I watched “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” last night, as a prescreening because I managed to get the movie to the film group on Pender Island. It will be showing September 19th.

This is a very inspiration movie about Liberian women who were tired of the war, they stood up for their rights and the rights of their children, and through a non-violent protest, ended the civil war in Liberia and got a woman voted in a democratic government.

It’s funny because back in June I remember having a discussing with Theresa and Ivan about how a woman is the emotional barometer in a family. A woman has a great influence on the emotional health or “un-health” of her family. Her moods directly affect the rest of the family to a greater extent, I would argue, than the rest of her family members. She has the ability to generate emotional awareness, emotional health, and peace within her family circle. I realize that to generalize is dangerous as the mother is not always the emotional instigator. But excuse my generalization. I think it’s an important responsibility that women must be made aware of.

This movie takes this concept to a whole new level for me. It said as women we have a responsibility not only to our families, but to our communities, to our regions, to our countries. The movie had footage of the rebel soldiers giving their guns to the women protesting for peace. They said “These women are our mothers. We trust their words and respect their pleas for peace.”

Women, we are society’s mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters. What is our responsibility?