Catégorie : 1000 women Peace Nobel 2005

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Ruth Manorama (born 1952) grew up seeing her parents engaged in active social work. She has been consistently associated with a range of issues-the rights of slum dwellers, domestic workers, unorganized labor and Dalits’, and the empowerment of marginalized women. She sees the interconnectedness between these issues, and the common cause that marginalized people share the world over … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

Ruth Manorama (born 1952) is widely known in India for her contributions in mainstreaming Dalit issues, especially the precarious situation of Dalit women in India. Ruth, herself from the Dalit community, calls the women « Dalits among the Dalits ». This has highlighted the plight of Dalit women in the community and the media. Ruth has also contributed enormously to breaking the upper-class, upper-caste image of the women’s movement in India. In 2005, she was one of 1000 nominees for the ‘1000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize’ campaign. In 2006 she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award … (full text).

She says: « I have tremendous confidence in the capacity of the poor to transform not only their own lives but also to build a just, humane, and democratic society ».

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Ruth Manorama – India

She works for the National Alliance of Women, for the National Federation of Dalit Women, and for Women’s Voice (there are different groups in many countries under this name).

Recognition for courage and causes.

She received the Right Livelihood Award, 2006 (also known as the Alternative Nobel). She is India’s most effective organiser of and advocate for Dalit women, belonging to the ‘scheduled castes’ sometimes also called ‘untouchables’ … (full text).

Ruth Manorama, voice of Dalits.

… Ruth Manorama , Right Livelihood awardee, said no form of violence is acceptable. She urged the state to provide relief and compensation to victims and book state and non-state perpetrators of violations. Right to employment , food, security and freedom of expression and religion must be protected, she added. (full text, 29 Aug 2008).

Bangalore: Students, Activists, Secular Forces Gather to Protest Orissa Carnage, August 30, 2008.

… Dalit women in India, constituting half of the approximately 200 million dalit population, and 16.3% of the total Indian female population, not only suffer oppression as a result of class and caste, but also from gender inequalities resulting from a patriarchal system. These injustices really make me want to work for their rights and freedom, said Manorama who is involved in several regional and international rights campaigns … (full text).

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Linked with The National Women History Project NWHP.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

A daughter of Japanese immigrants, Yuri Kochiyama (born 1921) grew up in California. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, her life changed dramatically in 1942 when people of Japanese ancestry in the USA were sent to internment camps. After World War II, she joined movements for civil rights and black liberation in New York City; she opposed US imperialism and supported radical grassroots organizations and political prisoners. She has spoken out for racial justice and human rights for over 40 years. (1000Peacewomen).

She says: « Don’t become too narrow. Live fully. Meet all kinds of people. You’ll learn something from everyone. Follow what you feel in your heart ».

Unitarians schedule Labor Day program: … The civil rights activist, feminist, and author Yuri Kochiyama and her family were among the 120,000 Japanese Americans on the West Coast who were rounded up and confined in camps in a wave of anti-Japanese hysteria that followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor … (full text, Aug 29, 2008).

BLACK HISTORY MONTH – Malcolm X and Yuri Kochiyama, Feb 1, 2007.

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Yuri Kochiyama – USA

She works 1) for the Organization for Afro-American Unity (named on AfricanAmericans.com; on wikipedia; on Answers.com; on Britannica online Encyclopedia; on wordpress.com); 2) for the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners (mentionned in the NYT), and 3) for Asian Americans for Action (there exist: Asian American Action Fund and its AAA Fund Blog; Media Action Network for Asian Americans; Asian American Action Figure Home Page; Asian American support for affirmative action).

Recognizing APA Community Organizers: … Yuri Kochiyama, Ling-chi Wang, Thomas Abraham, Gloria Caoile and Sandy Dang are just a few of the community organizers who have made a difference in the lives of the APA community over the last thirty years who have never held elective office … (full text, Sept. 10, 2008).

Asian/ APIA Feminism/ Women’s History Month, March 1, 2008.

Find Yuri Kochiyama on video: Freedom Fighters trailer, 6.31 min, added: February 14, 2007; on the blog Learn to question.com; on the blog 100 voices her video as Freedom Fighter, with transcript in japanese; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search.

… “A story Ms. Kochiyama is often asked to retell is how she first met Malcolm X in Harlem. Ms. Kochiyama had been an admirer of Malcolm X for sometime when she happened to see him walk into a courthouse in Brooklyn, where he was instantly surrounded by people shaking his hand. Ms. Kochiyama was shy at first of approaching him amongst all his African followers, but when he met her eyes she found herself asking if she could shake his hand. “What for?” Malcolm had asked, almost suspiciously. When Ms. Kochiyama finally answered, “You’re giving direction [to your people]”, Malcolm strode out of the crowd with a smile, and shook Ms. Kochiyama’s hand” … (full text).

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She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

For over 30 years, Vasanth Kannabiran (born 1939) has been closely involved with questions of armed militancy, civil liberties, and the meaning of peace for women in her native state of Andhra Pradesh. She is among the first women in the country to move into feminist activism through the Stree Shakti Sangathana. Ten years ago, she set up a radical women’s collective in Andhra Pradesh called Asmita, which brings diverse groups of women into networks addressing issues spanning conflict, peace, survival, women’s rights, and secularism … For over 30 years, Vasanth Kannabiran has been closely involved with issues of militancy, civil liberties, and the meaning of peace for women in her native Andhra Pradesh state. (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She writes: … The omnipresent phenomenon of globalization has made its impact on women writing as well; with there being some sort of an inverse relationship between the 2: the opening up of the markets has resulted in the closing of individual and cultural spaces. One may argue that women are no more in the ‘clumsy clutches of patriarchy’ and have the freedom to think and do as they please; however in the present times, they will encounter another Hand, ‘not ugly this time, but carefully manicured, that will seat them on cushioned thighs’. Comfortable? It will let them speak out from there; it doesn’t mind that. Lulled by this false sense of security, they might even forget the ever-present grip, but the moment they want to step down, the Hand will ensure they are put back in place … (full text).

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Vasanth Kannabiran – India

She works for the National Alliance for Women NAWO.

Women and words: forging new bonds, with Vasanth Kannabiran, Ritu Menon, Meenakshi Mukherjee and Kalpana Kannabiran.

Comrade Vasanth’s Vision.

The book: Web of Deceit: Devadasi Reform in Colonial India, Kalpana Kannabiran and Vasanth Kannabiran. Reprint. New Delhi, Kali for Women, 2003, x, 217 p., $17. ISBN 81-86706-63-1

Bharati Ray: Women of India … chapter 6: … Citizenship and its Discontents, A Political History of Women in Andhra, by Vasanth Kannabiran and Kalpana Kannabiran … (full text).

… And lastly – the ballet was written by Vasanth Kannabiran – a poet, writer and translator.  Also one of the thousand women world wide nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 … (full text).

India’s intellectual voices condemn Neelan’s assassination … The statement was signed by … Vasanth Kannabiran … (full text).

Find her and her publications on UNjobs.org; on Google Group-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Blog-search.

Vasanth Kannabiran, city-based human rights activist, Mogulamma, a physically challenged woman working for the welfare of the disabled in Kosigi mandal of Mahbubnagar district, and Murari Pramila, a nurse and health worker of Guntur, are among 1,000 women, whose names have been submitted to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee – 2005 … (full text).

(1000peacewomen 2/2) … As a child, Vasanth Kannabiran (born 1939) was taught to question and assert herself, and it is a habit that has stayed with her. Born into a family of first-generation Communist leaders in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Vasanth was an indifferent student but a voracious reader. She secured an M Litt in English Literature from the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages in Hyderabad, the state capital, and went on to teach English at a woman’s college from 1961 to 1985.

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Linked with Mahila Samakhya, all India (Gov), and with Mahila Samakhya in Uttar Pradesh.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Janaki (born 1954) is a symbol of power and possibilities for the women in her village. When she started, it was unusual for a woman to engage in developmental work, and she had to face bellicose opposition from her family. Janaki, though, is a determined, remarkably fearless woman: she continued with her mobilization of women, eventually forming a village self-help group. The work done by the group has helped establish its credibility and, today, most disputes in the village are settled in the group’s women’s court … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

Janaki has proved that the capacity to bring about social change is not linked to one’s educational or other qualifications.

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Janaki (Sorry, the photo on 1000peacewomen – showing a small women almost from behind, is not downloadable)

She works for Mahila Samakhya, and for the Women’s self-help group SHG.

Janaki was born in 1954 in the village Ahirwali Tola Barbasaha to farmer parents. Her association with the Mahila Samakhya opened a whole new world of perceptions: the concepts of women’s rights and social development excited and moved the illiterate young woman, who was by then the mother of three boys and a girl.

Janaki first began applying these ideas in her own home, ensuring that all her children, including her daughter, attended school. Later, she was to marry one of her sons to a girl from a poor family with no dowry. Her daughter-in-law goes to school and is in grade VI.

When Janaki started, it was unusual for women to engage in developmental work and awareness generation activities. Janaki’s husband, a physically abusive man, was strongly opposed to her work. Over time, Janaki gathered the courage to resist him, not only preventing him from abusing her, but also exhorting all other women in the village to resist physical violence by their husbands.

Janaki initially began work as a Sakhi (friend). She went on to set up a women’s village self-help group (SHG). The good work that Janaki and her group have done has established their credentials: most disputes in the area now arrive at the SHG’s women’s court for resolution.

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Linked with Women’s Action for New Directions WAND, with Restorative Justice RJ online, with The Women of Color Network WOCN, and with Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Crisis Center.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Alice Ophelia Hyman Lynch (born 1950) is Executive Director of Black, Indian, Hispanic and Asian Women in Action (Biha). She has conducted over 1000 trainings on domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, chemical dependency, and HIV/AIDS, looking specifically at how these issues impact communities of color. Since 1997, Alice has worked to establish restorative justice programs in her own community and across the nation. Through this process she has helped empower communities to take the lead in solving their problems in ways that promote healing and prevent future harm … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She says: « Circles create a sacred space that lifts barriers between people, opening possibilities for collaboration and understanding. Circles provide a safe place to have the difficult conversations ».

She is named as Better World Heroe.

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Alice Ophelia Hyman Lynch – USA

She works for Black, Indian, Hispanic and Asian Women in Action BIHA, for the Women of Color Network on Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault, and for Women’s Action for New Directions WAND.

(1000peacewomen 2/2): … The chairs form a circle in the community center in North Minneapolis. Neighbors have gathered for another in the series of bi-weekly circles that began four months ago with Marcus’ release from prison. Marcus, a 25-year-old African American man, has just completed a seven-year sentence for vehicular manslaughter. But now Marcus’ life has taken a more positive turn. With assistance from a community agency he has his own apartment and is attending Community College. Also, a Restorative Justice Program has recently hired Marcus to facilitate Family Group Conferences. Marcus is doing well.

Alice asks Marcus to tell the circle about the circumstances surrounding his incarceration. Marcus has difficulty sharing the story and later confides to Alice that he was not able to talk about the incident because it had happened on this particular day – this was the anniversary of the accident. He added that it was difficult to talk to the circle because it was focused solely on him and he had not thoroughly worked things out for himself.

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Linked with Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom WILPF, and with the Hague Appeal for Peace HAP.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Betty Burkes (born 1943) is a lifelong educator and activist, working for a world where all human beings are celebrated for their brilliance and beauty, where people recognize their interconnectedness, where the earth is respected, and justice prevails. She has taught these principles in her Montessori preschool, brought them to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (as President, US section, and longtime board member), and used them in peace education in Albania, Cambodia, Niger, and Peru with the Hague Appeal for Peace/UN Department of Disarmament Affairs … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She says: « We will succeed in building a strong base for transforming the politics of power when together we weave a vision that in practice offers a way of life so alive it is impossible to resist ».

Betty Burkes is the Rethink Curriculum Coordinator and leader of the Elders Circle that provides wisdom and guidance … (full text).

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Betty Burkes – USA

She works for Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom WILPF, for the Hague Appeal for Peace HAP, and for the Cambridge Peace Commission.

Listen her video: Women’s Int’l League for Peace & Freedom, Betty Burkes, 9.35 min, 10 min – Feb 12, 2007.

Betty Burkes was born in Malvern, Ohio in 1943. She is African-American, descended from enslaved people and raised by working-class parents and loving grandmothers in the U.S. Midwest. While Betty and her family experienced the racism of exclusion endemic to small American towns in the 1940s and 1950s, her father was a symbol of respect within the community and an oasis for students of color, particularly international students from Africa. Grounded in love and high expectations from her family, Betty attended Ohio State University.

After college, she joined the Peace Corps and worked in Ethiopia as a teacher. She also taught in public schools in California and private schools in England. She founded the Montessori Paradise pre-school on Cape Cod, Massachusetts and directed it for 12 years, offering young children an enriching learning environment where peace-making and social justice mingled with the affirmation of childhood. Betty also co-founded and ran a Summer Arts and Music program on Cape Cod. She is a Trainer and Founding Member of « Transition for the 21st Century, » an association of professionals who design and conduct workshops for groups relating to issues of oppression.

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She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Actress, model, and singer Cynthia Basinet understood the power of the internet to connect people when the medium rocketed her song « Santa Baby » around the world. The empowerment and self-determination she experienced prompted her to seek new connections in new ways. In May 2001 she sang for a different audience–refugees living in the western Sahara desert. More than 80 per cent women and children, 200,000 refugees are struggling to survive in the southwest corner of Algeria. Their refusal to return home and their fight for self-determination captured the attention of Cynthia Basinet … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She says: « Displaced societies are of value. Their issues are our issues ».

Find her music on amazon, on Jamendo; her Mini-Bio on IMDb; her songs on Google Video-search; her Interview on 24/7; her name on better world heroes; her thoughts; and also her Homepage.

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Cynthia Basinet – USA

Her song SANTA BABY:

• as: Eartha Kitt Hit Ms. LaREINA, 3.21 min, added October 04, 2007;
• as: Sorry, it was NEVER Marilyn, 3.26 min, added November 22, 2006.

Ten years of being Santa’s Baby.

… Growing up in San Jose, California, Cynthia sang and played the flute and saxophone as a child. Her life has been a succession of journeys. In 1984, she and her infant son left San Francisco and an abusive husband to spend five years in Europe, and it was there that she learned more about world issues. In Paris she learned to speak fluent French, studied cinematography, and became a successful model. She returned to Los Angeles with an expanded vision and a determination to become socially active.

Cynthia established an entirely new channel of distribution for her music by using the Internet to bypass the usual Hollywood and recording industry paths, bringing her releases directly to listeners around the world. She is famous for the song, « Santa Baby. » « That was my gift to the world for the millennium, » she said. « One moment where people from all these countries sing to some silly love song . . . »

Her goal in visiting the Saharawis was to help communicate their value to the world. « We are all linked. The strength and conviction of the Saharawis is something that deserves to be highlighted in the conscience of not only America, but the world. The same issues of power apply to the 85 percent working class that makes up America.

Displaced societies are of value. Their issues are our issues » She was moved by the connection she felt to the Saharawis. « I hit this note, and all the women started warbling. You know, that Arabic sound the women make. It was the most healing moment in my life. » (1000peacewomen 2/2).

An Open Reply to John Simson, August 8, 2008.

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Linked with Soka Gakkai International – SGI-USA, and with Health People NY/USA.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Chris Norwood (born 1946) founded Health People, which is located in the South Bronx, New York, and is the largest peer health education and disease prevention organization in the USA. Starting in 1990 as a women’s AIDS prevention program, the organization now provides 3000 people a year in the sickest, poorest area of New York, with men’s, family, and teen HIV programs. It also provides successful asthma, diabetes, and smoking prevention programs, all built by training low-income people affected by chronic disease to become educators and leaders … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She says: « Dig where you stand, and surely you shall find a well ».

… Founder chris Norwood was positively trilled at the response from her friends in the East End Art Community who generously donated art works of which 100% of the sale price was going to her teen-to-teen mentoring program … (full text).

The book: Advice for Life, by Christopher Norwood, Chris Norwood, National Women’s Health Network (U.S.), 178 pages, Published by Pantheon Books, 1987: Explains who the carriers are, what the medical tests show, what realistic precautions can be taken, and what symptoms to watch out for. ISBN 039475428X, 9780394754284

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Chris Norwood – USA

She works for Health People.

In 1985, Chris Norwood was asked by a women’s magazine to write what turned out to be the first American article on women and AIDS. She became haunted by how misunderstood the AIDS epidemic was, « Waking and sleeping, I saw before me an endless picture of the shadows of hundreds of ghostly women which I knew to represent the mammoth future death already inevitable from HIV infections taking place right then. » Chris wrote a book, Advice for Life: A Woman’s Guide to AIDS, and began trying to do her own studies to underscore the seriousness of the women’s epidemic: these included the first study projecting AIDS orphans in New York and a groundbreaking study of the undercounting of women’s AIDS deaths.

When it became obvious that little practical progress or recognition of women’s needs was occurring, Chris decided to start a women’s peer education program and train the women most affected by HIV– the poorest women in the city – to become educators. « Fortunately, I wasn’t daunted because I didn’t know at all how daunting this project was; fortunately, I obtained some small donations to start and focused on the South Bronx. At the time, in 1990, the South Bronx was not only the poorest and sickest area of New York, but shattered by drugs, abandonment and such widespread arson (with owners torching their buildings for the insurance money) that it looked like a bombed area. When New York’s longest and most deadly drug war erupted on the block of our office, we had to literally walk through almost daily gunfire for months. »

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She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Madam Henriette Carvalho Kouyate was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1931. She has spent most of her professional career in the area of health, raising awareness on the problems of female genital mutilation. At 74 years old, Kouyaté Henriette Carvalho, mother of six boys, is a brilliant public health professional in the eyes of all. Henriette also distinguished herself in the treatment of sterile women and victims of female genital mutilation so that they have normal fertility and a happy life in the African context. Kouyaté Henriette Carvalho is also a writer and has published a book on female genital mutilation and sexually transmitted diseases. She has fought a great deal for the protection of woman, children and for reproductive control … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She says: « Seeing a pregnant woman’s luminous smile, hearing the happy cries of children in the playground: that is what drives me ».

Le texte: Kouyaté Carvalho d’Alvarengo, Henriette, « L’excision ». Présence Africaine, no.160, 1999.

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Sorry, no photo found for Henriette Carvalho Kouyate, Mali

Kouyaté also contributed to the struggle in Mali against female genital mutilation. Her contribution ensured national opinion came to understand that female genital mutilation is a public health problem for women everywhere. This resulted in many Malian families abandoning the practice of female circumcision. More and more Malian men and women understand today that this ancestral practice cannot be justified anymore due to its negative effects on maternal health.

This decision of conscience is at the basis of the awareness and claims against female genital mutilation. This will result in the near future to the adoption in Mali of legislation against the practice of female circumcision. We hope these efforts reach this objective. Senegal (Henriette’s country of origin) and Burkina have already taken a positive step towards banning female genital mutilation which underlines the position of Dr Henriette.

Henriette Carvalho regrets, today, that none of her children are doctors, but understands it and does not regret her own daily fight to help infertile couples become fertile. This fight has also helped reduce the mortality rate of women during maternity. To summarise, Ms Kouyaté Henriette Carvalho is a pioneer in female health in our country and in the well-being of women and children. She has given several lectures on the framework of obstetric health and reproduction. In her quiet retirement, she is a counselor to the young in an area that has marked all her professional life as well as that of her life as a writer.  (1000peacewomen 2/2).

… IP Conference Delegates Learn Appropriate Technique for Putting on Sterile Gloves: (Left to right) Col. Lamine Cissé Sarr from Senegal, Dr. Emmanuel Malano from Guinea, and Dr. Henriette Carvalho Kouyate from Senegal play a game of “IP Golf” … (full text).

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She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Having suffered Stalin’s deportation of the Chechen people to Central Asia, Maya Shovkhalova (born 1936) returned to Grozny in 1958. She graduated from the Tbilisi Music Conservatory. In the 1990s, she was a member of the Commission on Rehabilitation of Victims of the 1944-1956 Repressions in Chechnya. Since the beginning of the Russian-Chechen armed conflict, Maya has been engaged in anti-war activism, cooperating with international as well as Russian NGOs. She is also head of the NGO Iberia which focuses on the issues of demining and banning of land mines … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She says: « We condemn acts of terrorism irrespectively of whether they are committed by groups of bandits or by the Russian military.” (From the appeal of Chechen peace advocates to the world community)

She is signing the Public Appeal of Chechen NGOs of Prague Watchdog, 29th 2003,
… and here the appeal on Kafkas Vakfi.

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Sorry, no photo found of Maya Shovkhalova – Russian Federation

She works for Iberia, and for Yaltinskaya initsyativa za mir v Chechnie YIMC.

Maya Shovhalova was born in Grozny in 1936. Having suffered Stalin’s deportation of the Chechen people to Kazakhstan, Maya returned to Grozny in 1958. After graduating from Tbilisi Music Conservatory (Georgia), she worked as a soloist at the theater and the Philharmonic Hall in Grozny. For some time she was engaged in teaching. She was a member of the Commission on Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repressions in Chechnya during 1944-1956. Since the beginning of the Russian-Chechen armed conflict Maya has been taking an active part in human rights advocacy activities.

In February 1944, during the deportation of all the Chechens and Ingushs to Central Asia, staged by the Soviet regime, a horrible tragedy happened: 700 inhabitants of Khaibakh, a high mountain Chechen village, were burnt alive in the building of the local club by a Soviet punitive detachment.

It was not until the 1990s that this barbarous act was investigated. Maya Shovkhalova took an active part in the work of the Investigation Commission on Khaibakh events that made public this and other crimes against humanity at the time of Stalin’s repressions.

The beginning of democratic changes in the Soviet Union and the committed work of human rights activists who revealed the crimes of the communist regime gave hope that such tragedies would never be repeated. But hopes were dashed by the following developments which resulted in the Russian-Chechen armed conflict. During the first military campaign Maya helped the wounded, took part in negotiations between the Chechen president Dudaev’s representatives and the Russian soldiers’ mothers who wanted to return their sons back home. Unfortunately all the efforts of the peace advocates failed to stop the savage war.

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