War Resisters League 2001 Peace Calendar, 'Earthshaking Women: 20th Century Rebels and Peacemakers'

IssueDecember 2000 - February 2001
Review by Janet Kilburn

As an antimilitarist and probably a feminist, I rather liked this diary. While it has, in some ways, quite a US orientation (national holidays, significant events, the relationship between days and dates etc), it is still perfectly usable for anyone using the Christian-derived calendar.

It has a one week to a page display, plus a directory of WRI members, and a list of national (US) peace organisations and publications. However I think the best thing about this diary is the profiles of 57 radical women from around the world who have had, or continue to have, a dramatic and practical impact on the political world - particularly in relation to human rights, peace and the environment.

From the very famous - such as Emma Goldman, Audre Lorde, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Hanan Ashrawi - to the probably less famous, including feminist-socialist, doctor and pacifist, Madelaine Pelletier, France's first woman psychiatrist, who shocked her comrades during WW1 by treating the wounded of both sides; and Wangari Muta Matthai, the first Kenyan woman professor-turned eco-activist, and founder of the Green Belt movement - a women-run programme to promote reforestation, which has employed more than 50,000 women and planted more than 10 million trees.

These profiles, both historic and contemporary are really inspiring and should remind you of just how amazing women truly are! A great diary.

Topics: Activism, Women
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