Dear Friend,

Mother’s Day is a BIG day… a day of celebration, of love, of remembrance, of flowers, and maybe of a little dancing as we laugh, hug, cry, and possibly even rage out our feelings… and also a day when we each can take some fast, persistent, powerful, effective action together.

To fire you up, the MomsRising team got together recently, and we made a special Mother’s Day video that we think you’ll enjoy and that captures our work together. We hope you’ll watch it, check out our dance moves and the topic issues on our signs, and that it’ll inspire you to keep fighting for the change our world needs.

Even as we dance to celebrate the joy of our movement and of our appreciation of you, our message today is a serious one. Motherhood in America is in trouble – and as we celebrate and remember the moms who’ve inspired us on this Mother’s Day, we also, as all eyes are on moms on this one special day, raise the very serious complexities of being a mother in our nation everyday:

It’s serious because childcare still costs more than college in most states—and most childcare programs don’t even take infants under 6 weeks old.¹ That means that even if you can afford childcare, you’re still out of luck if you’re one of the 1 in 4 moms who have to go back to work within two weeks of a new baby arriving.² Despite the fact that virtually every other nation has some form of paid family/medical leave after a new baby arrives, we don’t.³

Serious because care workers (most of whom are moms) are some of the lowest paid workers in our nation.⁴ Impossible because moms, who are 6 out of 10 of the people who need and have abortions, are facing dangerous and drastic restrictions on their ability to decide if and when their family grows.⁵

Serious because becoming a mom is increasingly dangerous as shown by the CDC reporting a 40% spike in moms dying before their first Mother’s Day, and that Black women are 3 times as likely to die in childbirth.⁶ Impossible because being a mom is now a greater predictor of wage and hiring discrimination than gender—and due to structural racism, moms of color experience increased wage hits to the extent that Latina moms earn just 46 cents, and Black moms just 52 cents, to a white dad’s dollar.⁷

And it’s serious because when our children come into this impossible situation, we are all forced to sit with deep fear for them when they go to school, to the movies, to the park, or out in the world because guns are now the leading cause of childhood death in America where the right to bear arms overrides the right to raise our children in safety.⁸

You know what happens when there are serious problems?

Moms dance, moms take action, mom RISE!

We rise because moms work hard every day of the year and deserve leaders in every political party who have our back in the moments of celebration like Mother’s Day, and also in the quiet exhausted moments too. Having our backs means advancing the policies that give us the tools to build a good life for ourselves, for our children, and for our children’s children – and to lift the economy at the same time. We know how to solve the care crisis we collectively face.

* That’s why we’re inviting YOU to reach out to Congress with us on this Mother’s Day, a day when all eyes are on moms, to urge leaders to support moms and families every day.

What are moms rising for? Moms are rising for our Freedom Agenda:

Moms are rising for quality, affordable child care, and for aging and disability services. For paid family and medical leave when a new child arrives or a serious illness strikes. For medications and health care, including mental health services, we can afford. For the freedom to make our own decisions about if, and when, we grow our families without interference from politicians.

Moms are rising to make childbirth safe for everyone. To welcome immigrants with dignity and respect. To invest in communities instead of prisons. To have all our votes counted. For our children and families to live without gun violence, community violence, and police violence. For the wealthy and mega-corporations to pay their fair share.

Moms are rising to advance programs that unite and lift us all – and to make clear that well-funded efforts by a vocal minority to divide us and take away our freedoms through censorship, book bans, health care denials and more do not provide the solutions we want or need. We know the solutions that will lift our nation and put families first.

We invite YOU to reach out to Congress with us on the day when all eyes are on moms to tell leaders to have our backs all year long.

As we rise, we celebrate the work of motherhood and parenting – and we share our stories. Early this week we asked you to share stories about being a mom, or in honor or memory of a mom, and hundreds of you shared amazing stories - like this one from Aaliyah in CT:

“My mom is my inspiration. She has always sacrificed so that my sister and I would have opportunities that she did not, and we did. When I had to go back to work after three months of paid maternity leave and one month of non-paid maternity leave, my mom watched my twins five days a week so I could go back to work full-time. If I lived in Canada, the UK, and 90 plus other countries I would have not had to ask her for that type of support. A year plus of free daycare from mom. Her generosity saved us a lot and still does as she continues to help me raise Akilah and Zak. My mom is a class act, and I will forever be grateful for all she has done and continues to do for me. Happy Mother's Day!”

And stories like this one from Rosalie in FL:

"My father was in the military and we were frequently relocating to other Army bases. My mother had 5 children to get ready to relocate when needed. At times this involved transfers to other countries. Mom was amazing. Wherever we went she would get involved with assisting children in need. A true inspiration!"

It’s our stories, our experiences, our voices that fuel our movement for change.

So in honor of Mother’s Day, and of the hard work of moms and caregivers across our nation, please rise with us today, and every day by sharing this action link with friends and family – and also by taking 30 seconds on this Mother’s Day to watch our video and then take action yourself.

Thank you for ALL you do, and we know you do so much.

- Kristin, Amanda, Amber, Beatriz, Beth, Brenna, Claudia, Dede, Diana, Diarra, Donna, dream, Elyssa, Felicia, Gina, Gloria, Hanna, Jenny, Jessica, Jordan, Joy, Julia, Kady, Karen, Keisha, Kelle, Kelsey, Lauren, Leanne, Linda, Lisa, Lucrecer, MacKenzie, Maggie, Mandy, Monifa, Nadia, Namatie, Nancy, Nate, Nina, Reshonna, Ruby, Ruth, Selina, ShaRanda, Sheila, Sue Anne, Tasmiha, Taylor, Tina, Wendy, and Xochitl

P.S. Mother’s Day is a perfect time to support our movement with a gift to MomsRising Together. You can honor a mom who inspires you in big or small ways, or memorialize a mom you love - and pick a beautiful e-card to send instantly to the recipient of your choice. Don’t want to dedicate your gift or send a card? Click here to make a Mother’s Day gift without a dedication.

Join our Spanish language community, MamásConPoder.org

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