The importance of finding your niche & creating boundaries
In episode 214, Kestrel welcomes Isaias Hernandez, the creator of Queer Brown Vegan, to the show. As a Queer, Brown, and Vegan environmentalist, Isaias makes accessible environmental education content, showcased on his platform Queer Brown Vegan, and seeks to provide a safe space for other like-minded environmentalists to engage in the discourse of the current climate crisis.
“I really believed in creating a space as Queer Brown Vegan to discuss everything that I learned and just put it out there so people can have information to themselves and not have to feel ashamed for asking questions … I really push for the narrative of 'you are your own environmentalist' that includes Indigenous experiences, ancestral knowledge if you are Indigenous, cultural-based experiences for BIPOC individuals or just lived experiences that you've had that you don't resemble to environmentalism.”
-Isaias Hernandez, Founder of Queer Brown Vegan
QUEER BROWN VEGAN
On this week’s show, Isaias shares more of his story, and how when he was studying environmental science at UC Berkeley, he was finally able to reconnect a lot of the experiences he had growing up with the terminology he was learning. This led him to realize the importance of education and access to education — which is partly what inspired him to create Queer Brown Vegan.
Also, Isaias and Kestrel explore more depth on some of the topics that have been featured on Queer Brown Vegan in the past including “The Gentrification of Thrifting”, “Drop Shipping”, “Sustainable Activism” and more.
The below thoughts, ideas + organizations were brought up in this chat:
“I think that any BIPOC environmentalist doing this type of work realizes how heavily the environmental movement has misrepresented a lot of these voices.” -Isaias
Eco-Learners, free downloadable e-book
What Is The Gentrification Of Thrifting? - post on Instagram
What is Drop Shipping? - post on Instagram
“I think that creating boundaries is a form of kindness to me, and not necessarily a form of being rude.” -Isaias
“I think change starts locally with our own loved ones.” -Isaias
This week’s Conscious Chatter episode is brought to you by:
ECO-STYLIST
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“I no longer want to support conventional brands in fashion when there are brands actively making the space better for people and the planet.”
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P.S. If you want to connect, send me a DM on Instagram @consciouschatter! <3 Kestrel