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“Arise all women who have hearts,” proclaimed Malkia M’Buzi Moore, Atlanta WAND Board Member, as she opened the Mother’s Day for Peace program with Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870.

Just as Ward Howe penned women’s call to move beyond war, so WAND marks Mother’s Day as a time to honor the women among us who have taken a lead in the work for peace that is so critical to our time. In 2004, led by event chair and Board Member Pat Walsh, Atlanta WAND honored Martha Ezzard for her many contributions as a journalist, attorney, professor, legislator, mother, grandmother, vineyard owner, and environmentalist.

About 150 WAND members, partner organizations, legislators and community members attended an evening of toasts and supper on Thursday, May 13th. The program that followed featured the talents of poets Alice Lovelace and her daughter, Theresa Davis; celebrated the local work on behalf of peace, women, and the environment; and honored Martha Ezzard with poignant tributes delivered by Rep. Nan Grogan Orrock, Dorothy Rupert­who served in the Colorado legislature with Martha, Julie Bookman of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and Martha’s husband, Dr. John Ezzard.

The gift of a framed, stained-glass dove, made by WAND member Jackie Adams, was presented as a token of our appreciation. Martha’s speech embodied the scope of her work for a better world as she recounted tough battles for progressive legislation alongside observations such as the fact that, at the present rate, she will be 249 years old when parity amongst women and men is achieved in Congress. Clearly, we have a long way to go.

Yet we stand on the shoulders of women who have courageously spoken truth to power, and our lives are shaped by the hopes of extending such a legacy to the next generation. War has become too costly, and the human price we pay is simply too high.

According to Atlanta WAND founder Bobbie Wrenn Banks, “The real message of Mother’s Day is that women can and must lead our world beyond war.” We look forward to continuing to honor the women who walk this path.