“Don’t wait for a Gandhi, don’t wait for a King, don’t wait for Mandela. You are your own Mandela, you are your own Gandhi, you are your own King.”
It is only expected that anyone who wins the Nobel Peace Prize would be bold, courageous and inspiring. Leymah Gbowee indeed delivers on this expectation and is a woman seemingly full of confidence, passion and conviction. However, by her own admission, she was not always this way.
Leymah’s story is one that is truly inspiring, and is the embodiment of a person who decided to stop waiting for change, and decided to lead the change she wanted to see.
Leymah was born into a middle class family and lived a sheltered, serene life until her family, like many others, was devastated by the numerous wars in Liberia. During the war, life would see her relocating temporarily to Ghana, living in refugee camps, eating leftovers from sheer hunger, giving birth to a child and living like a beggar on the hospital floor, unable to leave because she had not paid the hospital bill. It would see her struggling to make ends meet to provide for her children, reaching rock bottom and losing her confidence along the way.
Lucius Fox
Reblogged from pbsthisdayinhistory|83 notes
December 10, 1950: Dr. Ralph Bunche Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
On this day in 1950, Dr. Ralph Bunche was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his peace negotiations during the first Arab-Israeli war in 1949. He was not only a peacemaker, a scholar, and an activist but also the first person of color in the world to receive the Nobel Prize.
His personal and professional creed of mediation over conflict is his biggest legacy. Learn more about Dr. Bunche with PBS Black Culture Connection. Then tell us, how do you see his legacy fulfilled today?
Photo: Courtesy of the Ralph Bunche Carl Van Vechten Photographs Collection, Library of Congress
Military plans to capture LRA leader will trigger retaliatory attacks on civilians and endanger child soldiers, say NGOs
Thanks to Al Jazeera’s latest project, the reaction of the people most affected by Kony’s violence is finally being added to the conversation sparked by Invisible Children’s viral hit.
The KONY 2012 campaign, launched by the non-profit Invisible Children to stop Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, became an international sensation last week with its viral video, which has since become the most viral video in history, according to one researcher. In response to criticism that has surfaced against Invisible Children in light of the campaign, Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey has released a videospecifically addressing concerns that the organization is promoting “slacktivisim” and has corrupt financial practices.
Reblogged from utnereader|404 notes