Celebrating Mom the Old Fashioned Way

[Mother's Day] During the American Civil War a social activist named Julia Ward Howe (who also wrote the lyrics to "Battle Hymn of the Republic") began a campaign to celebrate peace and motherhood and protest war on the second of June every year. Gradually, the underlying political message fizzled out and what contemporary society now recognizes as Mother’s Day is a hollow Hallmark-y shell of its original dignity.

A group of Utah mothers plan to revive the campaign of the original Mother’s Day Peace Celebration this Sunday in light of the political turmoil due to the war in Iraq.

To celebrate, the group of mothers led by Riley Archibald and Erin Mendenhall will make and decorate peace prayer flags modeled after Tibetan Prayer Flags. They will also discuss how mothers can construct “Conscientious Objector” folders for their children.

The folders are designed to provide evidence in a court of law of the child’s peace and pacifism throughout life should they have to avoid a potential draft. Think scrap-booking for activists. For those interested, there is more information here.

Mendenhall and Archibald urge mothers that want to participate in the celebration/protest to wear black to symbolize solidarity in the cause for peace. (Keith Araneo-Yowell)