Cultures of Resistance

Over the past thirty years, Liberians have suffered through two civil wars (1989-1996 and 1999-2003). The fighting finally ended, in large part, when a group of Liberian women organized Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, holding demonstrations and other actions that pressured the warring factions to meet and end the violence. The two short films below highlight the role that women have played in Liberia in the aftermath of war and how they are sharing the fruits of their labor with the rest of the African continent.

The Women’s Colloquium in Liberia: Gender Equality in Africa

In March 2009, women leaders from around the world met in Monrovia, Liberia for the International Colloquium for Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security. The conference had first been proposed at the inauguration of Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the only female head of state in Africa. Hundreds of women ultimately used the event as an opportunity to strategize on how to increase women’s presence in government. It was a particularly powerful experience for women in Liberia. After a decade and a half of violent conflict, which deeply scarred the country’s population and infrastructure, Liberian women are taking an active role in postwar reconstruction and insisting that they should have a say in shaping their country’s future. This short film captures the energy of the event, where 800 female participants gathered to envision a new era of peace and gender equality in Africa and beyond.

Miatta Fahnbulleh: Educating the Next Generation

Miatta Fahnbulleh grew up in Liberia with aspirations to be a singer, in spite of social conventions that restricted women from performing in clubs and dance halls. She went abroad to Kenya, the U.S., and England before she returned home in the early 1980s. While continuing to perform as a vocalist, she also began advocating for women’s rights. Moreover, the civil wars that plagued her country for a decade and a half beginning in the late 1980s left in her a deep concern for young people who knew only violence. As she explains, “Singing on a stage for an hour or two is not enough; you get the applause and everybody says your wonderful and then I come back to my world and I have to step out on the street everyday.” In 2005 Fahnbulleh founded Obaa’s Girls Education Outreach (OGEO), a school that offers more than 180 scholarships to girls whom she hopes will become Liberia’s next generation of leaders. In this short film, Cultures of Resistance explores Fahnbulleh’s dual role as a singer and a socially conscious citizen, and we talk with her about her hopes for a generation that is struggling to move out of the shadow of war.