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What can one squeaky wheel accomplish? A lot

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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2 mins read
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The unnecessary death of a local bicyclist

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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2 mins read
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Our grassroots movement needs to think bigger

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

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2 mins read
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Choosing love and kindness in the wake of the election

Illustration 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

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2 mins read
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Chickpeas aren’t the only option for homemade hummus

Beautiful 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

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1 min read
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Developing a strong community can help keep us well

Illustration 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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3 mins read