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Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, has died. She was 71. She was the founder of the Green Belt Movement, which has planted over thirty million trees across Kenya. In 2002, she was elected to Kenya’s parliament, and in 2003 was appointed assistant minister for the environment. She joined Terry Gross for a conversation in 2006.

“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. ”

—Wangari Maathai
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“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. ”

—Wangari Maathai

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

—Wangari Maathai
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