This Sunday many of us will recognize and celebrate Mother’s Day. As we do, let us pay homage to the women who established this day of recognition, and recognize their efforts to put an end to war. Let us first remember and honor Julia Ward Howe. Julia Ward Howe was heartbroken and distressed seeing the ravages of the American Civil War. She wrote “The Battle Hymn of The Republic” as a way to express her anguish and outrage, and saw this simply was not enough to bring about change. A true visionary, she saw the end of the practice of going to war as a way to resolve conflict. Equally important to her was the role of women in society, in the community and in conflict resolution. I see her as one of the first feminists, striving to make equality of the sexes a reality.
Anna Jarvis was another trailblazer during the Civil War, establishing and organizing “Mother’s Work Days.” Julia Ward Howe was directly influenced by Jarvis’ tireless work and activism.
In 1870, the Franco-Prussian war erupted, and Julia Ward Howe began to organize women, her goal was to petition Congress to end all wars. A true activist, she took her campaign international, issuing a “Manifesto For Peace” at conferences in Paris and London. In 1872 she put forth and promoted the idea of a “Mother’s Day For Peace” to be celebrated on June 2 each year, and a year later, women in eighteen U.S. cities made this a reality.
Jarvis’ daughter, also named Anna, was motivated by her mother’s and Howe’s work to promote equality and peace, established the first “Mother’s Day” celebration in West Virginia in 1907. Through Anna Jarvis’ activism, by 1912, 45 states had official declarations, and in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed the “Mother’s Day” recognition into law.
Within a few years, Jarvis became disappointed with the increasing commercialization of Mother’s Day. In keeping with the original intentions of Howe and Jarvis and their purpose of Mother’s Day to promote peace, equality and justice, I invite you to look beyond the ‘feel-good’ façade and ask yourself “how can I honor the work of these visionary and brave women? What can I do to promote peace and equality?” I encourage you to look in the mirror and affirm “Peace Begins With ME!” and then go out into the world and make a difference.
Peace Begins With Me!
Both Howe and Jarvis saw the power in organizing people toward a common goal. While we each have power as individuals, when we come together in a focused purpose, our energy and effect is multiplied many times over. Looking at the peace movement, I believe Howe was the first to put forth an organized effort to end war. Compare this to the thousands of years that humans have used violence and war to address conflict, we’re just now coming into our own as supporting the possibility that nonviolent efforts can also resolve conflict and bring about change. I encourage you to follow in Howe and Jarvis’s footsteps by promoting programs such as Nonviolent Communications, and by raising your voice to support equality, nonviolence and justice.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
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We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
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With love, rage, and solidarity,
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