V-Day: 27

The setting is Libera. The time period is 1999-2003. Rape, War, Death, Hunger, Child Soldiers. HELL.

Then something extraordinary happened. The women of Libera took a stand for peace.

The following is an excerprt from the book The President Will See You Know by Leymah Gbowee. 

The morning of the eleventh, the steps of city hall were a sea of white. There were hundreds of women there, maybe as many as a thousand. Some of the city’s religious leaders turned out as well. Taylor supporters and soldiers mixed through the crowd, and local media was everywhere. Emotion ran high as women stood to testify what the war had done to their lives, and I got a little afraid that WIPNET would lose control of the gathering. As the Liberian proverb says, “Sudden rain brings the sheep and goat under the same shed.” There were women here who’d lost children and were filled with rage, women who were political radicals interested only in ousting Taylor, and women who were just drunk.

Our demands were nonpartisan, simple and clear: the government and rebels had to declare an immediate and unconditional cease-fire; the government and rebels had to talk; and we wanted an intervention force deployed and sent to Liberia.

“In the past, we were silent,” I told the crowd. “But after being killed, raped, dehumanized and infected with diseases, and watching our children and families destroyed, war has taught us that the future lies in saying no to violence and yes to peace! We will not relent until peace prevails!”

The women erupted. “Peace! Peace!”

...

Dawn to dusk, twelve hours. We passed the time in different ways. Sometimes women would dance. Sometimes they would preach. The slogan of our action was a simple one: “We want peace, no more war.” The women on the field turned the chant into a song:

We want peace, no more war.
Our children are dying — we want peace.
We are tired suffering — we want peace.
We are tired running — we want peace.

About a week after our trip to Parliament, the Speaker came to where I sat on the field. “I have a message,” he said. “Come to the Executive Mansion on April twenty-third. President Taylor will see you.”

Charles Taylor was exiled. The women continued to be active. They encouraged voting. The women of Libera fought for peace peacefully. And it worked. These women said no to rape, not to hate, no to greed, and no to violence.