Forget The Flowers — Honor Your Mom With Action

Mother’s Day is often a festival of gooey sentimentality, awash in hearts and flowers and treacle. Its origins have deep roots in activism for peace and workers’ rights – and that’s something truly worth celebrating. It’s time to give up tired notions that only support the patriarchy and reimagine Mother’s Day as a tribute to the enduring strength of women.

Mother’s Day starts with Anna Jarvis who, in 1908, organized the first official celebration in Grafton, West Virginia, to honor her late mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, a social activist who’d organized “Mother’s Day Work Clubs” in the 1850s to improve health and sanitation conditions. These clubs provided crucial aid to Yankees and Confederates alike during the Civil War.​

Jarvis was not alone in appreciating women’s achievements. In 1870 Julia Ward Howe penned the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” which urged women to unite for peace in the aftermath of the War between the States.

The efforts of Howe and Jarvis should clue us in to an important fact about Mother’s Day:  it’s not just a day of appreciation for a single woman; it’s also a day that celebrates social change and advocacy.

Mothers have been central figures in movements for social justice. From the suffragettes who fought for women’s right to vote to modern-day activists for racial justice, environmental protection, and healthcare reform, mothers have consistently championed causes that ensure a better future for their children.​ Groups such as Codepink and the Granny Peace Brigade carry on this legacy and see Mother’s Day as an opportunity to stand up and be counted.

Image by Michelle Ding for Unsplash

Yet many mothers in America still face significant challenges: lack of access to affordable childcare, inadequate maternity leave policies, and disparities in healthcare. These and other problems were heightened by COVID-19. Mothers were driven out of the workforce due to increased caregiving duties. Commercializing Mother’s Day avoids examining these systemic flaws by wrapping them up in candy floss and I’VE GOT BEST MOM IN THE WORLD t-shirts.

It’s high time to recognize the power of mothers as agents of change. Support for policies such as paid family leave, affordable childcare, and equitable healthcare access.​ Acknowledge and address the unique challenges faced by mothers of color, single mothers, and LGBTQ+ mothers.

By honoring the activist spirit of Mother’s Day’s founders, we can transform the holiday into a catalyst for positive change. This year, along with the bouquets and brunches, make a commitment to action and advocacy and continue the legacy of the extraordinary women who envisioned the day as a source of hope and a call for peace and justice.

That would do your mother proud.

And give her a call, by the way. She’d love to hear from you!