Sabeen Mahmud born Karachi, Pakistan April 20, 1975 (d. 2015). Pakistani peacemaker and “tech geek.” Founded The Second Floor café (T2F), a community space for social change, 2007. Assassinated after hosting a seminar at T2F, 2015.
“I stand up for what I believe in. But I can’t fight guns. I know that much, and nothing is worth dying for. You have to live for these causes.” (Karima Bennoune interview, April 25, 2015; photo tribune.com.pk)
Alice Mahon born Halifax, England September 28, 1937. Represented Labour Party as Member of Parliament, 1987-2005. Headed Committee for Peace in the Balkans, 1993; stood against NATO’s Kosovo bombing. Opposed Bush’s nuclear threat; opposed Iraq War, exposing US use of white phosphorus.
"The lunatics have taken over the White House." (UK Mirror, March 11, 2002)
"[T]he invasion and occupation of Iraq have increased the risk of terrorism and made the world a more dangerous place." (trinicenter, November 21, 2003; photo BBC news)
Natalie Maines born Lubbock, TX October 14, 1974. Lead singer of country group Dixie Chicks; protested Iraq War.
"We don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas." (London, March 10, 2003; photo 2006 wikicom pd)
Fatoumata Maïga born Gao, Mali February 24, 1962. Malian peace activist; founding president Association des Femmes pour les Initiatives de Paix, Bamako 1998; chairwoman West Africa Network for Peacebuilding; secretary general Peace and Security Network ECOWAS Women; head Mali PeaceWomen Across the Globe.
“Gender is the backbone in conflict resolution, gender is the backbone in conflict prevention, gender, must be taken into account in the construction of peace. . . Women are very sensitive to violence. I am not saying that all women are doves because we have seen women, warlords, women who fight. But the vast majority of women are doves of peace. They will never advocate the war, because they are very expensive to those who go to war: either their children or their husbands.” (Republican, Nov. 24, 2008; photo 1000peacewomen)
Rita Majerotti born Castelfranco Veneto, Treviso, Italy August 27, 1876 (d. 1960). Italian elementary school teacher who opposed World War I; Socialist; feminist; defended women workers; jailed 42 days and exiled by Mussolini.
Miriam Makeba born Johannesburg, South Africa March 4, 1932 (d. 2008). Singer; known as "the empress of African song"; awarded Hammarsköld Peace Prize, 1986; opposed Apartheid as exiled delegate to UN.
“[A]partheid was wrong, and all I did was tell the people who wanted to know where I come from how we lived in South Africa. I just told the world the truth. And if my truth then becomes political, I can't do anything about that.” (Brainy Quote; photo South Africa Radio ZAR)
Susana Malcorra born Argentina November 18, 1957. UN Undersecretary for Field Support of Peace and Humanitarian Operations, 2008; Deputy Director of World Food Program, 2004.
"United Nations peacekeeping, as a flagship activity of the Organization, is a unique instrument that is built on a global partnership." (New Horizon doc. 2009; photo UN)
Germaine Malaterre-Sellier born Paris, France May 21, 1889 (d. 1967). French feminist and suffrage leader. As World War I nurse, carried on in spite of own injuries. Vice-President, Women’s Union for the League of Nations (UFSDN); Vice-President, International League for Moral Disarmament by Women; President of peace section, National Council of French Women. Member of Universal Peace Convocation. Chaired Peace Committee of International Council of Women. Supported World War II resistance.
“Women who have given life must always have a horror of war.” (Leila Rupp, “Constructing Internationalism” AHR 1583; photo musea univ-angers.fr)
Judith Malina born Kiel, Germany June 4, 1926. American pioneer in political theater; leader of "the beautiful non-violent anarchist revolution"; anarchist pacifist; arrested many times: 30 days in jail with Dorothy Day for anti-bomb protest 1958; active in War Resisters League and Women Strike for Peace; founded Living Theater 1947; "Paradise Now" 1968; anti-conscription "Not in My Name"; refused taxes for Vietnam.
"I demand. . . total love, an end to all forms of violence. . . I demand it now!" (Arthur Marwick, The Sixties; photo rottentomatoes.com)
Theresa Serber Malkiel born Bar, Ukraine, Russia May 1, 1874 (d. 1949). American Socialist organizer of women workers; opposed World War I; Women’s Peace Party executive; early leader WILPF.
“The judges and the police make the mistake of their lives if they hope to stop us by keeping up this jail business—every arrest makes a firm convert to the cause.” (Mary, Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker; photo marxistsfr.org)
Tal al-Mallouhi born Homs, Syria January 4, 1991. Jailed for blogging, 2008; received 5-year prison sentence for spying.
"You Will Remain an Example
I will walk with all walking people
And no
I will not stand still
Just to watch the passers by"
(in reference to Gandhi)
(English al-Jazeera, April 11, 2011; photo http://bit.ly/A1lxid)
Julianne Malveaux born San Francisco, CA September 22, 1953. Economist president Bennett College 2007-12; critic of US foreign policy as terrorist; opposed Iraq War, supporting Million Man March 2005.
“We all know that this war is built on a pack of lies. We all know the American people have absolutely lost any patience with the war that has cost us billions of dollars, heading into the trillion, with a war that has cost us more than 3,000 American lives, not to mention the number of Iraqi lives that there are.” (NPR Roundtable, April 26, 2007; photo blacklikemoi.com)
Amina Mama born Kaduna, Nigeria September 19, 1958. African-American professor of women’s leadership; antiwar feminist; chaired Global Fund for Women; strong opponent of US militarization of Africa.
“[I]f the US war on terror is the ‘father of all wars,’ Africa’s conflicts are his angry and rebellious offspring, sharing the same disrespect for borders and the close connections to private profiteering. . . All this gives African women particular cause for concern. It tells us why African women must take a stand in the transnational movement to dismantle militarism.” (50.50, Nov. 28, 2012; photo gws.ucdavis.edu)
Irene Chirwa Mambilima born Zambia March 31, 1952. Zambian judge; international lawyer. Observed Mozambique elections, 1994; nominated judge of Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal, 2001; hosted UN workshop on elections, 2007.
“The democratic process had swept through the entire region and what remained was to consolidate the democratic momentum and improve upon the quality of the democratic processes in place.” (UN Workshop on Elections, Lusaka, Nov. 25, 2007)
Delia Mamon born September 6, 1953. Economist. Founder and president, Graines de Paix, for peace education and intercultural peace education, Geneva, 2005.
"Peace is about acting for the climate, acting to stop war, acting to reduce arms in a way that industry can be converted." (quote and photo, Youtube, Caux Call to Action, January 19, 2011)
Tatyana Mamonova born Leningrad December 10, 1943. Pioneer Russian dissident feminist writer and artist. Recipient of human rights award by African Peace Network, Accra, 1999, where she was keynote speaker on violence against women & children; exiled 1980. (photo World Govt. of World Citizens)
Edda Manga Otalora born Bogota, Colombia September 11, 1969. Swedish historian; peace activist; anti-militarist; imprisoned in Gaza Freedom Flotilla 2010 when 9 were killed.
“This was an attack in international waters by an unauthorized military force that attacked a peaceful humanitarian mission.” (Swedish News, Jun. 3, 2010)
“Just war has provided and still provides the legal basis for global power relations constructed on the differentiation of the global population.” (“Colonialism and Just War”, 2008; photo goteborgsfria.se)
Erika Mann born Munich, Bavaria, Germany November 9, 1905 (d. 1969). German actress and writer; pacifist organizer and speaker. Chaired women’s peace conference, Munich, 1932. Won lawsuit against Nazi newspaper for calling her “a flatfooted peace hyena.” Exiled, 1933; opposed drift to war, 1937.
“Now that freedom has vanished in so many places and peace is threatened from so many sides, the words peace and freedom have regained their radiance. The present demands from us a masterful love of peace.” (Vassar Misc. News, April 24, 1937; photo listal.com)
Polly Mann born St. Paul, MN November 19, 1919. Founded Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), 1982; opposed nuclear arms, terrorism, and wars in Central America, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
"Militarism is itself not responsible for war. It is the mechanism, the servant, of a larger force—a force that is the dominant religion of American society. . . money." (Oct 1999, in Wild Reed, Nov. 29, 2009; photo Wild Reed)
Elisabeth Mann Borgese born Münich, Germany April 24, 1918 (d. 2002). American-Canadian maritime law expert. Promoted Pacem in Maribus ("Peace in the Sea") conferences, 1970, leading to UN Law of the Sea Convention, 1982.
"A thousand years is a short time when one thinks of the oceans. Humankind may still be on the path of slow but inexorable decline. If you asked about ten thousand years or a hundred thousand years from now I would envisage pacem in maribus, oceans of peace—without humans. Oceans would adjust to new climates and new species." (letter, Ideas for a Better World, Robert Muller, idea 3127; 1938 photo stanford.edu)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
