Honorary Planetary Citizen of the Month

We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind.
~Wangari Maathai

Go out into your yard and count how many trees are in your yard. Go to a local park and count or estimate the number of trees there. Have you ever planted a tree and had the pleasure of sitting in its shade, enjoying its flowers, fruits, colors…watching it grow over the years? Now, imagine planting some 30 million of them. The 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate, Wangari Maathai, has dug many holes, and although some have wished to push her in and cover her over, she has instead spearheaded a mighty environmental, social, and political movement in Kenya and neighboring lands. “We must stop talking and engage in actions. That is what will make the difference.”

She has been called the “Green Crusader,” a “latter day Johnny Appleseed,” and by the former president of Kenya, D.A. Moi: “a crazy woman” who is “a serious threat to the country's stability.” Due to her strong voice and heroic actions she helped inspire a nation-wide movement that ousted Moi. “I am working to make sure we don't only protect the environment, we also improve governance.”

As an ambassador, commissioner, professor, president, founder, and leader in many organizations Wangari Maathai has called on nations to distribute wealth equally, to disarm, for military funds to be used for environmental restoration, for planet-wide access to health care, and for a radical reordering of the world's political power. Due to speaking up and acting upon it she has been beaten unconscious by police (while planting trees), has been to jail several times, spent six months of exile in Tanzania, and has weathered many attacks against her character.

As the first environmental activist and first African woman to receive the Nobel Prize, she has gained much attention recently. As is often done by these recipients, she has taken the spotlight as an opportunity to speak up about issues (especially controversial ones) and has questioned the “African AIDS epidemic” that the media has played up. “Why has there been so much secrecy about AIDS? When you ask where did the virus come from, it raises a lot of flags. That makes me suspicious.”

Her suspicion is that AIDS could possibly be man-made, noting that there have been many instances of biological warfare created and employed by nations, governments, and heartless individuals to destroy lands and peoples. Also true is how pharmaceutical companies have made millions and millions by dumping cheap AIDS drugs on African countries through contracts and deals with various leaders, covering it up by casting their business as “humanitarian” efforts to “save” the people. “I have always thought that it is important to tell people the truth, but I guess there is some truth that must not be too exposed.”

“Our children have a right to a world free of pollution, rich in biological diversity and with a climate capable of sustaining all forms of life.”

“All of us have a God in us, and that God is the spirit that unites all life, everything that is on this planet.”

We here at Global Community Communications Alliance see that Maathai is living as a global citizen who has put others before herself. Her decades of courage have shown her to be of the good vine; the good vine, which weaving through hu-manity will endure the harsh winter of the modern era, and being pruned back heavily, along with the nourishment of such willing persons serving, will come to bear a new and sacred fruit for a future world to partake. Amani (“peace” in Swahili) to you Wangari Maathai. We honor you!