Remembering Wangari Maathai
Visionary, human rights advocate, womanist, mother, Kenyan activist Wangari Maathai has passed away at 71. Maathai lost her battle with cancer after being in hospital for a week, reports the New York Times.
As we mourn the loss of such an important African heroine, we remember five quotes she left behind as seeds for change:
“My heart is in the land and women I came from.”
“African women in general need to know that it’s okay for them to be the way they are – to see the way they are as a strength, and to be liberated from fear and from silence.”
“We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind.” “All of us have a God in us, and that God is the spirit that unites all life, everything that is on this planet. It must be this voice that is telling me to do something, and I am sure it’s the same voice that is speaking to everybody on this planet – at least everybody who seems to be concerned about the fate of the world, the fate of this planet.”
“Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own.”
Read this amazing tribute to Maathai by Kenyan poet Mburu Kamau.
Rest in peace.
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Wangari Maathai, First African Woman
To Win Nobel Peace Prize, Dies…
Get To Know Her On Film
We’ve written about her twice on S&A, so some may be familiar already. In 2004, she becamethe first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize; Kenyan political and environmental activist Wangari Maathai has died at age 71, losing a lengthy battle with cancer.
First, the report on her death this morning:
Second, in March, we alerted you to a documentary on Maathai, titled Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, which documents the story of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement, a grassroots organization encouraging rural women and families to plant trees in community groups, and centers Maathai, the movement’s founder, as she helps spark a movement to reclaim Kenya’s land from a century of deforestation, while providing new sources of livelihood to rural communities.
The film follows her three-decade journey of courage to protect the environment, ensure gender equality, defend human rights and promote democracy - all sprouting from the achievable act of planting trees.
Lisa Merton and Alan Dater directed the production which aired on March 22 on the PBSnetwork Independent Lens series.
It’s now on DVD and can be purchased via the film’s website HERE.
Here’s a preview:
<p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #808080; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 550px;">Watch the full episode. See more Independent Lens.</p>
Watch the full episode. See more Independent Lens.
And lastly, back in January 2010, CNN profiled Wangari Maathai; embedded in 3 parts below:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
If you didn’t know, now you know…
RIP.
>via: http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/archives/wangari_maathai_first_africa...
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Planting Love:
Wangari Maathai and the
Fight for a Greener World
Photo: Wanjira Mathai/greenbeltmovement.org
“The planting of trees is the planting of ideas. By starting with the simple step of digging a hole and planting a tree, we plant hope for ourselves and for future generations.”
Those were the words of Wangari Maathai. An ardent environmentalist and social activist, Maathai had long been a hero to many in her native Kenya. In 1977, she founded the Green Belt Movement, which uses community-based tree planting as the entry point for organizing to fight poverty and boost civic engagement. Its projects range from food security initiatives to citizen education trainings and raising HIV/AIDS awareness through theater.
In 2004, Wangari became the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition to her work at the grassroots level, she also authored several books and accessed the political avenue to forward her efforts, garnering international attention and support. Her passion for uplifting her fellow Kenyans is an inspiration that goes beyond borders, and her organization’s expansion to GBM International signals the spread of environmental activism and awareness. In a region where the green movement is so clearly indivisible from poor people’s struggle for justice, Wangari was truly a visionary leader.
After a lifetime dedicated to the fight for a healthier and more sustainable world, she passed away yesterday at age 71 from cancer. Over 30 million trees have been planted through GBM over the years, a testament to her life’s work. “To me they represent life, and they represent hope,” Maathai once said. “I think it is the green color. I tell people, I think heaven is green.”
Members of the Green Belt Movement plant trees on an eroding hillside in Kenya. Photo by Mia MacDonald
Food security.
GBM tree nursery. Photo by Cassandra Pataky