Echo chambers and paradigms are cousins. They present one approach / perspective and do not support dissent / non-conformity. Being connected to Spirit and being guided by that connection can shatter both and create miracles.
Leymah Gbowee is a Spiritually guided leader who created a miracle. In the prologue to her memoir about leading a women’s peace movement in Liberia, she says:
This is not a traditional war story. It is about an army of women in white standing up when no one else would – unafraid, because the worst things imaginable had already happened to us. It is about how we found the moral clarity, persistence, and bravery to raise our voices against war and restore sanity to our land.
You have not heard it before, because it is an African woman’s story, and our stories rarely are told.
REFLECT:
How many stories have you heard from sources that are rarely listened to?
Sources outside the “echo chambers”?
How has it affected your perspectives?
Leymah tells the everyday story of the war. She tells the stories of the true victims – the non combatants. She names the ones who started the war and perpetuated it for their selfish ambitions and power- the ones that broke her country and ruined the lives of an entire generation. Personally, in the midst of the ravaging, she lived in personal chaos – in abject poverty, in an abusive
marriage, in single parenthood of four children…
Leymah went on a crusade to help her people. She became a facilitator for Trauma Healing: she earned an associate’s degree. But her real work began when she met a sister-spirit with the idea of creating a peace-building network for women. Thelma Ekiyor, a NIgerian attorney, used political skill
and connections to found / fund the Women In Peace Network (WIPNET).
Leymah was named coordinator, and often, she worked so late she fell asleep in the office. One night, she had a dream and heard a voice commanding her, “Gather the women to pray for peace!”
She created the Peace Outreach Program, with the purpose of changing how women perceived themselves in relation to the peace process.
“…across Liberia, women saw negotiating and crafting peace treaties as ‘men’s business’. Few women… considered the possibility that they might play a role in the process.”
The organization was open to all classes and religions, and eventually included fifteen separate groups in nine counties. The prayers from all religions went throughout the days:
In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful…
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress…
The women made a public statement for peace, and got attention from the press. So President Charles Taylor banned street marches. Hundreds of white clad women responded by assembling at the city hall to testify to what the war had done to their lives.
The next day, on the road from the President’s mansion to his office, the women converged in protest, wearing all white and holding signs that said,
“THE WOMEN OF LIBERIA WANT PEACE NOW! When they got no results, they amped up the public demonstrations To some, it appeared to be a spontaneous emotional uprising. But each event was a thoroughly planned, executed, evaluated, and revised event.
One spontaneous protested only lasted a few months, but it garnered invaluable media attention. The sex strike denied men sex as long as the fighting continued. Many women were beaten for it.
Eventually, a UN backed group scheduled two weeks of peace talks in Ghana between Taylor and the rebels. About 300 white clad women sat outside the venue, chanting and bearing signs that said, WE WANT PEACE. However, President Taylor learned he was being indicted for war crimes and fled the peace talks, returning to crack down on Liberians anew.
“The very fact that no sabotage has taken place is a disturbing and
confirming indication that such action WILL be taken.”
A peace agreement was signed that included a cease fire and a transitional government without Taylor. But before the celebrations were over,Taylor reneged. And Leymah reached her limit. She was done. She retreated from the protest site and sat down to watch the news, only to see the new frenzy of killing, raping, and looting.
The horror of it created a fury in her that sparked a more direct tactic. She and the women moved into the negotiations hall, holding signs that said, BUTCHERS AND MURDERERS OF THE LIBERIAN PEOPLE – STOP!
She had a note delivered to General Abubakar, the peace talk facilitator, informing him the women were holding the delegates hostage. They were blocking the doors. When the security guards came to arrest Leymah, she began stripping off her clothes. In African tradition, it’s a terrible curse to see
a married or elderly woman deliberately bare herself. Indignant at her rash move, the General stopped her. But when a warlord tried to step out of the negotiations, the General sent him back in to talk about peace.
While this act was not the definitive end of the fighting, it did mark the beginning of the end. Soon, the war ended, Taylor abdicated, and international organizations stepped in to help rebuild the nation.
But fourteen years of war doesn’t go away quickly or easily:
* 250,000 were dead (1/4 of them children)
* 1 million were at risk of disease
* 1/3 were displaced
* 75% of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed
Leymah continues her work at one and abroad and has earned international recognition and awards.
APPLY:
Identify some echo chambers about power.
What action could you take to change it? Or support it changing?
How Mighty Be Our Powers, A Memoir, Leymah Gbowee, Beast Books, New York, 2011.
Pray the Devil Back to Hell, a documentary film.
