Betty Williams (born 22 May 1943) was a co-recipient with Mairead Corrigan of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 (the prize for 1976) for as a cofounder of Community of Peace People, an organisation dedicated to promoting a peaceful resolution to The Troubles in Northern Ireland. She heads the Global Children's Foundation and is President of the World Centers of Compassion for Children International. She is also the Chair of Institute for Asian Democracy in Washington D.C. and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Nova Southeastern University. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Betty_Williams. ... May 22 is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mairead Corrigan (born 27 January 1944) was the co-founder, with Betty Williams, of the Community of Peace People, an organization which attempts to encourage a peaceful resolution of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. ... Lester B. Pearson after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish and Norwegian: Nobels fredspris) is the name of one of five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. ... For other uses, see The Troubles (disambiguation). ... Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a not-for-profit, independent university, founded in 1964 in Davie, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale. ...

Peace petition

She was drawn into the public arena after witnessing the death of three Catholic children on 10 August 1976 when they were hit by a car whose driver, an IRA fugitive named Danny Lennon, was fatally shot by British authorities (see[1]). Williams was driving in her car with one of her children when she heard gunfire. She turned the corner to her street and saw the three Maguire children and rushed to help. Their mother, Anne Maguire, who was with them, eventually committed suicide in 1980 after a failed attempt to start a new life in New Zealand. is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the 1976 Gregorian calendar. ... Provisional Irish Republican Army (Irish name: Óglaigh na hÉireann) (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Army or the RA) is an Irish Republican left-wing paramilitary organisation that, until the Belfast Agreement, sought to end Northern Ireland...

Within two days of the tragic event, she had obtained 6,000 signatures on a petition for peace and gained media attention. Together with Mairead Corrigan, Anne Maguire's sister, she cofounded the Women for Peace which later, with co-founder Ciaran McKeown became The Community for Peace People. Look up Petition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Mairead Corrigan (born 27 January 1944) was the co-founder, with Betty Williams, of the Community of Peace People, an organization which attempts to encourage a peaceful resolution of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. ...

The two organized a peace march to the graves of the children, which was attended by 10,000 Protestant and Catholic women — the peaceful march was disrupted by members of the Irish Republican Army, who accused them of being "dupes of the British" (see[2]). The following week, Williams and Corrigan again led a march — this time with 35,000 participants.

On 13 August, the day of the Maguire children's funeral, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan were to appear with journalist Ciaran McKeown, on a current affairs television program, and although they arrived too late, they met McKeown, who joined the two women in founding the Peace People. McKeown wrote the original Declaration and organized the rally supporting it (see[3]). August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ...

Declaration of the Peace People

First Declaration Of The Peace People

• We have a simple message to the world from this movement for Peace.
• We want to live and love and build a just and peaceful society.
• We want for our children, as we want for ourselves, our lives at home, at work, and at play to be lives of joy and Peace.
• We recognize that to build such a society demands dedication, hard work, and courage.
• We recognize that there are many problems in our society which are a source of conflict and violence.
• We recognize that every bullet fired and every exploding bomb make that work more difficult.
• We reject the use of the bomb and the bullet and all the techniques of violence.
• We dedicate ourselves to working with our neighbours, near and far, day in and day out, to build that peaceful society in which the tragedies we have known are a bad memory and a continuing warning.[4]

(signature)

Nobel prize

The dramatic display of support for peace that the two women had organized led to their joint receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 (the prize for 1976). Lester B. Pearson after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish and Norwegian: Nobels fredspris) is the name of one of five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. ...

In her acceptance speech, Williams said,

"That first week will always be remembered of course for something else besides the birth of the Peace People. For those most closely involved, the most powerful memory of that week was the death of a young republican and the deaths of three children struck by the dead man's car. A deep sense of frustration at the mindless stupidity of the continuing violence was already evident before the tragic events of that sunny afternoon of August 10,1976. But the deaths of those four young people in one terrible moment of violence caused that frustration to explode, and create the possibility of a real peace movement...As far as we are concerned, every single death in the last eight years, and every death in every war that was ever fought represents life needlessly wasted, a mother's labour spurned" (see[5]).

Personal life

A book about Williams and Corrigan.

At the time she received the Nobel Prize, she was working as a receptionist and raising the two children she had had with Ralph Williams. They divorced, and she married James Perkins in 1982, and moved to the United States, where she toured and lectured extensively. Image File history File links CorriganWilliamsbook. ... Image File history File links CorriganWilliamsbook. ...

In 1992 she was appointed to the Texas Commission for Children and Youth by then Texas Governor, Ann Richards. Dorothy Ann Willis Richards (September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician and teacher from Texas. ...

She spent time as a visiting professor at Sam Houston State University, in Huntsville, Texas and In 2004, she returned to Belfast, Northern Ireland. A professor is a senior teacher and researcher, usually in a college or university. ... Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University, (known as SHSU and Sam, for short) founded in 1879, is a university located in Huntsville, Texas. ... Huntsville is a city and also a newly designated micropolitan area located in the U.S. state of Texas within Walker County. ...

Awards

Since winning the Nobel Peace Prize Williams has received the People's Peace Prize of Norway in 1976 , the Schweitzer Medallion for Courage, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, the Eleanor Roosevelt Award in 1984, and the Frank Foundation Child Care International Oliver Award. In 1995 she was awarded the Rotary Club International "Paul Harris Fellowship: and the Together for Peace Building Award.

Comments on George W. Bush

On July 24, 2006, while delivering a speech at the Earth Dialogue forums, Williams told school children at the Brisbane City Hall, "I have a very hard time with this word 'non-violence,' because I don't believe that I am non-violent." She went on to say, "Right now, I would love to kill George Bush", blaming him for the deaths of children, particularly in the Middle East. "I don't know how I ever got a Nobel Peace Prize, because when I see children die the anger in me is just beyond belief. It's our duty as human beings, whatever age we are, to become the protectors of human life."^[1] is the 205th day of the year (206th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Brisbane (pronounced ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, as well as the third largest city in Australia, with a greater metropolitan population of 1. ... Bribane City Hall ( view from King George Square ) Brisbane City Hall has frontages to King George Square, Ann Street and Adelaide Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Lester B. Pearson after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish and Norwegian: Nobels fredspris) is the name of one of five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. ...

In The Media

Betty Williams is highlighted in the Nickelback music video for their song If Everyone Cared. She is shown at her rallies and she speaks at the end of the video. Nickelback is a Canadian rock band formed in Hanna, Alberta by Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger and Ryan Peake. ... If Everyone Cared is the fourth single worldwide released from Nickelbacks All the Right Reasons, and the fifth and sixth single released in Australia and the U.S. respectively(Animals was only released in Australia and the U.S., and Rockstar only in the U.S.). It was released...

External links

• [6] Nobel Committee information on 1976 Peace Laureates
• [7] brief bio
• [8] A biography of Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams
• Peace People in NI - a socialist position

See also

• As Peace Comes Into View - Women Strike Out for Greater Representation in Northern Ireland - by Lys Anzia / WNN - Women News Network, April 2007

• The Peace People
• The Troubles