The Rhetorical Legacy of Wangari Maathai

The Rhetorical Legacy of Wangari Maathai is a beautiful tribute to this Nobel Peace Prize winner and the idea that one person-or even one fabled hummingbird-can make a powerful difference. After completing this book, the reader will never think the same way about the importance of trees, our relationships with the earth, and the roles of rhetoric, culture, and spirituality in environmental justice movements. Specifically, this book makes important contributions and can be useful in courses that consider the intersections of environmentalism, feminism, and human rights; the role of rhetoric in social movements; intercultural communication; environmentalism as a "justice" issue; and the role of spirituality and religion in environmental justice work. -- Navita Cummings James, University of South Florida What a gift! We need to have the words of this wise woman to guide us as we navigate a tumultuous time. Wangari Maathai advocated environmental activism as a path for healing on multiple levels. This book helps us to better understand that passion and her world view connecting nature and indigenous communities with the social-and social justice. Thank you to the editors for crafting a project that recognizes critical importance her vision and for giving voice to an African woman's lived experience. -- Karla D. Scott, St. Louis University

Eddah M. Mutua is professor of intercultural communication at St. Cloud State University. Alberto Gonzalez is distinguished university professor in the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University. Anke Wolbert is lecturer in the School of Communication, Media, and Theatre Arts at Eastern Michigan University

Acknowledgements Introduction: Wangari Maathai and Social Justice Advocacy Alberto Gonzalez, Eddah M. Mutua, and Anke Wolbert Part I: Africa and the Rhetoric of the Green Belt Movement Chapter One: Bantu Sociolinguistics in Wangari Maathai's Peacebuilding Rhetoric Kundai V. Chirindo Chapter Two: Envisioning Peace and Reconciliation for Kenya: Wangari Maathai's 2008 Peace Tent Opening Ceremony Address Anke Wolbert Chapter Three: The Rhetorical Potency of Storytelling: The Narrative Role of the Hummingbird in the Green Belt Movement Franklin Nii Amankwah Yartey Chapter Four: Heroic Transverser: A Rhetorical Analysis of Representations of Wangari Maathai Wanjiru G. Mbure Chapter Five: Wangari Maathai's Rhetorical Vision: Empowerment through Education Ahmet Atay Chapter Six: The Green Belt Movement and Rhetoric of African Development Communication Stella-Monica Mpande and Cleophas Tauri Muneri Part II: Planting the Future: Sustaining Agency in and beyond the Green Belt Movement Chapter Seven: The Rhetorical Significance of Maathai's Environmental Advocacy to Critical Intercultural Communication and Black Feminisms Rachel Alicia Griffin and Gloria Nziba Pindi Chapter Eight: Wangari Maathai and Mottainai: Gifting "Cultural Appropriation" with Cultural Empowerment Etsuko Kinefuchi Chapter Nine: Daughter of the Soil: Wangari Maathai's Rhetorical Vision of Environmental Justice and Reform Reynaldo Anderson and D.L. Stephenson Chapter Ten: Growing the Next Generation: The Sustainability of Wangari Maathai's Rhetoric of Environmentalism Ellen W. Gorsevski Chapter Eleven: Planting the Future: The Spiritual Legacy of Wangari Maathai Eddah M. Mutua and Susan M. Kilonzo References Index About the Editors About the Contributors