Dona Nobis Pacem

Visit Mimi, the Peace Globe queen, to get your own for November 7.

Over 40 years ago Lorriane Schneider (1925 - 1972), a woman and printmaker with lttle real artistic background created a poster because she feared her son might be drafted. To this day, this little drawing with its four branches to represent her four children and simple slogan is recognized as one of the icons of the Viet Nam peace movement. It is incorporated as part of my peace globe above.

It was not until TV producer Barbara Avedon gathered together 15 middle-class women on February 8, 1967 to discuss ways to protest the war did Schneider’s image find its true and enduring purpose. The women did not want to align themselves with the beards and sandals of youth nor did they want to be seen as wild-eyed radical route, yet they wanted to let the U.S. Congress know how enraged they were in the face of mounting body bags.

The group decided to send 1,000 “Mother’s Day cards” to Washington as letters of protest. The card said, "For my Mother’s Day gift this year I don’t want candy or flowers. I want an end to killing. We who have given life must be dedicated to preserving it. Please talk peace.” This act grew into the “Another Mother for Peace,” group which eventually became the vanguard of a surging protest movement.

Schneider was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and died in 1972 at the age of 47, but her anti-war poster and plea for social justice creation lives on. So I will now add my voice to all of the mothers and now grandmothers who have seen this image.

Please Talk Peace