This is the fifth in my series of six Guardians. I felt it important that I do a Guardian dedicated to all the mothers who have lost children due to political or religious intolerance. Although she is Black, and she is dressed in authentic African fabrics, she could be any color. I now have a deeper understanding of the pain mothers must feel who have lost a child during a war between nations. I think about the genocide of children in Africa - of slave mothers who had their children torn from their arms to be sold. I think about Jewish mothers and the atrocities of World War II. I ponder the religious battles of Ireland, Bosnia, the Middle East ... and now New York City and Washington, DC. I think about mothers who are told of the shooting deaths of their innocent children on our own city streets. Losing a child is hard enough, but to deal with hatred on one or both sides has to make it far harder for a mother's heart to heal.

Mothers all over the world and throughout time have suffered horribly because of the intolerance of others. My heart goes out to them. Perhaps what we need is a woman to start a worldwide movement toward peace -- a Martin Luther King of our own! Our children are our hope for the future. They should be taught love, not intolerance.