Dorothy Stang (1931-2005) dedicated her life to protecting the environment and fighting for the poor. She knew these struggles were interlinked, and her religious faith informed her work until the very end.
Dorothy Stang (1931-2005) dedicated her life to protecting the environment and fighting for the poor. She knew these struggles were interlinked, and her religious faith informed her work until the very end.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m environmental activist Erin Brockovich. This is Womanica.
This month, we’re highlighting Eco Warriors: women fighting for conservation and ecological justice.
Today’s woman dedicated her life to protecting the environment and fighting for the poor. She knew these struggles were interlinked and her religious faith informed her work until the very end.
Please welcome Dorothy Stang.
Dorothy Stang was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1931. She was the fourth of nine children in a devout Catholic family. When the Stangs lost their home during the Great Depression, they moved into an abandoned farm house . They grew their own vegetables to make ends meet.
When she was 17, Dorothy joined the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, an order of nuns dedicated to helping poor communities around the world. In 1966, Dorothy volunteered to work in Brazil.
When Dorothy and 5 other sisters arrived in the state of Maranhão, they spoke very little Portuguese. So, they began their ministry with simply learning the language. Soon, it evolved into religious instruction for adults in the community.
At the time, Brazil was at the start of a 21 year military dictatorship. The Sisters quickly saw the odds their new community faced.
A fellow Sister at the time, Sister Barbara English recalled: “By 1968, [we] were aware of the repression and violence promoted by the military dictatorship. People who worked for human rights and for the small farmers’ rights to the land were labeled subversive and the military dictatorship had them hunted down.”
The Sisters reacted by stressing basic tenets of human rights in their lessons. With this, Dorothy’s work took on new meaning.
In the early 1970s, the Brazilian government passed land reform laws that encouraged poor, landless farmers to settle the Amazon. The government said they would offer 200 acres of land, and money for tools to cultivate it. Brazil’s poorest communities saw this opportunity as a chance to secure better lives for their families. Dorothy packed up her things and joined farmers moving to the state of Para, with the intent of helping them start anew..
They arrived to find loggers and ranchers occupying the land instead, and police paid to scare off any competitors. So the farmers moved further into the forest to escape the danger. Again, Dorothy moved with them.
By 1980, the government announced a 10.5 billion dollar development project that would encompass the 3 northern Brazilian states, including Para. The plan was to open the land for oil refining, minerals, and agribusiness.
“They were David facing Goliath,” said Sister Barbara in reference to Dorothy and the peasant farmers. “And Goliath came in the form of multinationals, big businesses, ranching and lumber companies ... They began to devour the Amazon forest.”
By 1982, Dorothy had migrated with the farmers to Anapu, another city in Para. There, they established a sustainable, agrarian community. Dorothy became a leader. She helped foster a culture of respect, for the land and for one another. She became a spokesperson for the sustainable development movement. And she became, for some, a major target.
By 2001, Dorothy was receiving many death threats. She thought they might be from loggers, or land speculators.
The morning of February 12, 2005 was rainy. Dorothy was walking along a path from Anapu to another village. By this time, she had lived in Brazil for 40 years. She was on her way to visit farmers whose homes had been burned down on their land. But she wasn’t alone. From the forest emerged a pair of gunmen. They asked if she was armed.
Dorothy opened her Bible and began to read the Beatitudes.
“Blessed are the poor…blessed are those who seek justice…blessed are those who work for justice because they will be persecuted.”
Before she could finish, they shot her.
Dorothy’s murder was a devastating escalation. Ana Paula Santos Souza, a member of a group that Dorothy worked with, told the New York Times: "We're all incensed, but at the same time we're also very afraid. Sister Dorothy was an American citizen and a nun, and even with all that prominence, she was still killed publicly. What does that mean for the rest of us?"
Within two years the killers were charged and convicted.
Several thousand people attended Dorothy’s funeral and memorial services were held around the world. She is buried in a grove in Anapu.
All month, we’re highlighting eco-warriors. For more information find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Thank you to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for having me host this week.
Talk to you tomorrow!