Xiye Bastida Patrick (born 18 April 2002) is a Mexican climate activist and member of the

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Otomi The Otomi (; es, Otomí ) are an indigenous people of Mexico inhabiting the central Mexican Plateau (Altiplano) region. The Otomi are an indigenous people of Mexico who inhabit a discontinuous territory in central Mexico. They are linguisticall ...

community. She is one of the major organizers of

Fridays for Future School Strike for Climate ( sv, Skolstrejk för klimatet), also known variously as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate, Climate Strike or Youth Strike for Climate, is an international movement of school students who skip Friday ...

New York City and has been a leading voice for indigenous and immigrant visibility in climate activism. She is on the administration committee of the

People's Climate Movement The People's Climate Movement (PCM) is a coalition of civil society organizations, including environmental and religious organizations, trade unions and social justice groups, in the United States of America that advocates for political and socia ...

and a former member of

Sunrise Movement Sunrise Movement is an American 501(c)(4) political action organization that advocates political action on climate change. When launched in 2017, the movement's goal was to elect proponents of renewable energy in the 2018 midterm elections, fi ...

and

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk o ...

. She cofounded Re-Earth Initiative, an international

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that is inclusive and

intersectional Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of adva ...

“just as the climate movement should be.”

Early life

Bastida was born in

Atlacomulco Atlacomulco is one of 125 municipalities in the State of Mexico located in the northwest of the State of Mexico in central Mexico, from the state capital of Toluca. The municipal seat is the city of Atlacomulco de Fabela. The name is derived fro ...

, Mexico, to parents Mindahi and Geraldine, who are also environmentalists, and raised in the town of San Pedro Tultepec in Lerma. Her father is of

descent while her Chilean mother has Celtic ancestry. Bastida currently holds dual Mexican and Chilean citizenship. Bastida and her family moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

after extreme flooding hit their hometown of San Pedro Tultepec in 2015 following three years of drought. Bastida attended

The Beacon School The Beacon School (also called Beacon High School) is a highly-selective college-preparatory public high school in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City near Times Square and the Theater District. Beacon's curriculum exceeds the ...

. She enrolled at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 2020.

Activism

Bastida began her activism with an environmental club. The club protested at Albany and

New York City Hall New York City Hall is the Government of New York City, seat of New York City government, located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, Park R ...

and lobbied for the Climate and Community Leaders Protection Act (CLCPA) and the Dirty Buildings Bill. It was then she heard about

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...

and her climate strikes. Bastida gave a speech on Indigenous Cosmology at the 9th

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

World Urban Forum, and was awarded the “Spirit of the UN” award in 2018. Bastida lead her high school,

, in the first major climate strike in

on 15 March 2019. She and

Alexandria Villaseñor Alexandria Villaseñor (born 2005) is an American climate activist living in New York. A follower of the Fridays for Future movement and of fellow climate activist Greta Thunberg, Villaseñor is a co-founder of U.S. Youth Climate Strike and the ...

officially greeted Thunberg upon her arrival from Europe by boat in September 2019 to attend the UN Climate Summit. Xiye has been coined "America's

" however has said that "calling youth activists the ‘Greta Thunberg’ of their country diminishes Greta’s personal experience and individual struggles". ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since ...

'' released a documentary short ''We Rise'' on Bastida in December 2019. Bastida has also collaborated with 2040 film to create a short video called ''Imagine the Future'' exploring what landscapes and cityscapes could look like in the future. Bastida contributed to ''

All We Can Save ''All We Can Save'' is a 2020 collection of essays and poetry edited by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson and published by One World. The collection sets out to highlight a wide range of women's voices in the environmental ...

,'' an anthology of women writing about climate change. She recently spoke at the Leadership Summit on Climate hosted by the Biden Administration, delivering a speech urging world leaders to participate more in climate activism. While unable to vote in the United States as she is not an American citizen, Bastida indicated support for Massachusetts Senator

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

in the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

, although stressing the bipartisanship of the climate movement.

Filmography

*''We Rise'' (2019) *''Imagine the future'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastida, Xiye 2002 births Living people 21st-century indigenous people of the Americas Climate activists Indigenous activists of the Americas Indigenous Mexican women Indigenous peoples and the environment Mexican emigrants to the United States Mexican people of Chilean descent Mexican people of European descent Otomi people People from Atlacomulco People from Toluca University of Pennsylvania alumni Youth climate activists