I found this video a couple of years ago, when there was much talk about whether the Bush administration would go to war with Iran. Thought it appropriate to pull it out and share it now, giving recent events in Tehran. Behind all of the images on the news, there are people just like us…
Seth Godin on the tribes we lead:
I’d like to wish all of you mothers out there a happy Mother’s Day, and inspire you with a little bit of history about the original meaning of Mother’s Day.
In 1872, Julia Ward Howe led the first Mother’s Day event, an anti-war observance in New York City. In honor of that event, Howe wrote her Mother’s Day Proclamation. Here’s an excerpt:
From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”
Blood does not wipe out dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace…
It was Howe’s hope to convene a permanent annual gathering of women united to advocate peace, and under her leadership, there were annual Mother’s Day gatherings in Boston for several years. But Howe’s attempts to win formal recognition for a national Mother’s Day for Peace failed. Her idea, however, lived on.
Howe had been influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who worked to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers’ Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to create better sanitary conditions for both sides, and after the war she worked to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors. When Jarvis died, her daughter, Anna, continued to champion the idea of Mothers’ Day by campaigning for a national memorial day for women.
The first such Mother’s Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908. From there, the custom caught on, spreading eventually to 45 states, until, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.
Sadly, nine years after the first official Mother’s Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday was so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother’s Day continues to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. holidays, and it’s original meaning is all but lost in popular culture.
This year, in honor of the original founders of Mother’s Day and and to revive the spirit of their intent in today’s celebrations, here are a 21st century reading of Julia Ward Howe’s proclamation and some opportunities to honor the original meaning of the day.
I hope this Mother’s Day you’ll enjoy the blessings of your families. I hope you’ll also take a moment to honor the original spirit of Mother’s Day and, in empathy with all mothers suffering through war, violence, poverty, and hunger, reflect on how we might come together, in Howe’s words, to “take counsel with each other as to the means Whereby the great human family can live in peace…”
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If recent events concerning Roxana Saberi have made you curious about Iran, here’s an unusual way to learn more. In these two graphic novels, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
From the book jacket:
Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of the fascinating country and her own extraordinary family.
There’s also a combined volume of both books called The Complete Persepolis
Persepolis, the film, was a Cannes Jury Prize winning movie featuring (in the English version) the voice talents of Sean Penn, Gena Rowlands, Iggy Pop, and Cathernine Deneuve, among others. Here’s the trailer:
The DVD is available through Netflix, Amazon
Here are a few goodies to help you celebrate Earth Day:
How about starting out with a little history of Earth Day?
Then, check out Top Ten Earth Day Campaigns You Can’t Miss at TakePart˚. It includes links for volunteer opportunities in your community, National Geographic’s history of Earth Day video, a powerful film exploring the connection between environmental protection and human rights, ideas for creating a locally sourced Earth Day meal, and other nice resources for making your Earth Day, and all of your days, more green.
Also at TakePart˚, 17 Prime Ways to TakePart on Earth Day is a listing of seventeen simple things you can do today (and everyday) that have serious green impact. Ideas include air drying your laundry, visiting a farmer’s market, taking shorter showers, changing your lightbulbs, planting trees and twelve other actions that require very little time or effort, but make a big difference to the planet.
Hulu has a special Earth Day portal with video clips on green related topics, including a clip of scenes from the first Earth Day and videos about ingenious new energy technologies, endangered animal restoration and other timely topics.
The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation‘s Call2Recyle program has successfully recycled 50 million pounds of cell phone and rechargeable batteries. Visit their website to find a drop-off location near you for all of of those old batteries cluttering up your junk drawers.
Read about the Meatless Monday movement, watch a video to get inspired, and then make a commitment to cut your carbon footprint and improve your health by forgoing meat once a week.
Visit the HuffPost Earth Day page to see what’s going on in Earth Day news. Some of the good news you’ll find: a list of proposed Earth Day resolutions (start composting, stop using paper plates, use public transit, and more), ways to green your sex life (no, really!), and the best Earth Day jokes of the decade.
Finally, for your viewing pleasure, and for your edification, at 9 pm tonight you can watch the cool young eco-capitalists from TerraCycle on National Geographic Channel’s new series, Garbage Moguls, while they up-cycle candy wrappers and old bill boards and other trash into cool new stuff. (Learn how to make a trendy, colorful wallet from a cookie wrapper right here.) Here’s a preview:
Happy Earth Day, and if you find other Earth Day goodies during your travels today, please share them with us here at ChangeAction by commenting below.
On April 22nd, Earth Day, how better to celebrate than to see Earth, the movie? Disneynature‘s new film stars polar bears, elephants, and humpback whales, and with James Earl Jone’s voice for narration, how can you go wrong? Film-makers spent over five years and 2000 hours in the field to capture the story of three animal families in their struggles to survive a year on earth. From Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, producers of “Blue Planet“, “Deep Blue” and the “Planet Earth” series, the film has gotten some rave reviews. Jake Brewer, at The Huffington Post, says Earth is “breathtaking” and that Fothergill and Linfield “completely and utterly” deliver on their intent to inspire with the film. According to Brewer,
Earth is a stunning masterpiece that will leave even the most ardent coal lobbyist in awe of our planet and yearning to see more — and to preserve it.
You know what’s even better? Not only will going to see Earth inspire you to do something to care for our precious planet. If you buy a ticket to see Earth during the first week, Disneynature will plant a tree in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest in your honor. Cool, huh? See you there.
Today is World Water Day 2009, and according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, nearly 1 billion of the world’s people live without access to clean water, and about 4 million die each year because of waterborne illnesses. Women and children in Africa walk an average of 3.7 miles each day to collect water for their families. And every 15 seconds a child dies from disease caused by lack of fresh water and the inadequate sanitation that it causes. Diarrheal diseases, such as cholera, are on the rise, especially in Africa. And global warming is making the problem worse because of increased frequency and intensity of flooding and resulting contamination of water supplies.
Meanwhile, the U.N. warns that by 2030, nearly half of the world’s people will be living in areas of acute water shortage caused by increased population, rising living standards, dietary changes and biofuel production. Already, water issues are complicating factors in Darfur and the Arab-Israeli conflict. North Africa and the Middle East have already reached the limits of their water resources, and with world population expected to increase by 2 billion by 2050, the pressure on global water supplies is only going to intensify.
In the U.S., trouble is brewing over drought conditions and water rights in the West, while all over the country activists and communities are fighting the bottled water industry to prevent privatization of water supplies and depletion of local water resources.
But, it’s not all bad news in the world of water. The U.N. says Uganda and Turkey have had success with new water management programs, and that the goal of halving the population that doesn’t have access to clean drinking water by 2015 will be met, except in sub-Saharan Africa. And hardworking organizations around the world are successfully implementing programs and strategies for solving water problems in some of the hardest hit areas.
So, to honor World Water Day, what can you do? Quite a lot, it turns out.
