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During my night routine of watching TEDx Youtube videos before going to bed, I came across one with Chimamanda Adichie as the guest speaker. She spoke about the inequality she has faced due to her gender and the need for a change to such a thing for a better future. What she said that grabbed my undivided attention was a quote from the Kenyan Political Activist, Wangari Maathai which says

The higher you go, the fewer women there are.

This got me starstruck and intrigued for a moment as I related to our society of today, and sadly it is true. A part of me was more interested in what the African-American writer had to say and how there was a ton of truth buried within the words that came out of her mouth. But even after her speech, I was still more concerned about who Wangari Maathai might be and why Chimamanda held her in such high prestige.

Well as they say

CURIOSITY IS THE WICK IN THE CANDLE OF LEARNING.
William Arthur Ward
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So I researched who Wangari Maathai happens to be. To the fullest of my surprise, she happens to be the first African woman to win a Nobel peace prize for her contribution to the development of democracy and peace. Now I can see why Chimamanda has so much respect for her.

A Brief Background on Wangari Maathai

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She was born on the 1st of April 1940 in a family of Kikuyu, a popular ethnic group in Kenya. She also comes from a village known as Ihithe, in the district of central highlands, while her father was a farmer in the Nakuru area. Her brothers attended primary school, while she stayed behind until she was eight years old when she finally enrolled in the same primary school as her brothers. Through her intelligence and love for knowledge, she finished top of her class, thereby making her qualify for the Kennedy Airlift, where she got the opportunity to study Biology and gained a bachelor's degree from Mount St. Scholastica.

Her quest for knowledge didn't stop there, as she went on to gain a Master's Degree from the University of Pittsburgh in the same field of biology. After gaining knowledge outside her country, she decided to return home to invest her newly acquired knowledge in her people by changing certain unconventional ways of running things. She began to fight for the deployment of diplomacy, democracy, and above all peace in a system that was autocratic. This I believe gave her the term Political Activist as she stood for certain unjust causes and beliefs that blinded her people from seeing the truth. I remember reading about the conspiracy launched against her by The Standard, claiming she said:

AIDs is a disease launched by the whites to control Africa.

What I admire is her response and how she used the opportunity when interviewed to address her people on the belief that sleeping with a virgin could cure such a disease, cause this belief had led to an increase in rape within the town.

It is noteworthy to bear in mind that Wangari Maathai is not only the first African woman and environmentalist when it comes to claiming a Nobel Peace Prize but she is also the first woman from the Central and Eastern parts of Africa to become a Doctor of Philosophy by receiving a Ph.D. from the University of Nairobi.

In the year 1971, she founded an NGO called Green Belt Movement which is primarily concerned with planting trees and women's rights which to date has been one of her numerous contributions to humanity. She is blessed with many honorary degrees because of her life's work and she even has a tree at the University of Pittsburgh named after her. I must tell you, Chimamanda Adichie, the renowned author of Half of a Yellow Sun, Purple Hibiscus, and many other books, isn't the only one that holds this iconic woman in high regard, she is also well respected and loved by the Former US Senator and President, Barack Obama.

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Unfortunately, she passed on the 25th of September 2015 due to complications from ovarian cancer but her work, impact, and contributions can never be forgotten. She remains forever in the hearts of the people of Kenya and the people of the world.

WE LOVE WANGARI MAATHAI.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

1984 Right Livelihood Award
2004 Nobel Peace Prize
2007 World Citizenship Award
2007 Indira Gandhi Award
2009 NAACP Image Award – Chairman's Award
2020 The Perfect World Award and many more.
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Even after she died in 2011, she still received numerous awards which goes to say she can never be truly forgotten and she remains forever in our hearts.

If you would like to read more about her, you should check out her biography on Wikipedia