Leymah Gbowee: A woman's mission to inspire activism

Activism doesn’t have to be a scary and intimidating word. Sometimes, it’s as easy as getting off the couch and speaking up when you don’t agree with something.

That is what Leymah Gbowee believes in, and if you’re going to listen to anyone on the matter, Gbowee is quite possibly your best choice. A Nobel Peace Laureate, recognized in 2011 for her activism work in Liberia, Madame Gbowee knows from experience what it means to stand up for what you believe in, even if it means putting your life on the line. On September 16th, 2015, in an event presented by the Winter Park Institute, she was gracious enough to speak to an eager audience at Rollins College Alfond Sports Center.

After a quick introduction by Rollins President Grant Cornwell, she is ready to take the microphone and inspire the crowd. As she approached the stage to tell the filled room about her journey, what you saw a normal, unassuming woman who carried herself in a calm, yet almost regal manner. Dressed in a typical African dress and head wrap – with blue shoes to match – Ms. Gbowee’s strength was not necessarily obvious to the eye, but simply strongly felt in her demeanor.  

“Imagine you’re 17. One minute you’re a child and the next you’re an adult – through no fault of your own.” This is how she opens her story. In war ravished Liberia, Gbowee had to grow up fast. She saw everything she treasured be taken away at a young age, but the beauty of her story comes not from death and loss, but from what she saw beyond it. She saw an opportunity to rise above and change that which she knew was wrong.

 

Later in life, after enrolling in a social work program in Liberia, she met a group of women from Sierra Leone who would change her life. Having a hard time understanding why these women were so happy, despite having been mutilated and repeatedly raped, she was told by one of them “Women are the ones who will change the community!” From then on Leymah Gbowee made it her life’s mission to empower women and encourage activism to affect change where needed. In her Women in Peace-building Network chapter in Liberia, she saw her original 20 members quickly turn into 900 in just 9 months.

Not many people would maintain a fighting spirit after seeing so much adversity in life, but Gbowee and the Liberian women didn’t have much more to lose, so why not fight for what they could gain? It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it, and she believes everyone has the duty to do the same.

 

Activism is who she is, and she is unapologetically fierce about it. When asked by an audience member what advice she had for the women in Venezuela fighting for democracy, Madame Gbowee showed her no-nonsense approach to the issue. Without hesitation she said “there have to be sacrificial lambs.”

This thought process is exactly what she wanted the audience to take away: activism is not easy, and it’s not quick, and cannot be accomplished through apathy. To the women in Venezuela, and any other country going through a political crisis, she humorously said if everyone is "waiting for Mandela to resurrect and save their countries, that’s not going to work."

 

When another audience member asked how deep a factor fear had been for her, Gbowee admitted to not being fearless, but simply not letting fear stop her. In her quest to encourage activism, she explains that your life does not need to be at risk. All human beings have the ability to be activists, whether it is helping a woman with a stroller up the subway stairs, or giving a flip-flop to man whose shoe just broke.

“Activism for change means stepping into spaces, creating hope for those who’ve lost it. It’s giving back to humanity what humanity has given you,” she says. In her head-to-toe blue outfit, and her unassuming, and many times witty demeanor, Leymah Gbowee demands attention and commands action. She may come across as a nice auntie - a term she herself used -, but she packs a punch. She has done the impossible, and is not afraid to ask you to do the same!