“Mighty Be Our Powers” was written by Leymah Gbowee, one of the 2011 recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. 

She is the winner of the Gruber Prize for Women’s Rights and the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award and is co-creator of the Women’s Peace and Security Network. 

Gbowee is also an internationally recognized “peace-builder,” social worker and mother of six. 

“Mighty Be Our Powers” is an autobiography detailing Gbowee’s struggle and eventual success throughout the Liberian Civil Wars. Gbowee’s struggle began at the age of 17 when her family was driven from their home, her future as an aspiring doctor was destroyed and her country torn apart. 

Years later, after overcoming the horror of war and the personal trauma of abuse, Gbowee became an influential member of a movement that would change her nation—one that empowered women and demanded peace. 

What I loved most about this book was not its literary prowess, but its moral meat. It is part story, part history lesson and part bearing of the soul. Despite Gbowee’s suffering, “Mighty Be Our Powers” conveys a message of independence, self-confidence and determination. 

It is also the story of a population that, as Gbowee points out in the first pages, the media largely ignores when covering a war story: the women. 

Gbowee tells the story of women who are sexually assaulted, women whose children are slaughtered in front of them, women whose homes and communities are destroyed, even women who are forced to fight.

Gbowee provides a story that not only acknowledges the suffering of these courageous women, but celebrates their strength in fighting back and ultimately winning peace.

‘Mighty Be Our Powers’ takes place a decade or more in the past, but it carries lessons and values that are imperative for our present and future. 

I highly encourage you to read it.