Hugely charismatic, humble, and possessed of preternatural luminosity of spirit, Wangari Maathai, the winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and a si...
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Aug 10, 2010
William
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This is not the most artfully or lyrically written book but it deserves 5 stars for the tale it tells..It's a story of one of the few true heroes of our generation. And to overcome the formidible obstacles that are put in the path of an African woman from a developing nation, by men, culture, tradition and the vestiges of colonialism to reach the hieghts of leadership and effectiveness that she has is simply astounding. It is a story that needs to be shared with all that want to know what one pe
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Mar 15, 2008
Anna
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The first half, about her childhood and even her experience as a university student in the U.S., lacked depth. The book became more captivating as I read on, but only because the subject matter became more interesting (her experiences in Kenya after she returned from university, Kenya's recent political history). Unfortunately, her writing style throughout is pretty dry; she probably should have worked on the book with someone. She also appears self-congratulating at times, which is annoying but
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Nov 09, 2008
Marcy
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Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 in Kenya. Her saving of Kenya's forests won her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
Not only did Wangari Maathai found the Green Belt Movement, but she has fought continuously for human rights in her country. A corrupt undemocratic government has constantly tried to keep her down, in the press, and even through imprisonment. Wangari has never given up. She is revered by the people of Kenya, as she is all over the world. She fight More...
Not only did Wangari Maathai found the Green Belt Movement, but she has fought continuously for human rights in her country. A corrupt undemocratic government has constantly tried to keep her down, in the press, and even through imprisonment. Wangari has never given up. She is revered by the people of Kenya, as she is all over the world. She fight More...
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Oct 06, 2011
Eszter
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beyond inspiring. i can't even speak to what she writes about; i think it is already too late for me to build the fortitude to challenge (and shift) the orientation of my government's moral compass. "but it is never too late," i'm sure maathai would say. and maybe she's right; we are all so comfortable believing that we are not the ones who can make a difference that it makes it infinitely harder to gather momentum for those who are willing to try.
r.i.p. wangari maathai; she More...
r.i.p. wangari maathai; she More...
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Sep 27, 2011
Johanna
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The main theme between Three Cups of Tea and Unbowed were similar: Fixing a broken system that was doing wrong to its people. In one case, the people were neglected and forgotten. In the other, the people were exploited or trampled. Both protagonists in the books were headstrong, to say the least, and accomplished some amazing good on a large-scale level. But their ego also separated them at times from even those closest to them.
While reading Maathai's memoirs, I was really amazed at h More...
While reading Maathai's memoirs, I was really amazed at h More...
Sep 27, 2011
Friederike
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When Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, questions were raised regarding her choice by the Nobel Committee. Why should an environmentalist receive a prize that was identified with peace and human rights, voiced the critics. Reading Maathai's memoir sets the record straight, and justifying her selection for the award. In this fascinating and very personal account, she paints a vivid picture of her life, embedded in the realities of Kenya before and since independence. Her e
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May 24, 2010
AdultNonFiction
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Teton Co Library Call No: BIO MAATHAI W
Marisa's Rating: 3 Stars
Read this as part of the book group "A Revolutionary Book Group" - a very interesting life story. As with a lot of memoirs of non-writers, I feel the writing was a bit dry, maybe too straight forward. However, her story more than makes up for it. Maathai was born in Kenya to a large polygamist family in rural village. Her childhood sounds idyllic - and sets the tone for the rest of her journey. As deforest More...
Marisa's Rating: 3 Stars
Read this as part of the book group "A Revolutionary Book Group" - a very interesting life story. As with a lot of memoirs of non-writers, I feel the writing was a bit dry, maybe too straight forward. However, her story more than makes up for it. Maathai was born in Kenya to a large polygamist family in rural village. Her childhood sounds idyllic - and sets the tone for the rest of her journey. As deforest More...
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Sep 16, 2009
Barry
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Sep 23, 2010
Yleanacueva
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Reading Unbowed by Wangari Maathai was definitely uplifting and inspiring. She put me in her shoes and made me realize things about myself. This woman is truly a strong woman role model to not only myself but the other people who have read this book as well. Her spirit is very humble and always optimistic. I like to believe the reason why she carries those traits are because of the way she grew up. Wangari was born in the rural village of Kenya in 1940. Throughout her whole life she has alw
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Jul 29, 2010
Bookguide
rated it:
Fascinating autobiography (in Dutch, title "Ongebroken") of the founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, which encourages local women to set up cooperative tree nurseries and plant narrow ribbons of trees in villages. The trees help prevent soil erosion, create shade and an area of vegetation which goats can graze so that women can help feed their families. Wangari Maathai looks back fondly to her village roots and the way of life before the plantations encouraged the destruction o
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Nov 13, 2011
Shauna
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Wangari Maathai is one of the most inspirational, down to earth, women activists I've ever come across. Unbowed is the story of her life, from childhood to American Education to her grassroots movement back home in Africa, and it is beautifully written. She touches base on so many different topics and issues, that this is not just a book on environmental activism. I was first introduced to the works of Maathai a few years ago while taking an African Development class at the University of Winni
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Jul 27, 2011
Deb
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This was a really excellent memoir. Wangari Maathai (who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004) is an amazing woman with a very compelling and inspiring life story. Maathai was one of the first--if not THE first--activists to realize and communicate the connections between environmental justice, democracy, and economic justice, via the Green Belt Movement she founded. In a way, because of the personal component, I found this memoir a more effective vehicle for her ideas than her more recent
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Jan 17, 2012
Stasia
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I have mixed feelings about this book. Superficially, the way it's told makes me sometimes feel as though Maathai isn't being totally straightforward about everything, or that some parts are a slightly too strong justification of things she did that were unpopular. I got tired of that, a little. But then again, perhaps she approaches storytelling from a way that I don't know how to appreciate.
On the other hand, it's a crazy amazing story of starting small and making HUGE change in the More...
On the other hand, it's a crazy amazing story of starting small and making HUGE change in the More...
Oct 19, 2011
Carol
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While the writing sometimes falters, and the story sometimes stalls, this is a moving, challenging autobiography of a woman who said "yes" to the demanding situations that confronted her. She tackled deforestation and soil erosion with creation of the Green Belt Movement, and stood for the environment, for public parks, for the rights of women. She faced public ridicule, imprisonment, tear gas, beatings, and endless threats with grace, courage, and apparent good humor.
Two lo More...
Two lo More...
May 22, 2009
Kerry
rated it:
This autobiography about Wangari Maathai. She had led an inspiring life as an environmentalist, nobel peace prize recipient, academic, politician, feminist, human rights activist, mother, etc.
If you are interested in women's rights, the environment, Kenya, planting trees, preserving green spaces, women in politics, women in academia, human rights, etc. you will find something in this book to inspire you. I liked hearing about her experiences studying in the U.S. The content is in More...
If you are interested in women's rights, the environment, Kenya, planting trees, preserving green spaces, women in politics, women in academia, human rights, etc. you will find something in this book to inspire you. I liked hearing about her experiences studying in the U.S. The content is in More...
Aug 14, 2011
Dani
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I was assigned to read this for a leadership program, only knowing that the book was vaguely about an environmentalist. This has turned out to be an amazing read and an outstanding inspiration. The story itself is captivating, as are the continuous achievements and fights Wangari Maathai undertook: the forming and nurturing of the Green Belt Movement, her fight for democracy, an end to poverty, and unification of Kenya. Environmentalism had not been a major interest in choosing this book, but I
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May 06, 2010
I was reading about the Election in the UK, and according to the BBC, this is apparently Gordon Brown's favourite book (You know, that guy who's been Prime Minister, "president" of the UK for the last three years.).
I looked Wangari Maathai on wikipedia, and she has a chemistry/biology background and was a certified genius as a child. So much so the Catholic Church plucked her out of Africa and sent her to the USA to study as a Catholic diplomat of sorts.
She has More...
I looked Wangari Maathai on wikipedia, and she has a chemistry/biology background and was a certified genius as a child. So much so the Catholic Church plucked her out of Africa and sent her to the USA to study as a Catholic diplomat of sorts.
She has More...
Oct 18, 2011
Nicholas
rated it:
I think Wangari Maathai might be my definition of a hero. What an amazing story she has to tell. And what a role models she is for everyone, but particularly Africans and women.
I've really tempted to give this 5 stars, but the writing is not always great. Actually, I really liked her writing: very earnest, very honest, very personal, and very enthusiastic. There is no objective professor coolly judging events, there is a person who is passionate about here beliefs and will fight for t More...
I've really tempted to give this 5 stars, but the writing is not always great. Actually, I really liked her writing: very earnest, very honest, very personal, and very enthusiastic. There is no objective professor coolly judging events, there is a person who is passionate about here beliefs and will fight for t More...
Sep 27, 2011
Jo Ann
rated it:
I just reviewed another book about Wangari Maathai - a children's book called Planting the Trees of Kenya, which I loved. This memoir isn't wonderfully written, but I still gave it a 4 because the story of the author is so inspiring...it makes one want to make a difference! Wangari and I went to the same small college in Kansas in the 60's...she was a mighty senior when I was a lowly freshman...she died yesterday in Kenya, mightily honored (and also despised by many politicians in her homeland)
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Nov 17, 2011
Emily
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Maathi passed away recently and this is how I came to know about her, even though she had won a Nobel prize in 2004 for environmentalism, and her establishment of the Green Belt Movement. I enjoyed most the early section of the book that traces the origins of her deep love of nature and how miraculously she received a science education, unlike most girls of her generation. She tells the story of Kenya's days under the yoke of the English, very dispassionately, without hatred, but detailing the h
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Oct 29, 2011
Erica
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Wangari Maathai was an amazing woman. I really enjoyed reading this book, mostly because it was the right book at the right time. I will be traveling to Kenya in January to learn about food justice initiatives there, and I read this book to get more background on the geographical area of Kenya, the environmental movement, and the political history. To that end, the book was very useful, as Maathaia's life weaves in and out with each of those threads. Additionally, Wangari Maathai recently passed
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Oct 30, 2011
Nick
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This memoir of the late African environmental activist Wangari Maathai who began the Green Belt Movement in Kenya details her early childhood, education in the United States and the struggles she had to face in Africa. Simply written, Maathai's story is a beautiful reminder how women who are undervalued in their culture, can make radical changes. She was a model of personal integrity as she faced jail, physical and emotional abuse and the dissolution of personal relationships by challenging a p
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May 06, 2010
Marisa
rated it:
Teton Co Library Call No: BIO MAATHAI W
Read this as part of the book group "A Revolutionary Book Group" - a very interesting life story. As with a lot of memoirs of non-writers, I feel the writing was a bit dry, maybe too straight forward. However, her story more than makes up for it. Maathai was born in Kenya to a large polygamist family in rural village. Her childhood sounds idyllic - and sets the tone for the rest of her journey. As deforestation created through colonial More...
Read this as part of the book group "A Revolutionary Book Group" - a very interesting life story. As with a lot of memoirs of non-writers, I feel the writing was a bit dry, maybe too straight forward. However, her story more than makes up for it. Maathai was born in Kenya to a large polygamist family in rural village. Her childhood sounds idyllic - and sets the tone for the rest of her journey. As deforestation created through colonial More...
Jan 05, 2012
Millicent
rated it:
It was my professor of African American Women's History in college who taught me the lesson that one of the best ways to learn history is through studying the lived experiences of activists working in opposition to a system structured to oppress them-- a combination of Patricia Hill Collins's standpoint theory, which states (simplified) that the oppressed must be able to navigate both the dominant paradigm and the inner workings of the cultures oppressed people create outside the realm of powerf
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Nov 03, 2011
Emily
rated it:
Imagine if you suddenly discovered that your favorite book character was alive... like if you were told that the real Nancy Drew lived next door. It happened to me with this book.
I read this book after Wangari Maathai died earlier this year. She was an amazing environmentalist and I knew of her work with the Green Belt Movement, but I knew little else about her life, so I decided to read her autobiography.
Now to let me go back further, last year I read a wonderful book by N More...
I read this book after Wangari Maathai died earlier this year. She was an amazing environmentalist and I knew of her work with the Green Belt Movement, but I knew little else about her life, so I decided to read her autobiography.
Now to let me go back further, last year I read a wonderful book by N More...
May 15, 2010
Christopher
rated it:
One of the first memoirs I've read in a long while, this book gave me an intriguing perspective on one woman's efforts to follow her dreams, defend her community and the environment, and call attention to both the noble and the corrupt elements of her society. Her stubborn devotion to particular causes was inspiring, although I noticed that she talked less about the specific impacts of particular supporters as the book went on. Yet I admire her constant tone of encouragement... inviting each rea
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Apr 14, 2010
Scot
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This is a memoir by Wangari Maathi, a Kikuyu from Kenya, who in 2004 became the first environmentalist—and the first woman from Africa--to win the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s a fairly easy read, with the first four chapters reviewing her childhood, the Mau Mau uprisings, and her college education in the United States, an incredible and at that time (1960) new scholarship opportunity she was able to secure by being the best and brightest student in the right place at the right time. She reminds me
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Jan 29, 2009
Erin
rated it:
This is not one of our book club selections (yet), but it should be. This woman is incredible.
It's the memoir of Wangari Maathai, who in 2004 was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She managed this through a lifetime of environmental activism, which naturally led to human rights activism. A biologist by training, she realized that many of the social ills of her native Kenya stemmed from abuse and mismanagement of the country's natural resources, so she founded More...
It's the memoir of Wangari Maathai, who in 2004 was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She managed this through a lifetime of environmental activism, which naturally led to human rights activism. A biologist by training, she realized that many of the social ills of her native Kenya stemmed from abuse and mismanagement of the country's natural resources, so she founded More...
Apr 26, 2009
Lauren
rated it:
This book is like the trees that Wangari Maathai so passionately planted in Kenya - it is slow in the beginning, building its roots, but then it blossoms and grows into one of the most fascinating and inspiring reads I have read in a while. I also learned so much from this book about Kenya's struggle to have a real, thriving, democratic form of government. I did not realize that the first real elections that they had was in November of 2002!
Maathai is a very wise woman who came from More...
Maathai is a very wise woman who came from More...
Aug 27, 2008
jen
rated it:
Wangari Maathai is an exceptional person. Her dedication and persistance to righting issues in equity and the environment are inspiring. The tone of the book reflects what I believe her personality must be like; calm, insistent and honorable. At times, her tendency to understate her own accomplishments made me almost miss the enormity of her impact and work. Reading about her life reminded me that each person's actions truly can have a profound impact on the world in which we live. This was a bo
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