Buffy Sainte-Marie born Piapot Plains, Saskatchewan, Canada February 20, 1941. Canadian First Nation (Cree) singer; adherent of Bahá'í faith of international peace. Her song "Universal Soldier" protested the Vietnam War, 1963.
He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war
(“Universal Soldier”, 1963)
Zainab Salbi born Baghdad, Iraq September 24, 1969. Iraqi-American humanitarian. Founded Women for Women International to help women victims of war, 1993; awarded Hilton Humanitarian Prize, 2005.
"War is the color of earth as it explodes in our faces, the sound of a child pleading, the smell of smoke and fear. Women survivors of war are not the single image portrayed on the television screen, but the glue that holds families and countries together. Perhaps by understanding women, and the other side of war. . . we will have more humility in our discussions of wars. . . [P]erhaps it is time to listen to women's side of history." (The Other Side of War)
Ruby Sales born Jemison, AL July 8, 1948. American theologian and nonviolent historian who organized SNCC protests; arrested at age 17 during civil rights movement; jailed six days 1965 Hayneville AL, nearly escaping assassination; founded Spirit House 2001 promoting nonviolence.
"Ordinary people when working together have the power to break the backs of important empires. And that empire, when people are united, is never stronger than the will of the people." (interview, Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, Sept. 2005; photo spirithouse)
Yara Sallam born Heliopolis, Cairo November 24, 1985. Egyptian human rights lawyer. Arrested and sentenced to 3 years for nonviolent protest at Presidential palace, Cairo, 2014. Promoted human rights in The Gambia. Received North Africa Human Rights Defender Shield Award, 2013.
"This sense of belonging to one community and one continent, Africa, is the same way I feel about feminism, that we are in the same struggle together, and that solidarity is much needed in this struggle. Being an African Feminist to me means that I understand the difference that we have as individuals but still work collectively for one purpose, respecting everyone’s culture, and cherish the way we all complement each other." (feministwire, July 1, 2014; photo amnesty.fr)
Alice Salomon born Berlin, Germany April 19, 1872 (d. 1948). “Matriarch of German social studies.” Founded Social Women’s School, 1908. Secretary of International Women's Federation, 1909. Founded German Academy for Women's Social and Educational Work, 1925. Active supporter of WILPF, despite being forbidden to join her friend Jane Addams in its founding. Expelled by Hitler for her Jewish heritage, Christian humanist ideas, and pacifist principles.
“[E]xterior changes never go to the root of things, and that only when changes are achieved within the souls of human beings is something accomplished to change the world." (The Survey, June 15, 1923, p.341; photo Wikipedia)
Ada Salter (née Brown) born Raunds, Northamptonshire July 20, 1866 (d. 1942). British social reformer headed Bermondsey Settlement; Quaker pacifist; Christian Socialist; house was stoned for opposition to World War I and support of Non-Conscription Fellowship; WILPF founding member; postwar WILPF aid to German and Austrian refugees; first woman mayor in London 1922; environmental pioneer; opposed World War II.
"A tremendous transformation was going to take place on this earth; and the injustices of the ages, the misery of the oppressed classes, and the sorrow of the poor, and the tyranny of the wealthy were going to be swept away forever. Nothing could stop that movement." (1914 Women's Labour League Conference, in Christine Collette, For Labour and For Women, p. 4, 2006; photo Spartacus Educational)
Susan Salzberg born New York, NY August 5, 1952. Buddhist meditation teacher.
“Imagine if our approach to ending violence was determinedly nonviolent. Imagine if instead of rushing to punish and vilify the offender, we paid equal attention to knowing the story of the abuser. . . Rather than losing ourselves in personal outrage, what if we directed our outrage toward the systems that help create such disaffected, abandoned, and angry people?” (April 8, 2015; photo eomega.org)
Sima Samar born Jaghori, Afghanistan February 3, 1957. UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Sudan, 2005; current Chairperson of Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. Recipient of numerous human rights awards, including the Tipperary International Peace Prize, 2010.
"We need solidarity to free women—solidarity with women everywhere. Women must support each other; we are our own class." (Ms. Magazine, Winter 2007; 2011 photo Wikipedia)
Catherine Samba-Panza born Fort Lamy, N’Djamena, Chad June 26, 1954. “Mother Courage.” Lawyer and human rights advocate; Mayor of Bangui, 2013-14. First woman president of Central African Republic, 2014; elected in midst of civil war as peacemaker.
“We all felt that the people wanted a break. They wanted an end to the political man. I felt that. At the very heart of the people, I felt this desire to elect a woman who could bring peace and reconciliation.” (Women in and Beyond the Global, Jan. 21, 2014; photo liberation.fr)
Edith Sampson (née Spurlock) born Pittsburgh, PA October 13, 1901 (d. 1971). American diplomat; first African-American delegate to UN, 1950; first African-American judge, 1962.
"I would have to devote myself to the cause of world brotherhood and world peace." (Negro Digest, Dec. 1950, 8; photo wikicom. pd)
Carmen San José Pèrez born June 3, 1951. Physician; leader of Podemos (We Can) in Madrid Assembly.
“[W]e denounce the shameful situation that is being experienced by the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the wars in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and famines, which are coming to Europe. What they find here—when they can arrive, thousands more stay on the road—are fences and armed police that lead them to camps "detention", where the conditions are lack of water, food, clothing and even torture and Deaths.” (Público, April 5, 2016; photo IES Gonzalo de Berceo)
Nancy Sánchez Méndez born Bucamaranga, Santander, Colombia September 27, 1968. Journalist and peace activist in Colombian civil conflict. Co-founded Network of Trainers of Peace in Putumayo, 1996. Attended peace talks in Costa Rica, 2000. Organized protests against American drug war initiative Plan Colombia's tactics of militarization and fumigation, 2001. Coordinated La Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres (“Women’s Peaceful Road”) national speak-out of 3,500 women against Plan Colombia, 2003. Founded Women’s Alliance of Putumayo, 2005. Joined Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Women PeaceMakers Program, 2012.
“My heart wants peace always. Always we work with the organizations for peace. But my principal question is, what kind of peace is this? Peace without the participation of civil society, without women’s organizations? I don’t like this kind of peace. Peace is about [addressing] the inequalities, the discrimination—the social, economic and political discrimination.” (Sara Koenders, “The Right to Speak,” p. 56; photo sandiego.edu)
Sonia Sanchez (née Wilsonia Benita Driver) born Birmingham, AL September 9, 1934. Black poet and playwright; civil rights leader of CORE; pioneer professor of Black studies 1967; Lucretia Mott Award of Nat. Endowment for the Arts 1984; won WILPF Peace & Freedom award 1989; leader of Madre; arrested 2006 for protest at recruiting for Iraq.
"The cause of war is the preparation of war—the cause of peace must be the preparation of peace." ("Peace"; photo blackbirdpressnews)
George Sand (née Amandine Aurore Dupin) born Paris, France July 1, 1804 (d. 1876). Prolific novelist, playwright; successful appeal to power of Louis Napoleon for prisoners.
To Napoleon on behalf of prisoners: "I beg you with tears in my eyes and with blood streaming from my heart: Stay your hand, conqueror!" (Jan. 20, 1852, Correspondence; photo Alcide Lorenz caricature as Min. of Information 1848)
Agnes Sanford born Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China November 4, 1897 (d. 1982). American theologian preacher; famous founder of Inner Healing Movement; absolute pacifist.
“I learned the essential decency of human nature, and the utter and absolute evil of war. . . Our mistake is the usual one of assuming that there is no difference between the races. If we could recognize those differences, learn to cope with them, and to cope with them, come to love them, and to bring out the good, then we might have a better world. Until we do learn, no amount of warfare will make it better, but will make it progressively worse.” (Sealed Orders, pp. 203-04; photo heyjol.trip)
Sim Sang-jung born Paju, South Korea February 20, 1959. Leader of opposition Justice Party 2015; Labor organizer; feminist; presidential candidate 2017 won 7%; favors non-nuclear peninsula; opposes THAAD missile defense.
“[The U.S. should] pack its THAAD and take it out of South Korea.” (New York Times, April 30, 2017; photo Wikipedia)
Margaret Sanger (née Higgins) born Corning, NY September 14, 1883 (d. 1966). Nurse; birth control pioneer who organized international population conferences NY 1925, Geneva 1927, Zurich 1930; first President of International Planned Parenthood 1953.
"The basic freedom of the world is woman's freedom." (Woman and the New Race, ch. V, 1920)
"Birth control, the real cure for war." (Woman and the New Race, ch. XIII, 1920; photo biography.com)
Sophy Sanger born Westcott, Surrey, England January 3, 1881 (d. 1950). British internationalist and labor reformer. Became Quaker by convincement during Boer War; opposed WWI. Barred from Hague Women's Peace Congress, 1915; founding member of WILPF. As head of legislative section, drafted plan of International Labor Organization (ILO), 1919.
“Law alone can give us freedom.” (her personal motto, quoting Goethe; quote Oxford Dict. Nat. Biog)
Jelena Šantić (née Jovanović) born Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia July 18, 1944 (d. 2000). Prima ballerina and pacifist. Co-founded Group 484, welcoming Croat refugees. Berlin's Santic Peace Park dedicated to her memory, 2003. Received Pax Christi International Award, 1996.
“Humanitarian activism is the other side of me. My life has always been an intersection of intuition and rationality, stability and instability, peace and upheaval. Then, at one moment I felt a strong desire to help people who suffered because of the war. My humanitarian trait in a way relates to art. They both connect different worlds.” (Grupa, p. 484; photo audioifotoarchif)
Susan Sarandon (née Tomalin) born New York, NY October 4, 1946. Actress; voiced early opposition to Iraq War on moral grounds and predicted disaster. Trip to Nicaragua, 1983; UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, 1999; Code Pink Mother's Day protest, 2006.
"To ignore the U.N. and its peacekeeping role and to unravel NATO is to dismantle all our hopes for future peacekeeping. I am against war because I know that there are other means available to solve problems." (Washington Post, Feb. 13, 2003; photo http://uni.cf/xAJOQe)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
