Greta Thunberg has taken the world by storm since her thundering speech at UN has gone viral across the world. She is being hailed as a hero and the future of the world. While her spirit and initiative are commendable, there are so many other young climate change activists who are ignored in the mainstream media and their voices go unheard.
As Greta Thunberg became a global sensation, we needed reminders on other young activists, mostly people of colour from third world countries who have been fighting against environmental destruction since a long, long time.
It’s our time to know them, and hear them.
Photographer, model, and writer Darby Freeman took to twitter and introduced some of these young activists to the world, asking people to not forget their names and include them in our conversations. After that several other people chimed in, adding more names and faces to the list of young heroes:
#1. Artemisa Xakriabá
Artemisa Xakriabá, a climate activist, has been fighting against the destruction of Amazon by the corporate industries in Brazil. Artemisa represents the 25 million indigenous communities from the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, who together protect 600 million hectares of forest.
#2. Autumn Peltier
Autumn Peltier has been advocating for clean water, and she addressed UN General Assembly at the age of 13 in 2018. She is Anishinaabe-kwe and a member of the Wikwemikong First Nation, and she is famously called as the “water warrior.”
#3. Xiuhtezcatl Martinez
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is a 17-year old environmental activist, a hip-hop artist, and a writer. He sued the Trump administration for their inaction on climate change. Currently he is about to release his debut album Breaking Free, and his first book We Rise.
#4. Isha Clarke
Isha Clarke is from Oakland, CA and she is known for her viral video where she slammed the senator Dianne Feinstein for not supporting the Green New Deal.
#5. Leah Namugerwa
Leah is another climate activist from Uganda, who engages in protests and strikes to discourage the usage of plastic and encourage forestation. She has been featured in stories by BBC and Al Jazeera, and UN Habitat featured her as one of the frontrunners to combat climate change.
#6. Xiye Bastida
Xiye Bastida grew up in San Pedro Tultepec, a town outside of Mexico City. There she and her family had to face drought, then heavy rainfall, and then severe flooding. After seeing in an early age, the drastic effects of climate change, Xiye moved to New York recently and now she works to bring diverse group of people together to fight climate change.
#7. Isra Hirsi
Isra Hirsi founded the UN Climate Strike, and has been a vocal supporter of the Green New Deal. She lives in Minneapolis, MN.
#8. Vanessa Vash
Vanessa is a climate striker from Uganda. She is inspired by Greta Thunberg, and her fight is against fossil fuels.
#9. Mari Copeny
When Mari was 8 years old, water crisis broke out in Flint, Michigan. She and her siblings were deprived of water, and that’s when she decided to raise her voice for all the children of her city. Now she is 11 and continues her fight.
Featured Image Courtesy: Vice
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