Maxine Waters born St. Louis, MO August 15, 1938. US Congresswoman for Los Angeles 1990; opposed Iraq War; founder and chair of Out of Iraq Caucus; urged impeachment of president; arrested for nonviolent protests against Apartheid and Haiti.
"I have a right to my anger, and I don't want anybody telling me I shouldn't be." (Brian Lanker, I Dream a World, 1989; photo Wikipedia)
Edith Alice Waterworth born Castleton, Lancashire, England October 18, 1873 (d. 1957). Australian peace leader and women’s rights advocate. WILPF leader.
“Women writers and women speakers may do a great deal by dropping the seed of thought [about peace] into women’s minds, and making the fact that they are the natural defenders of the young.” (Wendy Sharer, Vote and Voice: Women's Organizations and Political Literacy: 1915-1930, 2004, p. 39)
Lilian Watford born Chicago, IL April 27, 1908 (d. 2004). Quaker peace activist and lobbyist. Opposed arms race and McCarthyism; supported immigrant rights and nonviolence.
"We seek a world free of war and the threat of war.
We seek a society with equity and justice for all.
We seek a community where every person’s potential may be fulfilled.
We seek an earth restored."
(Friends Committee on National Legislation motto)
Rep. Diane Watson born Los Angeles, CA November 12, 1933. Opposed Iraq War; US Ambassador to Micronesia, 1998-2001.
"How can you win a war against terrorism when terrorism is a concept? You must change hearts and minds. . . So let’s work together to bring our courageous troops home, and put an end to this devastating war of choice." (June 17, 2006; photo Freedom Speaks)
Elizabeth Spence Watson born Newcastle-on-Tyne, England September 12, 1838 (d. 1919). Quaker absolute pacifist; suffragist. Opposed all wars, including World War I.
“Just to speak of the wars which I remember, by no means chronologically, the Abyssinian. war—memorable for its many disasters—the Zulu War—the Ashanti war—wars in Uganda—the Chinese opium wars—the Indian Mutiny (1857)—the Afghan war—the South African war—the war in the Soudan. We profess to believe in Christianity, and in teaching Christianity to 'savage people,' and this we do by fire and sword, and making the land of our enemies a desert.” (Reminiscences, Jan. 8, 1918; photo benbeck.com)
Sheila Watt-Cloutier born Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Northern Quebec, Canada December 2, 1943. Inuit leader; environmental activist; alternative Nobel prize Right Livelihood recipient 2015; Nobel prize nominee 2007; UN Champion of the Earth 2004.
“[T]he world appears to be breaking open on so many levels. Never has there been a time, at least not in my lifetime, where I have felt such concerted worry over how the world and our global society itself seems to be falling apart, crying out for strong leadership on issues which matter to us all, be that our environment, the economy or world peace.” (Right Livelihood Award acceptance speech, Nov. 15, 2015; photo wikipedia)
Esther Whinery Wattles born Salem, OH March 27, 1819 (d. 1908). Schoolteacher. Radical Quaker nonresistant abolitionist. Member of several utopian communes in Ohio, Indiana, and Kansas dedicated to nonviolence and women’s rights.
“Friends were preeminently the followers of the ‘Prince of Peace.’ But I see them sustaining organized powers, based upon a system of violence and blood.” (on quitting the Friends, Philanthropist, June 21, 1843, in Thomas Hamm, ”The Limits of the Peace Testimony”, 1993, p. 20; photo ancestry.com)
Margaret Sturge Watts born Everton, Liverpool, England June 12, 1892 (d. 1978). Australian Quaker opponent of World War I, for which she was beaten, kicked and thrown out by audience, but returned by another door. Founding member of Australian WILPF; founded Women's Peace Army, 1916. Activist for hunger relief in postwar Germany and Russia; opposed Vietnam War; aided immigrants.
"I wish the women of your society would be more rational, and by uniting with us, put an end to the illogical and insane methods of settling international disputes." (to National Council of Women, Sydney, in Leonard Kenworthy, Living in the Light: Some Quaker Pioneers of the 20th Century, vol. II, p.257; photo Aust. Women's Register)
Hannah Waring Webb born Waterford, Ireland November 29, 1809 (d. 1862). Irish Quaker pacifist; Garrisonian abolitionist; contributed to freedom of Frederick Douglass; ran Dublin soup kitchen during Irish famine, 1845.
Alice Wedega born Alo Alo, Papua New Guinea August 20, 1905 (d. 1987). Peacemaker at home and N. Ireland; first woman legislator 1961; conscientious objector.
"Our people used to kill and eat men. . . The good spirit had spoken in the hearts of our people and taught them how to make enemies into friends." (Port Moresby, Feb. 1974, in Michael Henderson, All Her Paths Are Peace, p. 81, 1994; photo laikimbuk.com)
Vivienne Wee born Singapore July 14, 1951. Professor of Asian Studies. Co-founded feminist Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), 1985. Ran South Asia workshops on women peacebuilding.
“The end of the Cold War has not brought global peace as we had expected. Instead, it has generated new political alignments and new patterns of war and conflict, especially large-scale violence within nation-states. About 90 per cent of war casualties in recent years are not soldiers, but civilians, mostly women and children. Approximately 20 million people are refugees, of whom 75 per cent are women and children. The systematic rape of women has become a prevalent war crime.” (UNDP speech to Beijing Conference on Women; photo Singapore Heritage Society)
Verne Weed born Columbus, IN April 4, 1909 (d. 1986). Radical social worker; Hunter College professor; anti-Apartheid protester; headed Connecticut Children's Services. Opposed Vietnam War; harassed as Communist. Along with Thomas Mann, Picasso, and Chagall, signed Stockholm Peace Appeal for absolute ban on nuclear weapons, 1950.
"I have done what I could for peace." (Feb. 26, 1957, House Un-American Committee hearing)
Mary Hays Weik born Greencastle, IN December 18, 1898 (d. 1979). American internationalist author, journalist, and anti-nuclear leader. Chaired Federalist Forum, New York, 1950; promoted International Registry of World Citizens, 1954. Founded American Federation of World Citizens which opposed nuclear weapons and power. Led successful fight against Ravenswood nuclear power plant, 1962. Founded Committee to End Nuclear Hazards; opposed Indian Point plant.
“The truth is, we have reached the point where humanity stands face to face with the struggle for money and power. In the face of so much organized greed, there is little chance for human survival unless a determined, rational campaign of opposition is begun. The ordinary citizen today has come to accept the control of his community by a few.” (“The Time Bomb at Infian Point”, Sept. 14, 1966)
Simone Weil born Paris, France February 3, 1909 (d. 1943). Philosopher and social activist. Advocate of nonviolence; anarchist. Aided German communists fleeing Hitler's regime, 1932; took part in France's general strike, 1933.
"A self-respecting nation is ready for anything, including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war."
"We must absolutely everything, as a whole and in each detail, including evil in all its forms; notably our own past sins. . . " (Waiting for God, Jan. 19, 1942; photo http://bit.ly/IF0rKL)
Inés Mónica Weinberg de Roca born Buenos Aires December 16, 1948. International Judge on both Rwanda and Yugoslavia tribunals, 2003-08; UN Appeal tribunal.
"The Trial Chamber unanimously finds you, Simon Bikindi, guilty on Count 4 of the Indictment for Direct and Public Incitement to Commit Genocide based on your exhortations to kill Tutsi in a vehicle outfitted with a public address system on the main road between Kivumu and Kayove in late June 1994. . . Direct and Public Incitement to Commit Genocide is, by definition, a crime of the most serious gravity which affects the very foundations of our society and shocks the conscience of humanity." (Judgment of Hutu singer, Dec. 3, 2008, § 47, 49; photo ICTY)
Cora Weiss (née Rubin) born Harlem, NY October 2, 1934. Peace activist; social worker. Supported Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee c. 1961. Co-founded Women Strike for Peace against nuclear weapons, 1961; formed Jeannette Rankin Brigade against Vietnam War, 1969. Went to Hanoi as co-chair of Committee of Liaison with Families of Prisoners to get three prisoners home, 1972. Active member of SANE; major supporter of UN. Founding director Riverside Church Disarmament Program, 1978. Led Hague Appeal for Peace, 1996. President of International Peace Bureau, 2000-06. Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2002.
"I firmly believe that it will be women, acting together, acting strategically, teaching, and organising who will be responsible for enacting the 'culture of peace' that will be necessary for the survival of humanity." (Open Democracy, March 18, 2004; photo colorado.edu)
Cornelia Weiss born Steamboat Springs, CO June 16, 1966. Retiring in the rank of colonel, served in Europe, the Americas, and the Pacific. The Colombian Public Forces recognized her work in Colombia by awarding her the Medalla al Mérito Militar en Derecho Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario “General José Hilario López Valdés” and the Medalla Militar “Servicios Distinguidos a la Justicia Penal Militar.” Fellowships include the Ian Axford Fellowship (New Zealand and Timor-Leste) and the Rotary Peace Fellowship (Thailand and Nepal). Knowing that history is often used as an excuse to exclude women, she excavates forgotten history about women, peace, and power while proactively seeking to create transformative policies and practices.
“Having served in places like Colombia has reinforced how fortunate I am to have grown up in Steamboat. It’s a place where everyone has the opportunity to pursue their aspirations. My dream is for the new global generations to grow up in peace so that they can do the same.”
Louise Weiss born Arras, France January 26, 1893 (d. 1983). Journalist and dramatist; feminist; suffragist; politician. Promoted European unity; founded School of Peace, 1930; founded Institute of Polemology, 1945. Worked with League of Nations for post-WWI reconciliation; member of French Resistance, WWII; member of European Parliament, who later named their main building in her honor.
"War is a catastrophe." (1914 Memories, Sandi Cooper "French Feminists", Peace & Change, Jan. 2011, p. 9; photo http://bit.ly/yro4Vx)
Ruth Weiss (née Löwenthal) born Fürth, Bavaria June 26, 1924. German pacifist; author and journalist; authority on African cultures; opposed Apartheid. Exiled from Germany, 1936; later exiled from Southern Rhodesia and South Africa, 1968. Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2005.
"Life is a never-ending learning process. I learned everyone is unique, yet everyone has equal rights. I learned it is essential to defend such rights, to respect the rich diversity of cultures." (http://bit.ly/1uE6NyM; photo word.world-citizenship.org)
Rachel Weisz born London, England March 7, 1971. British actress. Supporter of World Food Program.
“Every new mother wonders, 'what will I pass on to my child?’ Hunger is one inheritance no mother wants to give her child, yet millions of poor women have for generations. . . No child should inherit hunger.” (World Food Programme/Rachel Weisz; 2010 photo Wikipedia)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
