Kenyan Nobel Peace Laureate Promotes New Book in the U.S.

  By Pamela Mulumby
Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan activist, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder of the Green Belt Movement is in the United States to discuss her latest book, “The Challenge for Africa.”

According to a media release posted on her web site, www.greenbeltmovement.org, Maathai will spend this week speaking with readers in cities such as New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, among others. The book tour started on April 9 and is expected to end on April 21.

In The Challenge for Africa, Maathai analyzes roadblocks to development, including: the absence of peace and security; the lack of technological developments; the absence of fair international trade; population pressures and enduring hunger; the silencing of native languages and the evisceration of traditional cultures; and the dearth of genuine political and economic leadership, the press release said.

Maathai also stresses the need for Africans to invent and implement their own solutions, rather than relying on foreign aid and Western visions of change and calls for a revolution in leadership on both national and individual level.

The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is the founder of the Green Belt Movement and a former member of Kenya's parliament.  Maathai is widely known for her persistent struggle for human rights, democracy and conservation of the environment. She has addressed the United Nations on several occasions.

Maathai’s life is the subject of a documentary, Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, which premiered this week on the PBS series Independent Lens. The film was voted the best film at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto, Canada last year. Check your local listings for times.

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