Today is Mother’s Day, a time of celebration for many families across the U.S. It’s a time of gathering, and a time of joy. But for others it is a time of pain or remembrance, perhaps because someone’s mom is no longer living.
There are also households where mothers are weeping because their child has been ripped away, never again to sit at the family dining table, never again to buy a Mother’s Day card or give mom a hug and a smile.
Take a few moments today as you celebrate your mom to think of the mothers who sit at a table with an empty chair.
Say a prayer—if you pray—or simply pause for a moment of silence and empathy.
Then make a commitment to join with brave mothers and families who are organizing and fighting back to bring a halt to the violence that has ripped their children away—forever.
Charmaine Edwards, pictured above, is one of many mothers who have lost a child to the unconscionable actions of a police officer. Her son’s name was Jordan. You can read more about him in “No clever title. He was somebody’s baby and he didn’t deserve to die.”
I am not a mom, and my mom died in 1998. I am sitting here thinking about her today … as I do every day. Mother’s Day just makes it a bit worse.
I watched my mom try to cope with that empty chair at the table for many years after we buried my younger brother. He died not from police violence, but from mental illness and suicide. I can only imagine what it must feel like for the mothers who lose their children to police actions or to gun violence.
We are familiar with the names of children who no longer live because of police violence. I will never forget when shanikka posted “Hey America! Can you please stop killing our (usually) innocent Black male children now?” in 2012.
That list has grown so much longer since then.
Going back in time, I think of three mothers who spoke up and began to push back after the murder of their sons.
Every Mother's Son
In the late 1990s, three victims of police brutality made headlines around the country: Amadou Diallo, the young West African man whose killing sparked intense public protest; Anthony Baez, killed in an illegal choke-hold; and Gary (Gidone) Busch, a Hasidic Jew shot and killed outside his Brooklyn home. Every Mother's Son profiles three New York mothers who unexpectedly find themselves united to seek justice and transform their grief into an opportunity for profound social change. It was Iris Baez, who had become a veteran activist since her son Anthony's death, who approached Amadou's mother, Kadiatou, and Gary's mother, Doris, after their sons were killed. As a Puerto Rican woman from the Bronx, a West African woman who relocated to New York, and a Jewish woman from Long Island, they made an unlikely but powerful team. The grassroots movement they inspired in New York is challenging the militarization of law enforcement and the erosions of constitutional protections. When police kill someone under suspicious circumstances, the mothers assemble to help the family deal with its grief and to seek the truth and accountability. The mothers have also become advocates for police reforms, including better training and more citizen oversight, and have connected to a larger national movement against police brutality.
I think today of the moms who have lost their children to gun violence. I support Moms Demand Action.
Here’s their history:
About Us
Much like Mothers Against Drunk Driving was created to reduce drunk driving, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America was created to demand action from legislators, state and federal; companies; and educational institutions to establish common-sense gun reforms.
Who We Are
Moms Demand Action was founded by stay-at-home mom Shannon Watts on December 15, 2012, in response to the devastating shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The organization quickly flourished into a leading force for gun violence prevention, with chapters in all 50 states and a powerful grassroots network of moms that has successfully effected change at the local, state and national level. In December 2013, Moms Demand Action partnered with Mayors Against Illegal Guns to unite a nationwide movement of millions of Americans working together to change the game and end the epidemic of gun violence that affects every community.
What We Stand For
Moms Demand Action supports the 2nd Amendment, but we believe common-sense solutions can help decrease the escalating epidemic of gun violence that kills too many of our children and loved ones every day. Whether the gun violence happens in urban Chicago, suburban Virginia, or rural Texas, we must act now on new and stronger gun laws and policies to protect our children.
They have an upcoming action on June 2.
I will not forget that the “Mothers of the Movement” were at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.
Mothers of the Movement: Gwen Carr, Mother of Eric Garner; Sybrina Fulton, Mother of Trayvon Martin; Maria Hamilton, Mother of Dontré Hamilton; Lucia McBath, Mother of Jordan Davis; Lezley McSpadden, Mother of Michael Brown; Cleopatra Pendleton-Cowley,Mother of Hadiya Pendleton; Geneva Reed-Veal, Mother of Sandra Bland
As we move forward together, the Democratic Party must continue to be a voice for moms and families who demand action against violence. No matter who our candidates are, they must speak up and take legislative steps against senseless killings.
And you don’t have to be a mom to take action.
Right here at Daily Kos, Support the Dream Defenders pushed for legislative action after the police murder of Michael Brown, initiating the Michael Brown Over-Policed Rights Act, a community crowd-sourced project.
I close today with some music.
Many of you are familiar with the work and music of Sweet Honey in the Rock. Second Line Blues is one of their tributes to those lost to us via violence.
The “Second Line Blues” song reflects the current state of gun violence, the senseless loss of life, mass murders, and police brutality in our communities. It pays homage to many who are known and unknown including Emmett Till, Freddie Gray, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Amadou Diallo, Sandra Bland, Walter Scott, Susie Jackson, Sean Bell, Tamir Rice, Ethel Lance, Cynthia Hurd, Eric Garner, Myra Thompson, Daniel Simmons, and the mass killings in Sandy Hook, Columbine, Virginia Tech and many more. It is written and performed by founding member, Louise Robinson. It is inspired by the New Orleans tradition of funeral procession. The first line of the band is the procession and the second line of the procession consists of the mourners. Louise and Carol explained, “Since we started writing this piece, we’ve had to keep adding names…and sadly, we’ll be adding more before things change.”
The music of Sweet Honey has been adopted and performed by vocal groups and choirs across the nation. Listen to The Grand Rapids Women’s Chorus perform Sweet Honey’s The Women Gather.
The Women Gather
He was her only child, her baby boy
She was his second daughter, a father's pride and joy.
Somebody's mother, brother, best friend, sister, lover
Maybe an A-1 student running, hiding, taking cover.
The women gather crying tears that fill a million oceans
It doesn't matter where you're living,
The women gather crying tears that fill a million oceans
It doesn't matter where you're living
The women gather
People say, "Not in this neighborhood!
It doesn't happen here!
Our kids have everything,
What do we have to fear?"
But what about the ones who say, "This happens every day;
Drugs and violence take our children.
How much more death can come our way?"
The women gather crying tears that fill a million oceans
It doesn't matter where you're living...