Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Imagine you live in a place founded by former American slaves who establish their own country but then repeat the very oppression they fled. All you want is to live in peace, but soldiers—many of them children—terrorize your town. You endure hunger, thirst, homelessness, bloody terror, and trauma like seeing your spouse knifed to death and your daughter raped.

Such was the plight of women all across Liberia in 2003. That is, until Christian and Muslim women united in non-violent protest, and in doing so changed the course of Liberia’s history.

Their remarkable story is documented in “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” (2008). When peace talks stalled, the women in white T-shirts barricaded the doors and made the negotiators inside go hungry and thirsty (like the rest of Liberia’s citizens) until they came to an agreement. When security personnel threatened to drag the women away, they used the most powerful weapon in their arsenal—threatening to strip naked, a curse in their culture.

The surprising result was not only peace, but honor. You go, girls!

I was too focused on the news in Iraq to catch this news story when it happened. Fortunately the producers had the vision to wade through archival footage, tape interviews, and piece together a compelling story. It demonstrates that sometimes our very power comes from being weak, and by uniting with others who are weak, we can stare down injustice till it skulks away.