Dear Mother’s Day Event Hosting Mama!

Welcome shy visionaries and rabble-rousers! Welcome busy mothers and stilt walkers! Welcome single mums, grandmothers and uncles! You are about to join an exuberant movement of mothers* across the country in reclaiming Mother's Day this March 18th!

This Mother’s Day, MAUs will host events—ranging from mini tea parties, to radio addresses, to outrageously costumed parades, that reclaim Mother’s Day as it was envisioned in 1870; a day when mothers of all nations would gather to protect the lives of our human family. After the civil war in the U.S. and the emergence of the Franco-Prussian war, Julia Ward Howe wrote in her journal, "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters, to prevent the waste of that human life that they alone bear and know the cost?" In order to gather mothers together, she wrote a "Mother's Day Proclamation" entreating women to "Arise!" to protect the lives of our children. MAU took Julia's invitation to heart and has been supporting Mother's Day events held on behalf of the world's children since 2002.

The theme for the 2007 Mothers Acting Up Mother’s Day events is Mother Leadership. For centuries, mothers have been masters at negotiation, resource allocation and policy creation (think rules!) all within the walls of our homes. It has been our job to ensure that our children eat, get along, are schooled and have tender arms to hold them in the dark. Mothers*, today 1 in 6 children have no access to clean drinking water. One in 150 have lost one or both parents to AIDS. One in 20 won't enter a classroom this year. Nearly half live in poverty. It's time to go public.

Up until this point mothers — the world’s most natural lobby for children — have primarily focused our efforts to care for children within the walls of our homes and schools, believing that government and corporate leaders would recognize the importance of our children’s future in their decision-making. Frankly, that’s not happening. We must stretch wide our capable arms and embrace children whose lives are intertwined with our own children's lives: politically, environmentally, economically and culturally. Whatever our personal motivations, our compassion & sense of humanity, we must also recognize that THE most important way we can care for our own children is to ensure the wellbeing of all the world's children.

The 2007 MAU Mother’s Day events will be celebrations intended to inspire, educate and engage your local community to move from concern to action on issues confronting children worldwide. As an event organizer, you can tailor your celebration to reflect the passions and issues most pertinent to your local community. There are many forms your celebration can take — a parade, potluck, street party, table at your local grocery shop encouraging others to ACT UP, or a gathering in your favourite park. It is of vital importance to create an event that inspires you!

In addition, MAU humbly offers this Parade Packet with some vital information including a Parade Recipe, Stilt Recipe, Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation, a parade script, sample newspaper article and a press release.

Please e-mail us with questions, brainstorms or challenges. We’re here to be a sounding board for your ideas, provide tips on how to make comfortable stilts, and put you in touch with other MAUs planning events in communities from near to far. Think of us as your personal cheerleading squad.

Put MARCH 18th on your calendar and begin to dream of how you and your Mum friends will Arise!

In spirited partnership,

Joellen, Juliana, Beth, Anjali & Tina
Mothers Acting Up