"[Pray the Devil Back to Hell is] a marvelous documentary detailing how the everyday became extraordinary, 'how ordinary women,' in the words of one of them, 'did the unimaginable'...Pray the Devil uses its brief 72 minutes to tell one of the truly heartening international political stories of recent years." - Kenneth Turan (Los Angeles Times)
Tonight I attended a screening of a documentary about the Liberian women who, through their struggle and prayers, brought an end to the brutal civil war in Liberia in 2003, organized by One World Arts and the One World Film Festival in Ottawa. Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a powerful documentary for many reasons. During the civil war (1989-2003), women were: brutalized and raped; forced to watch their children and other family members raped and killed; murdered; mutilated; and, terrorized by supporters of Charles Taylor and the rebel groups, in particular the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). Young men and boys were stolen from their families and forced to become soldiers. Child soldiers were encouraged to carry out horrific acts, to murder, rape, pillage, and terrorize civilians. Their childhood was stolen from them. Children who escaped the horror of becoming soldiers were not only at risk of being brutalized, raped, mutilated, or killed, but also suffered from the terror of living in a war zone and endured hunger and malnutrition. Furthermore, their access to education was limited or completely absent.
In the face of all this pain and suffering, the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), an interfaith movement of Christians and Muslims, was founded in 2001 by Liberian women that were determined to bring peace to their country. One of these women was Leymah Gbowee. "In 2001, she persuaded the women at her church to join her in peace marches and prayer vigils, and, when groups of Muslim women with similar sentiments heard about them and decided to follow suit, a movement was born." [1]
In 2003, thanks to the vigilant efforts of these courageous women, Charles Taylor and the main rebel group, LURD, agreed to meet for peace talks in Accra, Ghana. Leading up to the talks, the women worked constantly to gain the attention of Taylor and LURD leaders. They staged daily peace protests along the side of the road that Taylor took to get to 'work'. They presented a position statement to Taylor and his government and sent delegates to Sierra Leone to encourage the LURD's leaders to agree to peace talks. When WIPNET was invited to present their position statement to the government, Leymah Gbowee acted as the spokesperson for the group and made the following statement:
"We ask the honorable pro tem of the senate…to kindly present this statement to his excellency Dr. Charles Taylor with this message: that the women of Liberia, including the IDPs…are tired of war. We are tired of running. We are tired of begging for bulgur wheat. We are tired of our children being raped. We are now taking this stand to secure the future of our children because we believe, as custodians of society, tomorrow our children will ask us, 'Mama, what was your role during the crisis?' Kindly convey this to the president of Liberia. Thank you." [2]
In doing so, she expressed the sorrow, frustration, anger, and hope of thousands of Liberian women, in Liberia and refugee camps in the region.
Although getting Taylor and the rebels to meet for talks was a great accomplishment, the women of WIPNET realized that they had to keep applying pressure to ensure peace. They sent representatives to Accra to organize Liberian women living in refugee camps in Ghana. During the talks, Charles Taylor was indicted by "by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, a tribunal set up with the support of the United Nations to bring accountability to those responsible for atrocities committed during Sierra Leone’s 10-year brutal civil war." [3] Taylor abruptly left the talks and returned to Liberia. Ghanaian authorities were criticized for not acting on the Court's indictment, but by this time it was too late. Taylor, now in Monrovia, was unrepentant and it seemed as if the peace talks were going nowhere.
Meanwhile, WIPNET representatives in Accra were losing patience and were distraught by accounts from their family and friends that fighting between government forces and the LURD had reached the capital. 'Pray the Devil Back to Hell' features moving footage of the women weeping and crying outside the conference centre where the peace talks were being held. They were also aware that while the prayed, sang, and cried for peace, Taylor's representatives and members of LURD were enjoying free meals and hotel accommodations. For the women of WIPNET, it was not or never. In an act of courageous frustration and desperation, 200 women locked arms and staged a 'sit in' outside the meeting hall were the talks where being held. They blocked the doors of the hall and refused to let the representatives of the Taylor administrative and rebel group leave the hall. As one WIPNET member explains in the documentary, they wanted the generals and other representatives to experience something similar to the situation facing civilians in Liberia, who were trapped indoors, unable to access food and safe drinking water, due to the fighting raging in the capital. The delegates 'trapped' in the hall became frustrated and attempted to push their way out or escape through the windows. When a member of the LURD rebel group attempted to "push and kick the women away, Gbowee [said] the moderator [of the peace talks] told him, 'Go back in there and sit down. If you were a real man, you wouldn't be killing your people. But because you are not a real man, that's why they will treat you like boys.'" [4]
Security forces were sent to arrest prominent WIPNET member Leymah Gbowee for 'obstructing justice'. In the film, she states that "that term 'obstructing justice' was almost like when you take gas and pour it on an open flame. I said, 'Okay, I'm going to make it very, very easy for you to arrest me.' I took off my hair tie. They were looking at me, and I said, 'I'm going to strip naked.'" [5]
Gbowee's threat was a powerful one because, as it is stated in the film, "throughout West Africa, it's a powerful curse for a woman to strip naked in public—absolute bad luck, bad fortune. And to Gbowee, that's what the situation called for. That morning, she'd heard a report of a missile exploding in the American embassy compound in Monrovia: Two boys had just gone out to brush their teeth, and now all that was left of them was their slippers. 'That day we had to do something dramatic,' she [said]." [6] Gbowee elaborates that "There were two things playing in our favor. One, the peace talks were in Ghana, and the Ghanaians hold strongly to their traditional beliefs. And the men at the table mostly came from indigenous backgrounds and also held strongly to indigenous beliefs. They would have given us the world rather than see us stripping naked." [7]
Once again, the courageous actions of Gbowee and her fellow WIPNET members and supporters achieved what others had been unable to: a peace deal was reached and announced within two weeks. Although the peace deal brought about an end to the fighting, the women did not end their struggle for peace. They knew that they still had to work hard to ensure that the parties to the agreement honoured their commitments and they had to keep 'an eye' on the transitional government. The women played a critical role in the UN's disarmament efforts, stepping in when the situation was veering out of control and encouraging former soldiers and fighters to give up their weapons, which they did.
The peace agreement also called for democratic elections to take place as soon as possible and the women of WIPNET were determined to ensure that they were carried out. In 2005, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became not only Liberia's first female president but also the first women to become the president of an African nation. In her inaugural speech in January 2006, Johnson Sirleaf recognized the struggles and contributions of Liberian women and made the following powerful statement:
"And now, before I close, I would like to talk to the women - the women of Liberia, the women of Africa, and the women of the world. Until a few decades ago, Liberian women endured the injustice of being treated as second-class citizens. During the years of our civil war, they bore the brunt of inhumanity and terror. They were conscripted into war, gang raped at will, forced into domestic slavery. Yet, it is the women who laboured and advocated for peace throughout our region.
Tonight I attended a screening of a documentary about the Liberian women who, through their struggle and prayers, brought an end to the brutal civil war in Liberia in 2003, organized by One World Arts and the One World Film Festival in Ottawa. Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a powerful documentary for many reasons. During the civil war (1989-2003), women were: brutalized and raped; forced to watch their children and other family members raped and killed; murdered; mutilated; and, terrorized by supporters of Charles Taylor and the rebel groups, in particular the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). Young men and boys were stolen from their families and forced to become soldiers. Child soldiers were encouraged to carry out horrific acts, to murder, rape, pillage, and terrorize civilians. Their childhood was stolen from them. Children who escaped the horror of becoming soldiers were not only at risk of being brutalized, raped, mutilated, or killed, but also suffered from the terror of living in a war zone and endured hunger and malnutrition. Furthermore, their access to education was limited or completely absent.
In the face of all this pain and suffering, the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), an interfaith movement of Christians and Muslims, was founded in 2001 by Liberian women that were determined to bring peace to their country. One of these women was Leymah Gbowee. "In 2001, she persuaded the women at her church to join her in peace marches and prayer vigils, and, when groups of Muslim women with similar sentiments heard about them and decided to follow suit, a movement was born." [1]
In 2003, thanks to the vigilant efforts of these courageous women, Charles Taylor and the main rebel group, LURD, agreed to meet for peace talks in Accra, Ghana. Leading up to the talks, the women worked constantly to gain the attention of Taylor and LURD leaders. They staged daily peace protests along the side of the road that Taylor took to get to 'work'. They presented a position statement to Taylor and his government and sent delegates to Sierra Leone to encourage the LURD's leaders to agree to peace talks. When WIPNET was invited to present their position statement to the government, Leymah Gbowee acted as the spokesperson for the group and made the following statement:
"We ask the honorable pro tem of the senate…to kindly present this statement to his excellency Dr. Charles Taylor with this message: that the women of Liberia, including the IDPs…are tired of war. We are tired of running. We are tired of begging for bulgur wheat. We are tired of our children being raped. We are now taking this stand to secure the future of our children because we believe, as custodians of society, tomorrow our children will ask us, 'Mama, what was your role during the crisis?' Kindly convey this to the president of Liberia. Thank you." [2]
In doing so, she expressed the sorrow, frustration, anger, and hope of thousands of Liberian women, in Liberia and refugee camps in the region.
Although getting Taylor and the rebels to meet for talks was a great accomplishment, the women of WIPNET realized that they had to keep applying pressure to ensure peace. They sent representatives to Accra to organize Liberian women living in refugee camps in Ghana. During the talks, Charles Taylor was indicted by "by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, a tribunal set up with the support of the United Nations to bring accountability to those responsible for atrocities committed during Sierra Leone’s 10-year brutal civil war." [3] Taylor abruptly left the talks and returned to Liberia. Ghanaian authorities were criticized for not acting on the Court's indictment, but by this time it was too late. Taylor, now in Monrovia, was unrepentant and it seemed as if the peace talks were going nowhere.
Meanwhile, WIPNET representatives in Accra were losing patience and were distraught by accounts from their family and friends that fighting between government forces and the LURD had reached the capital. 'Pray the Devil Back to Hell' features moving footage of the women weeping and crying outside the conference centre where the peace talks were being held. They were also aware that while the prayed, sang, and cried for peace, Taylor's representatives and members of LURD were enjoying free meals and hotel accommodations. For the women of WIPNET, it was not or never. In an act of courageous frustration and desperation, 200 women locked arms and staged a 'sit in' outside the meeting hall were the talks where being held. They blocked the doors of the hall and refused to let the representatives of the Taylor administrative and rebel group leave the hall. As one WIPNET member explains in the documentary, they wanted the generals and other representatives to experience something similar to the situation facing civilians in Liberia, who were trapped indoors, unable to access food and safe drinking water, due to the fighting raging in the capital. The delegates 'trapped' in the hall became frustrated and attempted to push their way out or escape through the windows. When a member of the LURD rebel group attempted to "push and kick the women away, Gbowee [said] the moderator [of the peace talks] told him, 'Go back in there and sit down. If you were a real man, you wouldn't be killing your people. But because you are not a real man, that's why they will treat you like boys.'" [4]
Security forces were sent to arrest prominent WIPNET member Leymah Gbowee for 'obstructing justice'. In the film, she states that "that term 'obstructing justice' was almost like when you take gas and pour it on an open flame. I said, 'Okay, I'm going to make it very, very easy for you to arrest me.' I took off my hair tie. They were looking at me, and I said, 'I'm going to strip naked.'" [5]
Gbowee's threat was a powerful one because, as it is stated in the film, "throughout West Africa, it's a powerful curse for a woman to strip naked in public—absolute bad luck, bad fortune. And to Gbowee, that's what the situation called for. That morning, she'd heard a report of a missile exploding in the American embassy compound in Monrovia: Two boys had just gone out to brush their teeth, and now all that was left of them was their slippers. 'That day we had to do something dramatic,' she [said]." [6] Gbowee elaborates that "There were two things playing in our favor. One, the peace talks were in Ghana, and the Ghanaians hold strongly to their traditional beliefs. And the men at the table mostly came from indigenous backgrounds and also held strongly to indigenous beliefs. They would have given us the world rather than see us stripping naked." [7]
Once again, the courageous actions of Gbowee and her fellow WIPNET members and supporters achieved what others had been unable to: a peace deal was reached and announced within two weeks. Although the peace deal brought about an end to the fighting, the women did not end their struggle for peace. They knew that they still had to work hard to ensure that the parties to the agreement honoured their commitments and they had to keep 'an eye' on the transitional government. The women played a critical role in the UN's disarmament efforts, stepping in when the situation was veering out of control and encouraging former soldiers and fighters to give up their weapons, which they did.
The peace agreement also called for democratic elections to take place as soon as possible and the women of WIPNET were determined to ensure that they were carried out. In 2005, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became not only Liberia's first female president but also the first women to become the president of an African nation. In her inaugural speech in January 2006, Johnson Sirleaf recognized the struggles and contributions of Liberian women and made the following powerful statement:
"And now, before I close, I would like to talk to the women - the women of Liberia, the women of Africa, and the women of the world. Until a few decades ago, Liberian women endured the injustice of being treated as second-class citizens. During the years of our civil war, they bore the brunt of inhumanity and terror. They were conscripted into war, gang raped at will, forced into domestic slavery. Yet, it is the women who laboured and advocated for peace throughout our region.
"It is therefore not surprising that during the period of our elections, Liberian women were galvanized - and demonstrated unmatched passion, enthusiasm, and support for my candidacy. They stood with me; they defended me; they worked with me; they prayed for me. The same can be said for the women throughout Africa. I want to here and now, gratefully acknowledge the powerful voice of women of all walks of life.
"My Administration shall thus endeavour to give Liberian women prominence in all affairs of our country. My Administration shall empower Liberian women in all areas of our national life. We will support and increase the writ of laws that restore their dignity and deal drastically with crimes that dehumanize them. We will enforce without fear or favour the law against rape recently passed by the National Transitional Legislature. We shall encourage families to educate all children, particularly the girl child. We will also try to provide economic programs that enable Liberian women - particularly our market women - to assume their proper place in our economic process." [8]
Although Liberia and its citizens, in particular women and children, still suffer the effects of the war, it is undeniable that WIPNET and its supporters to played a critical role in bringing about an end to the war and building a more peaceful society. I think it would even be more accurate to say that they played THE critical role in ending the war and ensuring that the peace agreement was honoured. Even though others worked hard to achieve peace, I do not believe that it would have happened when it did and the way it did if not for these brave women and those who supported them.
When I came home tonight, I visited the website for the film. I was reading comments and reviews on the website when I suddenly remembered another group of courageous women who struggled for justice at a time when their government was waging a vicious war against dissent: the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (the Mothers) in Argentina. I learned about the Mothers when I was in university and was moved by their stories. At the time, they were the only group to publicly demonstrate against the regime and the abuses it was carrying out against Argentinians. Similar to the women in Pray the Devil Back to Hell, the Mothers were inspired to act out of grief and desperation. I'd like to write more about them in another post, but for now I will say that their stories are also inspiring and deeply moving. In her book, Revolutionizing Motherhood, Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard provides an account of the Mothers' fight for justice and describes how women with no political experience and, in some cases, little education became human rights defenders and activists.
In closing, I would like to comment on Bishop Desmond Tutu's review of Pray the Devil Back to Hell. He stated that the film "eloquently captures the power each of us innately has within our souls to make this world a far better, safer, more peaceful place" [9] (emphasis added). This is a critically important point: all of us, each and every one of us, has the power to struggle for peace, to bring about a better world not only for ourselves but for others. I would like to add to this and make the bold assertion that not only do we have the power to do this, we have a DUTY to work toward achieving a more equitable, fair, just, "better, safer, and more peaceful" planet. I must admit, with some shame, that I do not always live up to this duty.
Pray the Devil Back to Hell reminded me of this obligation to help bring peace to this world. It is my home, it is your home, and it is our home. How would you feel if someone came into your home, terrorized you and your family, maimed and tortured you, raped you and/or those you love, stole and destroyed your belongings and left you with nothing? Could you forget about it? Could you get up an go to work tomorrow as if nothing had happened? What if there was no work, no jobs? What would you do? Would it be any more tolerable if this happened to your neighbour or your friends? No? Then why do we (and I count myself in this group) go about our daily lives as if these things are not happening every hour of every day of every week? Because I can honestly tell you that right now someone, somewhere in this world, is fighting to survive. Somewhere a woman is being raped. Somewhere a child is being abused. Somewhere a man is fighting in a war he may not believe in or understand. Somewhere a human being, like you, is suffering. We, you and I, have the power to change this.
Whether you donate funds to the Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN), established by Leymah Gbowee, the World Food Program, a local women's shelter or sexual assault support centre, or volunteer with local, national, or international organizations dedicated to ensuring human rights, gender equality, children's rights, poverty eradication, social justice, access to quality and affordable (and, ideally, free) education and health care, and similar issues, you have a key role to play in making your world, our world, a better place for the people you love and your fellow human beings.
Please take the time to learn more about social change and justice and what concrete actions you can take to build a better, safer, more just world. If you are already doing so, please encourage others to do likewise and share your successes with as wide an audience as possible. We must serve as role models to one another and inspire each others to act.
Last, but not least, I want to say thank you to the women of WIPNET, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and all other peace and human rights activists for all their hard work. I want to thank all the volunteers and donors who contribute their time and money to charitable causes and NGOs. I want to thank the students studying international development, human rights, and related issues with the goal of working toward creating a better world for all of us. I want to thank all the people, past and present, who struggle(d) and work(ed) for peace, freedom, equality, social justice, and human rights for all. You are my inspiration.
When I came home tonight, I visited the website for the film. I was reading comments and reviews on the website when I suddenly remembered another group of courageous women who struggled for justice at a time when their government was waging a vicious war against dissent: the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (the Mothers) in Argentina. I learned about the Mothers when I was in university and was moved by their stories. At the time, they were the only group to publicly demonstrate against the regime and the abuses it was carrying out against Argentinians. Similar to the women in Pray the Devil Back to Hell, the Mothers were inspired to act out of grief and desperation. I'd like to write more about them in another post, but for now I will say that their stories are also inspiring and deeply moving. In her book, Revolutionizing Motherhood, Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard provides an account of the Mothers' fight for justice and describes how women with no political experience and, in some cases, little education became human rights defenders and activists.
In closing, I would like to comment on Bishop Desmond Tutu's review of Pray the Devil Back to Hell. He stated that the film "eloquently captures the power each of us innately has within our souls to make this world a far better, safer, more peaceful place" [9] (emphasis added). This is a critically important point: all of us, each and every one of us, has the power to struggle for peace, to bring about a better world not only for ourselves but for others. I would like to add to this and make the bold assertion that not only do we have the power to do this, we have a DUTY to work toward achieving a more equitable, fair, just, "better, safer, and more peaceful" planet. I must admit, with some shame, that I do not always live up to this duty.
Pray the Devil Back to Hell reminded me of this obligation to help bring peace to this world. It is my home, it is your home, and it is our home. How would you feel if someone came into your home, terrorized you and your family, maimed and tortured you, raped you and/or those you love, stole and destroyed your belongings and left you with nothing? Could you forget about it? Could you get up an go to work tomorrow as if nothing had happened? What if there was no work, no jobs? What would you do? Would it be any more tolerable if this happened to your neighbour or your friends? No? Then why do we (and I count myself in this group) go about our daily lives as if these things are not happening every hour of every day of every week? Because I can honestly tell you that right now someone, somewhere in this world, is fighting to survive. Somewhere a woman is being raped. Somewhere a child is being abused. Somewhere a man is fighting in a war he may not believe in or understand. Somewhere a human being, like you, is suffering. We, you and I, have the power to change this.
Whether you donate funds to the Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN), established by Leymah Gbowee, the World Food Program, a local women's shelter or sexual assault support centre, or volunteer with local, national, or international organizations dedicated to ensuring human rights, gender equality, children's rights, poverty eradication, social justice, access to quality and affordable (and, ideally, free) education and health care, and similar issues, you have a key role to play in making your world, our world, a better place for the people you love and your fellow human beings.
Please take the time to learn more about social change and justice and what concrete actions you can take to build a better, safer, more just world. If you are already doing so, please encourage others to do likewise and share your successes with as wide an audience as possible. We must serve as role models to one another and inspire each others to act.
Last, but not least, I want to say thank you to the women of WIPNET, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and all other peace and human rights activists for all their hard work. I want to thank all the volunteers and donors who contribute their time and money to charitable causes and NGOs. I want to thank the students studying international development, human rights, and related issues with the goal of working toward creating a better world for all of us. I want to thank all the people, past and present, who struggle(d) and work(ed) for peace, freedom, equality, social justice, and human rights for all. You are my inspiration.
[1], [2] Kevin Conley. "The Rabble Rousers." in O, The Oprah Magazine.
Cited Sept 17, 2009.
[3] Human Rights First. "Wanted by the Sierra Leone Special Court: Ghana fails to arrest Charles Taylor."
[4], [5], [6], [7] Kevin Conley. "The Rabble Rousers." in O, The Oprah Magazine.
[8] allAfrica.com. "Text of Inaugural Address by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia."
[9] Pray the Devil Back to Hell. 'Praise'.
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