Description
“Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You are just talking.”
— Wangari Maathai
This oversized postcard is a reproduction (offset printed, NOT letterpress) of “Trees of Life,” part of the ongoing Dead Feminists poster series. This piece is a collaboration between Chandler O’Leary of Anagram Press and Jessica Spring of Springtide Press, created in solidarity with feminist climate activists around the planet, as they lead people of all ages and nationalities into the streets to demand decisive climate action from our world leaders.
The large letterpress poster is nearly sold out and won’t be reprinted—but this postcard faithfully reproduces the hand-lettered typography and hand-drawn illustrations of the original.
Wangari Maathai was known as Africa’s “Mother of Trees.” She dedicated her life’s work to restoring the environment in her home country of Kenya. Along with a tireless group of women followers, Maathai planted millions of trees, disrupting and enraging a corrupt, authoritarian regime in the process. While her government was bent on resource extraction, the theft of public lands, and a kleptocratic program of personal enrichment (stop us if any of this sounds familiar), Maathai kept planting seeds—and held her ground.
Trees of Life is printed in the bold, joyful colors of kitenge fabric, which Wangari Maathai wore as her personal signature. Central to the design is an African baobab tree, also known in folklore as the tree of life. To symbolize the interconnected nature of the world’s biomes and climates, the tree is adorned with “fruit” portraying a number of vulnerable and endangered Kenyan species.
Colophon reads:
Wangari Muta Maathai (1940 – 2011) was born in the central highlands of Kenya, in a rural village. Unlike many girls her age she attended school, and was awarded a scholarship to attend college in the United States, focusing on biology. She returned to Kenya to earn a PhD — the first East African woman to do so. She joined the National Council of Women in 1976, working with women to plant trees. Through Maathai’s Green Belt Movement, more than 51 million trees have been planted throughout Kenya, reforesting the environment and improving the quality of life. Tree planting gave Maathai an opportunity to teach communities to protect their own interests, pursue self-government and regain a cultural foundation stripped away by colonial rule and government corruption. The Green Belt Movement grew with Maathai on the front line, fighting authoritarian abuses of power, land-grabbing, and illegal detention of political opponents. Kenya returned to a multi-party democracy in 2002 and Maathai was overwhelmingly elected to Parliament, also serving in the Ministry for Environmental and Natural Resources. In 2004 Maathai was the first African woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, honoring her lifelong commitment to democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. Her example inspires us to action: “It is the people who must save the environment. It is the people who must make their leaders change. And we cannot be intimidated. So we must stand up for what we believe in.”
Illustrated by Chandler O’Leary and printed by Jessica Spring, with hope that our collective climate action will bear fruit for the planet.
Postcard size: 5 x 8 inches
PLEASE NOTE: this oversized postcard requires extra postage. It mails at the regular letter rate (currently 55 cents) within the U.S.
PAPER FINISH: this postcard is made from paper with a smooth, eggshell finish. If you write on it, we recommend using either a ballpoint pen or some form of permanent, smear-proof ink.
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This original artwork is copyright Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring 2019. Copyright is not transferable with the sale of this piece. The buyer is not entitled to reproduction rights.
WA state residents are subject to sales tax.
This postcard will ship flat in a protective mailer, via the United States Postal Service.
