Alexandria Villaseñor Explained

Alexandria Villaseñor
Birth Place:Davis, California, U.S.
Known For:School strike for climate

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,[1] Villaseñor is a co-founder of U.S. Youth Climate Strike and the founder of Earth Uprising.[2]

Biography

Villaseñor was born in 2005 in Davis, California, where she grew up.[3] [4] The family moved from northern California to New York in 2018.[5] Villaseñor is Latina.[6] Her ambition is to work for the United Nations.[7]

Activism

Villaseñor's fight for climate action was sparked when she was caught in a smoke cloud from the November 2018 Camp Fire in California, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history, while visiting her hometown for Thanksgiving.[8] [9] As an asthma sufferer, she became physically ill, during which time she researched the climate change and temperature rises which contributed to the fire's severity. Her mother, Kristin Hogue, was enrolled in the M.A. in Climate and Society program at Columbia University and Villaseñor would occasionally attend class with her mother, where she learned about the underlying science of climate change.[10] Soon afterward, she joined New York's chapter of Zero Hour, a group of American youth climate activists.

Villaseñor has taken similar climate action to Thunberg, who inspired her with her December 4, 2018 talk at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland. Since December 14, 2018 (while COP24 was still held), she skips school every Friday in order to protest against lack of climate action in front of the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York.[11] [12] She is no longer involved with the US Youth Climate Strike group[13] and founded the climate change education group Earth Uprising.[14]

When Thunberg arrived in New York City from her transatlantic sailboat voyage in August 2019, Villaseñor, Xiye Bastida, and other climate activists greeted Thunberg upon arrival.[15] By that time, they had already established contact with each other over social media.[16]

In September 2019, she spoke at the Global Citizen Festival in New York along with Bastida and Selina Neirok Leem.[17]

On September 23, 2019, Villaseñor, along with 15 other youth activists including Greta Thunberg, Catarina Lorenzo, and Carl Smith, filed a legal complaint with the United Nations accusing five countries, namely France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Turkey of failing to uphold their reduction targets to which they committed in their Paris Agreement pledges.[18] [19]

In mid-October 2019, she attended the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.[20]

In mid-January 2020, she attended the World Economic Forum as a youth speaker and then participated in the School strike for climate in Davos, Switzerland alongside Greta Thunberg on January 24, 2020.[21]

On August 19, 2020, Alexandria addressed the Democratic National Convention as part of their segment on climate change.[22]

Awards & recognition

In May 2019, Villaseñor was the recipient of the Disruptor Award from the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards (TDIA),[23] received a scholarship from The Common Good public advocacy organization,[24] [25] and was awarded a Youth Climate Leadership prize from Earth Day Network.[26]

On December 1, 2020, she was named by Seventeen magazine as one of their 2020 Voices of the Year.[27]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: How a 7th-grader's strike against climate change exploded into a movement . . Sarah . Kaplan . February 16, 2019 . June 25, 2019.
  2. Web site: Alexandria Villaseñor . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. May 4, 2019.
  3. News: Milman . Oliver . 'We won't stop striking': the New York 13 year-old taking a stand over climate change . July 20, 2019 . . March 12, 2019.
  4. News: How a 7th-grader's strike against climate change exploded into a movement . . May 4, 2019 . Sarah . Kaplan . February 16, 2019.
  5. News: Piven . Ben . Beware the kids: US youth to join strike for climate . May 8, 2019 . . March 15, 2019.
  6. Web site: Meet Alexandria Villaseñor, the Young Woman Inspiring People to Take Action on the Climate Change Crisis . June 24, 2019. Glitter Magazine . July 19, 2019.
  7. News: Minutaglio . Rose . The World Is Burning. These Girls Are Fighting to Save It. . July 20, 2019 . . March 14, 2019.
  8. Web site: DeBenedetti . Katie . 2019-12-09 . Alexandria Villaseñor: Davis' climate change activist . 2023-07-13 . The Aggie . en-US.
  9. Web site: Harris . Margot . 2019-02-23 . 15-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor watched the deadliest fire in California's history burn through entire towns. Now she's leading a 'battle cry' for global action on climate change. . 2023-07-13 . Insider . en-US.
  10. News: Borunda . Alejandra . These young activists are striking to save their planet from climate change . https://web.archive.org/web/20190315223326/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/03/youth-climate-strike-kids-save-the-world/ . dead . March 15, 2019 . July 20, 2019 . . March 13, 2019.
  11. News: Jeff . Berardelli . Haley . Ott . Meet the teens leading a global movement to ditch school and fight climate change . . May 4, 2019 . February 22, 2019.
  12. Web site: Diavolo . Lucy . 2019-03-01 . Meet the Teen Who's Been Striking for the Climate Outside the U.N. for Three Months . 2023-07-13 . Teen Vogue . en-US.
  13. Web site: Our Co Executive Directors & National Co-Directors . US Youth Climate Strike . May 8, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190317083822/https://www.youthclimatestrikeus.org/about . March 17, 2019 . dead .
  14. News: Stuart . Tessa . A New Generation of Activists Is Taking the Lead on Climate Change . May 8, 2019 . . April 26, 2019.
  15. News: Greta Thunberg's New York visit inspires young climate activists. Washington Post. en. Lela Nargi. September 9, 2019. September 15, 2019.
  16. News: 14-åriga klimataktivisten Alexandria Villaseñor om vänskapen med Greta Thunberg. Expressen. en. Lela Nargi. September 22, 2019. September 24, 2019.
  17. Web site: 2022-09-09 . 10 Artists, Activists & Leaders Who Stood Up for Climate Justice at Global Citizen Festivals . 2023-07-13 . Global Citizen . en.
  18. Web site: Why Teen Climate Activist Alexandria Villaseñor Is Suing the World For Violating Her Rights. Earther. September 23, 2019 . September 23, 2019.
  19. Web site: 16 children, including Greta Thunberg, file landmark complaint to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. www.unicef.org. en. September 23, 2019.
  20. Web site: Press Conferences. C40 World Mayors Summit. en. October 10, 2019. October 12, 2019.
  21. Web site: 'We Have So Much More to Do,' Youth Climate Activists Declare as Global Elite Close Out Davos Forum. www.commondreams.org. en. January 24, 2020. December 2, 2020.
  22. Web site: Youth Climate Activists to Speak at Democratic National Convention. www.huffpost.com. en. August 19, 2020. December 2, 2020.
  23. . Tribeca Film Festival and Disruptor Foundation announce 10th anniversary awards and youngest recipient in TDIA history . New York . Disruptor Foundation . April 2, 2019 . May 8, 2019.
  24. Web site: The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards – May 10, 2019 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190525015453/https://www.thecommongoodus.org/2019/05/the-common-good-forum-american-spirit-awards-friday-may-10-2019/ . May 25, 2019 . May 25, 2019 . The Common Good.
  25. Web site: Alexandria Villaseñor . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190525015453/https://www.thecommongoodus.org/2019/05/alexandria-villasenor/ . May 25, 2019 . May 25, 2019 . The Common Good.
  26. Web site: May 23, 2019 . 14-Year-Old Alexandria Villaseñor Has Been Striking Outside UN Headquarters for 5 Months. Here's Why . May 25, 2019 . Earth Day Network.
  27. Web site: 15 Teens Who Changed the World. www.seventeen.com. en. December 1, 2020. December 2, 2020.

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