Mighty Be Our Powers

Book excerpt: The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize shares her inspirational, powerful story of how a group of women working together created an unstoppable force that brought peace to Liberia. As a young woman, Leymah Gbowee was broken by the Liberian civil war, a brutal conflict that destroyed her country and claimed the lives of countless relatives and friends. Propelled by her realization that it is women and girls who suffer most during conflicts, she found the courage to turn her bitterness into action. She helped organize and then lead the Liberian Mass Action for Peace, which brought together Christian and Muslim women in a nonviolent movement that engaged in public protest, confronted 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-and became an international leader who changed history, won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work, and fiercely advocates for girls' empowerment and leadership. Mighty Be Our Powers is the gripping chronicle of a journey from hopelessness to liberation that will touch all who dream of a better world.