“I arise in the morning,” wrote E.B. White, “torn between a desire to improve the world, and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” The quote seems particularly relevant in these terrifying times, when the world outside my window is irresistibly beautiful. On these days I find I have to leave the wars, ICE raids, King Trump, the climate crisis and the general instability of the world inside. I wander out to the garden, clippers and trowel in hand, thinking of lines written by the late Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer: “If I must die, you must live to tell my story.” Yes, those of us lucky enough to be alive must remember.
Mother’s Day 2026 is Sunday, May 10; it was declared an official holiday in 1914 after years of lobbying by those who wanted to honor the work of mothers and other activist women who fought against slavery and racism, for equal rights and for an end to war and militarism. The message of Mother’s Day as articulated in Julia Ward Howe’s1870 Proclamation is a radical, internationalist one. Take action, women of the world. Reject husbands and lovers who come to you with the blood of war on their hands. Hold onto your sons and daughters. Don’t let them be taken from you to unlearn the lessons you have taught them, of charity, mercy and patience. Refuse to have them trained and sent to injure and kill the sons and daughters of other women. Organize for peace as men organize for war. Join forces; work together as women to put and end to war for this is the most important issue facing the human family.
Surely, If there was ever a year to remember and respond to the clarion calls of Julia Ward Howe and Refaat Alareer it is this year. Wars rage around the globe, destroying life along with life-supporting systems — healthcare, agriculture, education and social/political institutions. It leaves an impossible future for those who survive; they are faced with the insurmountable task of reconstruction. Of rebuilding everything: their families, social and cultural institutions; hospitals and university campuses; the infrastructure of entire towns and villages. They must find a way to provide and care for themselves as well as a way to care for those who cannot care or provide for themselves; a way to parent orphaned children.
Mother’s Day is Sunday. Mothers and Others will march on Saturday, May 9, gathering at 33 Hawley St. at 10:30 a.m. and walking to First Churches to recall for ourselves and for the community, the holiday’s, wide ranging social and political roots; remembering the day is not necessarily about mothers, but rather about honoring the work of women — mothers and non-mothers alike, recalling the fortitude and dedication of all women (and allies) who have organized and tried to sustain “a movement”; women who have struggled for peace and justice; against inequality, violence, racism and war; for the right to vote.
Forget gifts this Mother’s Day. What could possibly mend our aching hearts and distract us from the military madness that is consuming our country. Reclaim the day; use it to organize friends, neighbors and colleagues; march with mothers and others demanding an end to war and the war-making machine.
Claudia Lefko is part of the organizing committee for Mother’s & Other’s Day. For more info: iraqichildrensart@gmail.com.