What moms need

Maybe mothers (and fathers, and all who care for other members of our human family) don’t need more chocolate; maybe they need justice, peace, and safety.

Dear friends -

I’ve started and restarted this piece, trying to incorporate the bad-faith “bargaining” of the Republicans over the debt ceiling, the awful platform amplifying the lies and despicable comments of the ex-president, the inhumane use of migrating people as pawns in political games, and the regular drumbeat of gun violence.

This week, in our town, the schools went into lockdown as the result of an incident of “swatting” - calling in fake threats to elicit a massive law enforcement response. No one was hurt - physically- and the threat was determined to be false fairly quickly.

But add our hundreds of kids (and their families) to those directly impacted by the increasing embrace of violence, real and threatened, in our communities.

On a day when we are asked to celebrate “motherhood,” can we not commit ourselves to creating communities where moms (and dads and other caregivers) don’t have to experience a moment of fear when they send their kids to school?

Can we not commit ourselves to ensuring that the mothers (and fathers and other caregivers) of the thousands of children entering our borders, seeking a chance to live a safer life, do not have to put their lives in the hands of human smugglers?

Can we not commit ourselves to insisting that working moms (and parents and caregivers) earn a living wage, can access health care for themselves and their families, and save for a modestly comfortable retirement?

Maybe mothers (and fathers, and all who care for other members of our human family) don’t need more chocolate; maybe they need justice, peace, and safety.

Be well, and thank you for being part of this movement.