The Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg has become known to the world for her environmental campaign. At the age of 15, Thurnberg went on her own solo climate protest by striking from school. This created a global reaction, where thousands of schools and university students joined her in a climate strike.
However she is not the only young person fighting for a cause. Along with Greta Thurnberg, there are many other inspiring young people advocating change and driving social movements around the world.
Autumn Peltier
Autumn Peltier is an Anishinaabe Indigenous clean water advocate from the Wiikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. At the age of eight, she attended a ceremony at Serpent River Nation in Ontario with her mother. At the ceremony, she witnessed signs that warned visitors about the “toxic” drinking water, which propelled Peltier to understand the importance of accessibility to clean water.
Peltier received recognition at the Assembly of First Nations’ annual winter meeting, where she was chosen to present the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, with a ceremonial copper water bowl. When presenting the bowl, Peltier confronted Trudeau about her unhappiness regarding the pipeline projects that he approved – as many environmentalists fear that these projects would further pollute water resources. This interaction inspired the Assembly of First Nations to initiate a Niabi Odacidae fund, which protects water resources for future generations.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Peltier has raised awareness on the importance of clean water access for First Nations communities.
Dujuan Hoosan
“I want my school to be run by Aboriginal people. I want, in my future, to be able to learn strong culture and language.”
This is what 12-year-old Dujuan Hoosan said in his speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in 2019, calling on the Australian government to ‘raise the age’ of criminal responsibility.
It is known that Indigenous children are over-represented in the Australian justice system.
The age of criminal responsibility is 10-years-old. According to the Federal Government, around 600 children aged 10 to 13 were in prison in 2018-19, with 60 percent of whom were Indigenous.
In Hoosan’s speech to the UN, he urges member states to “make things better” for Aboriginal kids.
10-year-old Hoosan was originally featured in an acclaimed documentary, In My Blood It Runs, which examined how Australia’s education system does not consider Indigenous history and way of learning. The documentary follows Hoosan, who is an Angangkere (healer), a hunter and speaks three languages in his community – but conversely, a misbehaved and misunderstood student in the classroom.
This documentary highlighted the structural racism inherent in Australia and the need to build Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led education systems.
Amariyanna Copeny
Amariyanna “Mari” Copeny, also known as Little Miss Flint, is a youth activist from Flint, Michigan. She gained public attention in 2016 when she penned a letter to President Barrack Obama about the water crisis in Flint. This letter resulted in Obama visiting the city to survey the crisis approving $100 million dollars
in 2018, Copeny and Pack Your Back (PYB) teamed up again for The Little Miss Flint and PYB Water Drive, which was a GoFundMe crowdfunding effort to raise money for bottled water. This was initiated because the state’s free bottled water program for Flint residents had been stopped by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. They raised up to nearly $50,000 in one month, which was enough to provide 200,000 water bottles to the Flint community.