I could list my designations, job titles, and experiences. I could talk to you about the things I've seen, accomplished and am working on and while that's all well and good, nothing, absolutely nothing, comes close to the experience I cherish the most -- mama. No matter what I'm doing, I'm mama first. And all children are my children. Their well-being matters.
The way we mother our children is the way we mother our planet.
The world is undergoing a huge shift on every level; old structures are crumbling and new ones are being birthed. As mothers, as sisters, we hold the keys to the transformation of this world for our children, ourselves, and the next seven generations. Maternal well-being and health care for children needs to be a mandatory right. Ibu Robin Lim, the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year, whom I recently met and fell in love with spiritually says, "Every mother counts and health care is a human right."
Like Martin Luther King Jr. before me, I have a dream and it's called the Million Mamas Movement -- a grass roots, global movement to inspire, empower and engage mothers and others to focus on women's and children's rights and bring greater peace to our world through maternal well-being, health insurance for mothers and children, evolutionary conflict resolution, inspiring policies and more. I see a world where every child is fed, housed, clothed, educated and loved.
The Million Mamas Movement will launch with the Million Mamas March on Mother's Day, May 13, 2012, at the Washington Monument. Imagine a million mothers and others gathered physically and virtually to anchor greater peace on the planet. The event will not only include such inspiring speakers such as Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center, author, and featured teacher in The Secret; Rickie Byars Beckwith, composer/singer and musical director of the 200 member Agape International Choir; and Marianne Williamson, author and international speaker; but will also provide participants with education and information outlining how they can actively help establish greater peace on the planet for ourselves, our children and the next seven generations. The full line-up of high profile speakers and performers will be announced in the coming months.
After almost a decade of teaching compassionate parenting practices, hearing parents express their deepest concern for their children's futures, and observing the growing collective desire for greater peace and justice around the world, as an American mother, I was inspired to create the Million Mamas Movement. I was further inspired by the proclamation written by Julia Ward Howe for the very first Mother's Day calling for an end to the ravages of war. And I was also greatly inspired to expand on His Holiness the Dalai Lama's proclamation that "Western women will save the world.
It's not okay with me that women die in childbirth or are physically unsafe when pregnant; that girls in other countries are married off as young as 10; that there's human trafficking or genital mutilation. I have an 11-year old and I can tell you that she's not ready to be married. I am fortunate because in the American culture, I don't need to marry her off to survive. I can't imagine that any parent truly wishes to give their child away in order to survive. I believe that a part of them shrivels and dies when they feel that this is their only option. That option needs to be amended. Everyone wants to feel loved, important, heard, seen, and accepted. That is our unalienable right.
I believe that mothers and others will transform the world as they unify, activate and galvanize their innate desire to see women and children thrive through powerful creative and inspired action. I am committed to global transformation through fostering an international alliance of mothers and others -- Million Mamas Circles are being assembled as well as the Million Mamas Council and the Million Youth Council. A Million Mamas Manifesto written by mothers and women worldwide, will be presented to President Obama and leaders around the world.
This is a "WE" movement, what happens anywhere affects us everywhere. We cannot turn a blind eye to what no longer works -- we must join together and create a kind and just world. This is the legacy we give our children -- a world where they are safe to be.
If you are a person of peace and want to have your voice heard, I invite you to join the Million Mamas Movement. Your participation in the Million Mamas Movement and March brings us one step closer to the creation of a just and kind world for ourselves, our children and the next seven generations. The Million Mamas March and Million Mamas Movement is a project of the Creative Visions Foundation founded by Kathy Eldon, visionary, mother and grandmother. We are looking for Ambassadors of the Million Mamas Movement in cities around the globe to join in this vision. Please go to www.MillionMamasMovement.org to opt-in and/or donate. You may reach me at Wendy@MillionMamasMovement.org.
Wendy Silvers is a Creative Activist Member at Creative Visions Foundation. Click here for more information about the Million Mamas Movement.
"Creative Visions Foundation is a publicly supported 501(c)3, which supports Creative Activists who use the power of the media and the arts to affect positive change in the world. All donations are tax deductible."