This year, Pray the Devil Back to Hell won the “Best
Documentary” award at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. The film,
recently released to the public, tells the amazing story of how
one person’s dream helped to bring about the peace accords in
Liberia after years of war under the tyrant Charles Taylor. It
demonstrates the impact that one person can have during a time of
strife, and reveals the tactics that otherwise powerless women
used to achieve unprecedented peace and democratic elections.
The film starts in 1989 when Charles Taylor first arrived in
Liberia. A protégé of Libya’s al-Gaddafi, trained in guerilla
warfare, Taylor launched a political uprising, attempting to
overthrow the government. Other groups also rose up, causing the
country to factionalize. Civil war, ethnic conflict, power
struggles, and fights over money ensued.
Primarily due to fear, Liberians voted Charles Taylor into the
Presidency, and the warlords (LURDS) rebelled.
Charles Taylor became notorious for training child soldiers. He
provided young boys with drugs and guns, and forced them to
murder their parents. Under his leadership, Liberians endured
hunger, child-rape and the pillaging of their country for
fourteen years. No end was in sight.
Then one night in 2003, a young mother Leymah Gbowee, prayed
before she went to bed, asking God to end the war. That night she
had a “crazy dream,” telling her that she should gather the women
of Liberia together to protest and pray for peace.
Leymah brought her idea to her church, and then to other
churches, appealing to women to join her quest for peace. A
female Muslim police officer attended one of the meetings, and
was so moved she decided to spread the women’s peace message to
the Muslim community.
Initially, some women wondered if working with those of a
different religion meant that they were diluting their faith.
Ultimately, they concluded that religion should not serve as a
barrier to their mission of peace. For the first time in Liberian
history, Christians and Muslims worked together for a common
cause.
The women protested, insisting that the men, who had all power,
end the war. A few women turned to hundreds and then thousands.
They were ordinary women — mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and
aunts. They sat daily in the public square, with T-shirts, signs
and banners demanding peace.
Every day the women rallied together, sang together, and prayed
together. They did the unimaginable — they spoke out. They even
had the audacity to protest outside the Presidential Palace. But
it wasn’t enough. Then, the women decided to use sex as a weapon.
They went on a country-wide sex-strike, withholding sex from all
their husbands until the men worked towards peace.
Eventually, President Taylor could no longer ignore the
protesters’ impact. Pressure forced Taylor and the LURDS to sign
a pledge to engage in peaceful negotiations. The parties
scheduled talks to take place in Ghana, in June 2003. But on that
same day, Taylor was indicted for war crimes and crimes against
humanity.
The negotiations went forward in Taylor’s absence. Months passed
with no visible progress. Then one day, the women marched over to
the negotiations, locked arms and blockaded the building’s exits.
They refused to let the men out until they reached an agreement.
It worked. On August 18, 2003, a peace agreement was signed.
But the women still wanted democratic elections, so they banded
together one last time to make their plea. They succeeded.
In November 2005, Liberia held its first elections since 1996.
This time the election was free, fair, democratic, and
nonviolent. Liberians elected Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to be
President — the first female President in Africa. She was
inaugurated on January 16, 2006.
The women of Liberia caused significant change in their country.
Abby Disney produced this film so that the role of women in
achieving Liberia’s peace and democracy would not be erased from
the history books. She also wanted to send a message to women
world-over that they too can effectuate change.
The peace activists of Liberia, unlike some who go by that same
label today, did not advocate for surrender. Instead, they
demanded peace in furtherance of freedom. These women witnessed
death, but still had enthusiasm for life. They experienced
destruction and turmoil, but still breathed hope. They risked
their lives, but retained their faith. They knew that if they
were to be killed, it was fighting for the cause of peace and
freedom. They started with baby steps and wound up changing
history.
