Assignments

Unbowed: A Memoir

Wangari Maathai

 Chapters 7-12

            The memoir thus far has provided substantial as a model for the strength and courage embodied by Wangari Maathai. Her constant ambition through hard struggles such as those she found when criticizing students challenged her teaching abilities, to the struggles of her personal life such as her marriage with Mwangi. For my response I would like to focus on the personal difficulties Maathai faced in order to express my interpretation of her devotion to her beliefs.

            Page 139 reads, “When we go through profound experiences, they change us. We risk our relationships with friends and family. They may not like the direction we have taken or may feel threatened or judged by our decisions. They may wonder what happened to the person they thought they once knew.” This quote serves significance importance to me because I can strongly relate to a series of personal reflection within my beliefs and how it has affected my relationships. Her voyage from Kenya to Kansas back to life in Kenya, presents an immense transition in the cultural norms, beliefs, and values she has been exposed to. This passage also illustrates Maathai’s deep consciousness of her determination to succeed. Her devotion to the movement is deeply rooted within Maathai’s character, so she is able to examine her relationships and recognize the importance of her influence in the movement.

            A second quote, located on page 143 reads, “I recalled words a friend had told me, the philosophy of her faith. “Life is a journey and a struggle,” she had said. “We cannot control it, but we can make the best out of any situation.” I was indeed in quite a situation. It was up to me to make the best of it.” I admire her confidence in her beliefs because it takes strength to make a difference, one who is weak of heart is sure to be defeated more easily than one who has a conscious awareness with their purpose. Through her beliefs she was able to dedicate herself to the Greenbelt Movement, and by distinguishing what relationships and ambitions were worth the struggle she managed to succeed. Her voice did not quiver when she was handed a challenge, instead she decided not to back down and because of her decision and dedication she was able to carry out her dreams.

The Story of Stuff

            In the short informational film, coproduced by Free Range Studios and the Tides Foundation, Annie Leonard speaks of a process of “stuff” production. She explains the cycle as extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. Leonard, who has spend more than ten years traveling in order to “track” our “stuff” and how it comes to be our stuff, as well as where it goes when we dispose of it. I believe this is a very interesting quest, many people do not know nor care where their stuff comes from or where it goes, but with the increasing environmental problems more eyes are being opened by the troubles that lay ahead.

            The capitalist structure of our consumption patterns illustrate that our rate of disposal and waste is higher than it has been in recorded history, that fact alone should alert our attention. But rather we buy, literally buy, into this bottomless consumerism, renown for its immense waste! Due to this issue there have been many changes thrust upon the global community, shifting norms such as society, culture, environment, economic markets, and bumping into many limits. These limits offer a warning as to the consequences of such foolhardy, yet corporations continue to buy our elections as well as define the culture of a nation once greatly known for its embodiment of variety.             Seems to me there is a rather large problem in a nation where the overall wealth is held by the top 1% while the others struggle to get by economically, culturally, and most importantly environmentally. If 51 out of 100 of the globes largest economies are held by corporations and the other 49 are held by governments, the world is literally a political and economic scramble, a race to exploit all the resources in order to construct a global culture based on consumerism, valuing resources that are quickly becoming exterminated by the competition. This vicious trap benefits the few and takes down with it the many. Any environmentalist, anthropologist, or economist will tell you that the shifts being seen globally, with respect to each field, have had and continue to have a monumental impact on the people. The fact that since watching, “The Story of Stuff”, the state of Maine’s water has been privatized by Nestle, each moment we spend denying the truth is another second our fate is sealed more tightly. The point is distraction are vast and many, but truths such as the environment are very real and unless the problem is taken more seriously and recognized globally, shams and scandals and faults shall be of little importance when the finite planet responds harshly to our exploitations.

            With 2,000 trees a minute being cut down in the ‘name of the economy’, 8,000 people lose a chance to have fresh air in their systems. Yes each tree produces enough oxygen for a family of four to breath for 4 lifetimes. But rather than ensure the breath of an entire family the corporations, hence the markets, “demand” a trade for 48,000$ a minute. Deforestation has claimed 80% of the global forestry, that’s a lot of minutes, or as in the capitalist America, lots of money. Capital defines capitalism, hence their similarity, therefore the system cares more about money than trees, or our air supply. This decrease causes an increase in pollution, consequently as a result of the lack of filtration that occurs as a natural part of our global system. When we refer to the global system in regards to the global market a rather large portion of what it means to be human is subtracted from the equation, seen as irrelevant. This is a dangerous culture to create, or engage in, because the planet provides our source of being, our insurance of life, which is designed to be plentiful, but at out level of exploitation it shall be bare before we see our grandchildren.

            The global economic market does not take into account the kilo-energy consumed during trade and therefore does not take into account a huge factor of the living system that is our home. This wasted energy of our planet alongside the waste we produce (while using kilo-energy) drains the planet of its natural energy, and when exploited at current rates it is destine to run out before it may continue to produce.  In my opinion Annie Leonard did a fantastic job summarizing the problems and outlining possible solutions while all the while promoting conscious awareness of the situation and mindfulness of our roles within the structure. This problem is not one that shall just “go away”, but it calls for the communal effort of the global ‘human’ race in order to revert the damages that have and are currently being done. It is our job as citizens to remain informed and active in protecting and defending the world we love.

           

Response to Presentation by Dr. Helida Oyieke :

I found the presentation very interesting and frightening. I have paid close attention to figures and statistics regarding environmental, political, economic, and global statistics, because of this I have heard some alarming and scary figures since entering into college. I have heard of devastation through famine, or disease, drought and war, figures declaring that 2 billion of the world’s increasing 6.9 billion people to survive the devastations currently being created, by 2025. But when Dr. Helida Oyieke said that the conditions of agriculture was a part of the Millennium Development Goals and that this priority had been recognized in the early years following the millennium, and that this was to have been corrected by 2015, my jaw dropped. Its extremely scary to see what is happening all over the world with exploitation of resources including labor, while we vigorously sterilize the landscape as a means to produce a profit.

A powerful source of hope relieved some worry when Dr. Oyieke spoke of the caring attitudes of the women and their increasing involvement in protecting the planet. After the presentation I found myself mesmerized by the idea of “feminism”, having grown up with four sisters I am fascinated that when women get involved in a movement they must gain a definition. I began to ponder what would be the ‘male’ persona of feminism, maninism? With different responsibilities and (as stated by Dr. Oyieke) different fiscal incentives. I believe that it is important that people who recognize the ‘man-made’ disruptions to our global systems it is easy to see that humans are directly associated with the causes of much of the current global problems. (I say man-made because I believe that women-made is not politically correct, or is it considering maninism isn’t).

If one is to look at all the issues facing the globe today it is likely to result in an immense headache, but if we identify the issues, use our creativity to suggest solutions to problems (rather than create more problems) I believe it is possible to correct the enormous damage that has already been done. But without identifying the problem and abolishing it, the problem will constantly exist. I scribbled down a quote by Dr. Oyieke that I would like to address, the quote reads, “Not fighting to take authority, fighting for what we have to offer as beings”. Although I see her point in offering our selves as beings with a purpose, I would suggest that this not be referred to as fighting. In my opinion after much discussion and studying of nonviolence, I believe that the solution to many of our current problems is not to “fight” but to portray, or offer our abilities as humans while maintaining a respect for the roles of each part of the machine that is the world.

My question was: What does ‘A Sante Sana’ in Swahili, translate to in English?

Alexandria Valente      AvidNakedFoot, yup :)