Dear John,

Around the world, Mothers are calling for peace. 

Originally, before the commercialization, commodification, and individualization of Mother’s Day, this radical celebration was the brainchild of a brilliant woman, Julia Ward Howe, who was horrified by the carnage and suffering during the Civil War and the economic devastation that followed. She was also heartbroken by the outbreak of war between France and Germany in 1870, with its ominous display of German military might and imperial designs. She used her poetic gift to pen a proclamation against war, a proclamation that birthed Mother's Day. 

☮️ Sign our petition now calling for a proclamation of peace in Ukraine.

“We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

On this Mother’s Day more than ever, we need a call for peace. War rages on, with millions of families living in fear. Ukrainian and Russian mothers are terrified of losing their children in battle while the U.S. sends more weapons to escalate a proxy war. Palestinian mothers watch their children being arrested and imprisoned by Israeli forces with the support of U.S. aid. Incarcerated mothers in the United States live in fear for their health and the health and safety of their children. Afghan mothers are mourning the loss of their children at the expense of U.S. sanctions.

And with a $69 billion increase to the Pentagon budget, we could potentially see the highest U.S. defense budget since World War II. 

From experience, we know that more than half of this budget will go straight to weapon manufacturers, like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman, to create and send new forms of intelligence and weapons to attack mothers, families and civilians around the world.

Ukrainian mothers, Palestinian mothers, Afghan mothers, all Mothers and caregivers struggling for healthcare and life-affirming resources are not calling for more money to be packed into an already gluttonous defense budget.

They are calling for an end to the violence.
They are calling for peace.

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK writes, “This is our day, moms. Let’s reclaim it and embrace its origins. Our day should not be solely about us, as individuals, but about us embodying the collective desires of mothers around the world—to stop our children from killing and being killed by other mother’s children. No one is going to bring that to us on a breakfast platter; it’s something that we women demand.” 

As peace-loving citizens of the world and as mothers fighting for a better future for our children, we urge you to support an immediate ceasefire and negotiated peace in Ukraine. Tell U.S. President Biden, NATO Commander Jens Stoltenberg, and EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen to support negotiations–not more weapons–to resolve the crisis in Ukraine! ☮️ Sign our petition now.

Towards a peaceful Mother’s Day,

Jodie, Grace, Michelle, Melissa, and the entire CODEPINK Team

P.S. Shop our NEW CODEPINK Floral T-shirts in fuchsia and black! All proceeds go towards ending militarism and spreading peace.