Introducing BlogHers Act

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

We are honored and excited to announce today, with Elisa Camahort, Jory des Jardins and Lisa Stone, the amazing founders of BlogHer (an association of 11,000+ women bloggers), the launch of BlogHers Act, a year-long initiative to harness the incredible power of women online.

That would be you.

BlogHers Act will take on two things --

1. Making a difference on a single global cause
2. Identifying the top four issues that women online want the U.S. Presidential candidates to address in order to win our votes in the '08 Election.

Imagine the opportunity that's in our hands right now.

All of us know the positive, productive, monumental ACTION of bloggers, especially women bloggers, when rallying around a problem, an issue or an event. Since we started blogging a few years back, we've witnessed - and been so lucky to be a part of - countless moments, big and small, when bloggers worked together to make a difference. And that's why it feels so right to kick it off here, on Been There, the place so many of you came to help during Katrina.

Here's what needs to happen first: We need you to weigh in on the core elements of the two BlogHers Act projects.

Please answer the following questions, either here in the comments, or in a post on your own blog. If you blog this, please do two things:

DEADLINE FOR SUGGESTIONS: June 15, 2007

(1) Post your link below!
(2) Tag your post BlogHers Act and be sure to ask your readers to answer as well, and tag it if they too blog about it. If you don't blog, just leave it in the comments on one of the BlogHers Act posts, because we'll be compiling the information from those too.

Here are the questions:

Project #1: Choose a global issue - BlogHer's red-hot issue for the year

If you could turn the power of the BlogHer community on to making a difference on a single global issue for the next 12 months, what would that issue be? Why? How would you and your community of blog readers help? Do you already have a blog or issue that you're working on and want the BlogHer community to fend for? Great! Tell us below! This year at BlogHer '07 in Chicago on July 27th , we'll be looking at some case studies of using social media to raise consciousness and awareness, and we'll apply them to an action plan for this issue.

Project #2: Creating an Election '08 Voter Manifesto

Let's create a Voter Manifesto, asking the media and presidential candidates from all parties to answer real questions and address real issues. Let's help them by creating a template: the questions any candidate must answer if they want to earn our vote next year. If you could tell the presidential candidates what is most important to you, what are the top four hot button issues you would ask them to address?

Please write your blog post or comment by June 15th to ensure your suggestion is included in the survey. On June 25th, BlogHer will issue a survey to the community, so everyone can vote for or against what's been proposed and choose our red-hot issue. The results will determine the causes we will be talking about and organizing around at BlogHer '07.

At the BlogHer '07 Conference in Chicago on July 27th, together we'll come up with an aggressive plan for the next twelve months of results-oriented action, culminating in a final report at BlogHer '08.

And please plan to join us - we'll be part of these sessions at BlogHer '07:

BlogHer '07 Day One:

4:30 - 5:45 p.m., BlogHers Act: The Global Issue during the Community track breakout titled, "Getting it On(line) for a cause: Part 2 - Raising Consciousness."

BlogHer '07 Day Two:

10:30 - 11:45 a.m., BlogHers Act: The Voter Manifesto during the Politics breakout titled, "Earn Our Votes: What Questions Do Women Bloggers Want Candidates to Answer in Election 2008?"

We look forward to hearing your ideas, and to using BlogHer '07 to make a world of difference together!

Any questions, please email us at: Emilymckhann@mac.com or Coopermunroe@mac.com.

And thank you, Britt Bravo, for the awesome Margaret Mead quote!

Comments

[dr. susan rubin]

Here's the global issue that affects all of us. It's the F word, FOOD!

Our kids are sicker and fatter than ever. They are bombarded with media messages to eat the wrong stuff, given junk food rewards in school, not to mention what passes for food in most school cafeterias across the country.
What's a mom to do? Get ANGRY! That mama bear energy can be super powerful when put to good use.

Schools tell us that it costs too much to feed kids healthier food, why is that? Another F word, the Farm Bill. Right now the reason that poor quality junk is so cheap and real food like fresh locally grown fruits and veggies are so expensive comes down to the farm bill.

This isn't just about our kids getting sicker and fatter (as if that isn't enough) this comes down to our survival on this planet. Our over industrialized, chemical hungry, petroleum gobbling food system is in need of a major overhaul. It's simply not sustainable to grow our food with chemicals, drive it across the country- the average food travels 1500 miles from farm to fork. We need to find a better way and we need to find it now.

We need more angry moms who will step out of their comfort zone and take a stand for their children's health.

Susan Rubin, DMD
www.betterschoolfood.org
www.angrymoms.org
www.drsusanrubin.com

[PunditMom]

I'm thinking, I'm thinking!

[BabyWhisperingLoudly]

Hi Cooper and Emily,

Great idea! I'm having trouble logging into Blogher. But I am fired up by your idea and want to contribute. Can we leave our idea for the Number One Global Issue here?

Without a doubt, the global issue that we need to force into the public consciousness is nuclear waste contaminating our land and poisoning our bodies. This isn't just a theory or a fear of something that will happen in the future, this is happening right now in the pacific northwest. This issue reigns supreme over any other issue that I am also concerned with such as global warming, the war in Iraq, and social equity and justice. And the reason for my myopic focus on this issue is because I'm finding that most people are not even aware of this imminent and present danger. I blog about it here:

http://babywhisperingloudly.typepad.com/babywhisperingloudly/2007/06/this_aint_no_co.html

and here: http://babywhisperingloudly.typepad.com/babywhisperingloudly/2007/05/arid_lands.html

and here: http://babywhisperingloudly.typepad.com/babywhisperingloudly/2007/05/people_who_feel.html

I feel confident that IF ONLY PEOPLE KNEW what is really happening to the environment and all who inhabit it under the name of "national security" or "fighting the terrorists" or stopping other countries from developing weapons of mass destruction when we are on the edge of blowing ourselves up, people would compel our government to do something about it before it is too late.

Thanks so much for inspiring this effort,

BabyWhisperingLoudly

[Liza]

Wonderful Idea!!!

In terms of BlogHers Act, I hope we focus on the broad global issue of education/child care.

Shannon from Peter's Cross Station has a great post up today on the undervaluing of women's work, especially in terms of child care, teaching, and home schooling: http://lilysea.blogs.com/peterscrossstation/2007/06/thatll_be_50k_p.html

My top 4 election issues are:

1) The war in Iraq/Afghanistan/perhaps-soon-Iran
2) Global warming. Please DO NOT use the pallid right-wing "it's not so bad" phrase 'climate change.'
3) Access to and cost of health care
4) Equal access to civil rights for all

[David Wescott]

this is a marvelous idea. A week or so ago I wrote a post openly wondering if the presidential candidates were having the same discussion as moms. I compared tag clouds of the debates with a tag cloud of a month's worth of posts at "The Soccer Mom Vote."

http://itsnotalecture.blogspot.com/2007/06/tracking-political-discussions-to.html

I think I'll follow this movement and compare the discussion here with the individual candidates, and perhaps develop an index to determine which candidate is talking about the things you'd like her or him to...