The Mother's Day Celebration: Have we got it all wrong?

Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts,whether our baptism be that of water or of fears!

Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided byirrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reekingwith carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not betaken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teachthem of charity, mercy and patience.

We women of one country will be too tender of those of anothercountry to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. Fromthe bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own.It says "Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balanceof justice."

Blood does not wipe our dishonor nor violence indicate possession.As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summonsof war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for agreat and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women,to bewail and commemorate the dead.

Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to themeans whereby the great human family can live in peace, eachbearing after their own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that ageneral congress of women without limit of nationality may beappointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and atthe earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote thealliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlementof international questions, the great and general interests of peace.

Julia Ward HoweBoston 1870


The above poem is the work of one Julia Ward Howe, American social activist and poet. She wrote this piece in the year 1870 as a response to her devastating experiences as a mother in the middle of war; specifically, the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. Deeply motivated by the endless plight and destruction apparent throughout these times, Julia Ward Howe was determined to take a stand, unite mothers and women alike, and appose all forms of war while promoting peace. According to most historians and relevant documentation, the above proclamation represents the seeds of the Mother’s Day tradition; the birth of Mother’s united and their movement and call for peace. As you probably well know from you own personal experiences, today’s conceptualization and tradition of the Mother’s Day celebration is a far cry from this early message. Present day, this time is marked by an intrinsic drive to buy mom a bountiful bouquet of flowers (usually on the way back from the golf course or your friends at the local market) or some meaningless yet (conceding) delectable box of chocolates; Julia Ward Howe’s original message is nowhere to be found. Our capitalist inclinations to take the easy way out and buy, buy, buy has resulted in little time being spent reflecting on the important role that mothers play in the broader contexts of society. All of this is occurring notwithstanding the numerous examples of ravaged warfare that are currently reeking havoc and utter destruction on our planet. Accordingly, I encourage you to implement some of the following initiatives in you future Mother’s Day celebrations: show your gratitude and thankfulness that you have the mother that you do; do not simply display this on the second Sunday of every May, express it and convey it everyday of the year; promote and discuss the values and principles that mothers (and for that matter, all women) bring to our world; put them into a broader societal context, outside of your personalized home; consider the plight that war is currently causing and the startling fact that we still withstand it and are complacent with it to this day; (for the mothers) unite together once again, and take a stand against your sons and daughters fighting wars unworthy of the human soul, undeserving of one who holds your own flesh and blood. Let us bring back the true roots of the Mother’s Day tradition and put an end to the capitalization of what once was a day that manifested the meaningful values of social activism and peace.