Wangarĩ Maathai grows a movement
Kenyan scientist and Nobel Prize winner fought for a better environment for African women.
Wangari Maathai in 1992. Credit: Wendy Stone/Getty Images
In 1977, more than 40 years before United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York unveiled the Green New Deal, which the
New York Times in 2019 described as “a congressional resolution that lays out a grand plan for tackling climate change”, Wangarĩ Muta Maathai launched the Green Belt Movement (GBM), through the National Council of Women of Kenya.
This International Women’s Day, with its 2021 theme of “Choose to challenge” (“A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. So let’s all choose to challenge”), is an ideal time to recognise Maathai, who embodies these attributes of challenge and change.