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Quote by Wangari Maathai

“African women in general need to know that it's OK for them to be the way they are - to see the way they are as a strength, and to be liberated from fear and from silence.”

Quote by Wangari Maathai

Author

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan political activist and environmentalist who became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Born on April 1, 1940, and passing away on September 25, 2011, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots organization dedicated to environmental conservation and women's rights. more

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“But when you have bad governance, of course, these resources are destroyed: The forests are deforested, there is illegal logging, there is soil erosion. I got pulled deeper and deeper and saw how these issues become linked to governance, to corruption, to dictatorship.”

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“Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven't done a thing. You are just talking.”

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“It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.”

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“In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and peace.”

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“I know there is pain when sawmills close and people lose jobs, but we have to make a choice. We need water and we need these forests.”

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“It was easy to persecute me without people feeling ashamed. It was easy to vilify me and project me as a woman who was not following the tradition of a 'good African woman' and as a highly educated elitist who was trying to show innocent African women ways of doing things that were not acceptable to African men.”

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“We are very fond of blaming the poor for destroying the environment. But often it is the powerful, including governments, that are responsible.”

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Author:Wangari Maathai

“We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to conserve the environment so that we can bequeath our children a sustainable world that benefits all.”

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“It is important to nurture any new ideas and initiatives which can make a difference for Africa.”

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“It would be good for us Africans to accept ourselves as we are and recapture some of the positive aspects of our culture.”

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