“Whatever you do, make sure you hold the hand of someone older and hold the hand of someone younger.”

Xiye Bastida, Youth Leader at Fridays for Future and the co-founder of the Re-Earth Initiative, joined a conversation with Honorary POP Ocean Mentor, Ana Hanhausen and other POP youth leaders focusing on youth leadership, as part of “POP Climate Leadership Conversations: A Tribute to Our Chief Mentor” on June 10, 2021. This conversation was also a part of the POP Festival 2021.

The conversation began with Bastida sharing her perspective that leadership was about sharing space together. She focused on the intersectionalities of the climate crisis, the value of intergenerational dialogue, and the power of community. She believes that intergenerational conversations are about gaining wisdom from the older generation who have lived through so many experiences, and giving them the energy of the younger generation in return. “It’s very easy for us to just alienate people who haven’t done their best to protect the earth, when in reality it is them who have power right now and power in these leadership positions. But we can challenge that, and we can ask more from them, and we can become those people in those leadership positions,” she said.

The climate movement and political leadership

Aman Gandhi, POP youth leader, asked whether a lack of political leadership had caused the climate movement to be primarily led by the youth during the past years. He further asked how Bastida’s way of thinking had been shaped by becoming a leader at a young age and taking on important responsibilities. In response, Bastida expressed her disappointment regarding the lack of political leadership. She observed that the existing system of power works the way it is intended to, and stated that leadership rooted in power is not constructive. On the other hand, she believes that the youth are in this for the right reasons. “We have been thrown into these leadership positions without having to think about financial compensation, or about power dynamics. And that makes us so special,” she said.

Staying true to values

Bastida noted that it was difficult to remind yourself why you had started in the first place, once you become a leader and your movement gets recognized. She believes that it is crucial to remember that we are here as activists, and that ‘influencer-ism’ is not activism. She emphasized the importance of staying true to values as we enter different sectors; “The first part of starting a movement – the first part of starting anything – is being true to who you are, and what your values are, and what your goals are; and not letting anything come in your path, or clouding your judgement, or diverting your values,” she said.

Approaching climate action with stubborn optimism

Nahid Pérez, POP Trainee Mentor, asked Bastida how she envisioned the future and what she thought was necessary to achieve this future. To this, Bastida responded that the current coverage of the climate crisis was very apocalyptic. She believes that we will lose our motivation to fight if we fall into the complacency that we are already doomed. Instead,  we should face the struggle with stubborn optimism and approach the climate crisis with the mindset that we can make positive change, and to see it as an opportunity to have an impact. “The solutions are here. What we need is the will to push all of those forward,” she said.

Message to the younger and older generations

Kevin Morales Münstermann, POP Youth Leader from Mexico and Co-founder of “Resilience 2020”, asked Bastida what her message would be to both the younger and older generations. Bastida responded that we cannot act in silos of age, location, and interest, because everyone’s skills are needed.  The older generation, who have already chosen the paths they would like to follow, should think of ways to use those choices for the better. As for the younger generation, it is important to communicate the crisis to them as one that has existing solutions. She advised that taking care of the Earth had to be made part of our children’s culture.

Furthermore, she noted that  in order to not lose passion and energy in the fight against the climate crisis, it was important to find comfort in community, celebrate wins, and recognize the changes that were being made.

Incentivizing communities

Camila González, POP Trainee Mentor, enquired about the biggest challenge that young leaders face as they join the climate movement. She further asked how people could join the fight and help leaders overcome these struggles. To this, Bastida pointed out that there was a lack of critical voices in the movement and spoke about how every solution would not fit every place because of varying cultures and differing approaches to dealing with things. In this regard, she further talked about the need to incentivize communities to take action. “That’s what we need to figure out; how to communicate that this is about our stability and safeguarding the planet for current and future generations,” she said.  Bastida advised that it was also imperative that we ensure that our own values align with the values of the organizations we join.

Language and loopholes, demand and supply

Ana Hanhausen raised a question regarding what it was that could motivate other generations, especially political and business leaders who have the opportunity to create effective and  fast change, to join the fight. To this, Bastida shared her opinion that language had to be used clearly in order to effectively communicate demands to those in power, and to avoid loopholes. She also spoke of how people in power used language in legislation to create loopholes that would serve their own interests. With respect to business leaders, she spoke of the necessity to call out practices such as greenwashing, and support businesses that were truly making a change. “At the end of the day, it’s supply and demand. What do we demand? What do we buy? That’s what they’re going to supply,” she said.

Gender dynamics in climate activism

Ivan Ransom, POP Youth Leader from Mexico and Co-Founder of “Resilience 2020”, asked if gender played any role in activism. To this, Bastida responded that most of the climate leadership she had witnessed had been from young girls, and men who recognized women’s rights. “At the end of the day, climate destruction correlates a lot with gender issues,” she said, mentioning issues faced by both Mother Earth and women, such as exploitation and disrespect. Bastida noted, “We have to be anti-patriarchal in order to be in balance with Mother Earth and be able to recognize that we have to protect it.” 

Fighting together

Bastida concluded the conversation by reminding us that we were not alone in the fight against the climate crisis. “We’re here for the long run, and we’re here for each other,” she said.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Ms. Xiye Bastida was born and raised in México as part of the Otomi-Toltec indigenous peoples. She is a teenage climate activist based in New York City and one of the lead organizers of the Fridays For Future youth climate strike movement. She mobilized 600 students from her school for the first climate strike in March 2019 and has taken a citywide leadership role in organizing climate strikes and speaking about climate justice issues in rallies and town halls. She sits on the administration committee of the People’s Climate Movement, where she brings the voice of youth to existing grassroots and climate organizations. Ms. Bastida launched a youth activism training program during the Summer of 2019 to expand the climate justice movement. She is also a member of Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion. In 2018, she was invited to the 9th United Nations World Urban Forum to speak about indigenous cosmology. She also spoke at COP25 on related issues. She received the “Spirit of the UN” award in 2018.

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