Marie Louise Berneri

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Overview

Marie Louise Berneri born Arezzo, Italy March 1, 1918 (d. 1949). Italian philosopher; writer and editor on anarchism; author of Journey Through Utopia. Opposed the regimes of Mussolini and Franco, and World War II, for which the English tried her for inciting disaffection.

Quotations

“Our age is an age of compromises, of half-measures, of the lesser evil. . . ’practical men’ rule our lives. . . We no longer try to abolish war, but to avoid it for a period of a few years.” (Introduction, Journey Through Utopia)

Juliet Bernstein

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Overview

Juliet Bernstein (née Relis) born Ferndale, NY July 2, 1913. Leader of Cape Cod FOR; National Women's Hall of Fame 1995. Created nuclear free zone for town of Chatham 1984; led campaign against land mines; annual peace poetry, poster and essay contest; NAACP "Unsung Hero" for racial equality; opposed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Quotations

"[The defeat of the coup that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union showed] the global spread of non-violence. In rising up to tyranny and oppression, people show that change can be achieved through the power of love and truth." (Cape Cod Times, Aug. 1991; photo Robert Winter)

Frida Berrigan

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Overview

Frida Berrigan born Baltimore, MD April 1, 1974. Second-generation woman peace activist, daughter of Elizabeth McAlister; opposed nuclear weapons, Iraq and Afghan wars.

Quotations

"The moment demands our attention, demands our outrage, demands our compassion, demands our vision, demands our work; and that is what peacemaking is about." (Dec. 10, 2010 to War Resisters League; photo War Resisters League)

Azucena Berruti

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Overview

Azucena Berruti born Tres Cruces, Uruguay January 7, 1929. Famed human rights lawyer. Defended political prisoners for nonviolent Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) affiliate SERPAJ Servicio de Paz y Justicia. As first woman Minister of Defense, refused participation in US School of Americas, 2005-08. Fired Lt. General Diaz for insubordination, 2006.

Quotations

On how the military took her command: “Ah, in my favor. A woman with remote control and also higher in rank. They are well educated.” (Gerardo Tagliaferro interview, May 21, 2012; photo elpoverin.over.blog)

Rosalie Bertell

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Overview

Rosalie Bertell born Buffalo, NY April 4, 1929 (d. 2012). Anti-nuclear scientist; mathematician; nun. Awarded Right Livelihood Award, 1986; received Sean MacBride Peace Prize, 2001.

Quotations

"War and money make the world go around. When you have money, you have to be prepared to go to war to protect it. . . The continuity of life, the call for making things better for the next and the next generations blots out all hesitation. . . We have to be part of something larger than ourselves, because our dreams are often bigger than our lifetimes." (Planet Earth; photo toequest)

Catherine Bertini

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Overview

Catherine Bertini born Syracuse, NY March 30, 1950. First woman to lead a UN agency as head of World Food Program, 1992-2002; noted for response to famines in North Korea and the Horn of Africa. Undersecretary of UN Office for Management, 2002.

Quotations

“We must help keep people alive, and we don't have the luxury of deciding whether or not we like what the government is doing.” (Lehrer Newshour, Jun. 9 2000)

“Men wage war—women and children suffer the consequences.” (speech to Red Cross, Nov. 1, 1999; photo Wikipedia)

Julia Bertrand

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Overview

Julia Bertrand born Vosges, France February 13, 1877 (d. 1960). Nonviolent anarchist; radical anti-militarist; president of League of Feminists Against War (LFCG). Detained in prison camp for anti-military views, 1914-15.

Quotations

"If men cannot assure the peace of the world, we, the women, give our work and our voice. . . Creators of life, defend it!" (Éliane Gubin, Siècle de Féministes, p. 199; photo http://bit.ly/JKUZ73)

Mary McLeod Bethune

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Overview

Mary McLeod Bethune born Mayesville, SC July 10, 1875 (d. 1955). Internationalist civil rights leader and government official. African-American woman college president of Bethune-Cookman School, 1923-42, 46-47. Only official African-American woman counselor present at founding of United Nations, San Francisco, 1945.

Quotations

"The world tomorrow must be a 'people's world'—if our civilization is to survive." (comment on UN, June 1945)

"I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you a thirst for education. I leave you a respect for the use of power. I leave you faith. I leave you racial dignity. I leave you a desire to live harmoniously with your fellow men. I leave you, finally, a responsibility to our young people." (last will and testament; photo wikimedia commons)

Louisa Sarah Bevington

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Overview

Louisa Sarah Bevington born Battersea, Surrey (now Wandsworth, London), England May 14, 1846 (d. 1895). Poet and essayist. Raised a Quaker, became leading anarchist opposed to violence.

Quotations

'Dreamers?' Ah, no! else he was a dreamer,
Our crucified brother of long, long ago;
Arrested, and jeered at; 'seditious;' 'blasphemer;'
And legally slain, lest the people should know

That 'Kingdom' is coming, on earth as 'within you,'
The reign of sweet peace, and goodwill amongst men;
'Tis suffering violence? Yes, in the taking;
Yet, taken, there shall not be fighting again.

(“Dreamers?”)

Hema Bharali

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Overview

Hema Bharali born Assam, India February 19, 1919. Gandhian Sarvodaya leader; Assam earthquake relief 1950; leader in Bhave’s Bhodan movement 1951f.; postwar relief 1962.

Quotations

“If Government is for, by and of the people then we should ask ourselves why were so many people being killed in riots. Should we not make efforts to prevent such events. Everyone does something for his family. . . ” (The Hindu, May 1, 2006; photo thehindu.com)

Kamla Bhasin

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Overview

Kamla Bhasin born Shaheedanwali, Punjab, India April 24, 1946. Indian social scientist, feminist; song-writer and poet; 2003 co-founded 1000 Women for Nobel Peace Prize 2005; co-founder Peace Women Across the Globe (PWAG) Bern 2006; Freedom from Hunger campaign of UN Food & Agriculture Organization specialist 1979-2001; worked for Indian-Pakistani reconciliation.

Quotations

“I am convinced that gender equality, justice and peace cannot be achieved without challenging the greed based neo-liberal economic order. In my opinion this paradigm is responsible for the resurgence of patriarchies, for increasing insecurities, conflicts and wars. So we feminists have a long way to go if we want to achieve equality, justice and peace.” (Poster Women, Sept. 11, 2011; photo ambrosia.am-blogspot)

Ela Bhatt

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Overview

Ela Bhatt born Ahmedabad, India September 7, 1933. Indian lawyer; Gandhian leader of SEWA women's social service organization; won Alternative Nobel Prize 1984; Niwano Peace Prize 2010; Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2011; co-founded Women's World Banking 1979.

Quotations

"SEWA is struggling to find alternatives in a society based on love and non-violence." (Right Livelihood acceptance speech, 1984)

"[Gandhi] said that women are natural leaders in our fight for social justice where love and peace, nonviolence, are the chief weapons of the fight." (quote and photo Motion, Dec. 18, 2003)

Barbara Bick

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Overview

Barbara Bick (née Lichtenstein) born Washington DC April 25, 1925 (d. 2009). Co-founder of Women Strike for Peace 1961; feminist promoter of Afghan women’s rights; socialist leader of Peoples Coalition for Peace and Justice (PCPJ) 1970.

Quotations

“There are two categories: revolutionaries, and those who make revolutions work.” (Center for Security Studies, May 3; photo feminist press)

Henriette Bie Lorentzen

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Overview

Henriette Bie Lorentzen (née Anna Henriette Wegner Haagaas) born Vestre Aker (now Oslo) Norway July 18, 1911 (d. 2001). Norwegian humanist; peace activist; founding teacher Nansen Academy 1937; arrested by Gestapo 1943, tortured while pregnant; survived Ravensbrück; founding editor publisher magazine “Women and Time” 1945-55; active in Grandmothers Against Atom Weapons 1983.

Quotations

“I worked systematically to accustom myself to death tank. I remember saying to myself day after day: Once I die, you've gotten a lot out of life. I think I managed to look death in the face. I was 33 years old when I came to Ravensbrück and had, after all, a life behind me." (Andreas Skartveit, wikipedia.no; photo Wikipedia)

Jessica Biel

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Overview

Jessica Biel born Ely, MN March 3, 1982. Actress. Climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to publicize UN Foundation’s Girl Up program and its focus on the global water crisis, 2010; paired with Shanoah Washington against gang violence at TeenNick HALO Awards, 2011; supporter of UN refugee program.

Quotations

“We are all in this together.” (Kenya, Jan. 20, 2010; 2007 photo Wikipedia)