This Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 10), CODEPINK will hold its second 24-hour vigil in front of the White House, to honor all mothers and women who live where war is happening — where women are paying the price with their bodies, loved ones, homes, future. This action will recognize the price women pay in war zones and honor their courage and power, and stand with them in solidarity to not only tell their important stories but to model what women-centered community looks and acts like.

CODEPINK will call for our troops to come home from Afghanistan and Iraq so that no more mothers will suffer the unbearable grief of losing a child to these wars. And with your help, we’ll also send a message of sorrow, friendship and peace directly to the women suffering in occupation and their families.

Mother’s Day Vigil Schedule

SATURDAY, May 9th
Times & activities are subject to change.

1:00 to 2:30 pm – Opening program and Kick Off with actress Mimi Kennedy, Colonel Ann Wright and CODEPINK Cofounders Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and Gael Murphy. Main Stage, Lafayette Park
– Scavenger hunt for kids!

2:30 to 5:00 pm – Quilting Bee, Singing and Circling the White House in Pink
We’ll bind the knitting squares to create our message for the world to see, “We will not raise our children to kill another mother’s child.” Peace quilt creating project for kids, kids march for peace, story time, scavenger hunt, hula hoop, soccer, face painting, Little Friends for Peace train workshop with snack time ice cream Peace Pops provided by Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

5:00 to 6:30 pm – Learning Circles
Participate in teach-ins about Gaza, Truth In Recruitment, Nuclear Disarmament, Economic Crisis and more. The circles are initiated by the co-sponsoring organizations to educate and inspire us to create the world we want to live in.
– story telling for kids

6:30 to 7:30 pm – Dinner and a poetry slam with spoken word artist Lori Purdue
Catered dinner from Bus Boys and Poets. Cost is $10. We invite you to pick up your dinner and find new friends

7:30 pm to 10:00 pm – Women’s voices from War Zones and Concert
Main Stage
Farrah Hassen with the Institute for Policy Studies, Naomi Long with Drug Policy Alliance and more.

with artist musicians:
Mamapalooza! Carol Lester & World Women Ensemble
perform songs from Award Winning CD
“Feed The Love Starve The War”

Lindsey Campbell
a veteran, young mother, singer songwriter

Melissa Ivey
“This delicious pop ditty hits a sweet spot with me like no recording since the Fray’s early demos. It’s a quantum leap beyond anything she’s produced before – a track that evokes Mary Lou Lord as much as it does Sheryl Crow — Ivey’s most polished effort to date.” -Westword Magazine

Lizzie West & Baba Buffalo
“The journey West shared was perhaps what anyone looking for freedom, love and self might experience, but she has a uniquely effortless, and charming, way of telling the tale.” – LA Times

10:30 pm to 1:30 am – “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” film screening with director Abigail Disney
-Pink Talent and Fashion Show

SUNDAY, May 10th

2:00 to 4:00 am – Activist Trainings
Learn valuable skills for creative protest, media outreach, local group coordinating, strategizing to end war, and more. Join Patch Adams for a workshop entitled, “What is your love strategy?” And learn hoola-hooping skills from Medea Benjamin.

4:00 to 7:00 am – Pink Pajama Party
Party will include a pink scavenger hunt, hoola-hooping, yoga, singing, and more.

7:00 am to 8:00 am – Walter Reed Peace Delegation
A delegation from the vigil will deliver hundreds of roses and a message of love and support to the mothers visiting their children at the military hospital.

8:00 to 9:00 am – Breakfast of champions: Free coffee and muffins for all-night, all-star activists.

9:00 to 10:00 am – Interfaith Ceremony
Sing, dance, chant, and hold silence for those loved ones lost at the hands of war lead by women of many ritual and religious traditions.
– Patch Adams clowns with the kids

10:00 to 11:30 am – Closing program of Women’s Voices
Main Stage
Marjan Shallal with Humanities Council of DC, Nedia Perez with Colombia Human Rights Commission DC, Nita Evele with Congo Global Action, Rosha Manoranjan with the People for Equality and Relief in Lanka and more.
– Kids share their wishes for peace

11:30 to 12:30 pm – Pink Picnic in the Park
Catered brunch. Cost is $5. A time for sharing our experiences and planning how to take the love and energy home to our communities.

12:30 to 1:00 pm – Closing Ceremony and the weaving of the Roses from CREDO into the White House fence in memory of the loss from War and a stand to end it while creating peace.

After the close of Mother’s Day, all are invited to join CODEPINK activists by moving the pink to the Arms Fair to join other activists in the front of the weapons display.