Wednesday the 6th of July 2011 Wangari Maathai received a honorary doctorate at Copenhagen University and spoke about her work with the Green Belt movement, the Taking Roots movie and more.
The history books are replete with stories of women who changed history. Many of those women, from Cleopatra to Queen Victoria, were born into royalty or power, but there are many examples of women who started out as everyday citizens but went on to change the world.
Wangari Maathai an internationally recognized Icon for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation
The history books are replete with stories of women who changed history. Many of those women, from Cleopatra to Queen Victoria, were born into royalty or power, but there are many examples of women who started out as everyday citizens but went on to change the world.
Wangari Maathai an internationally recognized Icon for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation
Her death has brought the loss of a great environmental campaigner. Today is a great loss to the African Diaspora and the World. Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai succumbed to Cancer. The Africa Society mourns the loss of this Great African Leader and Environmentalist. Her solution, to work with the poorest and most vulnerable women to repair their own degraded environments and empower themselves, proved inspirational. I have been reading Wangari Maathai’s blogs on peace, environment and democracy One of Kenya‘s most recognizable women, won her Nobel in 2004 for combining science and social activism and a founder of the Green Belt Movement, where over 30 years she mobilized poor women to plant 30 million trees.
Wangari Maathai, almost lost her life trying to secure karura forest. It was this forest that for years represented the underbelly of our government and the dysfunction therein. It was this forest that reminded us that the environment is political. And quite frankly the thought that we can now go there and enjoy a picnic, a walk and some splashing in the river is amazing!
Planting trees became a worldwide symbol of hope and community regeneration. The Green Belt Movement that she started, evolved into one of the first truly worldwide, grassroots, self-help organizations. Over the next 20 years, billions of trees were planted by women around the world as a direct result of her work.
Her anger with the west and her disappointment with a succession of Kenyan governments never abated. But after she unexpectedly won the Nobel peace prize in 2004, she become a powerful voice of African women. From being dismissed by governments as a dissident, she was embraced by them as they turned to the environment as a fig leaf for their other destructive policies
She was a fearless opponent of corruption, a thorn in the side of the male-dominated Kenyan authorities – "that woman", they used to call her – and was never afraid to speak the truth to the most powerful world leaders when they dragged their feet on climate change. She will be remembered on several occasions having addressed the UN and spoke on behalf of women at special sessions. RIP Mama
http://www.greenbeltmovement.org
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