Indigenous Climate Activist, Xiuhtezcatl, Seeks Signs of Hope in New ‘Magic’ Video

You may know Xiuhtezcatl Martinez as one of the teens suing the U.S. government for failing to take action on the climate crisis. By the age of 14, Xiuhtezcatl — pronounced “shoe-tez-caht” —addressed the United Nations on environmental policy in English, Spanish, and the Aztec language Nahuatl, his native tongue. As youth leader of activist group Earth Guardians, he joined thousands in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, and released a guide to movement building titled We Rise. Now, the 18-year-old has just issued yet another statement of resistance: His very first full-length hip-hop album, Break Free.

Released in October, the album examines the plight of a generation faced with systemic injustice, police brutality and environmental degradation. Xiuhtezcatl produced the LP with help from multi-platinum producer Brian Hardin, who has also produced albums by India Arie, Quincy Jones and Guns N’ Roses. “‘Magic’ is one of the first songs I wrote for Break Free,” Xiuhtezcatl tells Rolling Stone. “It’s a song about the reality of our world but also about the resilience of peoples. The journey of the despair and hopelessness of a collapsing world to the reclamation of that magic. The building of our legacy.”

Read the rest of the article by Rolling Stones here.