Wangari maathai brief biography of mayan
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Remembering Wangari Maathai- Twice in a lifetime
by Cynthia Silva Parker
By now you have heard that Wangari Maathai has died. I feel especially blessed to have met this remarkable woman before and after she became known on the world stage.
Professor Maathai founded the Greenbelt Movement in Kenya, standing courageously against poverty, environmental degradation, government corruption and a violent campaign to silence her. She was a consummate systems thinker and justainability advocate, before the term was coined. She believed that peace required full stomachs, productively engaged hands, land that could provide for its people, and an awakened community – particularly women – who were fully aware of their power to resist oppression. She believed that caring for the land was everyone’s responsibility, and that justice depended on it. Over the space of some 30 years, the Movement has planted and nurtured more than 30 million trees! As political reforms came to
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Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmentalist and climate justice advocator who started the Green Belt Movement, responsible for planting over 30 million trees. She was also the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Born in 1940 nära a holy fig tree, high up in the Kenyan huvud highlands, she got lucky when her mother boldly decided to send her to school. She was educated bygd Italian nuns and later studied in the US, during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. Unsurprisingly, this influenced her activism.
“Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you kamp for and then you protect.”
Wangari Maathai
With a doctorate in the pocket and a strong vision, Wangari fought for climate justice in her home country. Some called her stubborn and “hard to control”, like her ex-husband, others beat and imprisoned her for her activism, but she persevered. She brought women into the political centre, using gender and nudity in
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Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you fight for and then you protect. –Wangari Maathai
Born in rural Kenya in 1940, Wangari Maathai was a powerhouse of a woman. She was an activist, professor, author, and politician. She was a champion of democracy, human rights, and an outspoken advocate for the environment. In 2004, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”
Maathai did so much and yet her legacy can be summed up in one powerful symbol: the tree.
Environmental Activism
It was during the early 70s that Maathai came into her role as an activist. By then, she noticed how Kenya’s commercial plantations were not only devastating the environment but also creating hardship for Kenya’s poorest populations. The plantations had caused vast deforestation that was affecting people’s livelihoods: rural women were reporting that streams had dried u