"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
Leymah Gbowee Asks Friends Students to "Wake Up"
Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee spoke to the Upper School on April 22.
Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee challenged Upper School students to “rise up and change something, ” when she addressed an Upper School assembly on April 22.
Leymah was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2011 for her non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work." She was a leader of a group of Liberian women who engaged with both Christian and Muslim women to help end Liberia’s second civil war (2003). Her story is chronicled in her memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers, and in the documentary, Pray the Devil Back to Hell.
“Who’s going to fix the world?” she said, “What role do you intend to play to fix the world?”
She described her life as an activist and told students not to expect to make money by focusing on changing the world.
“But will your life be fulfilled? Yes.”
She said that making an impact is not restricted to working for a nonprofit or a government. Any person in any profession can find ways to live an activist life and be a part of social change. “It’s up to all of us to contribute,” she said.
After her lecture, Leymah played John Legend's song, Wake Up Everybody, and encouraged students to listen closely to the words. The audience then asked questions on topics ranging from human rights to international aid.
Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
