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Feminists Around the World: Yurshell Rodriguez Hooker · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and how come Stefan
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: never told your production of iHeartRadio.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: And welcome to another edition of Feminists Around the World.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: You know, we're about to talk about an activist who
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: actually has a bigger conversation that we don't really talk
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  Speaker 2: about in this specific episode, but being an indigenous person
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  Speaker 2: who was also from an enslaved heritage, and how they
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  Speaker 2: ended up in the area that they ended up in,
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  Speaker 2: and just the whole conversation about colonialism and what that
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  Speaker 2: does to indigenous people in general. We've talked about that
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  Speaker 2: plenty of times, but when we put in with like
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  Speaker 2: an enslaved group of people on top of that, there's
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  Speaker 2: so many conversations to be had, and colonialism and colonization
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  Speaker 2: is quite a big conversation to day as we're seeing
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  Speaker 2: some things happen in action. We haven't really gotten into it,
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  Speaker 2: but I think it just brings a bigger question of
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  Speaker 2: what happens to an indigenous group of people when they
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  Speaker 2: are colonized and then enslaved and then they are left
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  Speaker 2: with the remnants of trying to save the land that
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  Speaker 2: was ripped away from them. So it's quite a big,
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  Speaker 2: big scope of conversation, and we are going to talk
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  Speaker 2: a little bit, of course, because we know that these
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  Speaker 2: episodes are very very short, we try to get in
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  Speaker 2: as much as we can in a short amount of
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  Speaker 2: time because we want to talk about as many people
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  Speaker 2: as possible. But she does bring up, as we've heard
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  Speaker 2: throughout our conversations about indigenous communities, how race and ethnicity
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  Speaker 2: does play a bigger part when we talk about activism
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  Speaker 2: in the ecosystem and climate change and what that means
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  Speaker 2: for the indigenous people. In this case, we're talking about
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  Speaker 2: Chelle Rodriguez Hooker, who is an Afro Caribbean Indigenous woman,
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  Speaker 2: and just that bigger play of that whole intersectional level
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  Speaker 2: that we don't talk enough about. I know we try,
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  Speaker 2: but it's hard to cover a lot all the things
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  Speaker 2: that she has in her own life when it comes
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  Speaker 2: to being an intersectional advocate. And I think it's just
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  Speaker 2: important to note, as we are really kind of focusing
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  Speaker 2: on the environmental and climate change, it is a big
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  Speaker 2: conversation about how intersectionality is so important and how dangerous
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  Speaker 2: it is for those in those intersections, and that we
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  Speaker 2: should not ignore one for the other, and why again
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  Speaker 2: that is something that's huge in this conversation. So with
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  Speaker 2: that note, yes, we are talking about Isshelle Rodriguez Hooker,
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  Speaker 2: who is an inspiring indigenous climate activist who has been
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  Speaker 2: defending her land and her community for a long time now.
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  Speaker 2: She is a descendant of the Afro Caribbean Rozelle indigenous
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  Speaker 2: group from the archipelago of San Andreas, Providencia and Santa
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  Speaker 2: Catalina Islands, Columbia. Also other part is, yes, this is
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  Speaker 2: going to be from obviously a different language because we
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  Speaker 2: talk mainly about international people. So if we get any
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  Speaker 2: pronunciations wrong, bear with us. If you would like to
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  Speaker 2: kindly correct us, that'd be wonderful, because yes, we're trying
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  Speaker 2: to do it based on the interwebs and we have
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  Speaker 2: limited information, especially because we are kind of pigeonholed in
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  Speaker 2: the US. So go ahead and with that disclaimer. So
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  Speaker 2: from her early years, Hooker has been an advocate in
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  Speaker 2: the fight in climate change, and our heritage has been
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  Speaker 2: a big reason for her continued advocacy. In a twenty
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  Speaker 2: twenty articles she wrote for Reach not Preach, she says, quote,
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  Speaker 2: I am from the a Cappelago of Sant Andreas, Providencia
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  Speaker 2: and Santa Catalina Islands located in the Caribbean Sea of Colombia.
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  Speaker 2: I am part of the native Afro Caribbean razil ethnic
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  Speaker 2: group that for more than two hundred years have lived
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  Speaker 2: in the small Appelago, being the guardians and stewards of
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  Speaker 2: Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, declared by UNESCO in the year two
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  Speaker 2: thousand as one of the most important ecosystems for health
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  Speaker 2: and sustenance of the world and the third largest coral reef.
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  Speaker 2: In recent years, our misadventures with climate change have put
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  Speaker 2: us in check. In less than fifteen years, we have
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  Speaker 2: experienced the fierceness of two hurricanes, the first one category
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  Speaker 2: three named Beta in two thousand and five and second
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  Speaker 2: and most destructive named Iota category five in twenty twenty,
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  Speaker 2: which have left us in the position of high vulnerability
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  Speaker 2: and also with little capacity to respond to change. This
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  Speaker 2: was also confirmed by the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and
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  Speaker 2: Environmental Studies or IDM in twenty seventeen, where it placed
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  Speaker 2: us as the regions with the highest risk due to
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  Speaker 2: climate change and the one with the lowest capacity of adaptation.
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  Speaker 1: And she continues. Being from Ariizel indigenous community and understanding
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  Speaker 1: the importance that our territory is for us. It is
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  Speaker 1: difficult to assimilate what is happening because we know as
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  Speaker 1: a community that we are not the ones causing it,
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  Speaker 1: or rather we are not directly responsible for the instability
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  Speaker 1: of the climate. But yet we are first and most
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  Speaker 1: affected by catastrophes in our region due to our insolarity
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  Speaker 1: and our geographical position. Not listing the public politics and
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  Speaker 1: corruption we face in this country that are not in
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  Speaker 1: favor of the minorities or indigenous and ethnic groups, and
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  Speaker 1: with the continued effects and harm of climate change, especially
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  Speaker 1: two indigenous communities, Hooker has been working to protect her
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  Speaker 1: community as well as fight for the human rights of
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  Speaker 1: Indigenous people through her work right.
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  Speaker 2: She writes in that same article, that is why I
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  Speaker 2: also understand that climate change cannot and must not be
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  Speaker 2: separated from the fight for human rights. The impacts of
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  Speaker 2: climate change disproportionately affect people who are already most vulnerable
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  Speaker 2: to its effects, such as indigenous communities, peasants, women, children,
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  Speaker 2: and those who are displaced by climate change and other
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  Speaker 2: conflicts that are related. The human rights affected by climate
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  Speaker 2: change are countless and widely spread, so my efforts to
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  Speaker 2: address climate change also aimed to address our affected human
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  Speaker 2: rights as indigenous razil community. That is why in twenty eighteen,
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  Speaker 2: with twenty five other young plaintiffs and the help of
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  Speaker 2: the NGO de Housticia, we sued our Colombian government to
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  Speaker 2: stop deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest, one of the main
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  Speaker 2: sources of carbon dioxide emissions of our country, and we
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  Speaker 2: won the lawsuit.
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  Speaker 1: And yes, she and a number of Colombian youths dared
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  Speaker 1: to push back on the government in at twenty eighteen,
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  Speaker 1: with the NGO de Houstasia, they sued the government with
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  Speaker 1: these demands quote that the President, the Ministries of Environment
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  Speaker 1: and Agriculture, the National Parks and regional autonomous corporations, and
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  Speaker 1: the mayors and governments of the Amazon take action to
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  Speaker 1: stop the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. Specifically, they asked
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  Speaker 1: that the government be ordered to submit a plan of
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  Speaker 1: action to reduce the rate of deforestation in the Colombian
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  Speaker 1: Amazon to zero by the year twenty twenty. This was
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  Speaker 1: the commitment that President Juan Manuel Santos made at the
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  Speaker 1: twenty fifteen Climate Summit in Paris. They also request that
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  Speaker 1: young people be taken into account in the decision making
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  Speaker 1: of this process, and this is according to Dehusticia dot
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  Speaker 1: org and Yes. In an interview with news dot Sky
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  Speaker 1: dot com, she explains what she was a part of
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  Speaker 1: the lawsuit when her island was one thousand miles away,
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  Speaker 1: and she told them saving the Amazon is a part
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  Speaker 1: of saving my own island. All the ecosystems are connected,
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  Speaker 1: so if you harm somewhere, if you do something good somewhere,
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  Speaker 1: it ripples through the other parts.
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  Speaker 2: And I think, of course, this is that big conversation
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  Speaker 2: that we've been having about the youth being the forefront
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  Speaker 2: of this movement and really making a huge push and
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  Speaker 2: stride and being very vocal and bringing awareness to the situation.
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  Speaker 2: And our island has been greatly impacted from the downfall
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  Speaker 2: and ripples that have devastated their land. She's spoken another
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  Speaker 2: interview with ecobusiness dot com about her interest in environmental advocacy, saying,
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  Speaker 2: my interest in environmental conservation began from an early age.
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  Speaker 2: When I was ten years old, I was already taking
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  Speaker 2: part initiatives such as beach cleaning and ma growth protection.
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  Speaker 2: And I also noted that her current job is environmental engineer,
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  Speaker 2: so yeah, she's a pro. She knows what she's doing,
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  Speaker 2: and she continues talking about the hurricanes in twenty twenty
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  Speaker 2: and how they were able to protect their lands after
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  Speaker 2: learning from their past incidents, and advice she would give
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  Speaker 2: to others. She says, quote harness nature based solutions to
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  Speaker 2: build up climate resilience. When Hurricane Iota struck in twenty twenty,
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  Speaker 2: the mangroves on our island broke up the force of
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  Speaker 2: the storm surges and reduced coastal damage.
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  Speaker 1: Also, be self sufficient. We were able to rebuild our
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  Speaker 1: food supplies within a month because we grow our own crops,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: speaking of which support local produce where possible, Eat beef
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  Speaker 1: if you must, but purchase it from a local farm.
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  Speaker 1: Enact bands to safeguard the environment. The riiz Elle ethnic
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  Speaker 1: group has regulations that prohibit us from consuming seafood such
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  Speaker 1: as lobsters and fish during certain times of the year
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  Speaker 1: so as not to disrupt their reproductive cycles. Additionally, embrace
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  Speaker 1: the circular economy. Our tried compost most of our food
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  Speaker 1: waste and uses it as fertilizers for our grounds. We
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  Speaker 1: also use to breathe that washes up on shores, such
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  Speaker 1: as seagrass, to weed furniture and fill mattresses. Lastly, adapt
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  Speaker 1: a common language for sustainability. This can be achieved by
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  Speaker 1: harmonizing green taxonomies among countries.
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  Speaker 2: That was really great advice, especially from someone who's experienced
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  Speaker 2: so much throughout her life already. I'm sure we're going
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  Speaker 2: to see so much from her and have so much
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  Speaker 2: more that we can learn from what she's doing, what
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  Speaker 2: she's learning, and how she's continuing to fight not only
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  Speaker 2: for her island, but for her entire country and honestly
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  Speaker 2: the world. So yes, we will definitely keep a look
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  Speaker 2: out for her name and see what she continues to do.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and as always if we miss something. If you
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: have any advice for who we should talk about next,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: or any resources, please contact us. You can email us
• 10:15
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• 10:17
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• 10:19
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• 10:25
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• 10:27
  Speaker 1: as always to our super producer Christina, executive producer Maya,
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: and our contributor Joey.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: And thanks to you for listening. Stuff Whenever told you
• 10:36
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