Shirley Graham: What moves you to take action? What will be your legacy?
Published: Wednesday, May 13, 2015
What moves you to take action? What will be your legacy?
Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner, and women and girl's rights advocate asked these questions in her recent lecture at Dublin City University. Leymah shared the 2011 prize with fellow Liberian Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Yemen-native Tawakkol Karman. During her lecture Leymah encouraged young women and men to become actively involved in creating a more peaceful and just world asking 'how would you like to be remembered?’ As someone who creates peace, love and compassion; or someone who creates fear and violence? She was referring to ‘this upside down world’ we live in, with 64 civil wars currently active, the normalisation of gun violence in many cities and the global issue of human rights abuses.
Leymah Gbowee is a remarkable woman who brought Muslim and Christian women together in 2003 to create the Peace Outreach Project, a women's movement in Liberia instrumental in the cessation of the civil war. The women had a common agenda, amongst other issues they wanted to end the extreme levels of gender based violence including the systematic rape of women and girls; and men and boys being forcibly recruited into armed factions. Leymah was one of seven women who wrote and signed an open letter to the press to activate women’s solidarity. The letter condemned the war, the government, and the warlords. This action took great courage as they were putting their lives at risk by speaking out publicly against the regime. However, these 'bold women' as they were portrayed in the media at the time, became the leaders of the biggest nonviolent movement in Liberia which was critical in ending the war. A documentary titled 'Pray the Devil back to Hell' is well worth watching as it tells the story of the movement and the tactics they used to pressure different factions to the peace talks to reach an agreement.
How do we know which issues to focus on when the world is so broken?
This was the question asked by a young woman at the lecture in DCU. Leymah suggested paying attention to what keeps us awake at night, what we can't stop thinking about, and what makes us so angry that we feel called to speak out about it and to change it? She cautioned that the decision to take action requires the will to step out of comfort zones and take risks, ‘living peace is not a career choice it is a lifestyle, every day you refuse to align yourself with violence’. She cited Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King as individuals who so passionately believed in their cause that they were prepared to put up with ridicule, isolation and even death threats to continue their important work; all issues she has had to deal with personally.
She admitted to feeling overwhelmed at times by the extent of violence in the world, particularly the high levels of violence against women and girls, including structural violence. Education for girls is a key legacy issue for Leymah that needs to be given more attention, ‘tradition and political expediency are often used as excuses to trample on the rights of girls, many of whom are forced to leave school early due to cultural practices such as forced marriages, child brides, and FGM’. The Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa based in Liberia, provides educational and leadership opportunities to girls, women and youth in West Africa. Leymah’s intention is to inspire and encourage young women to be the best they can be; and for boys to become the best men the world has ever seen.
Stand up and Speak Truth to Power
As an international peace activist, travelling the world meeting dignatories and powerful decision-makers, Leymah explained that an important part of her legacy is to ‘stand up and speak truth to power'. These are often uncomfortable truths that need to be acknowledged and responded to if we want to build peace. Whenever she begins to lose hope she said someone always comes along to remind her of all the goodness in the world and of the importance of her work, and the need for us to continually inspire people around us to create peace on a daily basis. The many new global movements being initiated by young people and women who are challenging the status quo and not accepting this ‘upside down world’ is a source of hope. She told a story of how one day in New York she noticed three boys looking mischievous, as she was curious she decided to follow them, what she was not expecting to see was them buying a pair of flip flops for an old man who was struggling to walk because his flip flops were broken. ‘How many of us so called good people would pass this old man without paying attention?’ she wondered.
Ultimately, Leymah wants her story to be an inspiration to us all, ‘everything I do is to show you that if I can make an impact then you too can make a difference in the world no matter what your background is, it is not that I am a freak, but I never allow fear to stop me’. I left DCU feeling incredibly inspired and energised. Leymah's compassion, integrity and deep concern for humanity has deeply moved and encouraged me to take greater action in my life. So, what calls you to action? What do you want your legacy to be?
The views expressed in NWCI's blog are not necessarily the views of NWCI.
Dr. Shirley Graham designs and delivers programmes that support women and girls who want to step into leadership roles and make a difference in the world. For information about her Inspiring Woman Programme 2015 click here.
Dr. Shirley Graham is an independent consultant, facilitator and trainer. She designs and delivers programmes that support and empower women and girls to step into leadership roles and make a difference in the world. She has a PhD from the Adult & Community Development Department in NUI Maynooth on Gender and Peacekeeping. Shirley led a cross-border consultation with women to inform Ireland’s first national action plan on Women, Peace and Security. She was the co-ordinator of the Hanna’s House Feminist Peace Project from 2008-2012 organising a series of conferences across Ireland assessing the legacy of the ‘the Troubles’ and its impact on women’s lives. She is a Research Fellow in the Institute for Conflict Resolution & Reconstruction in DCU and her research is published in the forthcoming book ‘Gender & Peacebuilding: All Hands Required’, Lexington. Earlier in her career Shirley was the UK Communications Manager for Unilever PLC, based in London. She can be contacted at: shirleygraham.net@gmail.com or via her website.