Wangari Maathai (Courtesy Photo)
NOTE: This speech is part of a Black History Month assignment at NationHouse Independent Afrikan-Centered School where young people wrote speeches as a historical figure.
Habari Gani family and friends my name is Wangari Maathai, and I was a Kenyan environmentalist and a political activist. I was born April 1, 1940, in Kenya. I spent many years working toward making the world a better place by campaigning for women’s rights, teaching and creating The Green Belt Movement where we planted 9,420 trees across 23 acres (about the area of Chicago’s Millennium Park) of land. Now I see the world today has gone into shambles despite the efforts of me and many others and something must be done about it.
The world used to be a better place but now planet Earth is slowly dying because people are not taking care of the environment. On average 42 million trees are cut in one day which adds up to 15 billion in one year but we just ignore this to get things like money. Not only is this happening but pollution has gotten worse too, which also kills trees and animals all over the world. If this keeps up humanity as we will know it will indeed become extinct because of us ruining the Earth.
In order to stop the planet from dying we must make sure to grow more plants, stop all pollution and make more eco–friendly products. By doing this plants will grow more, helping us to breathe better. Animals like fish will be able to survive more and not have to deal with plastics all throughout their home. The planet will also thrive.
Before people can start growing more plants, we must first stop or reduce the amount of them being cut down or destroyed. If they stop there will automatically be more plants because more seeds and spores will spread around and more plants will grow. For this to be carried out we must stop messing up ecosystems to build civilizations and find ways to live within them instead. Some people may argue that it is impossible to do this but many years ago we used to live this way. This is only the first step in saving the world because living within the environment will not work if it is still dying due to pollution.
Pollution is the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects. This means that all the plastics and garbage you throw on the ground and the gases we use for factories and cars are all killing are planet. People must work to recycle and reuse things instead of putting them wherever we want to make the world a better place. There are five trash islands which show just how much trash we pollute the world with. Pollution also has a big effect on the world climate which is destroying the continent of Antartica and the life that lives there.
In order to stop pollution, we must first find a way to break down and clean up all the garbage around the world and then people must find products to replace things like plastic so that it can be broken down more easily. An example of something we have been using instead of plastic is cardboard which is a pasteboard of stiff paper. Fast food places can be seen replacing plastic straws with cardboard all over the world and it is good because it can be broken down easily and will not kill the environment which is one step closer to saving the world.
It saddens me to see the world as it is today but there is still a chance for redemption. It is our responsibility as creatures on this planet to keep the Earth healthy so that all living things can survive and not destroy it because of what we want. If society keeps on track, it is now nothing will be able to survive and what is the point of putting something that you want over what you need? I along with many others have worked and set the foundation for people to start taking care of our planet but it would all be in vain if nothing changes. So, I encourage you to get out your bed and start making a change so the future will be better for everyone. My name is Wangari Maathai and ansate sana for listening to my speech.
Wangari Maathai was the first Kenyan environmentalist and first African American woman to be awarded the noble peace prize in 2004. Wangari Maathai also created the Green Belt Movement and planted over 9,420 trees in Kenya. She was an enormous influence on many people in Kenya to plant more trees to help the environment. She was born April 1, 1940, and died September 25, 2011, and will never be forgotten for the amazing work she did.
The Watoto Speak! 