Mother's Day for Peace May 6, 2009

Event Website: http://www.mothersdayforpeace.com

Full Schedule of Events: http://codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=4792

From Toronto, Tuscon, Schenectady, NY and dozens more cities and towns around the world, mothers, veterans, nurses, students, lawyers and businesswomen will flock this Mother's Day weekend to Lafayette Park here for a 24-hour vigil to honor women living under occupation worldwide, hosted by CODEPINK and co-sponsored by the National Organization of Women, MADRE, the Feminist Peace Network and nearly 34 other human rights organizations.

The women and their families, who from 1 p.m. May 9 to 1 p.m. May 10 will participate in workshops, a children's fair, discussions with women who've lived in war-torn countries, a colorful march around the White House and a radical act of knitting using 6,000 squares knitted by women worldwide (read more about that here) will reflect on the original purpose of Mother's Day, a Civil War plea to mothers to peace.

Saturday's events will also include a concert by independent rocker Melissa Ivey, and on Sunday, CODEPINK will host a powerful interfaith service, creative actions and more. All events are inspired by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Peace Proclamation. Howe, horrified by the devastation of the Civil War and the death of America's men, wrote the Proclamation to call on America's women to gather together to "promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.”

Official Website: http://www.mothersdayforpeace.com