Welcome to Action Mom, a space where I will share my experiences advocating for change locally and globally. Certainly, wanting to make the world a better and safer place is by no means parent-exclusive. But the responsibility of protecting tiny little lives—in my case a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old—often spurs some dramatic action.As parents, we
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It started with a blank wall that needed a pigeon… or a rubber duck. Tattoo artist and muralist Evan Lovett could see the wall from the window of the Philadelphia Tattoo Collective where he worked in Kensington, just below the Berks El stop.“I got really sick of staring at it, since every time I see
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It sure seems generous and altruistic to take care of a stray cat. It is, on the face of it, a noble activity. Confronting the consequences, however, isn’t easy.Birds, small mammals, butterflies—all can end up in the jaws of a domestic cat. Even well-fed domestic cats keep killing smaller creatures for fun, as cat owners
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You can barely hear Richard Fredricks’ remarks over the sanitation truck across the street and the heavy sheets of rain coming down on dozens of umbrellas at 11th and Spruce streets in December. Barely a month prior, Fredricks’ daughter Emily, 24, was killed on her bike by the driver of a trash truck when she
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When rethinking the economy, small steps won’t cut it. That’s one of the critical points made by the indispensable Naomi Klein in her latest book, “No Is Not Enough.” She argues that a vision needs to be offered that is radically different from what we currently have, and it must provide a blueprint for a
MoreThe Gift of Good Health by Anna Herman There are few things more appreciated than a lovely homemade gift, especially one you can eat or drink. Hosts and hostesses will welcome a batch of sweet and spiced nuts to put out with drinks, or brandied fruit to accompany dessert. Cooks and non-cooks alike can admire
MoreIllustration by Herbie Hickmott The Morning After by Lucy Vernasco By 4:15 p.m., our only trace left in the Ardmore, Pennsylvania, Clinton campaign office was the 3-foot-tall “H” drawn on the chalkboard behind the counter. It was the week after the election, and our phone-banking card tables were in their final resting places in the
MoreBeautiful Beets by Peggy Paul Casella The beet plant is an ancient member of the chenopod or goosefoot family of vegetables, along with chard and spinach, and its leaves are similar in taste and texture to that of its relatives. In fact, the greens—not the sweet red root we think of when we think of
MoreIllustration by Nicholas Massarelli You Can’t Buy Health by Jerry Silberman Question: What does it mean for me to be healthy?The Right Question: Can I be healthy without a healthy community? I suspect that we have an inborn ability to recognize good health in another person when we see it—and that our perception of beauty
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I have a deep longing to live with reverence for the earth and all its inhabitants. Through this unexpected work, I was able to combine that longing with Quaker principles and apply them to a concrete project.
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