February 19, 2021 • 26 mins
Anney and Samantha dig into the history of the Nobel Peace Prize and women who have won it, focusing in on Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha, and welcome to stuff.
I never told your protection of my Heart radio. So
today's Samantha. I want to ask you. Do you have
any award that you are particularly proud of receiving? Well,
(00:27):
you know, I can't really say. I don't think I've
gotten any awards outside of school. You can use those,
but I'm like, that's a shame. You know what, we
can fix that. I will make an award for you.
Thank you. I'm trying to figure out if I ever
really have. I don't think so. That makes me so sad,
(00:48):
But I was thinking this would be really funny, like
a school thing. Okay, well, I definitely gotten the most
dependable because I think that was just a popularity like
they us throughout names for people to be, you know, superlatives.
So mine was most dependable, which I don't know what
that means for a high school or if that's like
either the biggest nerd or you know, whatever whatnot. I
(01:11):
got some drama awards, got tons of accelerated reader stuff
in middle school. Yeah, I'm boring. I think I just
try to hide away to try to blend in with
a school for the most part. But what about you. Yeah, yeah,
I uh, I was like, say, a lot of I
was very competitive, so I got a lot of like
academic awards, accelerated Reader awards, and I think when I
(01:35):
what was I voted as in high school? Most likely too?
It was a weird one like be a millionaire. I
don't know, a millionaire. Yeah, it was something like that.
I can't remember it was that specifically, or it was
something like successful, be successful, okay, most likely to succeed,
something along those lines. Who can remember. Wow. Yeah, And
(01:57):
I got some trophies from gymnastics that I was really
proud of because like trophies were cool. I had I
had a specific what I was going to talk about,
and it's out of my head. Now you've got me
thinking in like high school terms. But for this episode,
we're talking about something bigger than Accelerated Reader. We are
(02:18):
talking about the Nobel Prize, specifically perhaps the Nobel Peace Prize.
And because it is Black History Months, we wanted to
focus on black women within this world, and certainly we
have talked about some of these women in our female
first series, so we'll try to highlight those where they are.
(02:38):
But you can check that out if you want to
learn more about them. And there has been some news
around Nobel Prizes and women in the past years. So
today is February ten, just in case, justin, justin case.
In Jennifer A. Doudna and Emmanuel Chopontier won a Nobel
Prize in Chemistry for their development of crispur or c
(03:00):
r i spr cast nine gene editing tools, and this
was the first time that women received this award without
a male collaborator. First time. Uh, they were only the
sixth and seventh women to win this award since nineteen
o one. Right and great news, but why why did
you take it so long? So in twenty eight the
(03:21):
Swedish Royal Academy of Science launched initiatives to be more inclusive,
including keeping gender and geography and mind when nominating, and
asking more women to send in nominations. Yes that that
academy is in charge of the Nobel Prizes, but the
problems hasn't exactly been as much as we hope. Not surprisingly.
For instance, in twenty nineteen, only twenty women received the
(03:42):
award in the sciences. That's out of six hundred. The
Nobel Prize also got caught up in the hashtag me
too movements, so that is something to think on as well.
So physics professor at the University of Copenhagen, Liz lat Yelfred,
along with some colleagues investigated and found that evening accounting
for the historical lower umber of women in scientific field,
women are under represented surprise sur prize. According to Youafred
(04:05):
quote probability, there is a bias against women. Surprisingly. Yeah,
So she was specifically looking into because some people would
argue there just weren't that many women in the sciences,
so that's why they were getting less awards, and it's changing,
is more and more women getting the scientific field. But
you Alfred specifically looked into that and found even taking
(04:26):
in that it's still right right if this bias is
still there. So let's talk about some basics around the
Nobel Prize. The Nobel Foundation was a private organization established
in nineteen hundred and it was founded as a way
to honor the will of Alfred Nobel and use his
(04:48):
fortune accordingly. The Foundation's primary goal is to ensure the
financial stability of the institutions that hand out the award,
and also to protect the independence of these institutions when
it comes to kicking out winners. In his will, Nobel
specifically named the institutions he wanted to be involved, so
this is from the Nobel website. The Royal Swedish Academy
(05:12):
of Sciences for the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry,
Karlinska Institutete for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,
the Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and
a committee of five persons to be elected by the
Norwegian Parliament Storing for the Nobel Peace Prize and then
in the various reeks Bunk Prize and Economic Sciences in
(05:35):
memory of Alfred Nobel was established. In the following year,
the Swedish Academy of Sciences was put in charge of
choosing the laureates in Economic sciences. So how do you
get nominated? I'm gonna have to write this down for you. Well, sorry,
you can't nominate yourself. But no, just can't happen. And
no posthumous awards, which is kind of sad. And the
(05:56):
full list of nominated names isn't released until fifty years
have passed. So beginning in September, the Nobel Committee called
for submissions for professors, pass recipients, scientists, members of academia
and academies, parliamentary committee members and others to send in
their nominations with the goal of receiving a diverse swath
of nominees. From there, the Nobel Committee selects the winners,
(06:16):
while some committees require nominators to be qualified. Anyone can
nominate someone other than themselves for the Nobel Peace Prize, right, so,
I think, for instance, the like literature, you have to
be involved somehow in the world of literature to nominate
someone for the Nobel Peace Prize. Pretty much anybody, everybody, Yeah, exactly.
So some quick stats. Fifty seven women have won the
(06:39):
Nobel Prize between nineteen o one and nineteen twenty. Marie
Curry is the only woman to receive the award twice,
once in nineteen o three for physics and a second
time in nineteen eleven for chemistry, And so women have
been the recipient of the award fifty eight times. Okay,
So Curry was also the first woman to win the prize,
and not surprisingly, the number has gone up since to thousand,
(07:00):
with twenty eight women winning the award from two thousand
to twenty as compared to the four between nineteen and
one to nineteen twenty and of one Laura is women
only make up about six point one per cent, and
these numbers exclude institutions, right, So that's pretty small. That
is ridiculously small. So of those awards that women have won,
(07:23):
seventeen have been a Nobel Peace Prizes. From the Nobel website,
here are the winners. Nadia Murad in quote for their
relief efforts to end the use of sexual violence as
a weapon of war an armed conflict, Malala Usafi inteen
for their struggle against the suppression of children and young
people and for the right of all children to education.
(07:43):
Ellen Johnson Surleif and twenty eleven for their non violent
struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights
to full participation in peace building work. Lama Goobowie and
eleven for their non violent struggle for the safety of
women and for women's rights to full participation in peace
building work. Tawa Cole Karman in eleven for their non
violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's
(08:05):
rights to full participation in peace building work. Wangari Muta
Mattai in two thousand four for her contribution to sustainable development,
democracy and peace sharing A Body in two thousand three
for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has
focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women
and children. Jody Williams in nineteen ninety seven for their
work for the banning and clearing of anti personnel minds.
(08:28):
Rigoberta Manshu Tom in nineteen two and recognition of her
work for social justice and ethnocultural reconciliation based on respect
for the rights of Indigenous people's Ang San Suchi in
ninetee for her non violent struggle for democracy and human
rights and then um A few don't have reasons listen
next to their name. Alva Myrdal in nineteen eighty two
(08:51):
played essential role United Nations disarmament negotiations. Mother Teresa in
nineteen seventy nine worked for the poor in Calcutta through
her order the Missionary of Charity. Betty Williams in ninety
six founded a grassroots movement against violence in Northern Ireland.
My Red Corrigan in nineteen at seventy six founded a
grassroots movement against violence in Northern Ireland. Emily green Bach
(09:13):
in nineteen forty six, leader of the American peace movement,
Jane Adams in nineteen thirty one, social worker active in
the peace movement. And Baroness Bertha Sophie Phelicephy of von
Suttner in nineteen o five, leader in the international peace movement.
So all those descriptions I read, those are directly from
the Nobel website. Yes, and a lot of these women
(09:35):
have dealt with sexism and sometimes extreme sexism, obstacles in
their path, sometimes even violence. The road has not been
easy for a lot of them, and we thought we
would highlight two of these women in our history segment.
But first we're gonna pause for a quick break for
(09:56):
from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you sponsored. So
let's talk about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was known as
(10:16):
African's Iron Lady. When sur Leaf was elected as President
of Liberia in two thousand five, two years after the
end of the country's violence civil war that left up
wards of two hundred thousand dead and hundreds of thousands
more displaced, she made history as the first democratically elected
head of state in Africa. She served in the transitional
government before her election, on the Governance Reform Commission, which
(10:38):
spearheaded the country's anti corruption reforms. From two thousand and
six to two thousand twelve, she increased the nation's national
budget from eighty million to six hundred and seventy two
million and secured a yearly growth in GDP of seven percent,
and in two thousand eleven, she was re elected. All
of this was after years she spent working in office.
Um She was born in Liberia in nineteen third eight,
(10:59):
and she obtained her upper education in the US, beginning
in nineteen sixty one from Harvard University and Madison's Business
College in Wisconsin. Her career in politics began in nineteen
sixty five, when she worked in Liberia's treasury department. She
rose through the ranks, becoming the Minister of Finance in
nineteen seventy nine, the first female to hold that position,
with the main goal of taking on the mismanagement of
(11:20):
the country's finances. She briefly served as the president of
the Liberian Bank for Development Investment after the military coup
in nineteen eighty that as the regime became more oppressive,
she fled the country that same year and the ensuing years,
she held many positions at a handful of banks, including
acting as a senior loan officer at the World Bank.
(11:41):
She also worked with the u N as the Assistant
Administrator of the United Nations Development Program and as director
of its Regional Bureau of Africa, which put her at
the rank of Assistant Secretary General of the u N,
a position she resigned from in nineteen ninety seven. Through
her efforts contesting the coup and following elections in Liberia,
she was imprisoned for a year and her life was
(12:03):
threatened by one of Liberia's former presidents. During her time
in office, she helmed reconciliation efforts, including rebuilding the country's economy,
dealt with the bullet prices, though she came under fire
for quarantining heavily infected poor areas with troops, and garnered
several accolades for her economic and social policies and for
her efforts towards empowering women, including the Nobel Peace Prize
(12:24):
in two thousand eleven and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
She was also the first female recipient for the Moebroheim
Prize for the Achievement in African Leadership. Sir Leif was
appointed co chair of the United Nations Secretary General's high
Level Panel of Imminent Persons on the post two thousand
five Development Agenda in two thousand twelve, and she became
the first woman elected as Chairperson of the Economic Community
(12:45):
of West African States in two thousand sixteen. She's also
been given fifteen honorary degrees. I need one, yeah, fifteen. Wow,
my mom so brief. I didn't go to my graduation.
When I graduated college, I had no interesting going either.
And my my parents they were both relieved because it's
(13:08):
Atlanta in summer and I didn't really want to do that,
but kind of like sad. And then, like I think
a couple of years ago, my mom asked me out
of the blue, where's your diploma? And I said I
don't know, And she was so mad, and she like
called the school and made them send me the diploma
and got it framed. But I probably never would have.
(13:31):
I had the little card one that they gave her
your wallet, like I'm gonna whip that out in front.
I think I'm lost both of them. My mother did
frame mind as well, because I also did not go
to my graduation. I was like, I don't care about this.
I'm gonna go to Europe instead. Because it was cheap
and frame, and I need to do this before I
get a job. And also because U g A. It's
a giant, giant school and you could go to the
(13:54):
big one where you don't actually stand up, well, you
do the smaller one in your class. But it was
just like, I'm fine, and my mother decided to make
that frame for me, and I had to take it
out because I don't think I received a card, one
small card one to prove that I had gone to
college and gotten a degree. And now I can't find it. Sorry, Mom, Sorry,
(14:16):
moms all around, we appreciate it. Well, we don't have
fifteen honorary degrees. My Ellen Johnson sur Leave does, is
the point from the u N website. President sur Leaf
has been ranked among the top one hundred most powerful
women in the World Forbes twelve and the most powerful
women in Africa Forbes Africa, one of six Women of
(14:40):
the Year Glamour, among the ten Best Leaders in the
World news Week, and top ten Female Leaders Time, and
also in twenty the Economists called her quote the best
president in the country has ever had. In she published
her a memoir entitled This Child Will Be Great. She's
stepped down as president in seventeen, and she was criticized
(15:03):
for corruption and cronyism. She appointed many family members to
government positions, and of the nineteen candidates that ran to
replace her, only one was a woman's So people were like,
how good of a job did you do empowering women
if this is the case. And also, well, it's just
very complicated the whole situation in that country and what
she was dealing with, because you'll you'll find articles saying, well,
(15:25):
she inherited this thing and what was she going to do?
And then you'll find other articles saying, well, there's just
signs of corruption and it wasn't changing. And then a
lot of people say, but she did step down, so
like this democratic process took place, and she stepped down
and allowed for it to happen again, and that's a
big deal. But her legacy is not without complications, is
(15:48):
the point. It's very complicated. But she did achieve a
lot in the face of many obstacles. You know, I
think you and I've talked about this before, but it's
really hard to see, like you want to sell everything,
but there are always a little bit of but at
least a little bit, and that's complicated, but it doesn't
(16:08):
negate the fact that she did make some huge changes.
M So now let's talk about Lima Gobowie, who received
a Nobel Peace Prize in two thousand eleven as well,
also for her work in Liberia. Over the years, she's
been a peace activist, a social worker, and as an
advocate of women's rights. On top of that, she served
as founder and president of the Monrovia based Gabowie Peace
Foundation Africa. Through her work in bringing together Christian and
(16:30):
Muslim women, she was able to help in the Librarian
Civil War in two thousand three, which in turn helped
clear the path for Ellen Sorley's election in two thousand five.
Her efforts played a role in kick starting a cascade
of movements that recognized the power to effectiveness of women
and when it comes to achieving lasting peace. Kabowie was
born in Liberia in nineteen seventy two, and the Civil
War broke out in that country when Gabo is only seventeen,
(16:53):
and in her words quote turned her from a child
to an adult in a matter of hours. She became
a mother young and started working as a social worker
and a trauma counselor. Specifically focusing on child soldiers, and
as she gained more experience, she came to believe that
women needed to take on this responsibility to ensure peace
for generations to come. So she founded and served as
(17:15):
the Liberia Coordinator of the Women in Peace Building Network
under the West Africa Network for Peace Building. After a
second civil war erupted in Ninete, bringing with it systemic rape,
Gabowie put her beliefs into action, Guided in part by
her Christian faith, she helped form a previously unheard of
coalition with Muslim women, the Women of Liberia Mass Action
(17:36):
for Peace. Under Gbowe's leadership, thousands of women showed up
for mass protests that lasted weeks. The leader at the time,
at President Charles Taylor, was forced to meet up with
them for peace negotiations that took place in Ghana, and
this was with a delegation that Gabowe led. At one point,
when the talks stalled, two hundred women led by Gabowe
formed a human barrier, preventing the president's representatives and rebel
(17:59):
warlords from eving until they came to a peace agreement.
When security forces showed up to remove the women Gebowie
threatened to take off her clothes and act that, according
to traditional beliefs, would set a curse upon these men
and misfortune upon these men. And they didn't want that,
so they returned to the negotiations. That's very effective quick thinking.
(18:22):
Weeks later, President Taylor resigned and went into exile and
a transitional government was guaranteed by assigned Peace Treaty Michael Lady.
Right there, Gaboie co founded the Ghana Baks Women Peace
and Security Network Africa and she went on to serve
on their executive board for six years. And this is
a Pan African nonprofit organization that's focused on women and
led by women, with the goal of increasing women's participation
(18:45):
in Africa's strategic security and peaceful governance. One of the
ways they go about this is by offering leadership programs
for women, which is phenomenal. And in two thousand and twelve,
she founded the Gabowie Peace Foundation Africa in Monrovia with
the mission of making leadership and an educational opportunity for
girls and women, and she served as a member of
the Nobel Women's Initiative, the Gabowie Peace Foundation and African
(19:06):
Women Leader's Network for Reproductive Health and Family Planning, among
several others. As you can tell, she's let a lot
of things. Yeah, she does a lot of work around
sustainability as well, because you know, at one more thing,
why not. Yeah, yeah, I saw a lot of that
popping up as well. Uh. Yeah, She's received countless awards.
She was the subject of the two thousand and eight
documentary Prayed the Devil Back to Hell, which was highly praised,
(19:29):
and the eleven memoir Mighty Be Our Powers after whe
Gary Mattai, Uta Mattai, who we did a whole female
first episode on with our our friend Eve's sur Leaf
and Gabowie are the second and third African women to
receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Yeah again, you know, I
want to celebrate, but still the fact that it tooks
(19:53):
till two thousand four for the first black woman to
be able to be given this prize is absurd, and
day the number is still ridiculously low. Yes, yes, but
we did want to highlight these women. And you know,
as we say in Female First, people's legacies are complicated
and these women are still alive, so things are ongoing,
(20:14):
but they've accomplished a lot and worth talking about. That's
what we have to say about them for now. But
we do have a little bit more and more current
news and in the world of Nobel Peace Prize. But
first we're gonna pause for one more quick for which
more sponsored and we're back, Thank you sponsor. One of
(20:45):
the reasons we started looking at the history of the
Nobel Peace Prize is because of a couple of this
year's nominations for Stacy Abrams and for Black Lives Matter.
Stacy Abrams was nominated by Norwegian lawmaker Lars Hotbreckin for
her working quote from voting non Violent Change via the
ballot Box. He stated in his nomination letter quote Abram's
(21:05):
work follows and Dr Martin Luther King Junior's footsteps and
the fight for equality before the Law and four civil
rights and continues on to say Abram's efforts to complete
King's work are crucial to the United States of America
shall succeed in his effort to create fraternity between all
people's and a peaceful and just society. She's being recognized
for her tireless efforts for fighting voter suppression and helping
(21:27):
to amplify the voices of marginalized citizens and communities, right, um,
And I was trying to find a reaction from her
or even from the Fair Fight action, and I could
not find anything. I don't know they're like okay, cool
and just moving on, or whether it's because it's such
a large list, and as we talked about earlier, you
never know who's going to actually pay attention and whether
it's going to be noted or not. So, yeah, when
(21:50):
so she says something, we'll we'll say something, you know.
And then there's Black Lives Matter, which has been nominated
this year as well, and they were nominated by the
Norwegian and lawmaker Peter Ida. He nominated Black Lives Matter
because it would quote send a powerful message that pieces
founded on equality, solidarity and human rights and that all
countries must respect those basic principles. And in his letter
(22:12):
he stays quote. BLM's call for stomach change has spread
around the world, forcing other countries to grapple with racism
within their own societies and in crediting their work. He
stated in an Activity interview, I believe that Black Lives
Matter is the largest and strongest social movement in the
world today fighting racial injustice. There are some people who
(22:32):
feel this is just a political ploy of an organization
perhaps using a movement to stay relevant. And you know,
I'm not sure if we made it clear at the top,
but the Nobel Prize is not without a history of controversy.
It is a bit different as the organization is made
up of different chapters run front different people all over
the world. Perhaps nominating the three founders Alicia Garza, Patrice
(22:54):
Colore's and opal To Mady for their work would have
made more sense. Yeah, I think it's gonna be are
I know, there was a whole conversation within the different
communities like, well, how do we do this? Because it
is the chapters are very split and so it's not
necessarily under one. So it probably would have made more
sense to put the founders as ahead of that and
naring them instead of one big giant collective movement. But
(23:17):
it definitely does not make the statement of the fact
that they are a movement rather than just as some
of the people in the U S would call like
extremist groups, you know what I mean. So it does.
I think it brings a big conversation to that. But
the Black Lives Matter responded on their tweet quote, we
hold the largest social movement in global history. Today we
(23:37):
have been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize. People are
waking up to our global call for racial justice and
into economic injustice, environmental racism, and white supremacy. We're only
getting started, so definitely excited to see that. But of
course we don't know what's gonna happen to the end, right, No,
not currently, so of is, the nomination process, as we
(24:01):
said at the beginning, does not necessarily mean they will
even come close to being awarded, as thousands of people
can nominate people in organizations. For example, both Jared Kushner
and Donald Trump have been nominated by people from their
own past staff or parties, but will not likely be
with no avail committee. That would be a real turn,
(24:22):
so says at least one of the committee members that
was their countles. It will be surprising. Maybe they will,
who knows, but it did not seem likely. I personally
would be shocked. I feel confident saying that winners will
be announced in October. So hopefully, well you can revisit
this and we'll have some some good news, right yeah.
(24:45):
I think it's really sad that our initial idea was
let's talk about Black History Month. Lets talk about some
of the women who have been awarded around the world
for these amazing things that they've done, because black women
continue to be powerhouses and have been powerhouses to from
the beginning, and the mere fact that they're not in here.
No one's in here, and it took till two thousand four.
So when we talk about Ida B. Wells and her work,
(25:07):
when we talk about Bell Hooks and her works, and
you start talking about what happened, why is this even
a thing? Why aren't these people in this conversation, and
the fact that it's so short, because the list is
so ridiculously short, and this is exactly what we're talking about,
the systemic right down within organizations like this, and whether
or not they should be legitimately looked at as hey,
(25:29):
are you actually being representative a world and what's happening
in the world or are you just giving people that
you know and you kind of like a pat on
the back, right right, and and just to reiterate, for
this episode, we did include numbers from Nobel Prize at Large,
but we were focusing on Nobel Peace Prize. So yeah,
like Tony Morrison won Nobel Prize but you did want
(25:51):
to focus specifically on the Nobel Peace Prize. And yes
it was a depressingly short sad. Yeah, yeah, it is changing.
It is and I'm glad that people are looking into
it and having these conversations about it. Right. Well, maybe
one day, Samantha, I'll think about an award for you. Okay,
(26:13):
thank you, I will, I will, I will, And listeners,
we would love to hear about any awards you receive.
You can email us at st Vidio, mom Stuff at
I heart media dot com. You can also find its
on Twitter at mom stuf podcast or in Instagram. And
Stuff I've Never Told to you thinks it's always to
our super producer Christina. Thank you Christina, and thanks to
you for listening Stuff I've Never Told you the protection
(26:34):
of iHeart Radio. For more podcast from I Heart Radio,
but Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha, and welcome to stuff.
I never told your protection of my Heart radio. So
today's Samantha. I want to ask you. Do you have
any award that you are particularly proud of receiving? Well,
(00:27):
you know, I can't really say. I don't think I've
gotten any awards outside of school. You can use those,
but I'm like, that's a shame. You know what, we
can fix that. I will make an award for you.
Thank you. I'm trying to figure out if I ever
really have. I don't think so. That makes me so sad,
(00:48):
But I was thinking this would be really funny, like
a school thing. Okay, well, I definitely gotten the most
dependable because I think that was just a popularity like
they us throughout names for people to be, you know, superlatives.
So mine was most dependable, which I don't know what
that means for a high school or if that's like
either the biggest nerd or you know, whatever whatnot. I
(01:11):
got some drama awards, got tons of accelerated reader stuff
in middle school. Yeah, I'm boring. I think I just
try to hide away to try to blend in with
a school for the most part. But what about you. Yeah, yeah,
I uh, I was like, say, a lot of I
was very competitive, so I got a lot of like
academic awards, accelerated Reader awards, and I think when I
(01:35):
what was I voted as in high school? Most likely too?
It was a weird one like be a millionaire. I
don't know, a millionaire. Yeah, it was something like that.
I can't remember it was that specifically, or it was
something like successful, be successful, okay, most likely to succeed,
something along those lines. Who can remember. Wow. Yeah, And
(01:57):
I got some trophies from gymnastics that I was really
proud of because like trophies were cool. I had I
had a specific what I was going to talk about,
and it's out of my head. Now you've got me
thinking in like high school terms. But for this episode,
we're talking about something bigger than Accelerated Reader. We are
(02:18):
talking about the Nobel Prize, specifically perhaps the Nobel Peace Prize.
And because it is Black History Months, we wanted to
focus on black women within this world, and certainly we
have talked about some of these women in our female
first series, so we'll try to highlight those where they are.
(02:38):
But you can check that out if you want to
learn more about them. And there has been some news
around Nobel Prizes and women in the past years. So
today is February ten, just in case, justin, justin case.
In Jennifer A. Doudna and Emmanuel Chopontier won a Nobel
Prize in Chemistry for their development of crispur or c
(03:00):
r i spr cast nine gene editing tools, and this
was the first time that women received this award without
a male collaborator. First time. Uh, they were only the
sixth and seventh women to win this award since nineteen
o one. Right and great news, but why why did
you take it so long? So in twenty eight the
(03:21):
Swedish Royal Academy of Science launched initiatives to be more inclusive,
including keeping gender and geography and mind when nominating, and
asking more women to send in nominations. Yes that that
academy is in charge of the Nobel Prizes, but the
problems hasn't exactly been as much as we hope. Not surprisingly.
For instance, in twenty nineteen, only twenty women received the
(03:42):
award in the sciences. That's out of six hundred. The
Nobel Prize also got caught up in the hashtag me
too movements, so that is something to think on as well.
So physics professor at the University of Copenhagen, Liz lat Yelfred,
along with some colleagues investigated and found that evening accounting
for the historical lower umber of women in scientific field,
women are under represented surprise sur prize. According to Youafred
(04:05):
quote probability, there is a bias against women. Surprisingly. Yeah,
So she was specifically looking into because some people would
argue there just weren't that many women in the sciences,
so that's why they were getting less awards, and it's changing,
is more and more women getting the scientific field. But
you Alfred specifically looked into that and found even taking
(04:26):
in that it's still right right if this bias is
still there. So let's talk about some basics around the
Nobel Prize. The Nobel Foundation was a private organization established
in nineteen hundred and it was founded as a way
to honor the will of Alfred Nobel and use his
(04:48):
fortune accordingly. The Foundation's primary goal is to ensure the
financial stability of the institutions that hand out the award,
and also to protect the independence of these institutions when
it comes to kicking out winners. In his will, Nobel
specifically named the institutions he wanted to be involved, so
this is from the Nobel website. The Royal Swedish Academy
(05:12):
of Sciences for the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry,
Karlinska Institutete for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,
the Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and
a committee of five persons to be elected by the
Norwegian Parliament Storing for the Nobel Peace Prize and then
in the various reeks Bunk Prize and Economic Sciences in
(05:35):
memory of Alfred Nobel was established. In the following year,
the Swedish Academy of Sciences was put in charge of
choosing the laureates in Economic sciences. So how do you
get nominated? I'm gonna have to write this down for you. Well, sorry,
you can't nominate yourself. But no, just can't happen. And
no posthumous awards, which is kind of sad. And the
(05:56):
full list of nominated names isn't released until fifty years
have passed. So beginning in September, the Nobel Committee called
for submissions for professors, pass recipients, scientists, members of academia
and academies, parliamentary committee members and others to send in
their nominations with the goal of receiving a diverse swath
of nominees. From there, the Nobel Committee selects the winners,
(06:16):
while some committees require nominators to be qualified. Anyone can
nominate someone other than themselves for the Nobel Peace Prize, right, so,
I think, for instance, the like literature, you have to
be involved somehow in the world of literature to nominate
someone for the Nobel Peace Prize. Pretty much anybody, everybody, Yeah, exactly.
So some quick stats. Fifty seven women have won the
(06:39):
Nobel Prize between nineteen o one and nineteen twenty. Marie
Curry is the only woman to receive the award twice,
once in nineteen o three for physics and a second
time in nineteen eleven for chemistry, And so women have
been the recipient of the award fifty eight times. Okay,
So Curry was also the first woman to win the prize,
and not surprisingly, the number has gone up since to thousand,
(07:00):
with twenty eight women winning the award from two thousand
to twenty as compared to the four between nineteen and
one to nineteen twenty and of one Laura is women
only make up about six point one per cent, and
these numbers exclude institutions, right, So that's pretty small. That
is ridiculously small. So of those awards that women have won,
(07:23):
seventeen have been a Nobel Peace Prizes. From the Nobel website,
here are the winners. Nadia Murad in quote for their
relief efforts to end the use of sexual violence as
a weapon of war an armed conflict, Malala Usafi inteen
for their struggle against the suppression of children and young
people and for the right of all children to education.
(07:43):
Ellen Johnson Surleif and twenty eleven for their non violent
struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights
to full participation in peace building work. Lama Goobowie and
eleven for their non violent struggle for the safety of
women and for women's rights to full participation in peace
building work. Tawa Cole Karman in eleven for their non
violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's
(08:05):
rights to full participation in peace building work. Wangari Muta
Mattai in two thousand four for her contribution to sustainable development,
democracy and peace sharing A Body in two thousand three
for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has
focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women
and children. Jody Williams in nineteen ninety seven for their
work for the banning and clearing of anti personnel minds.
(08:28):
Rigoberta Manshu Tom in nineteen two and recognition of her
work for social justice and ethnocultural reconciliation based on respect
for the rights of Indigenous people's Ang San Suchi in
ninetee for her non violent struggle for democracy and human
rights and then um A few don't have reasons listen
next to their name. Alva Myrdal in nineteen eighty two
(08:51):
played essential role United Nations disarmament negotiations. Mother Teresa in
nineteen seventy nine worked for the poor in Calcutta through
her order the Missionary of Charity. Betty Williams in ninety
six founded a grassroots movement against violence in Northern Ireland.
My Red Corrigan in nineteen at seventy six founded a
grassroots movement against violence in Northern Ireland. Emily green Bach
(09:13):
in nineteen forty six, leader of the American peace movement,
Jane Adams in nineteen thirty one, social worker active in
the peace movement. And Baroness Bertha Sophie Phelicephy of von
Suttner in nineteen o five, leader in the international peace movement.
So all those descriptions I read, those are directly from
the Nobel website. Yes, and a lot of these women
(09:35):
have dealt with sexism and sometimes extreme sexism, obstacles in
their path, sometimes even violence. The road has not been
easy for a lot of them, and we thought we
would highlight two of these women in our history segment.
But first we're gonna pause for a quick break for
(09:56):
from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you sponsored. So
let's talk about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was known as
(10:16):
African's Iron Lady. When sur Leaf was elected as President
of Liberia in two thousand five, two years after the
end of the country's violence civil war that left up
wards of two hundred thousand dead and hundreds of thousands
more displaced, she made history as the first democratically elected
head of state in Africa. She served in the transitional
government before her election, on the Governance Reform Commission, which
(10:38):
spearheaded the country's anti corruption reforms. From two thousand and
six to two thousand twelve, she increased the nation's national
budget from eighty million to six hundred and seventy two
million and secured a yearly growth in GDP of seven percent,
and in two thousand eleven, she was re elected. All
of this was after years she spent working in office.
Um She was born in Liberia in nineteen third eight,
(10:59):
and she obtained her upper education in the US, beginning
in nineteen sixty one from Harvard University and Madison's Business
College in Wisconsin. Her career in politics began in nineteen
sixty five, when she worked in Liberia's treasury department. She
rose through the ranks, becoming the Minister of Finance in
nineteen seventy nine, the first female to hold that position,
with the main goal of taking on the mismanagement of
(11:20):
the country's finances. She briefly served as the president of
the Liberian Bank for Development Investment after the military coup
in nineteen eighty that as the regime became more oppressive,
she fled the country that same year and the ensuing years,
she held many positions at a handful of banks, including
acting as a senior loan officer at the World Bank.
(11:41):
She also worked with the u N as the Assistant
Administrator of the United Nations Development Program and as director
of its Regional Bureau of Africa, which put her at
the rank of Assistant Secretary General of the u N,
a position she resigned from in nineteen ninety seven. Through
her efforts contesting the coup and following elections in Liberia,
she was imprisoned for a year and her life was
(12:03):
threatened by one of Liberia's former presidents. During her time
in office, she helmed reconciliation efforts, including rebuilding the country's economy,
dealt with the bullet prices, though she came under fire
for quarantining heavily infected poor areas with troops, and garnered
several accolades for her economic and social policies and for
her efforts towards empowering women, including the Nobel Peace Prize
(12:24):
in two thousand eleven and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
She was also the first female recipient for the Moebroheim
Prize for the Achievement in African Leadership. Sir Leif was
appointed co chair of the United Nations Secretary General's high
Level Panel of Imminent Persons on the post two thousand
five Development Agenda in two thousand twelve, and she became
the first woman elected as Chairperson of the Economic Community
(12:45):
of West African States in two thousand sixteen. She's also
been given fifteen honorary degrees. I need one, yeah, fifteen. Wow,
my mom so brief. I didn't go to my graduation.
When I graduated college, I had no interesting going either.
And my my parents they were both relieved because it's
(13:08):
Atlanta in summer and I didn't really want to do that,
but kind of like sad. And then, like I think
a couple of years ago, my mom asked me out
of the blue, where's your diploma? And I said I
don't know, And she was so mad, and she like
called the school and made them send me the diploma
and got it framed. But I probably never would have.
(13:31):
I had the little card one that they gave her
your wallet, like I'm gonna whip that out in front.
I think I'm lost both of them. My mother did
frame mind as well, because I also did not go
to my graduation. I was like, I don't care about this.
I'm gonna go to Europe instead. Because it was cheap
and frame, and I need to do this before I
get a job. And also because U g A. It's
a giant, giant school and you could go to the
(13:54):
big one where you don't actually stand up, well, you
do the smaller one in your class. But it was
just like, I'm fine, and my mother decided to make
that frame for me, and I had to take it
out because I don't think I received a card, one
small card one to prove that I had gone to
college and gotten a degree. And now I can't find it. Sorry, Mom, Sorry,
(14:16):
moms all around, we appreciate it. Well, we don't have
fifteen honorary degrees. My Ellen Johnson sur Leave does, is
the point from the u N website. President sur Leaf
has been ranked among the top one hundred most powerful
women in the World Forbes twelve and the most powerful
women in Africa Forbes Africa, one of six Women of
(14:40):
the Year Glamour, among the ten Best Leaders in the
World news Week, and top ten Female Leaders Time, and
also in twenty the Economists called her quote the best
president in the country has ever had. In she published
her a memoir entitled This Child Will Be Great. She's
stepped down as president in seventeen, and she was criticized
(15:03):
for corruption and cronyism. She appointed many family members to
government positions, and of the nineteen candidates that ran to
replace her, only one was a woman's So people were like,
how good of a job did you do empowering women
if this is the case. And also, well, it's just
very complicated the whole situation in that country and what
she was dealing with, because you'll you'll find articles saying, well,
(15:25):
she inherited this thing and what was she going to do?
And then you'll find other articles saying, well, there's just
signs of corruption and it wasn't changing. And then a
lot of people say, but she did step down, so
like this democratic process took place, and she stepped down
and allowed for it to happen again, and that's a
big deal. But her legacy is not without complications, is
(15:48):
the point. It's very complicated. But she did achieve a
lot in the face of many obstacles. You know, I
think you and I've talked about this before, but it's
really hard to see, like you want to sell everything,
but there are always a little bit of but at
least a little bit, and that's complicated, but it doesn't
(16:08):
negate the fact that she did make some huge changes.
M So now let's talk about Lima Gobowie, who received
a Nobel Peace Prize in two thousand eleven as well,
also for her work in Liberia. Over the years, she's
been a peace activist, a social worker, and as an
advocate of women's rights. On top of that, she served
as founder and president of the Monrovia based Gabowie Peace
Foundation Africa. Through her work in bringing together Christian and
(16:30):
Muslim women, she was able to help in the Librarian
Civil War in two thousand three, which in turn helped
clear the path for Ellen Sorley's election in two thousand five.
Her efforts played a role in kick starting a cascade
of movements that recognized the power to effectiveness of women
and when it comes to achieving lasting peace. Kabowie was
born in Liberia in nineteen seventy two, and the Civil
War broke out in that country when Gabo is only seventeen,
(16:53):
and in her words quote turned her from a child
to an adult in a matter of hours. She became
a mother young and started working as a social worker
and a trauma counselor. Specifically focusing on child soldiers, and
as she gained more experience, she came to believe that
women needed to take on this responsibility to ensure peace
for generations to come. So she founded and served as
(17:15):
the Liberia Coordinator of the Women in Peace Building Network
under the West Africa Network for Peace Building. After a
second civil war erupted in Ninete, bringing with it systemic rape,
Gabowie put her beliefs into action, Guided in part by
her Christian faith, she helped form a previously unheard of
coalition with Muslim women, the Women of Liberia Mass Action
(17:36):
for Peace. Under Gbowe's leadership, thousands of women showed up
for mass protests that lasted weeks. The leader at the time,
at President Charles Taylor, was forced to meet up with
them for peace negotiations that took place in Ghana, and
this was with a delegation that Gabowe led. At one point,
when the talks stalled, two hundred women led by Gabowe
formed a human barrier, preventing the president's representatives and rebel
(17:59):
warlords from eving until they came to a peace agreement.
When security forces showed up to remove the women Gebowie
threatened to take off her clothes and act that, according
to traditional beliefs, would set a curse upon these men
and misfortune upon these men. And they didn't want that,
so they returned to the negotiations. That's very effective quick thinking.
(18:22):
Weeks later, President Taylor resigned and went into exile and
a transitional government was guaranteed by assigned Peace Treaty Michael Lady.
Right there, Gaboie co founded the Ghana Baks Women Peace
and Security Network Africa and she went on to serve
on their executive board for six years. And this is
a Pan African nonprofit organization that's focused on women and
led by women, with the goal of increasing women's participation
(18:45):
in Africa's strategic security and peaceful governance. One of the
ways they go about this is by offering leadership programs
for women, which is phenomenal. And in two thousand and twelve,
she founded the Gabowie Peace Foundation Africa in Monrovia with
the mission of making leadership and an educational opportunity for
girls and women, and she served as a member of
the Nobel Women's Initiative, the Gabowie Peace Foundation and African
(19:06):
Women Leader's Network for Reproductive Health and Family Planning, among
several others. As you can tell, she's let a lot
of things. Yeah, she does a lot of work around
sustainability as well, because you know, at one more thing,
why not. Yeah, yeah, I saw a lot of that
popping up as well. Uh. Yeah, She's received countless awards.
She was the subject of the two thousand and eight
documentary Prayed the Devil Back to Hell, which was highly praised,
(19:29):
and the eleven memoir Mighty Be Our Powers after whe
Gary Mattai, Uta Mattai, who we did a whole female
first episode on with our our friend Eve's sur Leaf
and Gabowie are the second and third African women to
receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Yeah again, you know, I
want to celebrate, but still the fact that it tooks
(19:53):
till two thousand four for the first black woman to
be able to be given this prize is absurd, and
day the number is still ridiculously low. Yes, yes, but
we did want to highlight these women. And you know,
as we say in Female First, people's legacies are complicated
and these women are still alive, so things are ongoing,
(20:14):
but they've accomplished a lot and worth talking about. That's
what we have to say about them for now. But
we do have a little bit more and more current
news and in the world of Nobel Peace Prize. But
first we're gonna pause for one more quick for which
more sponsored and we're back, Thank you sponsor. One of
(20:45):
the reasons we started looking at the history of the
Nobel Peace Prize is because of a couple of this
year's nominations for Stacy Abrams and for Black Lives Matter.
Stacy Abrams was nominated by Norwegian lawmaker Lars Hotbreckin for
her working quote from voting non Violent Change via the
ballot Box. He stated in his nomination letter quote Abram's
(21:05):
work follows and Dr Martin Luther King Junior's footsteps and
the fight for equality before the Law and four civil
rights and continues on to say Abram's efforts to complete
King's work are crucial to the United States of America
shall succeed in his effort to create fraternity between all
people's and a peaceful and just society. She's being recognized
for her tireless efforts for fighting voter suppression and helping
(21:27):
to amplify the voices of marginalized citizens and communities, right, um,
And I was trying to find a reaction from her
or even from the Fair Fight action, and I could
not find anything. I don't know they're like okay, cool
and just moving on, or whether it's because it's such
a large list, and as we talked about earlier, you
never know who's going to actually pay attention and whether
it's going to be noted or not. So, yeah, when
(21:50):
so she says something, we'll we'll say something, you know.
And then there's Black Lives Matter, which has been nominated
this year as well, and they were nominated by the
Norwegian and lawmaker Peter Ida. He nominated Black Lives Matter
because it would quote send a powerful message that pieces
founded on equality, solidarity and human rights and that all
countries must respect those basic principles. And in his letter
(22:12):
he stays quote. BLM's call for stomach change has spread
around the world, forcing other countries to grapple with racism
within their own societies and in crediting their work. He
stated in an Activity interview, I believe that Black Lives
Matter is the largest and strongest social movement in the
world today fighting racial injustice. There are some people who
(22:32):
feel this is just a political ploy of an organization
perhaps using a movement to stay relevant. And you know,
I'm not sure if we made it clear at the top,
but the Nobel Prize is not without a history of controversy.
It is a bit different as the organization is made
up of different chapters run front different people all over
the world. Perhaps nominating the three founders Alicia Garza, Patrice
(22:54):
Colore's and opal To Mady for their work would have
made more sense. Yeah, I think it's gonna be are
I know, there was a whole conversation within the different
communities like, well, how do we do this? Because it
is the chapters are very split and so it's not
necessarily under one. So it probably would have made more
sense to put the founders as ahead of that and
naring them instead of one big giant collective movement. But
(23:17):
it definitely does not make the statement of the fact
that they are a movement rather than just as some
of the people in the U S would call like
extremist groups, you know what I mean. So it does.
I think it brings a big conversation to that. But
the Black Lives Matter responded on their tweet quote, we
hold the largest social movement in global history. Today we
(23:37):
have been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize. People are
waking up to our global call for racial justice and
into economic injustice, environmental racism, and white supremacy. We're only
getting started, so definitely excited to see that. But of
course we don't know what's gonna happen to the end, right, No,
not currently, so of is, the nomination process, as we
(24:01):
said at the beginning, does not necessarily mean they will
even come close to being awarded, as thousands of people
can nominate people in organizations. For example, both Jared Kushner
and Donald Trump have been nominated by people from their
own past staff or parties, but will not likely be
with no avail committee. That would be a real turn,
(24:22):
so says at least one of the committee members that
was their countles. It will be surprising. Maybe they will,
who knows, but it did not seem likely. I personally
would be shocked. I feel confident saying that winners will
be announced in October. So hopefully, well you can revisit
this and we'll have some some good news, right yeah.
(24:45):
I think it's really sad that our initial idea was
let's talk about Black History Month. Lets talk about some
of the women who have been awarded around the world
for these amazing things that they've done, because black women
continue to be powerhouses and have been powerhouses to from
the beginning, and the mere fact that they're not in here.
No one's in here, and it took till two thousand four.
So when we talk about Ida B. Wells and her work,
(25:07):
when we talk about Bell Hooks and her works, and
you start talking about what happened, why is this even
a thing? Why aren't these people in this conversation, and
the fact that it's so short, because the list is
so ridiculously short, and this is exactly what we're talking about,
the systemic right down within organizations like this, and whether
or not they should be legitimately looked at as hey,
(25:29):
are you actually being representative a world and what's happening
in the world or are you just giving people that
you know and you kind of like a pat on
the back, right right, and and just to reiterate, for
this episode, we did include numbers from Nobel Prize at Large,
but we were focusing on Nobel Peace Prize. So yeah,
like Tony Morrison won Nobel Prize but you did want
(25:51):
to focus specifically on the Nobel Peace Prize. And yes
it was a depressingly short sad. Yeah, yeah, it is changing.
It is and I'm glad that people are looking into
it and having these conversations about it. Right. Well, maybe
one day, Samantha, I'll think about an award for you. Okay,
(26:13):
thank you, I will, I will, I will, And listeners,
we would love to hear about any awards you receive.
You can email us at st Vidio, mom Stuff at
I heart media dot com. You can also find its
on Twitter at mom stuf podcast or in Instagram. And
Stuff I've Never Told to you thinks it's always to
our super producer Christina. Thank you Christina, and thanks to
you for listening Stuff I've Never Told you the protection
(26:34):
of iHeart Radio. For more podcast from I Heart Radio,
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