Joan Blades Is a co-founder and board member of MoveOn.org. which has an online membership of over 3 million. Mother’s Day 2006 she co-founded MomsRising.org with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner to tap the power of online grassroots organizing for mothers and families in the U.S.A. She is also the co-author of The Motherhood Manifesto, a member of the Reuniting America advisory board, a software entrepreneur, nature lover, former attorney/mediator, author of Mediate Your Divorce, artist, Sunday soccer player and mother.

Blog Entries by Joan Blades

Peaceful Revolution: When Compromise Is a Dirty Word

Posted September 21, 2009 | 05:13 PM (EST)


Compromise is a dirty word when it means that we fail to meet basic needs ... when it means that our country's future is compromised. U.S. citizens and businesses cannot afford a compromise on health care that is politically feasible but does not both reduce health care costs and provide...

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Peaceful Revolution: Save Our Mac & Cheese

1 Comments | Posted August 25, 2009 | 05:17 PM (EST)


Did you know that Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is formulated differently for countries in Europe than for the U.S.? I didn't either until I read The Unhealthy Truth, a book about the toxicity of America's food supply.

The fact is, that in 2008, Kraft removed artificial...

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Outing the Toxics in Our High Chairs

18 Comments | Posted July 3, 2009 | 01:34 AM (EST)


Baby products throughout the United States are saturated with toxic flame retardants, and it is going to stay that way if the bromine industry has its way. Parents would be outraged if they were aware. Because of an antiquated California flammability standard, California Technical Bulleting 117 (TB117), the foam in...

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Peaceful Revolution: Honoring Your Mother of the Year

3 Comments | Posted May 6, 2009 | 05:43 PM (EST)


Sunday is Mother's Day! At MomsRising.org this week is a bit like the week before Christmas in the retail world. Once a year Mothers are front page news and MomsRising.org does our best to call attention to the peaceful revolution we are working to spark--a revolution that creates...

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Working Smart vs. Working Stupid

Posted March 24, 2009 | 05:14 PM (EST)


Yesterday the Washington Post fed the insecurities of American workers with the headline, "As Cuts Loom, Will Working From Home Lead to a Layoff?" My response "Only if we are committed to a work model inspired by the 1950s and 'working stupid' by rigidly adhering to old work models that...

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Peaceful Revolution: I Love Seeing Babies at Work!

Posted January 6, 2009 | 11:13 AM (EST)


MomsRising named this column A Peaceful Revolution because it is about envisioning and embracing culture change that enables parents to excel at home and at work. Win-win solutions are more accessible than most of us realize. This weekend the New York Times highlighted such an opportunity that far too...

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Procrastination Doesn't Fix It

Posted December 22, 2008 | 08:38 PM (EST)


(or A Long Term Solution for Our Auto Industry)

There is a reason that the U.S. auto companies are bankrupt and it is not just that we are having an economic downturn. That has merely accelerated the crisis. Last week we the taxpayers gave the automakers a one month reprieve...

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Peaceful Revolution: A Magical Moment for the 21st Century Women's Movement

Posted July 18, 2008 | 02:45 PM (EST)


This weekend MomsRising.org hosted a remarkable conversation. I do confess that I was deeply anxious about gathering a multi-dimensionally diverse group for conversation about the women's movement of the 21st century at the Omega Institute. Having national organizers, local organizers, child care experts, environmentalists, bloggers, social entrepreneurs, an age range...

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Media Trolls

Posted July 10, 2008 | 11:23 AM (EST)


I was on Jet Blue yesterday and had the time to watch the news -- CNN, ABC, FOX and I can only begin to tell you how much the news folks were nattering about Rev. Jackson's remark about Sen Obama -- talking in shocked or righteous tones about what was...

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John McCain: About My Alex

Posted June 17, 2008 | 06:09 PM (EST)


In 2000 my son was 10 years old. As a founder of MoveOn.org, I was working to change leadership in the House and Senate and looking forward to seeing Al Gore elected president. It didn't occur to me at that time that the next president might lead our country into...
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Peaceful Revolution: Maternal Profiling: A New York Times Buzzword

Posted January 1, 2008 | 04:36 PM (EST)


Written by Mary Olivella, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, and Joan Blades

Every once in a while a word or phrase is introduced into the lexicon that sheds light on a widespread practice which hasn't yet entered the national consciousness. These phrases take hold because we need them.

A few days ago,...

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A Peaceful Revolution: You Must be Kidding! Speaker Pelosi and MomsRising Stunned by CPSC

Posted November 1, 2007 | 05:54 PM (EST)


"You've got to be kidding me!" was the first thing we thought after hearing on Tuesday that Nancy Nord, the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), doesn't support legislation to greatly increase resources for her agency to stop toxic products from reaching children. Right now there is only...

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Moms Fight Killer Couches! Outcome Unclear

Posted September 11, 2007 | 03:43 PM (EST)


Yesterday I stood with MomsRising.org, MOMS (Make Our Milk Safe) and Friends of the Earth members babies and small children holding signs to rally for AB 706 in front of Don Perata's Oakland office. We sang about brominated and chlorinated chemicals to the tune of Frère Jacques in front...

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A Peaceful Revolution

Posted September 10, 2007 | 11:32 AM (EST)


This new blog is about consciousness raising and culture change. Very few Americans realize that there is deep bias against mothers in this country and that we are undermining family's ability to care for children. I began to understand this a few years ago when I learned that equal...

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Toxic Flame Retardants in My Furniture!

Posted July 6, 2007 | 10:22 AM (EST)


Next Monday AB 706, a precedent-setting bill which bans two classes of toxic fire retardants used in our furniture is scheduled to be heard in the California Senate Business and Professions Committee. Advocates for the bill fear it could be killed because the sale of these chemicals to is hugely...

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The Media Frenzy is Dangerous for Our Kids

Posted April 23, 2007 | 05:35 PM (EST)


Thursday morning I saw a picture of Cho Seun-Hui looking like an action hero splashed across the front page of The New York Times and we've all seen the TV coverage. This week we have had a media feeding frenzy and frankly it endangers our kids. We've certainly been aware...

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Indiscriminate Breeders!?!

Posted December 19, 2006 | 09:20 AM (EST)


Fascinating. It seems that a blog I wrote last week about supporting children is more of a Rorschach test than I realized. I made three numbered points in that blog post to avoid confusion about what MomsRising.org is advocating, since "Building a Family Friendly America" may mean different...

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Should Society Support Mothers Raising Children?

Posted December 14, 2006 | 06:15 PM (EST)


Monday a major Seattle newspaper reported on a MomsRising event on the front page. Since that article was published there has been a hot on-line discussion about whether society should share the responsibility for raising children. Some of the postings are jaw dropping. Take for example this...

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Elizabeth Vargas's Time Off

Posted May 25, 2006 | 11:21 AM (EST)


I had two members of the press call me yesterday to ask me what I think about Elizabeth Vargas taking time off to have a baby. Do I think that this is somehow wrong? As co-founder of MomsRising.org and co-author of The Motherhood Manifesto I am now...

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Back to the Basics

Posted May 13, 2006 | 12:14 AM (EST)


Launching MomsRising is a leap of faith. Even though mother's issues are not front page news they touch us all personally, some more than others and I believe passionately in the power of grassroots engagement. MomsRising is all about growing a more powerful voice for the caring people that...

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