PINKtank

Don’t Send Me Roses for Mothers Day

Medea Benjamin What happened to us mothers? We allowed this holiday to get away from us. We allowed it to become commercialized, individualized, commodified, unpoliticized. We allowed it to be about superficial symbols of love—flowers and chocolates and store-bought cards. We allowed it be a time when we, as mothers, sit back and receive personal [...]

The Radical History of Mother’s Day

By Laura Kacere There’s a good number of us who question holidays like Mother’s Day in which you spend more time feeding money into a system that exploits our love for our mothers than actually celebrating them.  It’s not unlike any other holiday in America in that its complete commercialization has stripped away so much [...]

‘Shame on You’: Why I Interrupted Obama Counter-Terrorism Adviser John Brennan

Counterterrorism adviser John Brennan spoke at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington DC on April 30 to mark the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden. It was the first time a high level member of the Obama Administration spoke at length about the U.S. drone strikes that the CIA and the [...]

Why I’m Striking

By Janet Weil My husband works in information technology for a large corporation. After a little encouragement from me when I mentioned the upcoming General Strike on May Day, he decided to take a “comp day” and join the action with me on May Day. Here’s why in his own words:  “I’m striking because I [...]

Solidarity with mothers (and all women) on Mother’s Day

By Sharon Miller Although I plan to celebrate Mother’s Day with my own mother (hi, Mom!), I have to admit that my knowledge of the experience of motherhood is somewhat limited: I am not a mother. I have never been pregnant, and I have never participated in childrearing. While I like kids, I go back [...]

Tax day action: refuse to give your tax money for wars and occupations!

by Tamara Cushway Refusing to pay taxes for war is as old as the first taxes levied for warfare.  Up until World War II, war tax resistance in the U.S. usually manifested itself among members of the historic peace churches — Quakers, Mennonites, and Brethren — and usually only during times of war. There have [...]