Xiuhtezcatl started advocating for solutions to the climate crisis in his early childhood. Ever since, activism has been inseparable from his identity—rooted in community, ceremony, and a deep relationship to the land.
Lifeline
Xiuhtezcatl delivered his first speech at a local climate change rally in Boulder, Colorado, when he was just six years old. In the years that followed, he spent his afternoons and weekends organizing and performing music with the nonprofit Earth Guardians. Together, they successfully banned chemical pesticides from Boulder’s public parks and schools.
By age 10, he started speaking out against fracking and fossil fuel infrastructure in Colorado and helped organize a climate march in Denver that drew over 20,000 people.
Soon after, he became Earth Guardians’ Youth Director, traveled to Brazil to speak and perform at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, and joined climate leaders like NASA’s James Hansen to call on President Obama to adopt a national Climate Recovery Plan.
At 12, Xiuhtezcatl led his first direct action, disrupting a Boulder County Commissioner meeting with other youth to demand a ban on fracking in his community. The following year, he became the lead plaintiff in Martinez v. Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, a legal effort to block drilling permits for projects that threatened public health and the environment.
In 2015, he addressed the United Nations General Assembly as its youngest-ever climate speaker and joined 20 other youth plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States, suing the federal government for failing to act on climate change.
Through persistent local organizing, Xiuhtezcatl helped bring about the closure of Boulder’s last coal-fired power plant, and by 17, published his first book, We Rise: The Earth Guardians Guide to Building a Movement that Restores the Planet.
In his late teens, Xiuhtezcatl began to more intentionally bridge art and activism. He released his first studio album, Break Free, and partnered with artist Shepard Fairey to deliver free art to 20,000 classrooms through the “We the Future” campaign.
With Earth Guardians, he helped organize the 2019 youth climate strikes, performed in front of over 250,000 protestors and started to train and mentor dozens of emerging Indigenous climate leaders across the country.
After publishing his second book, Imaginary Borders, he moved to Los Angeles and co-led a land back initiative that returned 12 acres to the Gabrielino Shoshone Nation, in partnership with LA’s only Indigenous school, Anahuacalmecac. There, he started studying his native language Nahuatl, and in 2023, released his viral hit song “Careful,” sung in English, Spanish, and Nahuatl, followed by another Nahuatl-infused hit “Sigueme” in 2024 before releasing his latest album “Tonatiuh” in 2025