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A review by jennseeg
Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee
5.0
I saw this author's interview on the The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. She was so confident, interesting and funny I sought out this book to learn more about her life and work in Africa. I'm glad I did.
My knowledge of African politics generally and Liberian politics in particular is embarrassingly meager, so first of all, I learned a lot from reading about Leymah Gbowee's experiences. Beyond this knowledge, however, I also found this book to be tremendously inspiring. Leymah Gbowee's journey from a broken, (literally) beaten housewife to a social worker and then ultimately Nobel Prize winning internationally-recognized peace advocate....wow...so inspiring.
I appreciated her honesty as well. She is upfront about the fact that her devotion to the cause of peace and freedom in her home country came at an extreme personal price. She did not ultimately raise her children, had fragmented relationships with her lovers and family and often resorted to drinking to manage her stress and anxiety. I believe this kind of honesty is so admirable in a society where women are expected to hold it together perfectly in all of their roles all of the time.
Professionally, I struggle with many of the same feelings Leymah Gbowee articulates...particularly frustration related to working day to day trying to save one or two children/individuals, while ultimately feeling unsuccessful because large scale systems continue to perpetuate the problems. I've been debating entering a post-graduate certificate program in non-profit management for some time for this reason. After reading this book, I think I've received the push and inspiration I needed to finally take the jump. Great, great, book.
My knowledge of African politics generally and Liberian politics in particular is embarrassingly meager, so first of all, I learned a lot from reading about Leymah Gbowee's experiences. Beyond this knowledge, however, I also found this book to be tremendously inspiring. Leymah Gbowee's journey from a broken, (literally) beaten housewife to a social worker and then ultimately Nobel Prize winning internationally-recognized peace advocate....wow...so inspiring.
I appreciated her honesty as well. She is upfront about the fact that her devotion to the cause of peace and freedom in her home country came at an extreme personal price. She did not ultimately raise her children, had fragmented relationships with her lovers and family and often resorted to drinking to manage her stress and anxiety. I believe this kind of honesty is so admirable in a society where women are expected to hold it together perfectly in all of their roles all of the time.
Professionally, I struggle with many of the same feelings Leymah Gbowee articulates...particularly frustration related to working day to day trying to save one or two children/individuals, while ultimately feeling unsuccessful because large scale systems continue to perpetuate the problems. I've been debating entering a post-graduate certificate program in non-profit management for some time for this reason. After reading this book, I think I've received the push and inspiration I needed to finally take the jump. Great, great, book.