Kate Dewes

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Overview

Kate Dewes born Hawera, New Zealand January 3, 1953. Peace activist and professor of peace studies, Canterbury University. Pioneered World Court Project, 1986; won ruling against nuclear weapons, 1996. Director of South Island Regional Office of Aotearoa/New Zealand Peace foundation for over 30 years. Vice-President, International Peace Bureau, 1997-2003. UN disarmament adviser, 2009.

Quotations

“I think everybody has a power to help change the world. If we work collectively together we can change it and we can move things in a different way. . . Everyone has that power and can do it by sitting around ordinary kitchen tables.” (Newshub, July 13, 2017; photo alliance of girls schools Australasia)

Amanda Halstead Deyo

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Overview

Rev. Amanda Deyo (née Halstead) born Clinton, NY October 24, 1838 (d. 1917). "The Peacemaker"; raised Quaker, became Universalist pastor; national peace speaker; delegate to international peace conferences, 1889.

Quotations

 "We demand the settlement of disputes of the world by arbitration: the settlement of all national disputes shall be had through these mighty powers of the human soul." ("Woman's War for Peace", World's Congress of Rep. Women May 1893, ed. by May Sewall 1894, p. 734)

Mariateresa Di Lascia

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Overview

Mariateresa Di Lascia born Rocchetta Sant'Antonio, Foggia, Italy June 3, 1954 (d. 1994) Radical Italian reformer; author. Coordinated Survival 82 international campaign against world hunger; co-founded Hunger Day in sympathy with victims of Balkan War, 1992. Opposed nuclear weapons, 1984. Her story “Vigil” condemned all forms of violence, 1992; co-founded Hands off Cain campaign against the death penalty, 1993. (photo tusquetseditores)

Diane di Prima

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Overview

Diane di Prima born Brooklyn, NY August 6, 1934. American anarchist and Beat Poet. Refused taxes for Vietnam War, 1966. Edited War Poems, 1968. Signed Pledge of Resistance to Bush wars, 2002.

Quotations

"[A]ll of us stop the war
at nine o’clock tomorrow, each take one soldier
see him clearly, love him, take the gun
out of his hand, lead him to a quiet spot
sit him down, sit with him as he takes a joint
of viet cong grass from his pocket."

(“Revolutionary Letter #13 c. 1968; photo analepsis.org)

Maria Di Rienzo

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Overview

Maria Di Rienzo born Palmanova, Udine, Italy June 4. Co-author of book Women Disarming about nonviolent women, 2003; feminist journalist, novelist, playwright; nonviolence trainer.

Quotations

"Nonviolence wants to create a world which is: - so of life, a world that values all that is alive; - Loving and empathetic: a world that cares for the people who live in the world; - Egalitarian: a world that values every single individual; - Cooperative: a world that encourages sharing between all and everyone; Democratic: a world that responds equally to the needs and desires of each, in which everyone takes responsibility for oneself; - Joyful: a world in which there is room for laughter and love and play." (notizie con frame; cbditalia.it; photo centodonnecenobici)

Princess Diana

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Overview

Princess Diana (née Spencer) born Sandringham, Norfolk, England July 1, 1961 (d. 1997). Influential leader in campaign against Landmines 1997, visiting Bosnia and Angola war zones; pioneer in compassion for victims of AIDS 1987.

Quotations

"The more expeditiously we can end this plague on earth caused by the landmine, the more readily can we set about the constructive tasks to which so many give their hand in the cause of humanity." (June 12, 1997 speech; photo heraldsun.com.au)

Ellen Diederich

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Overview

Ellen Diederich born Dortmund, Germany March 26, 1944. German “peace worker” for over 50 years; set up Peace Tent at Nairobi 1985 for dialogue of women enemies; drove Peace Bus 12,000 miles, to Greenham Common, Nevada test site; protested El Salvador war; women’s peace marches 1981-3; active in ecofeminist peace group Women in Life on Earth; established International Women's garden and International Women's Peace Archive 1990 at Oberhausen, Ruhr.

Quotations

“War is man-made. Peace, too.” (her motto)

“War does not solve problems, war is the problem. Violence begets violence and hatred, which in turn generates violence and hatred.” (memoir Krieg löst keine Probleme; photo hinter-den-schlagzeile)

Amke Dietert-Scheuer

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Overview

Amke Dietert-Scheuer born Brake, Lower Saxony, Germany May 14, 1955. Green Party member of German Bundestag 1994-9, 2002; scholar of Turkish, lectured Istanbul; member of Amnesty International concern for Kurdish refugees; development consultant.

Quotations

On Bosnia: "These internal refugees need to be dealt with first. They still have people living in tents. In the present situation, things simply aren't ready for the refugees to return." (Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 11, 1996; photo moenchengladbach.hopto.org)

Maria Dietz

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Overview

Maria Dietz (née Hilgers) born Düsseldorf, Germany February 7, 1894 (d. 1980). Teacher; pacifist; activist in world peace organization of mothers and teachers, 1930s; worked to ban war toys, and promote international understanding. Co-founded political organization Christian Social People's Party, 1945; two-term member of German parliament, 1949-57. (photo http://bit.ly/JQmdGU)

Martine Bonny Dikongue

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Overview

Martine Bonny Dikongue born Yaoundé, Cameroon December 15, 1960. Economist; nonviolent conflict resolution trainer; peacemaker in post-genocide Rwanda; speaks 12 languages. Developed "Méthode Coulombe," white dove method of cultural reconciliation, 1997. Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2005.

Quotations

"My dream is to see all people smiling. Not because they have to, but because it comes from within." (quote & photo World People’s Blog)

Ding Zilin

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Overview

Ding Zilin born Shanghai December 8, 1936. Chinese philosophy professor at People’s University; dissident founder Tiananmen Mothers protesting 125 deaths 1989, including her son; frequently arrested for nonviolent protests.

Quotations

“From these countless, bloody facts, I have reached this conclusion: the 1989 student movement and people's movement were patriotic movements concerned with democracy and fighting corruption. They were not, as the government has said, counter-revolutionary rebels.” (Rebecca McKinnon interview, CBS, June 2, 1999; photo cnn.com)

Lia Diskin

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Overview

Lia Diskin (aka Leonor Beatriz Diskin Pawlowicz) born Buenos Aires, Argentina October 27, 1950. Gandhian disciple and professor. Created Gandhi Network; began Gandhi Day Sao Paulo, 1982. Founded Palas Athena Association for a culture of peace, 1972. Received Jamnalal Bajaj Gandhi Award, 2010.

Quotations

“[T]he most valuable discovery human beings can make this century might be finding out the value of the word ‘we.’” (Diskin and Roizman, Peace, How to Make It, 2002; photo escolhaacalma.org.br)

Abigail Disney

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Overview

Abigail Disney born North Hollywood, CA January 24, 1960. Filmmaker; peace activist; produced Pray the Devil Back to Hell documentary about women’s peacemaking in Liberia, 2008; PBS “Women, War & Peace” 2011; founded Peace is Loud 2008 featuring women peacemakers; trip to Dem. Repub. Congo 2011 to support women peacemaking; Sri Lanka 2012 to start Sri Lankan Women’s Agenda on Peace; joined Ahava boycott 2012; crossed Korean demarcation line in appeal for peace 2015; International Advocate for Peace award 2011.

Quotations

“[W]ar is a totalizing, uncivilized experience.” (Brainy Quote)

“When men talk about war, the stories and terminology vary—it's this battle, these weapons, this terrain. But no matter where you go in the world, women use the same language to speak of war. They speak of fire, they speak of death, and they speak of starvation. . . I think if we understand better the impact of war on women and children, we might be more careful about the wars we start.” (Forbes interview, Aug. 19, 2010)

“Peace comes because people make a decision to stop fighting.” (Jesica Berns interview, Oct. 2013; photo alchetron)

Beulah Marie Dix

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Overview

Beulah Marie Dix born Kingston, MA January 24, 1876 (d. 1970). American pacifist playwright, author, and screenwriter. Wrote several antiwar plays opposing WWI: “Across the Border”, 1914, and “Moloch”, 1915. Antiwar pieces for American School Peace League: “A Pageant of Peace”, 1915, “The Enemy”, 1915,“Where War Comes”, 1916. Children’s books include The Glorious Game and Clemency.

Quotations

On “Moloch”: “[I] tried to show how endless and purposeless war really is when stripped of its imaginary glamour; how it changes men’s very natures and bequathes a legacy of hate to little children.” (May 15, 1915, Chicago Daily News in Women Staging War, Maria Beach, 2004, p. 67; photo Wikipedia)