Xiye Bastida’s Call: A Vibrant, Regenerative Future Is Possible—But We Need To Make Drastic Changes

On this galvanizing episode of Undaunted, Nava and Masud are joined by Xiye Bastida, an acclaimed 21-year-old climate justice activist based in New York City. When just 13, a catastrophic flood deluged her hometown in Mexico, and Xiya’s sense of stability vanished. In its place rose a fierce urgency to address the climate crisis. Since then she has become one of the major organizers of Fridays for Future New York City and a leading voice for indigenous and immigrant engagement in climate activism. She draws on the passion of her youth but also the wisdom of her Otomi-Toltec Indigenous heritage. “All of these issues are structural,” she tells us. But changing the structures requires humanity to mature and transform spiritually. “It won’t happen if we keep fighting each other, because we are not the enemy. Time is the enemy, and time is running out.”