29 quotes found
"Women are the ones that bear the greatest burden. We are also the ones who nurture societies."
"Regardless of whom you pray to, during war our experiences as a community and as mothers are the same."
"If any changes were to be made in society it had to be by the mothers."
"We are all responsible. We are all complicit. White T-shirts catch the light. What matters is what we then do with that light. (The peace activists wore white t-shirts during their protests.)"
"We have a saying: “A single straw of a broom can be broken easily, but the straws together are not easily broken.” So here are three things African women can do to support their sisters and daughters:"
":1. Join the support network even if your own community is not plagued with conflict or violence. Most women only take action ::when their own communities are threatened. This must stop if we are to tackle the ills that are plaguing our African ::society. We must ignite the spirit of “Ubuntu”—“I am what I am because of who we all are.”"
":2. Develop a solid and consistent leadership base. The leadership of most African women’s initiatives functions very well ::during times of crisis, but tends to disintegrate after a huge success is scored. Movement leaders, even myself, made our ::own plans for self-advancement. It is time that the leadership of African women’s initiatives plans for succession."
":3. Reach out to the un-converted. My final point comes from my 12-year-old daughter. For her, the feminist message is not ::filtering very well to potential victims, perpetrators, and government leaders. She believes—and I agree—that we speak ::loudest at women’s conferences and other spaces already filled with the converted. But we must speak to everyone, ::everywhere, about the struggles of African"
"All across Africa, even in the midst of the deepest and darkest civil war, women are still proving that we can hold communities together."
"How to describe the excitement of that first meeting...? There were women from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Togo – almost all the sixteen West African nations. In her quietly brilliant way, Thelma had handwritten an organizer's training manual with exercises that would draw women out, engage them, teach them about conflict and conflict resolution, and even help them understand why they should be involved in addressing these issues at all"
"We are tired of war. We are tired of running. We are tired of begging for bulgur wheat. We are tired of our children being raped. We are now taking this stand, to secure the future of our children. Because we believe, as custodians of society, tomorrow our children will ask us, "Mama, what was your role during the crisis"
"A war of fourteen years doesn't just go away. In the moments we were calm enough to look around, we had to confront the magnitude of what had happened in Liberia. Two hundred and fifty thousand people were dead, a quarter of them children. One in three were displaced, with 350,000 living in internally displaced persons camps and the rest anywhere they could find shelter. One million people, mostly women and children, were at risk of malnutrition, diarrhea, measles and cholera because of contamination in the wells. More than 75 percent of the country's physical infrastructure, our roads, hospitals and schools, had been destroyed"
"A whole generation of young men had no idea who they were without a gun in their hands. Several generations of women were widowed, had been raped, seen their daughters and mothers raped, and their children kill and be killed. Neighbors had turned against neighbors; young people had lost hope, and old people, everything they had painstakingly earned. To a person, we were traumatized."
"The Liberian women peace movement demonstrated to the world that grassroots movements are essential to sustaining peace; that women in leadership positions are effective brokers for peace; and the importance of culturally relevant social justice movements. Liberia's experience is a good example to the world that women—especially African women—can be drivers of peace"
"It could be Jesus, it could be Mohammed, it could be Buddha, but there is no way that you can effect change in people's lives if there is not someone that you can rely on as the "divine intervenor" or the "divine one" that you can call on every day.... God is faithful, whoever you know him to me.... Take a step of faith and God will see to the rest."
"At graduate school, I could feel my mind expand, my comprehension deepen. I realized I now could put a formal name, "strategic peacebuilding," to what I'd done instinctively in Liberia.... Many of the other students at EMU had lived through conflict, and there was relief in being among them.... In Harrisonburg, a small old city in the Shenandoah Valley, far from Liberia and its sorrows and people who expected something from me, I didn't have to be strong. Every now and then – for instance, when I saw a mother with her children – I would burst into tears. No one at EMU thought that was strange. I met an old man who'd lost his entire family in the Rwandan genocide."
"If much remains to be done, new avenues to be explored, new attitudes and ideas to be found, we have given the direction to future assemblies."
"The U.N. could and should remain the best means of international cooperation that has ever been at mankind's disposal."
"But we have to nurse and cherish and cultivate it."
"When civil war broke out [in 1989], we had to run. The members of the troupe and I lost track of each other for a while. I returned to the artists’ village, even though war was raging around me. I felt that that was my home and my fellow artists made up my family. Those of us who made it back started focusing our art on issues of war and peace. I started to compose songs, and became a lead singer as well. One of my songs, “We Need Peace, No More War,” was adapted by the Liberian women’s peace movement, and became an important part of their rallies. The leader of that movement, Leymah Gbowee, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011."
"The voice, sound, and lyrics are all magical tools in getting to people’s hearts. People relate to music faster than you’d expect. Music has a great capacity to deliver a crucial message, or even a number of messages, in a very short time. Part of the reason I’ve relied on music and dance to inspire Liberians to pay attention to critical issues is that traditionally, these arts have been important means of communication for our communities. Music and dance start dialogues, and motivate people to take action."
"I do think about my legacy. I hope that my music has a positive impact, and that whatever constructive changes result will lead to better and better things, for individuals, families, and communities."
"My biggest fear is the loss of our traditions. With that loss we lose the opportunity to work towards peace through these types of songs and dances that have been so meaningful for Liberians through the centuries."
"I am humbled and honored to be one of the four winners."
"It came as a surprise, but I am grateful. I hope this award brings more of a spotlight to the issues of women and children in Liberia. I like to think that the Campaign Award doesn’t only belong to me, but to the hundreds of young people I have had the opportunity to work with over the years, including the thousands of children, survivors, and victims of sexual abuse in Liberia. This award is for every young Liberian who’s on the front line fighting for social change, justice, and respect for human rights every day. This award is for my mom, aunties, and all the women in my circle who have experienced sexual or domestic violence. Thank you for inspiring my work and for giving me a reason to help make Liberia a safe place."
"I wanted to get involved with their work teaching girls about HIV and AIDS, as well as sexual abuse and just creating awareness in the community."
"I don’t want to be the next victim of abuse."
"You don't have to be like us [in Liberia] to call attention to what's happening in terms of sexual abuse and human rights."
"You can help in any way possible by speaking out – by supporting us, and being an ally to this movement that we've started."