Biologist, scholar, and activist Wangari Maathai knew the government’s degradation of Kenya’s natural resources was a problem that needed immediate attention.
The restoration and protection of thousands of acres of forests and farmlands was a tall order. Maathai’s women rolled up their sleeves and said: “challenge accepted.”
Empowering over 30,000 women through her Green Belt Movement, the Kenyan countryside erupted with over 30 MILLION trees.
This was an upset that a dictatorial government saw as a direct threat - and so it responded with death threats! But she would not be discouraged.
She wasn’t planting trees merely for quality of life purposes. Rather, she was equipping Black women with the skills needed to interrupt “business as usual,” to push forward with a strategic outlook on environmental stewardship, democracy, and more.
In 2004, Maathai challenged the world in her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech to “broaden the understanding of peace: There can be no peace without equitable development; and there can be no development without sustainable management of the environment in a democratic and peaceful space" where Black women’s voices are heard and needs are met.