EP 04: Environmental Justice, Youth Activism, and Veganism With Afro-Indigenous Animal Rights, Climate, and Environmental Activist Genesis Butler (Part 2)

Welcome to Episode 4 of Supersede! 

In this episode, Madeleine continues her conversation with Genesis Butler in a discussion that highlights the vitality of youth voices in the climate movement. Madeleine and Genesis share their journeys to climate activism and discuss the ways young people can get involved in the movement. As Genesis points out, climate activism is about life. So many dreams for the future are impossible on a dead planet , and she is making the journey to protect this future for her peers and those who come after her.   

For Genesis, animal activism was her inroads to the climate justice movement, as she quickly realized that animal rights are connected to environmental rights which are in turn connected to environmental justice. On this theme, Genesis shares her journey to veganism and her knowledge of the harms that stem from industrial agriculture. Revealing the intersectional nature of justice issues, this conversation brings nuance and personal perspective to work for food justice. Genesis shares the power in speaking up about the issues that affect you, and shows the need for voices from all backgrounds to join together to make change. 

Genesis Butler is a 16-year-old Afro Indigenous animal rights, climate, and environmental activist and is one of the youngest to give a TEDx talk. As a leading voice of a generation of activists concerned about climate change, Genesis has spoken at many events worldwide including the Seeds and Chips Global Food Summit and the Environmental Media Association Impact Summit. She has won several awards for her activism, including the 2018 Lisa Shapiro Youth Animal Activist of the Year and was also featured in Marvel Hero Project on Disney+ where Genesis was named a real life superhero. Genesis has been fully vegan since the age of 6 and convinced her parents and three siblings to go vegan as well. She is the founder of the nonprofit organization, Genesis for Animals, which raises funds for sanctuaries around the world.  In 2019, Genesis wanted to continue her activism despite quarantine so she started a global youth-led climate organization, Youth Climate Save, which raises awareness on the connection between animal agriculture and climate change. This organization now has over 80 chapters worldwide and continues to grow. Genesis’ activism has been featured by Harvard, Time for Kids, People, Nickelodeon, Marvel, Crate and Kids, The New York Times, Washington Post and many more.

Transcript

but I just realized like one thing after another and how it was connected and my great great uncle is Cesar Chavez. So at that time I looked up the work that he was doing and I went to the room where he fasted in and I realized the important of community so I started to become a part of those communities that I was in also because I wanted to have friends that also felt the same because my mom is like my best friend but she and me became activists and vegan at the same time so she didn't know any more than I knew so I got a lot of friends that were a part of that community I became a part of those communities and yeah I just of these people sometimes get mistaken with you have to be with one cause like you're supposed to just find it magically and then you're like okay and that's the case for some people which is great but I know for other people there's so many issues that are connected to their core issue so then they become intersectional so that is also always an option is that you can support all causes if that's what you're passionate about you don't have to just stick to just one.

madeleine:
That is a great point. I love that point. It's true, I think people think that they have to pick one. I know for me, kind of similar to you. I started, it sounds like I've been doing water related stuff my whole life, but really I started with clean water and then I learned about microplastics, but then, and I've always been passionate about climate. climate with plastics, because of course 99% of plastics come from oil and gas and all these other reasons why plastic and microplastics are very connected and fueling the climate crisis in many ways. And so combining those has been really great. It's not great. Obviously, it's really scary, you know,

genesis_butler:
Thanks for watching!

madeleine:
but like it has helped me understand what I want to do more and what I like, what I'm able to do and what I like, kind of, you know, the way I'm way that I uniquely can help this issue. I also got into the fashion industry and understanding the impact of fashion. It's pretty amazing how 35% of microplastics are actually from fibers, from synthetic textiles that comes from the fashion industry. So I think that, as you're saying, it's kind of this weaving of issues that we're learning. illustrating is this idea that we've revisited a lot of times here, which is that it is really a very personal journey. And it's not like this kind of rush, you know? I mean,

genesis_butler:
Mm-hmm.

madeleine:
it is because we have a planet that is, you know, in crisis, but it's also to figure out your quote unquote climate superpowers is a very existential question. that makes you think about yourself in a way that seems to... it kind of puts a lot of pressure on people. But

genesis_butler:
What

madeleine:
what

genesis_butler:
are

madeleine:
you're

genesis_butler:
you

madeleine:
saying

genesis_butler:
saying?

madeleine:
is like there's really not that much... you don't have to stick to one thing. You just... you have curiosity. I think curiosity is a big part of it too. Yeah. I also want to talk about what your visions are because I think we've talked about and how your journey has been this awesome like, you know, series of being a really young activist to now being also still young, but you know, growing in your, basically your career and your impact is growing and growing. And I'm so curious if you have ideas and plans for the future. I know that sometimes it's nice to not specific plan for the future, you know, but I'm curious, what are your visions? What would you like to accomplish? What do you want to see happen now going forward?

genesis_butler:
Well, one of my accomplishments that I really want to continue with, I am a part of social compassion legislation and they lobby for the animals in Sacramento. And I did that before, but that right after I lobbied for the animals, I got one real pass for vegan plant based meals and all prisons, nursing homes and hospitals. After my sister broke her arm because there was no food for her. when you're hurt and in the hospital, like you need to eat so it's really hard for you to get doordash all the time or you have to wait and you're hurt so like you don't really want to wait you want to have an option and there was no options for her so I got that bill passed and I also got helped with the California Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act and then quarantine happened right after that so I couldn't really finish with that so now that COVID isn't as bad I want to continue with that needed that it is. But some visions that I have, that's like my main like accomplishment, but also building up my youth climate save because that's been one of my main focuses. And we've gotten a lot of chapters, but I want to get more and get more members and go and have more booths at places because I tabled at the Billie Eilish concert and I saw so many youth there that haven't ever heard about youth climate save or they have already focused about this but about it. So I want to do more things like that and getting to reach more youth. But some visions

madeleine:
you

genesis_butler:
that I have, I feel like this year will really be the year of activists because there's so many activists that are doing this amazing work. So I feel like we're going to get more recognition for it because it's so important. And I know that a lot of celebrities have been talking about the environment more and like Rihanna has been donating to climate organization. So I using their platform to amplify climate activists voices has been super important and it's been amazing so I feel like activists will be able to get more of a platform and be able to get their voices heard more and yeah I also have my nonprofit Genesis for Animals and I want to continue donating to sanctuaries and I know that especially with the climate crisis right now the weather is always There's been a lot of rain that is all affecting these sanctuaries, especially the smaller ones so I want to raise more money for them to make sure that all the sanctuaries will be okay. Um, yeah.

madeleine:
That is a lot of stuff and I have every confidence that you're going to do it all.

genesis_butler:
Thank you.

madeleine:
So that's amazing. In line with all of this, I have kind of an observation and then a follow-up question to that, which is that you, right when I asked the question, you very casually said that Can you, as someone who also has, you know, testified and actually when I was 15, I was part of this really cool group of youth plaintiffs, five of us who literally sued the federal government and the EPA saying basically, you're not looking out for our resources enough government, and you need to do more of that. resources for youth and for people moving forward. And it made its way up to the Supreme Court. And it was really cool to be there and write a testimony and be part of this. And it has now grown into this big series of lawsuits from youth all around the country called Our Children's Trust. And I'm curious, I guess, how you got involved in that bill. in politics, what was your role?

genesis_butler:
Well, the way that I got involved in that bill was my mom and me were super frustrated because my sister had broken her arm and then a lot of activists figured out about this because my mom posted about it out of frustration for my sister because, yeah, she didn't have any food and then a lot of activists, my mom's really good friend, ended up door dashing food for my sister because my mom couldn't go out and get it. So that really came from like a lot of like frustration at the time. And one of my mom's really good friends figured out about this and was like, oh, well, this isn't okay, let's get a bill passed. So that's really how that came about was just like being upset about it and then trying to figure out what to do about it. So that is how I really started getting involved

madeleine:
awesome.

genesis_butler:
with lobbying for the animals. And then it really made me realize how important that it was. And then last year I became on the board for social compassionate legislation. And that really opened up my eyes for how important it is to lobby for the animals because then the people that are harming the animals can't do this or harming our environment. They have

madeleine:
No.

genesis_butler:
to stop doing it. So that's really how that came about. And also for the

madeleine:
Yeah.

genesis_butler:
Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act, we realized that if companies have to stop testing in California, why would they want to test in other parts of the country? cruelty-free which is what really wanted to happen was because if you're gonna have to stop testing in California like why and I know in some places you still have to test for the law but some places stop testing stop selling their cosmetics there because you have to test there so yeah we really realized like this bill was so important and I know a lot of brands have been cruelty-free which is amazing and so needed and a lot of companies have been vegan and because of the demand for it, which I think is so amazing to see, especially a lot of celebrity brands that have been coming out that are vegan and cruelty free. So yeah, that's really how the first bill came about, was just out of frustration and figuring out,

madeleine:
you

genesis_butler:
well, what can we do about this?

madeleine:
Mm-hmm. That's awesome. And I think what that speaks to you to me is like, basically just if you find an issue or you really have, have, you know, identify an area where something is wrong, right? Or your sister couldn't get food that she she needed in the hospital. Just making that heard, you know, making that be heard, like, you know, telling people, hey, this is an issue. And then using social media, tool to get people involved and then I think identifying a specific goal, right? Which is exactly what you did, what you all did, which is, hey, maybe we can't tackle the whole animal agriculture industry. Just like with plastic, we can't tackle just the oil and gas industry all at once. We have to pinpoint these specific places where change can happen. in your situation. And in others, it's like, you know, exactly. Like, what is this kind of circumstantial issue that in California, it's great. You know, you're in California. California tends to pass a lot of legislation before the rest of the country. New York tends to follow and kind of do that as well. So also, it's cool that you recognize that you're in California and the power of that to influence other legislation. follow up to that.

genesis_butler:
No, I don't.

madeleine:
Okay, I wanna ask you, we've kind of danced around this, but I wanna ask you to kind of, if someone who's listening who is a youth activist or wants to be a youth activist, or is not a youth and just wants to get involved in activism, what would you say to them? How can youth sort of contribute to helping fight climate change? This can be within their school. This can be within their home, within their friends. What would you say?

genesis_butler:
Well, I know right now for a lot of youth and people in general, we have social media, which is something that is powerful in itself because you can reach millions of people from your home, wherever you're at. And I feel like social media can be like when you're doing a post, it can be the equivalent of doing a protest or a rally when you can't get out there and do it because you can still reach so many people. So I feel like just using technology as power because it can be used in the wrong way sometimes but if you use it on the right way to speak up about what you're passionate about, people will catch on to that and start following you and supporting your work. And that's something that I really realized when I started my social media account because at first I started it just for my friends and my family and then other people started following me. So I just continued posting. And that really made me realize the power of social media, but I also know that it's so important to talk to your friends your family or also people that you just meet, you can talk to them about what you're passionate about and then if they didn't know this already it can really change their mind or if they knew this already you can tell them something that they haven't heard of or that they didn't know yet. Yeah, I feel like that's really the first start but also when you find the cause that you're passionate about you can look up communities that you can join that are also passionate about the same issue because I feel like being activist is when they have community because it can be hard sometimes to be an activist and feel like you're alone or you have nobody to talk to. So yeah, figuring out like a community that you can be a part of or having one friend that you can talk to that feels the same way as you. I feel like that's super important.

madeleine:
Yeah, absolutely. I totally agree with all of that. It's awesome to think about when I was your age, which was 10 years ago, how these tools were not nearly as widespread and accessible as they are now. And if I were someone who was a little bit younger, and me now too, and anyone really, I would definitely be taking advantage of that. important tool. I want to kind of, you know, before my last couple of questions are, and I think this question is, I get asked this question a lot, and it's a little bit cliche, so I apologize. But when you think about the future, and no, that's kind of vague, but What do you envision in terms of, I guess my question is, you know, what gives you hope? Like what are the things that, you know, we've talked about community and curiosity and making your voice heard in a small way or in a big way, but what are the things that, yeah, what are the things that give you hope?

genesis_butler:
Well, the first thing that has been giving me a lot of hope lately is seeing all of the youth activists, because I think it's so amazing seeing youth using their voice and speaking up for what they're passionate about. I think it's so powerful and amazing. But also seeing people with big platforms and people in power speaking more about the climate crisis has really given me a lot of hope because I know that a lot of people will these people. So it makes them really makes them realize about the climate crisis because some people still don't believe it which I think is crazy because we're seeing it all the time but when they hear these people in power talking about it and the people it really look up to talking about it it really makes them realize that it's important to talk about and that it is real. But yeah the main thing that has been giving me hope recently is seeing There's so many youth who are using their voice and becoming leaders and talking about this has really given me a lot of hope because it showed how powerful youth voices can be and how amazing it is. I just think it's so amazing to see so many youth talking about what they believe in because it's so easy for youth to just figure out about something and then walk it out and just like not do anything about it, but seeing youth figuring out about this It's an issue that they can help or become a part of. And then using that to their advantage and talking to other people about it. Also doing protests, we're seeing so many youth that have done these huge rallies in protest, which I think it's so amazing. Yeah, I just think that youth have such powerful voices and it's so amazing. And I think a lot of people have always said like youth are the leaders of the future, but I feel like that's not true. have been today's leaders and they have been continuing with this work and they won't stop until it's accomplished because they're so persistent and I think that it's just so amazing.

madeleine:
Yes, absolutely. I love that and I totally agree with you. It's really beautiful and what a time to make your voice heard as a youth. You know, I think it's easier than ever now to make your voice heard as a youth and reach people who really care or who don't care and make them care.

genesis_butler:
Mm-hmm.

madeleine:
I want to ask you one last like bigger question, which is how has your identity, how have your intersecting identities as an Afro-Indigenous Mexican youth influenced your, basically what you talked about just now, influenced your views about climate and your views of the future and the way that you think about this issue?

genesis_butler:
I feel like it has influenced the way that I see things because being a person of color and knowing like my people are in these communities that are climate changes affecting them every single day has really made me realize it's so important to speak about it because when people talk about the climate crisis sometimes they're leaving out how it's affecting people and how it's been affecting people for so long. being Native American, a lot of my ancestors still want to live in these rainforests that are being chopped down and they stay there and try to protect their land that it's not being talked about and made me realize it's so important to talk about it and to talk about the people that are in these communities that they don't have a choice to not experience a climate crisis because that's where you're living. It happens every single day so I feel like it's so important to talk about it because you have to talk about it issue and it's just as important as all the other issues so I feel like my identity has really influenced me to talk about these issues because it's connected and these people need to be talked about and their voices need to be heard so it made me realize it's so important to not only talk about my causes that I'm focused about but to also talk about people of color and how they're being affected every single day.

madeleine:
Thank you for sharing about that, absolutely. Okay, I have a silly question, which is what's your favorite vegan snack?

genesis_butler:
My favorite

madeleine:
Do you have

genesis_butler:
vegan

madeleine:
a favorite

genesis_butler:
snack?

madeleine:
one?

genesis_butler:
I love, I have a vegan grocery store that's near me. So my favorite vegan snack changes all the time. But my favorite one right now, I love Takis. That has always been one of my favorites.

madeleine:
Mmm. Mm-hmm.

genesis_butler:
My second favorite, there's these chips called churros. They're so good and me and my siblings can eat like a whole bag at a time. They're my favorite.

madeleine:
That's awesome. I'm going to have to check those out. Um, okay. Thank you, Genesis. I think this conversation has been amazing. You've shared so much. Um, we covered a lot of ground and I really feel like people who are listening are gonna be able to take away a lot from this conversation. They're gonna, you know, hopefully feel some level of, you know, inclusion and like that they're not alone in their climate anxiety they can actually do, like really make their voices heard on social media, find people in their communities that have interest in the same causes, identify specific ways that they can create change, just like the bill that you're involved in, and also just be vegan or experiment with recipes. Definitely, if you're listening, follow Jenna says she makes great vegan recipes and getting save. It's really exciting. I think, yeah, you're doing everything in a way that is a great lighthouse for people to look at. So thank you again. Do you have anything else that you want to say? Anything that you felt like we didn't cover?

genesis_butler:
Um, no I don't, thank you.

madeleine:
Of course,

genesis_butler:
Thank

madeleine:
just

genesis_butler:
you.

madeleine:
had to, you know, always give the space for that extra just in case. Okay. Have a wonderful rest of your day and thank you again.

genesis_butler:
You too, thank you, so nice talking to you.

madeleine:
Thank you, Genesis. It was so nice to talk to you.