Mary N. Brownell

Overview

Mary N. Brownell born Maryland County, Liberia March 12, 1929. Liberian educator; crusader for peace, women’s rights, and democracy. Founded Liberian Women’s Initiative (LWI), which was crucial to ending civil war, 1994. Active in postwar reconciliation. Honored as Ambassador for Peace by the Interreligious and International Foundation for World Peace, 2006.

Quotations

“The women attended all of the peace conferences; we were never invited but we made our way there. They would say, ‘You are here again?’ I would say ‘Anywhere you men go I will follow you until you decide to put the guns down and stop fighting.’” (Critical Half, Fall 2007, p. 17; photo trcofliberia.org)