Meet Alexandria Villaseñor, the Young Woman Inspiring People to Take Action on the Climate Change Crisis

Alexandria Villaseñor caught the attention of the public after she protested outside of the United Nations building in New York City every Friday morning for months. After being inspired by Greta Thunberg, 14-year-old Latina climate activist Alexandria Villaseñor started skipping school and instead chose to sit on a bench by herself with signs protesting the inaction we are witnessing on this incredibly important matter.

 

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I’m in an interview with @nationmag about the youth movement and I talked about the March 15th climate strike in America! Link to article is in my bio. • • • Photo Credit @jamietehonica #FridaysForFuture #ClimateAction #climatecrisis #climatestrike

A post shared by Alexandria Villasenor (@alexandriav2005) on Jan 28, 2019 at 4:44pm PST

 

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WEEK 20 of my @unitednations #ClimateStrike in NYC. I’ve worked all week on @earth_uprising , activism and school. It’s raining (again!) I’m tired and I was sick, but this is the work. Every challenge motivates me to keep going. The youth won’t be stopped! #FridaysForFuture @gretathunberg

A post shared by Alexandria Villasenor (@alexandriav2005) on Apr 26, 2019 at 11:22am PDT

She did this for months by herself, rain, snow, or sunshine. And others started catching on.

 

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WEEK 27 of our @unitednations #ClimateStrike in NYC. Today, indigenous elders brought ceremony and blessing to us. They said our mother is dying & painted our faces with ochre so we would be close to her. They spoke to us about how to be true activists and we were honored by their wisdom. 💚 @olivepit_ @the_new_gt @valentinaossayarrow @theo_greenfield2005 @fff.nyc @margotwillocq

A post shared by Alexandria Villasenor (@alexandriav2005) on Jun 14, 2019 at 1:46pm PDT

Eventually, her dedication worked and she is now a spokesperson on the subject. Alexandria founded the organization Earth Uprising and co-founded the US Youth Climate Strike. She has met with representatives on Capitol Hill.

 

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My day on capital hill has been a dream so far. I got to sit down and have a meeting with @kirstengillibrand. Since she’s running for president, it was amazing talking to a potential world leader about the #GreenNewDeal, climate policy and even @jayinslee’s Evergreen Economy Plan alongside @una.usa’s Exec. Director Rachel Pittman.

A post shared by Alexandria Villasenor (@alexandriav2005) on Jun 11, 2019 at 10:58am PDT

. Recently, she introduced Ani DiFranco at the Clearwater Festival after giving a speech on climate change.

 

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This past Saturday I got the honor to introduce Ani DeFranco at the #ClearwaterFestival. But before I introduced her I was asked to talk about the climate movement and how we need YOUR ACTIVISM more than ever before to win this fight for our future! Also, shout out to my nonprofit @Earth_Uprising which had it’s full launch this Friday. (Also thank you everyone for bearing with me while I shamelessly publicized it in my IG story haha!) At the festival we got some henna tattoos of the organizations symbol and I couldn’t be happier for the community Earth Uprising is building.💚

A post shared by Alexandria Villasenor (@alexandriav2005) on Jun 17, 2019 at 8:07pm PDT

Alexandria also was a panelist at the Jacob Burns Film Center earlier this week, after the showing of the Grit documentary, which she said reminded her of her own situation as it was about an Indonesian girl fighting for the future of the planet alongside her mother.

Tonight I was at the Jacob Burns Film Center to see the @GritDocumentary. It’s an amazing story of an Indonesian environmental activist & her mom. Afterwards I spoke on the panel & said it was like me and my mom, and how we’re fighting for the planet together 💚🌍 @ClimateKristin pic.twitter.com/v9hmkiG3pH

— Alexandria Villaseñor (@AlexandriaV2005) June 21, 2019

Earlier this week, Alexandria was also a key speaker at the Global Leadership Summit, where she and her mother shared four important lessons on how young people can get their voices heard and demand climate action. She had some important advice for adults:

“My advice to adults and to parents is to listen to your child because they are extremely passionate about making sure that we’re all out there on the streets, fighting for our future. And, make sure to understand their point of view and their perspective on the climate crisis, because you can either understand us now and join us, or you can wait until later when you’re going to have to join us.”

You can join us now, or you can join us later as the climate crisis worsens. That’s all I had to say 🤗 https://t.co/x83ua4lyVG

— Alexandria Villaseñor (@AlexandriaV2005) June 19, 2019

Alexandria recently told Teen Vogue, “Since climate change will be affecting my generation the most with the trajectory we’re on, it’s important to try and get action, especially from our world leaders and government officials…The point with school striking is [that] it’s civil disobedience, and it’s another way to put pressure on the world leaders.”