Today we celebrate more than just Mother's Day. We celebrate the gift of life that women represent. We celebrate what only a women can do, the responsibility she bears and the incredible powers that come with it.
-1563-Edit.jpg "Photo by Marlon Krieger in the rural region outside of Cuzco Peru") |
| photo by Marlon Krieger |
In the beginning it was understood that women were sacred, they were the healers, bringers of life and the sustainers of their communities. Their council was sought in many important affairs out of respect for their vision and creativity. They were seen as having a direct connection to the mother of all things, because they too give life. In traditional communities they were protected from abuse and assault and cherished for the role they played. Then their place in society was diminished as men began to see women's roles as a source of power and control. The idea of a medicine "man" and seers as male positions came later after the traditional roles of women had been hijacked for the sake of greed. And so women began to fall from grace in societies around the world and throughout time.
Today women battle injustices and grave dangerous to their health; mental and physical, because societies, cultures and perverted interpretations of religion fail to protect them and afford them the rights they deserve. The list of dangers and injustices is long: sex trafficking, arranged marriages, child birth, assault, domestic abuse, maternal mortality, rights to education, rights to make decisions, 'honor based violence', infanticide, etc. Why have 1 in 5 women in the Untied States experienced sexual violence, why is it that every minute a woman dies unnecessarily from complications in child birth, why are they still sold for their bodies, or attacked for making decisions regarding marriage.
"It appears that more girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the battles of the twentieth century. More girls are killed in this routine “gendercide” in any one-decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the twentieth century. - Half the Sky by Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristoff Page: xvii; Introduction
So as you celebrate Mother's Day today don't just buy her a gifts or dutifully go to a family brunch in the name of a gimmicky holiday. Remember the challenges that women and mother's around the world are facing this day and let your mother know that she is sacred and beautiful because of her strengths, her will and because she is a women.
My mother is the strongest person I know, she is my guardian angel and my healer. Nothing can replace the hug of a mother and the energy that it exchanges and you shouldn't need mother's day to remind you to tell her.
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| photo by Annalisa Iadicicco and Marlon Krieger |
I can imagine no better way to thank you mother today than to pay tribute to women and help change the way women are treated within society. Their are countless organizations doing good work around the world. Choose one and volunteer, make a donation or just show your suppport in your mother's name. Below is a short list you can use as a starting point.
“It's no accident that the countries that have enjoyed an economic take off have been those that educated girls ...”
― Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
If you have any other movements or organizations in mind please add them to the list:
http://www.halftheskymovement.org/pages/act
http://www.girleffect.org
http://www.antislavery.org/english/what_you_can_do/default.aspx
http://www.care.org
http://www.equalitynow.org/actions
http://www.safercampus.org
http://www.campaignforeducation.org/en/
-1907.jpg "Accha, Peru at night photo by Marlon Krieger")
-1912.jpg "Accha, Peru at night photo by Marlon Krieger")
-1921.jpg "Accha, Peru at night during the Festival Intercultural photo by Marlon Krieger")
-3676-Edit.jpg "Villa El Salvador, Peru at night, photo by Marlon Krieger")
-3674.jpg "Villa El Salvador, Peru at night, photo by Marlon Krieger")
.jpg "Havana, Cuba a man watching traffic go by at night by Marlon Krieger")
.jpg "A fuel truck parked along Avenida 3 in Havana Cuba by Marlon Krieger")
.jpg "Avenida 3 Havana, Cuba at night by Marlon Krieger")
