May 11, 2005
(Washington, DC) - Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Members of the Congressional Black Caucus joined 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate, environmentalist and women’s rights leader Wangari Maathai in planting a Golden Rain Tree (Koelreuteria Paniculata) on the Capitol grounds today.
“Planting trees is a critical part of Wangari Maathai’s work to foster peace, environmental sustainability, human rights and women’s self-sufficiency, so it is appropriate that we honor that work and the principles that inform it by planting this tree here today,” said Lee.
Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contributions to sustainable development, democracy and peace. In 1977, Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental group that has helped women plant more than 30 million trees throughout Kenya. The Greenbelt Movement provides a source of income to countless Kenyan women, and allows them to gain a degree of power over their lives by working to take back their environment and improving their quality of life, and has inspired similar organizations in Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Lesotho, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe, among other countries.
Professor Maathai was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, the first female professor at the University of Nairobi, the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first environmentalist to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Professor Maathai was elected to Kenya’s parliament in 2002 with 98 percent of the vote. Shortly thereafter in January of 2003, Professor Maathai was appointed by President Mwai Kibaki to the position of Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources.
The event was organized by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in conjunction with the Architect of the Capitol. It was the first tree planted on the Capitol grounds to honor an African woman or a Nobel Laureate.
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***PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT AVAILABLE, UPON REQUEST***
After Planting 30 Million in Africa, Nobel Laureate Plants a Tree at the Capitol
Barbara Lee and CBC Organize Historic Tree Planting with 2004 Kenyan Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai
(Washington, DC) - Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Members of the Congressional Black Caucus joined 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate, environmentalist and women’s rights leader Wangari Maathai in planting a Golden Rain Tree (Koelreuteria Paniculata) on the Capitol grounds today.
“Planting trees is a critical part of Wangari Maathai’s work to foster peace, environmental sustainability, human rights and women’s self-sufficiency, so it is appropriate that we honor that work and the principles that inform it by planting this tree here today,” said Lee.
Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contributions to sustainable development, democracy and peace. In 1977, Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental group that has helped women plant more than 30 million trees throughout Kenya. The Greenbelt Movement provides a source of income to countless Kenyan women, and allows them to gain a degree of power over their lives by working to take back their environment and improving their quality of life, and has inspired similar organizations in Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Lesotho, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe, among other countries.
Professor Maathai was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, the first female professor at the University of Nairobi, the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first environmentalist to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Professor Maathai was elected to Kenya’s parliament in 2002 with 98 percent of the vote. Shortly thereafter in January of 2003, Professor Maathai was appointed by President Mwai Kibaki to the position of Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources.
The event was organized by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in conjunction with the Architect of the Capitol. It was the first tree planted on the Capitol grounds to honor an African woman or a Nobel Laureate.
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***PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT AVAILABLE, UPON REQUEST***