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Trailblazing Nobel Laureate on Environment, World Peace

GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images

Wangari Maathai grew up in a small village in the highlands of Western Kenya. Maathai is widley known to be the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctoral degree. In 2004, became the first African woman, and the first environmentalist, to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Maathai had a simple idea: encourage women to plant trees. But that movement led to a worldwide conversation about sustainable development, democracy and human rights. Today, she is commonly named among the world's foremost environmentalists.

Wangari Maathai talks about her memoir, Unbowed, and why she believes protecting the environment has everything to do with world peace.

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