Film: Pray the Devil Back to Hell
This was amazing. WOMEN are absolutely wonderful. Also, this is a piece of contemporary history I knew nothing about, and should have.
In 2003 the Liberian civil war had been going on for 14 years. A peace movement started among women of Liberia's Christian churches and quickly spread to Muslim women as well. A women's peace network formed and began a demonstration at a busy market in Monrovia that grew to encompass the camps of Liberian women and children displaced by the war, women from across Liberia, in neighboring Sierra Leone, and in Ghana when peace talks were started there.
I can't recount all the stages of the peacemaking process, but the women succeeded in forcing the dictatorial president of Liberia to resign and go to exile in Nigeria, and in pressuring the rebel forces to agree that their role would be limited to a transitional government while democratic elections were being organized. After that incredible victory, the women's network kept things on track: they prevented the UN-led disarmament from dissolving into chaos, and shepherded the election process that resulted in Africa's first female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
The documentary is called Pray the Devil Back to Hell. There's also a book about this, Liberian Women Peacemakers: Fighting for the Right to Be Seen, Heard, and Counted. I plan to read it soon.
ETA: I did read the book this week.
The documentary gives the impression that women's peace efforts didn't start until the last year of the civil war, but in fact they were ongoing for the entire 14 years. WIPNET, the group the film focuses on, seems to have been a sort of catalyst that drew all the women's groups together for the final, most difficult part of a long journey. But all through the 14 years, women were courageous, persistent, creative, patient, and single-minded in their pursuit of peace. They held demonstrations, facilitated meetings between rival warlords, talked rebel soldiers out of violent acts, kept a disarmament period from dissolving into chaos, and invited themselves to peace talks held in neighboring countries and demanded to be allowed to address the assembled leaders. Both the book and the film were incredibly inspiring.
Two quotes to take to heart:
To be an effective peacemaker you must be a very patient person. You must be calm and a very, very good listener. You must listen not only with your ears but with your eyes. You must listen with your heart, your soul, and your mind, because sometimes people say one thing and they mean something completely different. You must be very slow to speak on what you hear.
--Gloria Musu-Scott, Chief Justice
I worked for peace with LWI, NAWOCOL, Women Action for Good Will, Concern for Women. We all joined together to bring peace in this country. We went round from village to village to talk with those boys to put the gun down. We went to Po River, to Mount Barclay, to Lofa, even to the border. When the leaders were in town, we demonstrated on the streets: we wanted peace.
--Martha Nagbe, farmer
In 2003 the Liberian civil war had been going on for 14 years. A peace movement started among women of Liberia's Christian churches and quickly spread to Muslim women as well. A women's peace network formed and began a demonstration at a busy market in Monrovia that grew to encompass the camps of Liberian women and children displaced by the war, women from across Liberia, in neighboring Sierra Leone, and in Ghana when peace talks were started there.
I can't recount all the stages of the peacemaking process, but the women succeeded in forcing the dictatorial president of Liberia to resign and go to exile in Nigeria, and in pressuring the rebel forces to agree that their role would be limited to a transitional government while democratic elections were being organized. After that incredible victory, the women's network kept things on track: they prevented the UN-led disarmament from dissolving into chaos, and shepherded the election process that resulted in Africa's first female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
The documentary is called Pray the Devil Back to Hell. There's also a book about this, Liberian Women Peacemakers: Fighting for the Right to Be Seen, Heard, and Counted. I plan to read it soon.
ETA: I did read the book this week.
The documentary gives the impression that women's peace efforts didn't start until the last year of the civil war, but in fact they were ongoing for the entire 14 years. WIPNET, the group the film focuses on, seems to have been a sort of catalyst that drew all the women's groups together for the final, most difficult part of a long journey. But all through the 14 years, women were courageous, persistent, creative, patient, and single-minded in their pursuit of peace. They held demonstrations, facilitated meetings between rival warlords, talked rebel soldiers out of violent acts, kept a disarmament period from dissolving into chaos, and invited themselves to peace talks held in neighboring countries and demanded to be allowed to address the assembled leaders. Both the book and the film were incredibly inspiring.
Two quotes to take to heart:
To be an effective peacemaker you must be a very patient person. You must be calm and a very, very good listener. You must listen not only with your ears but with your eyes. You must listen with your heart, your soul, and your mind, because sometimes people say one thing and they mean something completely different. You must be very slow to speak on what you hear.
--Gloria Musu-Scott, Chief Justice
I worked for peace with LWI, NAWOCOL, Women Action for Good Will, Concern for Women. We all joined together to bring peace in this country. We went round from village to village to talk with those boys to put the gun down. We went to Po River, to Mount Barclay, to Lofa, even to the border. When the leaders were in town, we demonstrated on the streets: we wanted peace.
--Martha Nagbe, farmer