In the 70’s, after marriage and motherhood, Maathai began dipping her toe in the activism pool. She campaigned for equal rights for women workers at the university and attempted to form unions. Maathai was also active in the Kenya Red Cross and other nonprofit groups. Labeled a firebrand for her outspoken approach, Maathai claims that her activism and drive led to her divorce.
Maathai became concerned about the vast deforestation happening in her country and in 1977, she created the Green Belt Movement to combat those issues. To date, the GBM has planted over 51 million trees in Kenya in a bid to restore the country’s natural beauty.
Maathai became and remains an iconic champion of both women’s rights and the environment. In 2012, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests created the inaugural Wangari Maathai Award to honor women who fight for forest issues around the world.
Maathai succumbed to ovarian cancer in September 2011.
(Photo: Martin Rowe)
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Little Known Black History Fact: Wangari Maathai was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
