Leymah Gbowee

Transcription

This UCSD-TV program is presented by University of California Television. Like what you learn? Visit our website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with the latest programs. [Music] 00:52 Good evening, everybody. Uh, welcome to the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies. Uh, in this school, uh, we believe that you don't have very much peace, and it's not very sustainable without justice, and we don't think you have much justice without peace. So we think the two go together inext--inextricably. We also believe that studies ought to be combined with practice, and so our Institute for Peace & Justice and our Trans-Border Institute are very involved in the practice, in various places around the world, of peace and justice issues. We also believe that peace and justice shouldn't be an abstraction. It should be a challenge of public policy. So we are developing the school as the first school of public policy devoted to the questions of peace and justice. Now... [applause] Uh, this is going to be an inspiring evening. First because I'm going to leave the podium very shortly, [laughter] uh, and secondly in Leymah we have someone who has inspired people throughout the world and we've already had the benefit of her twice today and we appreciate her patience to have her for a third time. Now I've only been dean of this school for a little over six months, but you learn a few things. One of the things you learn very quickly is, whenever possible, delegate. And so tonight I am very pleased to delegate, uh, to Dee Akers, who is known as the woman peacemaker, uh [applause] and as someone who's known, uh, Leymah for many years, in fact welcomed her here five years ago. Uh, so Dee is going to engage in a conversation, uh, with Leymah. And with that let me exit the stage and thank you all very much for coming. We appreciate having you. Thank you. [applause] Well, good evening and let me add my welcome to our dean's. And thank you for joining us here at the Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego, for the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice's Distinguished Lecture, "Transforming Conflict through Nonviolent Coalitions," with a truly brave and, above all, transparent and honest woman. Um, it's my privilege and pleasure to share an evening with the 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate, Leymah Gbowee, and you, uh, because it takes all of us, as she often points out. And our evening is designed to let us step into her world briefly and the revelations there. This Liberian mom of six, domestic violence survivor, peace activist, social worker, women's rights advocate who speaks truth to power, who founded a number of organizations including most recently the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, and along the way got the Nobel Peace Prize — all before she was 40 years old. [applause] A slightly longer bio is in your program. And the book "Mighty Be Our Powers," uh, which tells intimately her story is available out in the rotunda, um and it's really her story on how this came to pass, but there's also some people that would love for you to, uh, or be thrilled, if you went back and found the film, "Pray the Devil Back to Hell." Netflix would be happy if you'd rent it and, uh, Abigail Disney would be glad if you bought it. Um, and we're actually really happy to see how... in that film... how this happened with the diverse community. And those of you who have met her here before five years ago saw the film when she joined us for a conference that we did called "Crafting Human Security in an Insecure World." Um, there's so much to talk about, but we want you to have time to do it. I'm going to ask just a few questions and we'll have a little bit of discussion up here. But I want you to know that we were encouraged and engaged on the promise that she made and was living when she came here before. And, uh, it appears, however, that I have to say something that I really believe that her nonviolent transformation activities are sometimes not a passive, quiet, nonviolent, [laughter] uh, style but very vocal, direct and shall we say risky, uh, in which way she, uh, leads, uh, the way to peace in Liberia and elsewhere now around the world. So, welcome, Leymah. Thank you, Dee. Thank you so much. [applause] Well, one thing...we'll start a little towards the beginning, not the very beginning, we only have an hour, um, when you were 17 years old the Liberian civil war had just started. And you, uh, said that you turned from being a child into an adult in a matter of hours. Um, can you give us a feeling for what it was like, what that—that moment was like, that journey was like from then on and what changed? Alright. Thank you and thank you all for coming. It's truly an honor to be back here, uh, five years later. I do then, since 2008, I now have a 3-year-old going on 40, so since I left I've been really busy. [laughter] But, um, I grew up in a very sheltered, not rich community, but very sheltered. Um, where we grew up was the typical, um, example of "ubuntu" — you know—you are because I am; we all exist because of the other. Liberia has 16 tribes. The community we grew up in, maybe 10 of those tribes lived there. Everyone practiced their culture, but we were children of the community. So at 5 o'clock, if you went to the next neighbor's house, you took your bath there and put on someone else's clothes, and they took you home sleeping. We would stand on our porch and shout, "What did you cook today?" And someone would say, "We cooked rice with cassava leaves and rice with...Can we share?" So those were the kinds of things that we did. And when lights went off, we sang and danced our cultural, sang different traditional songs. Everyone came out so all of the parents were sitting on their porch. There was that feeling of you're sheltered. And then we'd go to town to the very plush high schools, but also sheltered because all of the kids in those schools' parents...or in our school...parents knew each other. We were still children at 17. You could go to your dad and say, "I need this." Your mom. There was guidance. And then we wake up and we were hearing all these stories about war. And we wake up one morning, my mother is gone, my father is gone, and I'm waiting for a few hours to go to school. And then there's shooting. Real loud shooting. This old man says, "I—I know this sound. The rebels have come." And my sister's three kids are at home, and my two younger siblings are there. And I'm the only child of my parents at home at that moment. And my niece is running to the door and one of our relatives is coming with another child and she takes her out of the way. Standing and observing that interaction at that moment, it was like, "You have to take charge." So I took all of those kids in, and that night people were coming and asking me, "What are we eating?" This is a question I ask people, you know, and then my aunt was saying to me, "You have to take control of your parent's bedroom." By morning we had over 50 people internally displaced in our home. I had to be saying, "Let's cook this, let's do this, let's do that." So you wake up at 8 in the morning and you're a 17-year-old. And by 10 p.m. you're 20-something or 30-something because you have the burden and the responsibility of a whole group of people on your shoulder. And people are already beginning to tell you, "Look around and find those important documents of your parents to keep. Do this, do that." Those are not things that ordinary 17-year-olds think about. But in a matter of weeks I mastered all of it. One thing that you had with your family, um, and in your community, uh, was a sense of faith. You became a person or you were a person of faith. But it seems that you came to know and live your convictions so much more than simply being church dogma. Um, in today's world, institutionalized religions can seem separate from people and you went through, uh, the way they live. But in your transition and during those times, from that point on, what was it like for you, how did you go beyond or include your sense of faith? In who you became. Well, when you live in a world where you see a lot of injustice happening and people who profess to be true believers of whichever religion, or people are committing atrocities in the name of all of those religions, you—you have to come to the place where you understand what your faith truly is. And most times when you read different accounts...I read different accounts in the Bible, I'm not just looking at, um, "eye for an eye." You have to rationalize the meaning of "eye for an eye" into this world. And—and one old lady said, "If you practice eye-for-an-eye now, we're going to have a group of damned blind people all over the world." [laughter] So you have to think about that, but for me one thing that I picked from the life of Jesus was compassion. And there is no way that you can live and interact with people and don't feel a sense of compassion when something has gone wrong or something is going wrong. So, over time, different things led me. I had been writing a little book for so long and I paused on that book. But my desire is to publish that book and just give it out for free. It's a tiny book that I've titled "Giving." And in that book, it will be... if you read it you'll get to understand how my faith grew so strong. Because in my life's journey, it hasn't been just Christians that have reached out to me. It hasn't been just Muslims. It's been people of different faiths and they are reading different things and just trying to make sense of this world that we all know that God...or believe that a God created. If he created this world, how did he intend for us to live? How can you say I'm a person of faith and you see a child suffering and not offer that person food? How can you be a person of faith and see a young girl with so much potential and you have the resources to send her to school, and turn a blind eye? So you have all of those things in play. But again, I tell people my life journey has been one that I track. I'll give you a quick story. My kids and I had been very, very poor, um, for a long time. And then my sister moved back to Monrovia from exile, and we lived in a tiny—in a tiny apartment. I think the entire apartment was the size of this stage. And I had four kids. She had one daughter, then I had a brother I took, and a niece came to live. So in this space...then a girl was thrown out, we took her in to help her finish high school. Every morning we would make food, breakfast and put it on the porch, and the kids in the neighborhood would cross over and come to eat. And I would say, "Make way for others to come and eat." And my sister would glare at me and say, "You are so going to call armed robbers in this house tonight," because it was a rough neighborhood. And one of the days I took... I just sat and looked even though we were poor, there were poor people, people poorer than we were. And so all of these old pairs of shoes under the bed, and it was getting close to Christmas and I said to her, "Mommy, Let's give these shoes out to the kids in the neighborhood." So we took everything out and children came, and not a single pair left over. My niece had made a list...we had made a list, but I had I think less than a hundred dollars for that Christmas. And that money would not deal with anything. The kids were upset because it's two days 'til Christmas and mama can't seem to be filling this list. I had this friend who was a Catholic priest who used to just come and sit in my house, to laugh, he said. The kids were just crazy because every night we did a thing called peacebuilding. And every night my son Arthur who is 16 now was the only culprit, apologizing to everyone, "I'm very sorry. I'm very sorry." So if you came to my house for 30 days Arthur was the one apologizing. So this man used to come and just sit sometimes and pray with us. He had gone to England and he came that evening at 12 midnight. A Catholic priest knocking at the window of a single woman at 12 midnight? Of course, I was shocked! [laughter] And I was like, "What do you want?" and he said, "Just open your door." "No, no, no, no, why...you should be in London." He said, "Just open the door. It's a long story. I'm tired. My flight came in late. I want..." So he...when I opened the front door, he put two huge suitcases in my living room. And then he said, "I'm too sleepy. We'll talk about it tomorrow. I'll come in." So the kids woke up and said, "What's in the suitcase?" the next morning. I said, "Well, brother David brought these—these two suitcases." By 12 he came. And then he said when he was leaving England, there was this woman who came running to the priest's house and said, "You are going to Africa. It's Christmas. I have these two suitcases. Go and give it to any single mother." He brought those suitcases and said...he used to call me "Leymuth" that's how they call me in the community that's my rough gangster name. [laughter] So he-he-he brought these...so he said, "So I brought these two suitcases." We sat down and opened up those suitcases. And everything we had on our list was in those suitcases, including shoes for the kids and clothes for the kids. And I turned and looked at my sister, and she looked back at me. When you've lived a life of lack, and when God has stepped in mysteriously on many occasions — and that's just one — and provided in such an awesome way, sometimes you don't need the Bible to give you an understanding of who God is. [applause] I want to stay with that whole issue of faith just for a little bit longer. When you started working, uh, on the issue that concerned...with organizing women to stand up against Charles Taylor...who was the first...how did it happen that the Muslim, um, your Muslim associate, the lead woman from that group, crossed that boundary or you crossed it because that wasn't the case at the time? Well, when...first of all the Christian Women's Peace Initiative and...I went to bed. I used to live with my computer, my kids were in exile so I lived in this house all by myself and uh...no I did not go on the computer at that time, I take that back. But I had a notebook that I wrote everything in. And I remember that night laying next to the window and having this notebook. And I woke up shivering. But, in that dream, real dream, "Gather the women to pray for peace." The next morning — my boss was a pastor — and I went to him and said, BB, I had this dream." And Vaiba, who's been here, was also one of my bosses then. And this person was saying to me, "Gather the women." So, "Reverend," --that's how we called our boss -- "since you are a pastor, call the women of the church and give them this dream." And he looked at me and said, "Leymah, the dream bearer is always the carrier of the dream." I said, "No, no, no, no, no, no Reverend. I am in a relationship and I'm not married to the man. Oh, am I fornicating! No, Jesus could not be talking to me." [laughter] And then he said, "No." And so we started the whole Christian Women's Peace Initiative. And the first time we went to meet a delegation of the World Council of Churches, Asatu was the Mus—only Muslim woman who stood up and say she was going to take it back to her Muslim sisters. She went and threw the idea at them. And the first question they asked was, "Who organized the Christian women?" And she said, "Leymah." So technically they baptized me a Muslim to come and organize the Muslim women. We started working with them because the first thing we needed to know what time they were...all of those things. But what happened, very interesting in all of this faith conversation most times when I'm having interfaith dialogue with people I ask, "In this work that we did, who do you think were the most problematic group?" And because of the impression of the-the-the-the-the, um, myth of Muslim fun--fundamentalism, everyone will say instantly, "The Muslim women were the most difficult." No. All those Christian women would come with scripture references every morning [laughter] on reasons why we should not interact with the Muslim women. Sometimes it got so bad that we had to take these women aside and really just talk to them to apologize. And so it got to the place where one group of Christian women actually left us because they felt we were not fulfilling the work of God. But the Muslim women were the most easy to deal with than the Christian women. Strangely. This... that brings up another question about...when you think about standing up, I mean you did it there, you do it now, you help women around the world. You're really interested in this transformation of conflict. Do you think about going alone first to see what needs to be done, or do you begin organizing coalitions? Because this is about the coalitions coming together like these groups first. I mean because they're challenging. One seems like it's going to take a lot more time, one seems like you're testing the waters. What...when you think about going out, what do you do first? I think the first thing to do is identify not one but several thematic concerns in different communities. Where people miss the mark is to think that once you see women you mobilize. That's not it. Or once you see people you mobilize. People have to feel connected to something. So you look into...say this community...and maybe rape, um...domestic violence - like wife beating, um...wayward children are the key issues. And you have to really go around and kind of test the waters with...if you're trying to mobilize parents, to see which is the top of the list. And then you use that as your rallying call. So when you go into conflict areas you want to really start by finding something...even though...for example, in the Congo DRC, when we went there two, three years ago, two-and-a-half years ago, I knew we still had a lot of work to do. There was no way that what happened in Liberia would happen in Congo any time soon. Why? Because everyone sees the conflict from the lens of their ethnic group or their political ideology or, um, some leader. They haven't seen it from the standpoint of, "Yes, I'm from this party and I'm from this ethnic group, but rape is an issue and it's affecting us as women." We went to Bukavu and we sat in that place, had a very beautiful meeting where the women had all of the answers. And then we said, "OK, if we are to form a coalition, we need to get one person who will become the face of this movement. The person would be the voice, and when they're not around no one can speak, because then the message is simple, concise and clear. No one is giving, um, mixed messages." The meeting broke down there. In the Ivory Coast in 2004 before their war got hot we went to a meeting, same thing. They spoke the same language. When it came time to fin—find the leader, the meeting broke down — the reason being, people still see that leadership within that women's group from the perspective of the political group, the ethnic group or the rebel faction that they support. And that's a really interesting point because it—it creates a vision of how you would have to get people to buy in to the whole idea of these coalitions that you want to create. On the other hand, certainly you're going to have to find the leaders who are willing, who are acceptable beyond that point. Well—well, one of the things that we didn't talk about it in "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" but which I think was a very important part of the work that we did in Liberia, was when we started something called the Peace Outreach Project. It was something called... we used to call it the POP. We trained 20 women from the Christian and Muslim groups, and those 20 women sat down and said, "We want to do something collectively." After we had formed the Christian and Muslim women. And the first thing they said they wanted to tackle was HIV and AIDS. In two weeks the problem with the war started. April 2nd actually would be 10 years when we started the mass action. So when we—we—we—we decided, "OK, let's work on the war issue." But the POP was something that they said, "We want to be able to go out and tell local women that they too have a stake in the peace process." So the Peace Outreach Project was predominantly a time of awareness and mobilization, a rallying call. We did that for nine months. After nine months we called the group back to evaluate the work that we had done. And we realized that there were issues that were coming up that was very unhealthy for the group that we are trying to build—Muslim/Christian women's rela—uh, relationships. So we—we did something—a consultation that was paid for by Catholic Relief Services. The first thing we brought the Christian women in the room. And we were looking at peace and nonviolence from the perspective of the Bible, something that they were quite familiar with, very comfortable with. And we talk about...because most times when you talk to the Christian women, they would be like, "Oh, my religion tells me to pray, so I'm not supposed to be out there. I'm not supposed to be on the forefront of protests. I'm just supposed to pray." So then we went back to the Bible, sat down and studied women in the Bible. And we gave them Deborah, we gave them Esther, we gave them all of those powerful women and said, "Did they just pray? No. Did they take action? Yes. So can you be a Deborah for your country? Of course!" [laughter] So those were the first things we did. Then we went into the Quran and into all of the different readings that were Islam that we could find. The next day we brought the Muslim women. Both two things we did to demystify all of the myths and negative perceptions and positives, stereotypes they had, was to do something with the Christian women on the day. What is it that you like about the Muslim women? And they made their long list. What is it that you do not like about them? And they made their long list. What do you admire about Islam? They made their long list, kept it, next day worked with the Muslim women. The third day we brought both groups together and the room was divided by religion. Every group was...what was amazing was that two women drove in the same car, one a Christian, one a Muslim. As soon as they enter that room everyone was across the table. So we—we started by asking them to do the gallery walk. Christian women one side Muslim women...and you could just hear it, "What! Did they say this about us as Christians? What? Did they say this?" "Oh, that is so nice." [laughter] "Oh, oh, no but is a lie. We are not like this." "Oh that is so nice." "Well that's not true. Oh..." and then after a while we said we don't want to talk about it. We brought two old ladies who had been friends for over 60-something years. One a Christian, one a Muslim. That was the turning point for us. Because one of the women...the Muslim woman was as talkative as I am. [laughter] And the Christian woman was so quiet and reserved. It was a total contrast from what those women...the perception that they held. And then this Muslim woman, in her talking about their friendship said, "My friend here's husband used to abuse her. And I took money and took her to the courts and she divorced him." Of course the Christian women almost fainted. [laughter] A Muslim taking a Christian woman to divorce her husband? "And I made sure she got away with all of the property." But afterward [laughter] someone asked, "How has your religion influenced your friendship?" And those two old ladies had a blank look on their faces. "What are you talking about?" And then this Muslim woman, who's deceased now, turned and said, "Marta, when you look at me do you see a Muslim?" And the Christian woman said, "No, I see a sister, a woman with many children, same problems that I have, unfortunately, cheating husbands." And they just went on and on and on. And they said faith has never ever played a role. Those two women in their communities, because of the intensity of their friendship, were called witches by community members. They suffered the worst together, but nothing ever took their friendship away. So that became the rallying call. So when you hear in the movie, "Does the bullet know a Christian from a Muslim? Can a bullet pick and choose?" Cause those women said...the two old ladies said, "Go in the bathroom, take off your clothes, one Muslim woman, one Christian woman. And look at each other and see whether you see a Muslim on your bodies or you see a Christian written on your bodies." So when you're trying to mobilize, it's so important that you spend time. Today, because of the horrific kind of violence that we see in communities, people expect that movements will just wake up. It needs to be nurtured like you're building a garden. Take trash out, all of the weeds and all of the different things and that's what we did with those women for over...almost two years before we launched the mass action. Very impressive. [applause] I've—I am checking the time...I—I have one more question I really want to ask because I've been watching and looking at a number of... statements that you've made in recent times and I've seen you take to the podium to confront leaders of Africa and the Western world the northern communities. Um, speak about their role in the continuing conflicts. I mean, to take them on and say what role they're playing. And I think that—that those moments when I see you doing that I'm wondering... I'm thinking about your work with your women, companionship, etc. But what gives you this power? What are you really saying to these people who are you believe continuing the conflicts at some level—who are heads of state, etc. And does anybody ever listen to you? Does anybody respond when you—when you speak out? Well, when you don't get invited to some country high-level meeting, [laughter] you take it that they heard. You know, and it's upsetting to them. But the point, um, Dee, is that in this work that we do we should not be afraid of anyone. There shouldn't be an office that we cannot touch. There shouldn't be an individual that we cannot face. And most times when I sit and form my opinion and do my research and do my analysis about certain things, the first thing that comes to mind is that people expect that you be quiet because you're a girl. You know, how dare you talk to those male leaders! But when Archbishop Tutu says, "I cannot share a stage with Tony Blair because he's a war criminal," he's applauded and I respect him for that. You know? And I think that is what should be. We should be able to say...because Dee, who do we represent? Who is your constituent? Who do I represent? A vast majority of those women that I say I speak for may never make it to San Diego. And if I'm afraid and ashamed to speak about their issues, I've failed them and I've failed them miserably. You know they—they had the misfortune of putting me on a high-level task force on reproductive health and rights beyond 2015. And I asked someone, "Do you really think you want me on this task force?" [laughter] Because it's not going to be about politics. Like I said this morning, it's not going to be about statistics. It's going to be about individuals. So how do you live in a country where you can...women die in the hundreds from maternal-related issues? They're going to give birth and they're dying. And then you have the children of some of the leaders riding the best cars. And it's simple things like an ultrasound machine you can't find in some of the health centers. And I'll say...you know, I'll say it doesn't take a lot. And so when you—you—you say to yourself...most times I tell myself, if Dr. King was going to be afraid, there would be no civil rights movement in this country. And I don't think, I don't think it's fair for any of us who God has given a space to dominate, to be afraid to speak our minds — especially if it has to do with people who cannot speak for themselves. [applause] I'm going to ask one final question. In the meantime why don't people head over to the mikes so we can hear your questions. And that's because I'm sure that we have students here and I know that a number of people, um, have an interest in media and that you've been interviewed by people in media who are the alternative news media and, um, found them somewhat responsive, I think. And I think the role of media, as we've talked about earlier today and in the past, is profound and it's essential that we have responsible media. So when you go on someone's show like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, um, what's the sense...I mean, are they in their own way trying to get the real word out there? Are they...um... [Gbowee]: I think... I—I will speak for both Colbert and Jon Stewart and I will not speak about some of the other people that interviewed me. [Aker]: I'll only ask you about those two. [laughter] [Gbowee]: But those two, especially Jon Stewart, came into the green room, sat with me for almost 30 minutes. And it wasn't like calming my nerves; because look at me I didn't need him to calm my nerves. [laughter] But it was like genuinely engaging: "I've read your book. I have kids. I'm concerned about the state of the world." And he came to me with a lot of respect. There was not this white male supremacy thing. It was like two equals having a conversation: You have something to say, I'm interested in listening to it. And I—I've been to many places and it's not just for North America. Even in Africa you get the vibe when people are not interested and they just see you as...okay this is going to be a...I—I tell my kids with this prize I'm not an ornament. You know because it's easy for..."oh, we got this Nobel Laureate to come to this event. And this Nobel Laureate to come to that event." No. I will be an ornament when I'm 70. [laughter] [Aker]: Oh shoot. [Gbowee]: At 41 there is work to be done and you can't afford to but...you...I mean...you... sometimes you get the sense and with Jon I really got the sense that first things first, he had read my book. It speaks volumes about someone interviewing you who has read, but beyond reading has gone and done different research. And—and talk about do...I've done this, I've done that, I've done the other. So and—and...when we had that conversation, the people in that audience, if they had never thought about civil wars or women's rights issues, it brought it to them because he drove it home. And we, you know, at one point during the interview, he said, "Wow, you're being interviewed by the most popular—one of the most popular journalists in America." And I said, "Well, you...we're in good company because you are interviewing the most popular African woman." [laughter and applause] Yeah, I couldn't resist asking the question because I know it's hard when we talk about media to feel that we're getting an honest, uh, sense of...from media about what's going on in the world and—and what they have to do. And I think that we really need to take it more into those kinds of spaces if we want the world to take women's issues seriously, because it...those people have followings. They have people who want to hear them. They're like little gods to people. So if some of them stand up and say, "Women's rights is the in thing," some people will be listening, others who have never stopped to think about it. So when you talk about breaking new ground and going into different spaces and new places, I think those are the kinds of people that we need to engage with. Find the good men in the media because for too long and especially for me...one of the things I constantly say to myself as I go to be interviewed or go to some part of the world, there's so much misconception about the African woman — saggy breasts, begging bowl, many children hanging on them. You know, and sometimes I tell people, that even if... in Africa a woman has been raped, the one question you need to ask yourself , "How is she still caring for 10, 20 children? How is she still caring even after that horrifying rape, how is she still standing up with her shoulders high and providing for her family?" You need to move beyond the act of the rape and look deep into that strength. The strength that is coming out. So most times there...one thing that I would never ever hope to do is to come out here because again, I'm not representing myself. I'm representing a lot of those women in communities who you cannot mess with. You know, I was...we went...when the Nobel women came, we took them to a group of women in Totota. The women, when they were introducing themselves to the Nobel women, and I just sat there smiling, because these were women I met decades ago who could not even find their voices. And this woman stands and says, "I have my lieutenants. Where are my lieutenants?" And these women stand up. And these are the people who community people would come to and say, "My daughter got raped and the culprit lives in that house." Those women walk to that house, arrest the man, and take him to the police station. You dare not resist arrest. [laughter and applause] So if you have these things happen in community, how do you come off portraying those women you represent as weak? As...and then you find...we have a whole new generation of young women who have formed their—their voices also, so they are nothing like weak. And previously when things used to happen, they would be so shy about talking about it. But we've come...seriously come to the place where African women are now saying, "If you rape me, I have nothing to be ashamed of. You should be ashamed of yourself!" You know, so...we need to constantly portray that. Even in this country I constant... I will alw...I always say, "Women, you have so much: the platform, the resources." Um, someone said to me, "You know there was this thing going and we—I won a million dollars for my organization." I said, "Gosh. Give me one million dollars [laughter] and I know what I will do with it!" So much resources and then sometimes when you hear some of the things going on you ask yourself, "These women are strong, they're smart, they're intelligent, but what happened to their legs? Why can't they stand up?" Because you see there is so much that you have to offer us in Africa. You...people mirror what happens in this part of the world. If—if women's rights is not respected here, and our leaders are wining and dining with your leaders, they go back and say, "Even in the... even in the U.S. is not working there. Why should we give it to you here?" Okay, let me shut up, Dee. [laughter and applause] No, here's a microphone, there's an empty microphone for Leymah. [Female voice from off stage] I want to ask you about the horrific violence, not only in Liberia, but in so many places in Africa. Eastern Congo you talked about and other places. [clears throat] At the beginning you talked about this wonderful spirit in Africa of sharing, of taking care of each other. I think you say "ubuntu." Is that right? And [clears throat] I wonder how we restore that. What—what were the dark forces that changed things, that brought this about, and how do we reverse it? You know I don't think the spirit of togetherness and oneness ever left Africa, or else people like us wouldn't be on the continent still. The spirit is still there. What we've seen happen to our world is something that we cannot explain. When people...I—I—I tell most of the young men who fought in the war that you are a victim of, um, trying to live in an urban world, not fitting, and trying to live in your rural community and not fitting there anymore. So mod—modern—modernity or whatever we want to call it, but it's—it's a sad... I—I cannot pinpoint what has happened to the spirit in our communities. What I can say to you is that in some parts of the community those spirits are still there. It's the spirit that will cause women to rally around each other. It's that same spirit that will get some men to come around. And most times when I speak to a community of African men, I say to them the reason why you all are now demonized is because a lot of you good men have stepped in the back, and the evil ones have taken over your space. And the evil men, the men who perpetrate evil, are not many. The ones who are the good ones, they're very many, but somehow they've lost their spines and they're not doing enough to protect those women. I don't understand what is happening. But when I look at my own dad, who as we grew up, no woman cried from her husband's house that he did not walk to and pull that man out and say, "If you want to fight someone, let's fight." But today you see men, you see boys really most times they just don't want to get involved. And so how do we get them to be like the women again, you know, bring back that spirit of community? But I also think a lot of the violence that they too have seen has affected them in ways that we are not talking about. And because...I mean the good men now, the handful of the evil ones have affected them in ways that... there's something about their pride that has been wounded. If you could not protect your wife from rape, who are you in this time of peace to stand up and say you want to be an advocate for rape? And I think it's up to us women and those of the other men who are doing this work to really now start saying what happened happened, and it's time for us to take back our communities. Yeah. [A different female voice from offstage] Thanks so much for sharing your stories and as I've been hearing them, um, I've just been thinking a lot about the grassroots movements and the organizing efforts. And wondering in your... because not everyone is Leymah Gbowee. Not everybody is going to end up with a Nobel Prize. So, who are your teammates? Who are the people who have walked with you in this journey? And what kind of group do you like to surround yourself with to make a movement sustainable and possible and powerful? Crazy women. [laughter] Risk-takers. People who are not concerned about anything, who will do anything, who are not concerned about, "What do I stand to gain from this?" One of the things that, um, I say to people when we did this work and constantly I never claim the glory, to say I—I did this by myself. It was group of women. Every time that I try to tell people, "This one is more powerful than I am; all I did was to be the talkative one in the group." But, the...some of the women...the—the work that we've done has been a work of sacrifice. And those are the people that you want to...if you're building a movement, build a movement around. You don't want to build your movement around those who are thinking, "Wow, how much money are we going to get out of this?" When we started the—the protests, and when we did all of the work that we had done in the past, I tell people I could not keep a dime in my handbag. Because it wasn't just building a movement, it was building a community of women. We were building sisterhood to the point that we all knew each other's problems. Vaiba, who came here to do the Women PeaceMakers Program, lost her husband in 2006. And that afternoon when he got really sick, they called me. I went and saw him taking his last breath. And they asked the women, they took us and we went so I had to leave with her. When he died, because he was a Muslim, his family came and immediately said, "You killed him. So you have to explain to us how he died." One phone call, 25 women were in that house. The men said, "We changed our mind. You didn't do anything to him. [laughter] He died a natural death." But I saw us sleep in that tiny house, the next morning trek to the gravesite, stayed with her for two weeks. When they finally were doing their official mourning, we did the women's mourning, which is not common in the Muslim faith. We did everything together. And that was what we did from one community to the other. Sometimes as someone gave birth we were all there. So it wasn't just about peace. It was reaffirming ourselves as women, telling people that we've got your back. The personal is political. There is no way any of us can say, "I'm a peace activist and I'm doing such a great job," but the people you work with you don't interact or engage with them in that way. My sisters tell me if I live in Africa I'm not going to be rich. And I don't think I will be rich, because whatever you own has to be shared. So the kind of people that you'll find me hanging out with would be those women who when one person cries everyone will appear. And when they come together, even when you're crying, they will do something to wipe that tears away from your eyes. When my sister died in 2006, by the time I landed with the body at the airport, the WIPNET women were lined up. Some of them were so drunk they didn't know what they were doing there. [laughter] But that evening when my parents were grieving, I remember my dad was so sad. Those women decided to put up a fashion show for him. [laughter] And I just saw him looking like, "What kind of trouble is this, Leymah? Get these women out of this house." And I said, "No," and you know, just... afterwards you would not hear crying in that house. That was the spirit. And that is the spirit of any movement that will survive. [applause] I'll take two more—you and one more, and then I saw a little pretty girl come up there. Oh sorry, go ahead go ahead oh. [off screen—nervous male laugh] Standing here as a man. [nervous male laugh] And we're happy you're here. [off screen] Thank you. I'm happy um to be here and I want to thank you madam for your courage. You invoked Rev. Martin Luther King, who we may agree was a prophet and a courageous one. Who was also a man who we understand that he had some the failings that all men and women have. But he stood up. And my question is: we're all sitting here listening to you and feeling very good about what you're saying. It's—it's encouraging to sit here. Would you encourage us to stand up and participate in civil disobedience in this country now? And in what way would you encourage us to do that? And that's my question. Thank you. Thank you. I...when the Newtown shooting took place, um, the Africa columnist for Daily Beast... I stayed in my room and sent a thing—a rallying call to the mothers of America, um, to rise up against gun violence in this country. Um, I like the way...the trend the debate is taking, but I think there is a need for, um, and this is my naïve African perspective, but I think there's a need for more grassroots organizing around the whole issue of gun violence in this country because after Newtown, what has happened to that conversation is that it has gotten very political. So it's a Joe Biden issue. But when the shooters go on the rampage, it's not a Joe Biden's...even though he feels it and I'm not saying your leaders are not compassionate. But the people who feel it the most are the community people. And I think when you talk about civil disobedience or—or—or protests against certain things, I think those are the kind of things that people need to really start standing up to. But if a community feels passionate about something, and that's how we started the conversation, a thematic concern, an issue of concern, and if the community feels like they are not being heard about that particular issue, I don't think anyone can...as long as you are not going to be throwing stones and throwing petrol bombs at people. I think it's important for people to be able to express themselves, express the way they feel about a particular thing. I am all for protests, peaceful protests, nonviolent, um, protests and nonviolent engagement on issues that are dissatisfactory to a...for a group of people. So I think there are many things in this country that women, men, boys and girls can decide we're going to stand up to. Um, when we were in Chicago a few days ago, one of the things that I told them there because of course, Hafeeza, would make me—Hafeeza, my assistant there, read all of these briefing books—about Dee what year she was born, which school she went to, the dean and everyone else, but in that briefing book there was all of these statistics and different things about Chicago and the strategies of the police. And when we met with the mayor that's what he constantly talked about: "Oh, my police chief is doing well." And then I said to him, "Sir, with all due respect, and I'm sure you are doing a great job, this is not just a police issue. It is a community issue. You should elicit the support of, uh, elicit the support of religious leaders, schoolteachers, parents, community people. Organize a different group of people so that this issue starts from the...is—is tackled from the grassroots to the top level. So everyone has a role to play in making communities straight. My theory: the world is upside down. We need many hands to turn it upright. And many strategies. One last question. [Young girl's voice off screen] Um, I know what you went through because my parents ran away from Somalia when I was a young kid. And I came with the IRC Peacemakers and I was wondering, how did you overcame all this? It—it's something that never goes away. You know, you see all of this, sometimes you see all of this strength and you see all of this um...everything you see, it's easy to have a flashback. It's easy to walk into a space and just black out. It's easy to cry. It's easy to be upset and angry. And because you have all of these emotions happening every time, what is not easy is for you to keep going. And for me that's where I find myself. Um, some days I have this tough thing going on about me, trying to be the girl, but inside I'm like Jell-O. You know, it—it's so much happening. And you—you're just so emotional about things you see happen. And once you've gone through it, my dear, it—it's—it's internal. And it is not—it's not about where you come from anymore. So when I hear the stories of women in Mali, it's my story. When I hear the stories of women in Sudan, it's my story. When I hear the stories of women even here in the U.S., who...single mothers who have gone through many different things, refugee women, it's my story. So trust me. It never goes away. And one of the things I tell young people, old people, there is no way we can do this work that we're doing if we don't believe there's a high—higher power responsible for some of the things happening. Now, I'm not saying be a good Christian, be a good Muslim, be a Judist—uh, a Jewish, uh, be a Hindu. What I'm saying is you have to have a kind of faith to be able to negotiate this world if you're a peacebuilder or peace activist or a change agent, because you'll see so many things that will make you angry. I— [whistle sound] I always ask this question, "What similar traits does Hitler and Martin Luther King have? Dee? Some of the traits? Yes, one characteristics that Hitler and King has or share or... Desmond Tutu and Charles Taylor?" [Gbowee]:Trait. [Aker]: Traits? [laughs] [Gbowee]: One characteristics or traits or whatever or one—one thing they share. And the mayor of Chicago says, "Well, besides humanity I don't see anything they share." I said, "Well, anger." Hitler was an angry man. Dr. King was angry. Mandela was angry. Charles Taylor was angry. I've been angry. Other women are angry. What distinguish us from the other is how we put...where we put our anger. So, pardon me. I have this thing that I say, I go like this. Fluid. Has no shape or size. So this is the peace container and this is the war container. And anger is not in any of this here. And you can decide, "OK, I'm really angry right now. But I'm going to pour my anger into the peace container." And what you see is someone who is building peace and doing something positive with their anger. Anger is what keeps me going. Anger is something that...it's like the fuel that I need to do something. But I never ever think that I'm going to pour my anger into a violent container. And so when you do—when you—when you say, "Does it ever go away? No, no mama, it never goes away. All you have to do is, where do I pour my anger? Where do I pour all of those emotions so that will make sense to the world, and that will leave a—that will leave a legacy? And most times when you've gone through war, you've through a situation the question you need to ask yourself is, "Do I want to put this in this violent container and end up in the Hague or end up a villain? Or do I want to put it in this peace container and end up leaving a perfect legacy, like someone like King or Mandela or Tutu or Mother Theresa?" Because all of these people like all of the people we consider villains had one common thing, and that thing was anger. Tonight as you to go home, think about it, teach your children that anger is neither good nor bad, but how you pour your anger is what your life story end will be. Thank you all very much. [applause]