Kitty Piercy born Tampa, FL July 6, 1942. Peace Corps volunteer Ethiopia; mayor of Eugene, OR; sponsored antiwar resolution US Mayors 2011.
"Bring these war dollars home to meet vital human needs." (Baltimore, June 20, 2011, 11:52 am; photo usmayors.org)
Marge Piercy born Detroit, MI March 31, 1936. Antiwar poet. Member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Opposed wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Loving feels lonely in a violent world,
irrelevant to people burning like last year's weed
with bellies distended, with fish throats agape
and flesh melting down to glue.
We can no longer shut out the screaming. . .
(“Community”, 1969)
In your name, we have invaded
come with planes, tanks and artillery
into a country and wonder why
they do not like us
be proud
(“In Your Name”, 2004; photo Am. Poetry Review)
Agnes Baker Pilgrim born Lodgson, OR September 11, 1924. Takelma elder tribal member. Designated "Living Treasure" by Confederated Tribes of Stiletz. Founding president, International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, 2004. After 140 years, revived Sacred Salmon Ceremony.
"From the get-go, this council originated from the Spirit World. Every one of us has been called. Through our prayers, we can touch the hearts of the people. We can help stop spiritual blindness around the world. Our prayers can be brought from the four corners of the world for this work. We can be the voice of strength, encouragement, and love, fighting for peace. Remember, even water dripping on a rock can make a difference." (nativevillage.org; photo Wikipedia)
Peace Pilgrim (née Mildred Norman) born Egg Harbor, NJ July 18, 1908 (d. 1981). Traveled over 25,000 miles with message of peace.
"This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love." (Steps Toward Inner Peace, p. 5, 1964; photo peacepilgrim.org)
Harriet Minot Pitman born Haverhill, MA July 6, 1815 (d. 1888). Active abolitionist; "Inquirer after Truth" favoring interracial marriage 1833; Quaker; intimate friend of poet John G. Whittier.
Mariquita Villard Platov born Manhattan, NY June 5, 1905 (d. 2000). Nonviolent artist, poet, playwright; founder of Greek Orthodox Peace Association.
No, not the madman's fire
which must kill to possess. . .
But love's holy desire
for all people to bless.
(Cornelia's song in play "Father is Leaving" (photo nemonk.org)
Ardeth Platte born Westphalia, MI April 10, 1936. Nonviolent Dominican nun who led "loving" nonviolent protests against war, militarism and nuclear weapons, leading to closing Wurtsmith AFB and Roberts AFB. Member of Plowshares resistance; arrested multiple times, served 41 months in prison, 2002.
"I refuse to be silent." (Sept. 16, 2011 testimony to federal court, Knoxville, TN; photo Mich. Women's Hall of Fame)
Laura Poitras born Boston, MA February 2, 1964. Documentary filmmaker; Received International Human rights von Ossietzky award for revealing US war documents and spying, 2014. Directed films My Country, My Country on US occupation of Iraq, 2006; The Oath, about the war on terror, 2010.
“When the most important decisions are made in secret, we lose our ability to check the powers that control.” (Feb. 23, 2015; photo hollywoodreporter.com)
Mona Polacca born Arizona January 22, 1955. Hopi elder; Havasupai treasurer. Member of International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. Served on UN committees relating to indigenous people's issues.
“Indigenous people have come through a time of great struggle, a time of darkness. . . We grandmothers, we have emerged from that darkness, see this beauty, see each other and reach out to the world with open arms, with love, hope, compassion, faith, and charity.” (quote & photo eomega.org)
Anna Politkovskaya born New York City August 30, 1958 (assassinated 2006). Russian war correspondent exposed brutality and corruption of Chechen War; rejecting usual military heroes, her heroine was village head Malika who openly cursed the generals and officials.
"What a dirty war this is!" (A Small Corner of Hell, p. 223, 2003; 2005 photo Wikipedia)
Josephine Wertheim Pomerance born Manhattan, NY October 25, 1910 (d. 1980). Leader of WILPF; co-founder of SANE, 1957; served on American Association for the UN, 1959; leader of Citizens Committee for a Nuclear Test Ban, 1962.
"I thought it all right if a mother had to get up nights with measles or chicken pox, but to have to comfort her children because of fear of nuclear bombing was a little too much. . . It was time a mother did something." (New York Times, July 17, 1980)
Zelda Popkin (née Feinberg) born Brooklyn, NY July 5, 1898 (d. 1983). Mystery writer who opposed war.
"What he found impossible was to shut off his brain, to detach himself from the intriguing problems with which (he) was involved, or to leave alone the major problems of war and peace, race and poverty, man's inhumanity to man and the persistence of stupidity." (A Death of Innocence, 1971)
"Human kindness is immortal. It cannot die, for every gesture, every word which goes out of you becomes part of someone else." (Open Every Door, p. 358, 1956; photo gadetection.pbworks.com)
Katherine Anne Porter born Indian Creek, TX May 15, 1890 (d. 1980). Lifelong pacifist writer, Pulitzer Prize 1966.
"If you are required to kill someone today, on the promise of a political leader that someone else shall live in peace tomorrow, believe me, you are not only a double murderer, you are a suicide, too." ("The Situation in American Writing," 1939, in The Days Before, 1952; photo Wikipedia)
Alice Thacher Post born June 8, 1853 (d. 1947). Editor and publisher of Chicago anti-imperialist paper The Public; Vice-president of Anti-Imperialist League. Opposed Spanish-American War and war in Philippines.
"Imperialism attacks the most vital Christian principle—namely the propagation of good by example. What has imperialism done in the Philippines? It has sought to propagate good by force." (Oct. 30, 1908, The Public, vol. XI, p. 738)
Amy Kirby Post born Jericho, Long Island, NY December 20, 1802 (d. 1889). Quaker nonresistant; feminist; abolitionist. Signed Seneca Falls Declaration, 1848. Conductor on Underground Railroad, Rochester, NY.
“The abolitionists surely have a work to do now, in inflewence-ing [sic] and directing this bloody struggle, that it may end in Emancipation, as the only basis of a true and permanent peace.” (personal correspondence, June 18, 1861; photo examiner.com)
Georgia Montgomery Davis Powers born Springfield, KY October 19, 1923. First female African-American Senator (Kentucky), 1967; leader of Martin Luther King, Jr. movement, Louisville.
"I saw a need for someone to speak out for women, for African-Americans, for children." ("Film Project", Lexington Herald-Leader, Dec. 7, 2008: photo 1968 Dippidy)
Stefanie Powers (née Stefania Federkiewicz) born Hollywood, CA November 12, 1943. Antiwar actress; international advocate for wildlife conservation. (photo official website)
Helen Prejean born Baton Rouge, LA April 21, 1939. Catholic nun who actively opposed war and capital punishment; Pacem in Terris award 1993; signed call for removal of President Bush for Iraq War and torture.
"I try to live my life with as much integrity as I can muster, which means doing what love demands. . . Enlightened self-interest? You better believe it. Because when we love, truly love, we become very alive; we grow, and if that's not ‘self-interest,’ I don't know what is." (Oct. 19, 2006; photo civilliberty.about.com)
Kimberly Prost born Canada June 4, 1958. UN Security Council Ombudsman on sanctions 2010, Judge Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal 2006-2010.
"The calculated destruction of the Bosnian Muslims of Srebrenica in July 1995 stands out as one of the worst crimes committed in Europe after the Second World War. The extermination of the Bosnian Muslim males from Srebrenica, accompanied by the forcible transfer and persecution of the Bosnian Muslim populations from the Srebrenica and Žepa enclaves all together encompass the gravest of crimes under international criminal law. . . The genocide, extermination, murder and persecution were executed with systematic and cold brutality." (2011 ICTY judgment Popovič et al, para. 2148-9; (photo ICTY)
Sarah Pugh born Washington DC October 6, 1800 (d. 1884). Quaker; educator; nonviolent suffragist; abolitionist; delegate to world's first antislavery convention, London, 1840; co-founder Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, 1833; responded to mob burning their hall with nonviolent linking arms with black sisters, 1838.
"Men should be judged by actions, not opinions." (Memoir 11; photo http://bit.ly/AdYIHL)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
