Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman, originally known as Minty was born in the plantation called Anthony Thompson, in an area known as Peters Neck in Dorchester County (Sernett 286) in 1822. She was the fifth among the nine children, with the parents being Harriet Green and Benjamin Ross, both of who were slaves, and as such made her a slave due to the American laws at that time. He father was employed as a timber inspector, in one of the timber plantations were slaves were laborous. Among her other siblings, were Linah, Mariah, Ben, Henry, Moses, Soph, Rachel, and Robert. During those times, Maryland experienced a drop in agriculture and as such, there was a dip in the economy of Maryland. This happened when the cotton gin had been invented, and as such needed high labor for cotton harvesting, hence more slaves were needed to work in the great cotton plantations.
After her marriage to John Tubman in 1844, she started progressively as an American rights leader in which in her era, she went to become America’s greatest civil rights leader. Though got married to an African, they had conflicting goals pertaining to the future of slavery which was practiced so much, and as a result got separated with her husband, John Tubman in 1849, and moved to the North, Philadelphia. She escaped to Philadelphia, through the help of an abolitionist, who assisted her while she hid herself in a wagon, and ferried to Philadelphia.In Philadelphia, Harriet Tubman sacrificed by freeing up slaves using the money she earned while employed as a house help. She ventured into the Underground Railroad, which also exposed her to the Philadelphia Anti-slavery society, which had great involvement in the Underground Railroad, in which she helped more slaves to escape to the North and Canada. Her early life began in very tough conditions, where she was raised in harsh conditions that subjected her to great torture, as well as living in inhuman conditions. Her early days in life were characterized by intense torture and great difficulty, during the American great civil war. She endured and fought greatly by involving herself in rescue missions to continue her goal in liberation, among which some of her notable missions, the Harpers Ferry raid. In her struggle to liberate other slaves, she worked in great economic turmoil, under distress full conditions while earning meager salary in order to liberate more slaves, with the notable one being in 1863, which so more than 700 slaves liberated. On the other hand, she also fought other key developments, such as legislative laws which were aimed at curtailing the efforts in liberating slaves, for instance the fugitive slave rule of 1850, which stipulated that slaves would be captured and returned back to slavery. The story of Harriet Tubman is inspiring. It shows the courageousness that most legendaries and other iconic figures have passed through. Her life vividly exposes the challenges iconic figures overcome, from racial discrimination to getting involved in the civil war. Her contribution towards slavery liberation is a wider aspect that led her to endure and overcome severe beatings and torture. She endured beatings as well as racial discrimination to achieve her goals, in which the greatest lesson being learnt is that liberation and achievement comes with great suffering and sacrifice, in which this two characterized Harriet Tubman’s life from her early childhood. Wangari Maathai Conspicuously different from Harriet Tubman’s life, Wangari Maathai is an iconic figure who also agitated for freedom in particular groups in Kenya. She was born in Nyeri, Kenya at a place called Tetu (“Wangari Maathai – Biographical”) in 1940. Born at a time, of the British colony, it was rare to find girls that were educated, which brought about the exception of Wangari Maathai as a great example during those days. Her school life at a local community primary school, then to one of the Kenya’s most prestigious girl’s school, Loreto girl’s high school, defined the start of a bright career. Upon finishing her high school studies, she went for further studies to the United States through a scholarship, where she studied biology at the Pittsburg University (“Wangari Maathai Biography”), and graduated from the same with a master’s degree. While in the United States, she developed interest in civil rights movements, which defined the journey towards alleviating injustices due to improper governance. After graduating, she came back to Kenya. In Kenya, she got married to Mwangi Mathai in 1977 in which they later separated and finally divorced in 1979. Upon separation, she got involved in politics and acts of activism, through which she agitated for socio-economic and political change. Her first notable, being at the helm of her teaching career as a senior lecturer of the University of Nairobi, where she engaged in activism by campaigning for her fellow women, concerning benefits they could obtain while as staff of the university. This saw her help women staff to negotiate for better terms. In other instances, Wangari Maathai actively participated in other civic groups that championed the rights of women, for instance, the National Council of Women of Kenya, the Maendeleo ya wanawake group acting as its chair lady. During this time while in considerable authority, she formed the Green Belt Movement in 1977 (Whitehead 105), through which she conducted a series of pro-democracy acts, which were acts to force the government on agreeing to a constitutional referendum, which would benefit more Kenyans by instituting a more democratic government. Later in 1992, Wangari Maathai’s name featured in a list of people who were planned to overthrow, the then president Moi government, which led to her being jailed and undergoing severe beating at the same time. Wangari Maathai in several instances participated in a confrontation with the government, apprehended and thrown into jail, due to the acts that were termed as civil disobedience. This led to her being named as a threat to the country due to her perceived acts that supported human rights, democracy and freedom from oppression. In one of the instances, her name was blotted from the presidential race, due to her opposition with the government, in terms of advocating for freedom, as well as having strong stand as regards to activism in order to liberate people from oppression. She participated in various activism, to help people acquire jobs, environmental conservation by planting trees in Kenya’s famous Karura forest. Her quest for democracy, human rights demonstrate the great leadership traits in terms of sacrifice, endurance that she undergone in her quest for political and socio-economic change in Kenya. She later was awarded a Nobel peace prize in environmental conservation, peace and democracy but later succumbed to death due to complications as a result of ovarian cancer in 2011, after relentlessly advocating for human rights through activism. Both Tubman and Wangari Maathai had advocated for change, they had backings from society and other groups that gave them support to achieve their goals.
Works Cited
Sernett, Milton C. Harriet Tubman: Myth, Memory, and History. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008. Web.
"Wangari Maathai - Biographical." Wangari Maathai - Biographical. Web. 27 Nov. 2014. <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2004/maathai-bio.html>.
"Wangari Muta Maathai." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
Whitehead, Mark. Spaces of Sustainability: Geographical Perspectives on the Sustainable Society. London: Routledge, 2007. Web.
