The tradition of Mother’s Day was initiated by Julia Ward Howe as a protest against state violence. In those days, the violence was rooted in war, yet in our days as tanks and teargas enter the streets against our own citizens, there is a direct line of tradition that makes Mother’s Day a powerful day to resist state-sponsored violence. Our grief leads us to raise our voices against murder by police; the community impact of the criminal legal system; and the ways parenting, childhood, and family life are disrupted by over-investment in carcereal approaches to safety. While our collective grief is a motivator for change, we remember that the individual grief of families who have lost loved ones is also real, and we make room in our hearts and our actions for community care in the wake of trauma.

Police violence has taken too many people from their families. The grief of those families and the communities who embrace them fuels our commitment to change, and we must also remember that this grief belongs to real people who need community care.

Topics: Story