The greeting outside Ward African Methodist Episcopal Church on Saturday was meant to send a clear message that their special guest and keynote speaker could feel at home.
Wangari Muta Maathai, the founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, received fresh bouquets of flowers as she walked to the church, down a street filled with the musical sounds of ululating women dancing to the rhythms of African drummers.
In Los Angeles, the city's gritty environment is often talked about as something to be survived -- not something to be saved.
But Maathai delivered a different message at the pulpit at 1177 W. 25th St., talking about simple things that can be done, such as recycling, planting trees, changing light bulbs and using public transportation.
"It doesn't have to start with big things; start with small things, start with ourselves," she said.
Maathai's appearance in Los Angeles was part of an Ecological Justice Day of Awakening sponsored by the Women's Global Resource and Development Initiative, an organization that seeks to promote self-esteem in women and children through self-help projects around the globe.
"When you are talking about healing the earth, you are talking about healing the quality of life for all who share in the earth," said the Rev. Cecelia Williams Bryant, executive director of the organization.
Minority communities in Los Angeles, Bryant said, need to look at the rise in asthma that stems from air pollution, and childhood obesity as an outgrowth of fast food diets. "Children are full, but not well-fed. If you send children to school hungry and ill-equipped and tired, you are sending them as fodder to respond negatively to a stressful environment."
In addition to honoring Maathai, the program paid tribute to Anna Marie Carter, a local environmentalist known as "The Seed Lady" for her work promoting organic gardening in Watts and Long Beach.
"We are kindred spirits," Carter said of Maathai. "We do the same work, but on opposite sides of the planet."
As part of the event, Million Trees L.A., a joint project of the city and community groups, distributed free trees to those in attendance.
In front of an audience of more than 300 people, L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks welcomed Maathai and described her as a courageous woman who had risked her life on several occasions to save the environment.
