The Nobel Peace Prize

I have to admit, I only knew that the Nobel Peace Prize were awarded through secondary sources, like my sociology professor vaguely mentioning it in an email, and through reading Brian's blog. Of course, if I did a better job following the news like I said I would I would have found it here, at Amnesty International.

Three women won the prize this year: Yemeni activist and journalist, Tawakkol Karma, Liberia president, Johnson Sirleaf, and feminist and women empowerer, Leymah Gbowee. They each played their role in their respective country's fight for human rights. Sireaf was a prisoner of conscious, arrested for her role in apposing the government in 1985. She is Africa's first democratically elected female president. Gbowee gathered women from across ethnic and religious lines to ensure their participation in the elections. Kaman has been active in organizing the mass protests against the government that have been occurring. They have all been integral.

What this prize in particular emphasizes is the growing attention to women and their vital roles in communities around the world. Women have been building and empowering people for centuries; seeing them acknowledged and awarded is satisfying. It is what they deserve.