Lessons from Liberia: Pray the Devil Back to Hell
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Not unlike other international news lost in the maelstrom of the last eight years, the plunge of Liberia into utter, horrific chaos didn’t warrant significant U.S. news coverage or response. Not surprising. After all, Liberia is in Africa (country or a continent?) and even though it was born of former slaves from these shores it—like most African nations and peoples—seldom grabs U.S. attention.
Now comes one of the most sobering and inspiring documentaries of our day, a chronicle of the amazing and successful struggle of Liberian Christian and Muslim women to bring the nation’s warring factions to their well-earned demise.
The provocative title of the work—Pray the Devil Back to Hell—grabbed us even before it hit the screen at a recent national leadership meeting of the Women’s Division of the United Methodist Church.
The content of the work—the shocking footage, the even more shocking narratives, and the unbelievable courage of women whose commitment and faith brought an end to war, toppled a government, sent a rogue president to international trial for crimes against humanity, and helped elect the first female head of state—is stunning. Throughout this moving story of horror and hope few eyes were dry, and total, inspired silence marked its conclusion. It is one of the finest documentaries I have ever seen.
And it is more. It is a teaching narrative for U.S. communities living into the demographic, religious, racial, and ethnic changes in this still-emerging nation. It is an open invitation to women of diverse faith traditions to consider anew their own possibilities; it is an open invitation to all to consider anew the depths and heights of our shared humanity, and to reconsider the unleashed power of organized, nonviolent, mass action.
Imagine 2050? See Pray the Devil Back to Hell and be encouraged for the journey ahead by the amazing struggle of Liberian women who sat down and stood up to violence and power, toppled it, and brought in a new day and a renewed nation.
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