Donuts?!
August 15, 2012Summer break is coming to an end way too soon (or maybe not soon enough!). Kids will be going back to school to get a heavy dose of reading, writing, math, and (for many kids) junk food. That’s right! Monday, the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine released a report by Bridging The Gap, which found that nearly half of all elementary school students could buy high-fat, sweet, or salty junk foods at school. And, the report showed that access to junk food in school had a direct connection to the rate of childhood obesity in the 40 states studied! [1] Since nearly 23 million school age...
MomsRising Exclusive Blogger Briefing
August 6, 2012Have you been following the campaign for paid sick days in New York City? It’s a major economic issue for working moms. Here's what Susan Saradon had to say on twitter: @susansaradon "SF study says #paidsickdays good for business, aren't abused by workers. Hope it will be put to a vote. Will talk to Cty Council Spkr." Feminist icon, Gloria Steinem had this to say, “I’ve seen women lose their jobs, lose their apartments, and spend two years getting their kids back from foster care — all starting with a sick child...” You are invited to an exclusive blogger and activist briefing call to join in...