when i was in high school i was on the school newspaper. one year we were doing either profiles for black history month or women’s history month. you were allowed to choose who you wanted to write about. among the people i chose was wangari maathai. my teacher did not know who she was. i’m pretty sure i had chosen all african/black women and i remember the teacher (who was european/white) saying, “these are such interesting choices. how did you find out about all these people?” and i was shocked that she did not know about the first african woman to win the nobel peace prize (or about the other people on my list. where did she live, in the ground?). i felt like this was common knowledge. it was a major moment in history. its a pity the way the world works where it takes death for greatness to be appreciated.