Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War

( 17 )

All Available Formats + Editions

——

$15.59

NOOK Book

——

$15.59

Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War (eBook) Pub. Date: 9/13/2011 Publisher: Beast Books
$14.75

$16.58

Hardcover

$14.75

$16.58

Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War Pub. Date: 9/13/2011 Publisher: Beast Books
$19.77

$25.60

Audiobook

$19.77

$25.60

Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War (CD - Unabridged) Pub. Date: 9/13/2011 Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

$46.21

$62.10

Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War (CD - Unabridged) Pub. Date: 9/13/2011 Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

Advertising

Overview

WINNER OF THE 2011 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

In a time of death and terror, Leymah Gbowee brought Liberia’s women together—and together they led a nation to peace.

As a young woman, Leymah Gbowee was broken by the Liberian civil war, a brutal conflict that tore apart her life and claimed the lives of countless relatives and friends. Years of fighting destroyed her country—and shattered Gbowee’s girlhood hopes and dreams. As a young mother trapped in a nightmare of domestic abuse, she found the courage to turn her bitterness into action, propelled by her realization that it is women who suffer most during conflicts—and that the power of women working together can create an unstoppable force. In 2003, the passionate and charismatic Gbowee helped organize and then led the Liberian Mass Action for Peace, a coalition of Christian and Muslim women who sat in public protest, confronting Liberia’s ruthless president and rebel warlords, and even held a sex strike. With an army of women, Gbowee helped lead her nation to peace—in the process emerging as an international leader who changed history. Mighty Be Our Powers is the gripping chronicle of a journey from hopelessness to empowerment that will touch all who dream of a better world.

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Leymah Gbowee thought that she was the wrong person for the job, but that there was no other person to do it. The impulse had come to this young Liberian woman in a dream in which she was told to get women to pray for peace. In the midst of a 14-year civil war that seemed like a modest self-assignment, but Gbowee's relentless persistence transformed these private Christian and Muslim missives into a nationwide peace movement that brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003, leading to the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first female president. In this singular memoir, she describes how sisterhood, prayer, protest, and even a sex strike helped achieve what negotiators could not. An unconventional, empowering feminist statement.

Kirkus Reviews

Searing war-torn memories from a visionary African peacekeeper and women's-rights activist.

Gbowee's affecting memoir begins in her native Liberia in the modest settlement where she and her sisters were raised within a community "built on togetherness and sharing." Because her parents had grown up poor, the author's jubilant graduation from a private school in Monrovia became especially significant. In 1990, her dream of attending college to study medicine was crushed when armed rebels led by militant Charles Taylor began a destructive power struggle between the Liberian army and the nation's indigenous people. Gunfire and bloody carnage scarred Gbowee's adolescent memories but also sparked the beginnings of her allegiant action involving women. As the fighting subsided and Taylor acquired power, the author selflessly enrolled in social-work training programs and ultimately aided ex-child soldiers from Taylor's army as Liberia's Second Civil War raged. Throughout the hardship of fleeing the violence and becoming destitute with her children from an abusive relationship, Gbowee adored her sisters. This familial bond became an empowering framework of strength, support and female solidarity that the author would perpetuate through groundbreaking women's peace-building movements and nonviolent political-activist initiatives like "Mass Action for Peace." Gbowee stands responsible for what began as a tireless vocal demonstration and soon escalated to a standoff on the Presidential Mansion steps demanding peace. This course of action facilitated the war's end in 2003 and the election of Africa's first female president, and ended the author's personal struggles with alcohol. With commanding charity, Gbowee celebrates Liberia's eight years of peace and continues teaching young women about the power of activism.

A patriotic chronicle reverberant with valor and perseverance.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780984295159
Publisher: Beast Books
Publication date: 9/13/2011
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 16,893
Product dimensions: 6.00 (w) x 9.40 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Leymah Gbowee is the winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. She is also the Newsweek and The Daily Beast’s Africa columnist. As war ravaged Liberia, Leymah Gbowee realized it is women who bear the greatest burden in prolonged conflicts. She began organizing Christian and Muslim women to demonstrate together, founding Liberian Mass Action for Peace and launching protests and a sex strike. Gbowee’s part in helping to oust Charles Taylor was featured in the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell. Gbowee is a single mother of six, including one adopted daughter, and is based in Accra, Ghana, where she is the cofounder and executive director of the Women Peace and Security Network-Africa.

Carol Mithers is a Los Angeles-based journalist and book author. Her work has appeared in a wide variety of national publications.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5

( 17 )

Rating Distribution

( 15 )
( 1 )
( 0 )
( 0 )
( 1 )

If you've bought this product, tell the world how you liked it.

Write a Review

KDWcoordinator

Posted October 24, 2011

Outstanding Book

I ordered this book based on a friend's recommendation and it is wonderful. The story of women fighting for peace and freedom in Liberia is powerful reading. The subject of this story is now a Nobel Peace Prize winner which is even more exciting after having read the book.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
FormerHistProf

Posted November 29, 2011

Powerful! Read this.

It is very difficult sitting comfortably in my house with my pets to read this book. The succinct, straightforward simplicity of writing increases the horror of what happened in Liberia. There is nothing to divert one's attention. The intricacies of the political, economic situation, the fact of two women's movements that take forever to trust each other and to begin to work in tandem, the grotesque violence on the part of all political forces against women and children are set forward in unvarnished form. Leymah Gbowee exhibits the power of her leadership in her unwillingness to shellack or in any way cover over her own failings of dependence on alcohol and men and the suffering of her family, especially her children. Her honesty about herself reveals how she was able to lead women to discover their individual and collective power in the midst of mind-numbing, horrific circumstances in order to make a difference in Liberia. While there were times I almost wanted a little sugar coating, not receiving it left me more educated, more aware, more in awe of all who survived. One question haunts me: why was the 2011 Noble peace prize divided among three women, each of whom is deserving in her own right? There is still much work to be done, not only in Liberia, but on the part of all inhabitants of this earth to building peace based on mutual respect and shared suffering. Read this book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous

Posted February 10, 2012

Inspiring

I learned much from this book! It was fascinating to read about the downfall of Liberia, and I emerged newly enlightened about the turmoil in other parts of the world. The resiliency of Leymah and those she worked with made me realize how fortunate we are, and how easily a comfortable life can be turned upside down.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous

Posted February 4, 2012

Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous

Posted January 7, 2012

Inspiring and uplifting.

I've never been to Liberia or had a complete awareness of the issues, I now have a better understaning of the issues and struggles. I identify with the author, her life choices and triumphs.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
AndreaFromOntario

Posted December 17, 2011

A hard story to read but well worth the effort

The pain, struggle, heartache and devastation that Leymah Gbowee and her friends and family lived through is conveyed with such brutal reality that you feel as if you are experiencing it yourself. A few times I had to switch to lighter fare for a day because Leymah's story is so emotionally overwhelming. To say that I highly recommend this book is a understatement. What brave, strong, unbelievable women!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous

Posted December 3, 2011

Every Woman Should Read This Story

This powerful, human, inspirational book was too riveting to put down and I read it in one sitting. I was exhausted, empowered, awed, hopeful, - and then ashamed. Those women, who had nothing, least of all power or resources, accomplished peace. Here I sit in my comfortable home, with a good education, lots of technology, some power within my world, and what have I accomplished towards peace? Every woman in the United States and Europe should read this book. And then go out and make peace happen - this book makes the convincing case that there is nothing that can stop us if we join together as women. What are we waiting for? Start by reading this book and then sharing it with other women.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous

Posted September 26, 2011

Highly recommended

No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous

Posted November 4, 2011

No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous

Posted January 5, 2012

No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous

Posted December 2, 2011

No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous

Posted January 22, 2012

No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous

Posted November 23, 2011

No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous

Posted January 14, 2012

No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous

Posted February 22, 2012

No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous

Posted November 22, 2011

No text was provided for this review.

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble

Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War

Pick Up in Store

Available on NOOK devices and apps

All Available Formats + Editions

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Overview

Related Subjects

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

Meet the Author

Rating Distribution

Outstanding Book

Powerful! Read this.

Inspiring

Inspiring and uplifting.

A hard story to read but well worth the effort

Every Woman Should Read This Story

Highly recommended