Caroline Ashurst Biggs

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Overview

Caroline Ashurst Biggs born Leicester, England August 23, 1840 (d. 1889). English novelist, editor, and women’s rights advocate; feminist, abolitionist, suffrage leader.

Quotations

“We believe that one great effect of the right of women to co-operate with men in political life will be that the horrors of war will in great measure be averted, and its sufferings alleviated.” (Englishwoman’s Review, June 15, 1876, in Heloise Brown, Truest Form of Patriotism, p. 29; portrait bc.in)

Betty Oyella Bigombe

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Overview

Betty Oyella Bigombe born Acholi district, Uganda January 1, 1954. World Bank expert in post-conflict problems. Minister of Water Resources, 2011. Two-time mediator in attempted peace with Lord’s Resistance Army, 1992, 2004-05.

Quotations

“I’m also a very strong believer that military victory will never bring sustainable peace. You can subdue people, you can humiliate them, they feel they have no voice, they’ll go underground—it will resurface. . . I’m a strong activist for sustainable peace. That it took long to go this far. It took a lot of pains. But definitely, there are dividends. So, one most always deal with these complex situations with hope. Because at the end of the day, after trying and trying, and a lot of times falling down, that it is important not to give up. And I think my spirit is just never give up. . . ” (Aaron Brown interview, July 29, 2008; photo monitor.co.ug)

Anat Biletzki

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Overview

Anat Biletzki born Jerusalem January 30, 1952. Israeli philosopher; professor at Tel Aviv University. Chair of human rights organization B'Tselem to end West Bank occupation, 2001-06.

Quotations

"Israel is unequivocally in the wrong in holding on to any of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (the OPT) and must therefore vacate all those lands unilaterally." (Huffington Post, May 7, 2012; photo Israeli Occupation Archive)

Jeroo Billimoria

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Overview

Jeroo Billimoria born Mumbai, India July 20, 1969. Founded Child Helpline International 2004, Childline India Foundation 1996.

Quotations

"Children should not be dismissed simply because they have not yet become adults; they need to be seen as individuals already capable of making sense of the world around them, exploring their contexts and making choices based on a well-developed system of values and beliefs." (quote & photo Architects of Peace)

Teresa Billington-Greig

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Overview

Teresa Billington-Greig born Preston, Lancashire, England October 15, 1876 (d. 1964). British nonviolent activist and thinker; self-described, "a feminist, a suffragist and a rebel"; founder of Women's Freedom League, 1907; held in Holloway Prison; fined for returning policeman's blow, 1906.

Quotations

"You shall not strike our women!" (Oxf. Dict. Nat. Bio.; photo Billington families of Lancs.)

Jessie F. Binford

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Overview

Jessie Florence Binford born Marshalltown, IA January 20, 1876 (d. 1966). Chicago-based juvenile rights advocate; 61-year resident of Jane Addams's Hull House. Co-founded Jane Addams Peace Association, 1948; opposed Vietnam War.

Quotations

"We see all about us the devastating effects of war on youth." ("Don't Forget the Children," Rotarian, Feb. 1943; http://bit.ly/oG79Zy)

Regina Birchem

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Overview

Regina Birchem born Sisseton, SD December 20, 1938. American cell biologist; professor; author. International President of WILPF, 2004-07; undertook peace mission to Gaza, 2009.

Quotations

"For many around the world daily pressing concerns are for food, shelter, affordable clean water, freedom from threats of violence. Not much thought is given each day to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the threat of nuclear attack. . . The stockpiling of weapons does nothing to provide for simple human needs. . . there is a connection between the seemingly futile negotiations to limit proliferation of nuclear weapons, not to mention the ultimate goal of eliminating them entirely, and the shocking disparity between the haves and the have-nots." (International Peace Update, January 1, 2005; photo The Arab-American)

Shirley Temple Black

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Overview

Shirley Temple Black born Santa Monica, CA April 23, 1928 (d. 2014). Child movie star; Republican diplomat. Delegate to UN, 1969; delegate to Stockholm Conference on the Environment, 1972; US Commission to UNESCO, 1973. US Ambassador to Ghana, 1974-76, and Czechoslovakia, 1968, 1989-92. First woman Chief of Diplomatic Protocol, 1976.

Quotations

"Ambassadors, if they do it right, work about 14-hour days. . . My favorite part of the job was working in the office and with the people of a country. My unfavorite part was the parties and the receptions." (Mail Tribune, July 27, 1997; 1990 photo Wikipedia)

Doris Blackburn

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Overview

Doris Blackburn (née Hordern) born Melbourne, Victoria September 18, 1889 (d. 1970). Australian peace activist and politician; opposed World War I as Socialist; founded Aborigines Advancement League; headed Australian WILPF.

Quotations

"[A] rocket bomb testing range in Central Australia is an act of injustice to a weaker people who have no voice in the ordering of their own lives; is a betrayal of our responsibility to guard the human rights of those who cannot defend themselves; and a violation of the various Charters that have sought to bring about world peace." (speech to Parliament, March 6, 1947; photo Wikipedia)

Alice Stone Blackwell

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Overview

Alice Stone Blackwell born Orange, NJ September 14, 1857 (d. 1950). Suffragist journalist; second generation woman peacemaker, daughter of pacifist Lucy Stone; Socialist social reformer; active in American Peace Society, League of Women Voters, and NAACP; promoted human rights of Armenians; translated works of minorities.

Quotations

"Grave divines are horrified at the thought of admitting women to vote when they cannot fight, although not one in twenty of their own number is fit for military duty, if he volunteered. Of the editors who denounce woman suffrage, only about one in four could himself carry a musket; while, of the lawyers who fill Congress, the majority could not be defenders of their country, but could only be defended." ("Objectons Answered: Why Should Women Vote?" 1915; photo Wikipedia)

Unita Blackwell

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Overview

Unita Blackwell born Lula, MS March 18, 1933. Civil rights leader; SNCC organizer; president of US-Chinese Peoples Friendship Association, 1976-83. Co-founded Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, 1964; awarded MacArthur Genius grant, 1992.

Quotations

“The best teacher is to observe from other people and learn from other people.” (Mike Garvey interview, Apr. 21, 1977)

Anita Mccormick Blaine

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Overview

Anita Mccormick Blaine born Manchester, VT July 4, 1866 (d. 1954). Chicago philanthropist; internationalist promoter of League of Nations and UN; personally urged world leaders including Hitler and Mussolini to avoid war; founded World Citizens Association to create world unity 1939 Chicago; early promoter of a democratic UN and world federalism; published progressive newspaper Daily Compass 1949-52; financed Foundation for World Government 1950; founded New World Foundation 1954 for peace and progressive causes; progressive education reformer.

Quotations

On the founding of the UN: "[I]t matters greatly that this first chance for world agreement to prevent war. . . must not be lost to mankind." (Gilbert Harrison, A Timeless Affair, p. 215, 1979; photo ucls.uchicago.edu)

Katherine Devereux Blake

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Overview

Katherine Devereux Blake born Manhattan, NY July 10, 1858 (d. 1950). Pacifist educator, journalist and suffragist; Principal of Manhattan PS 6.; WILPF leader.

Quotations

O, say can you see
You who glory in war
All the wounded and dead
of the red battle's reaping?

(Her version of the national anthem sung by NY children, 1914-1917; Swarthmore WILPF)

Lillie Devereux Blake

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Overview

Lillie Devereux Blake born Raleigh, NC August 12, 1833 (d. 1913). Pacifist suffragist; author and orator; Civil War correspondent; opposed US imperialism and War with Spain; principal of New York Public School 6.

Quotations

"We women ought to stand by each other, care for each other." (Fettered for Life, 1874)

"Peace was honorable, and war was dishonorable." (Mary Arden Club, New York, March 31, 1898; sketch Wikipedia)

Ta'Kaiya Blaney

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Overview

Ta’kaiya Blaney born Sliammon, British Columbia, Canada January 31, 2001. First Nations environmentalist and singer. Began activism at age 10; protested Enbridge pipeline; addressed UN Summit Rio, 2012.

Quotations

"Sometimes you don’t have the luxury to be diplomatic when you are being oppressed, but it is still always important to show love whenever you can. . . By representing love and inclusivity other people will feel less threatened which makes it easier to find commonality." (Huffington Post, March 2, 2014; photo theagenda.tvo.org)

Harriot Stanton Blatch

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Overview

Harriot Stanton Blatch born Seneca Falls, NY January 20, 1856 (d. 1940). Unitarian suffragist; socialist. Began public protests for vote, 1907; organized Women's Peace Party Parade, 1914.

Quotations

"My opposition to war was not because of the horrors of war, not because war demands that the race offer up its very best in their full vigor, not because war means economic bankruptcy, domination of races by famine and disease, but because war is so completely ineffective, so stupid. It settles nothing." (A Woman's Point of View; photo Wikipedia)

Helena Blavatsky

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Overview

Helena Blavatsky born Yekaterinoslav, Ukraine August 12, 1831 (d. 1891). Founder of Theosophy, universal brotherhood 1875; profoundly influenced Gandhi.

Quotations

"[I]t is only by all men becoming brothers and all women sisters, and by all practicing in their daily lives true brotherhood and true sisterhood, that the real human solidarity. . . can ever be attained." (Key to Theosophy, p. 234, 1889; photo Wikipedia)

Randi Blehr

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Overview

Randi Blehr (née Nilsen) born Bergen, Norway February 12, 1851 (d. 1928). Norwegian feminist and peace leader. Wife of Prime Minister Otto Blehr. Chair of Norwegian Women's Peace Association 1903-. Co-founded Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights, 1884; served as its president, 1895-99, 1903-22.

Quotations

“THE DOGMA OF THE NECESSITY OF WAR MUST BE OVERTHROWN.” (resol. Nov. 19, 1914, The Advocate of Peace, March 1915, p. 57; photo arkivveket.no)