[Dialogue] Wangari Maathai: She died before her time-the trees are crying!

Thu Sep 29 00:35:27 EDT 2011

Dear Diane,

I cannot do justice to the incredible trilling that our African sisters do.
Although, Fred did uite well.

Nancy

On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 8:03 PM, McCabe, Diann A <dm14 at txstate.edu> wrote:

> What a great story, Nancy. I have such a tender place for Wangari Maathai
> because she was to speak here on campus almost exactly a year ago but had to
> cancel. I think the cancer had just been diagnosed. The organizers (and I)
> were so disappointed. But some students planted a tree on campus in her
> honor and although the drought has been severe, the tree is alive.--Diann
> McCabe (would love to hear some trilling)
>
> From: Nancy Lanphear <nancy at songaia.com>
> Reply-To: Colleague Dialogue <dialogue at wedgeblade.net>
> Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:58:17 -0500
> To: Colleague Dialogue <dialogue at wedgeblade.net>
> Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Wangari Maathai: She died before her time-the
> trees are crying!
>
> Thank you Ellie, for sharing this article with us.  Wangari was a
> courageous woman who understood  that story and symbol that call people to
> action are critical to society.  I remember when she spoke here in Seattle.
> Fred and I were in seats near the back of the auditorium along with many
> women in colorful kitangi outfits.  Following her talk, there were trills
> and clapping that might have raised the roof - Fred trilled along with all
> of those women.
>
> And, of course, that brings up yet another story.  During an event in
> Kawangware or Kamwelenii, a large group of women were taken to the top of
> the Kenyatta center.  Many of them had never been on an elevator, and of
> course, many had not ever been in the Kenyatta center.  They stood looking
> out over the city, their city of Nairobi and TRILLED.  For me, there is not
> a greater sound of emotion -  joy, sheer delight and/or amazment!.
>
> Thanks again for you ongoing care for us all.
>
> Be well,
>
> nancy
>
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 6:10 PM, <elliestock at aol.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Remembering Wangari Maathai, Kenyan Eco-Heroine and Nobel Peace Laureate
>> NAIROBI, Kenya, September 26, 2011 (ENS) - Wangari Maathai, founder of the
>> Green Belt Movement and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, passed away at the
>> Nairobi Hospital Sunday, while undergoing treatment for cancer. She was 71.
>>  Wangari Muta Maathai was born on April 1, 1940. In 1971, after graduate
>> studies at the University of Pittsburgh, she became the first Eastern
>> African woman to receive a Ph.D., when she was granted a Doctorate of
>> Anatomy from the University of Nairobi, where she then served as a
>> professor.
>> Maathai started the Green Belt Movement<http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/> in
>> 1977, planting trees and encouraging Kenyan women to plant native tree
>> nurseries throughout the country. Since then, the movement has planted an
>> estimated 45 million trees in Africa and assisted nearly 900,000 women to
>> establish tree nurseries and plant trees to reverse the effects of
>> deforestation.
>> She became an advocate for better management of natural resources and for
>> sustainability, equity, and justice, work that put her at risk during the
>> authoritarian rule of President Daniel Arap Moi. In the late 1980s and early
>> 1990s, the Kenyan government came down on Maathai and the Green Belt
>> Movement and she was jailed several times.
>> In 1984, she received the Right Livelihood Award "for converting the
>> Kenyan ecological debate into mass action for reforestation."
>> Maathai was an elected member of Parliament and served as Assistant
>> Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in the government of
>> President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005.
>> She founded the Mazingira Green Party of Kenya in 2003 to allow candidates
>> to run on a platform of conservation as embodied by the Green Belt Movement.
>> It is a member of the Federation of Green Parties of Africa and the Global
>> Greens.
>> In 2004, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to
>> sustainable development, democracy and peace, becoming the first African
>> woman, and the first environmentalist, to win the prize.
>> The Norwegian Nobel Committee said then, "Maathai stood up courageously
>> against the former oppressive regime in Kenya. Her unique forms of action
>> have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression - nationally
>> and internationally. She has served as inspiration for many in the fight for
>> democratic rights and has especially encouraged women to better their
>> situation."
>> Today, world leaders mourned her passing and praised her legacy of renewed
>> forests and environmental justice.
>> Kenyan President Kibaki called her a global icon and a great human rights
>> crusader.
>> "In politics, she will be remembered for the role she played in agitating
>> for political reforms that paved the way for the country's second
>> liberation," Kibaki said.
>> Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said, "We all knew her as a voice of
>> reason, a lady who stood above our artificial divisions of race, tribe and
>> region and championed the cause of humanity."
>> Speaker of the National Assembly Kenneth Marende said, "I had an opWangari
>> Maathai with her Nobel Medal and Diploma at the Nobel Peace Prize Award
>> Ceremony,portunity to serve with her in the 9th Parliament. She was
>> kindhearted, helpful and committed to serving her country the best way she
>> could. We have lost a true hero."
>> UN Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner said, "Wangari
>> Maathai was a force of nature. While others deployed their power and life
>> force to damage, degrade and extract short term profit from the environment,
>> she used hers to stand in their way, mobilize communities and to argue for
>> conservation and sustainable development over destruction."
>> "She was, like the acacias and the *Prunus Africana* trees Wangari fought
>> so nobly and assiduously to conserve, strong in character and able to
>> survive sometimes the harshest of conditions. She was also immovable in the
>> face of ignorance, political gamesmanship and wanton environmental
>> destruction," Steiner said.
>> Steiner said she was the inspiration behind UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign,
>> which was launched in 2006.
>> "Indeed she risked her life and limb on several occasions to campaign and
>> coordinate women and young people through her work in the Green Belt
>> Movement taking her messages, her charm, her unflagging humour and optimism,
>> conviction, honesty and intellect from her native Kenya to the highest
>> international debates on climate change to biodiversity loss," said Steiner.
>> United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid tribute today, saying,
>> "Her passing is a loss for the people of Kenya and the world," adding that
>> Maathai was known throughout the development and human rights community not
>> just for her "inspirational eloquence, but for her human warmth."
>> The Nelson Mandela Foundation, responsible for carrying on the work of
>> South Africa's first black president and Nobel laureate, said in a statement
>> today, "It was with great sadness that we learned today of the passing of
>> this exceptional environmental activist."
>> Right Livelihood Award Executive Director Ole von Uexkull said, "The Right
>> Livelihood Award Family has lost one of its most prominent members. Wangari
>> Maathai was an inspiration to the whole world as well as to her
>> co-Laureates. She always used the power of her commitment and her
>> longstanding experience to strengthen others. Our thoughts are with her
>> family. Wangari will live on in the memories of her colleagues ... and in
>> the millions of trees she helped plant in Kenya."
>> "She understood and acted on the inextricable links between poverty,
>> rights and environmental sustainability. One can but marvel at her foresight
>> and the scope of her success. She was a true African heroine," Archbishop
>> Desmond Tutu's office said in a statement.
>> Wangari Maathai's organization, the Green Belt Movement, wrote, "Professor
>> Maathai's departure is untimely and a very great loss to all who knew her -
>> as a mother, relative, co-worker, colleague, role model, and heroine; or who
>> admired her determination to make the world a more peaceful, healthier, and
>> better place."
>> Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "Wangari Maathai will be
>> remembered as a committed champion of the environment, sustainable
>> development, women's rights, and democracy. Her energy and life-long
>> dedication to improve the lives and livelihoods of people will continue to
>> inspire generations of young people around the world."
>>
>>
>>
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