With Joan Blades


Joan Blades, co-founder of moveon.org and momsrising.org, spoke at my writing salon last night. She believes that grassroots movements are key to making political changes. You might remember what moveon.org did for the presidential bids in 2000?

Moveon.org started back in 1998 with the simple and direct petition around the Clinton impeachment hearings: "Censure the president and move on." They urged Congress to quickly take care of business with the impeachment hearings and be responsible for other significant issues at stake for the nation. What started out as an email Blades and her husband sent to 100 of their friends, is now an organization that has 3 million members. (Read more about it in Wikipedia -- try googling her name or the term "moveon.org.")

She recently co-authored a book with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner called The Motherhood Manifesto: What Moms Want -- and What To Do About It. Look it up on amazon.com or on her website, momsrising.org, to get specific information. She's got big (significant, meaningful) ideas about how we can care for our childen and families better -- particularly in the areas of healthcare, childcare, and flexible/fair employment opportunities for mothers (love that combination of flexible and fair). Again, her point is that changes can only be made with starts at the grassroot level.

Moveon.org might have started as a movement among liberals or democrats, but momsrising.org hopes to "overcome economic, cultural, and political boundaries" by focusing on problems for all women, mothers, children, and families. They're currently at 80,000 members.

Jan (Mick's mom) came with me last night, and even as a conservative, she felt momsrising.org and Joan Blades could help make a tremendous difference in the way our nation cares for families and children. I also brought my friend Amy who is on the board/startup of a new non-profit called The Children and Nature Network (cnaturenet.org), another movement that could be a significant contribution to the political and social climate of our nation.