We Rise

Climate change will impact the livability of our planet for future generations. It is our youth – those whose commitment to the causes of sustainability, conservation and preservation, that will drive the change we so desperately need. Xiuhtezcatl, through his art, is informing and galvanizing a new movement of leaders who are ready to emerge as our best hope for a brighter future. -LEONARDO DICAPRIO

The next generation of leaders make me so proud. Xiuhtezcatl’s leadership exemplifies this, his courage, vision and commitment is inspiring. I am so grateful for his work. -WINONA LADUKE

It’s young people like Xiuhtezcatl who give me hope that we can overcome the massive problems we face, like money in politics, access to clean water and climate change. Throughout time it’s been the people that have changed the course of history. This book offers practical solutions for how every day people can be a part of the most important movement in the history of humanity. -MARK RUFFALO

It is vital that we begin to open our eyes, ears, and hearts to the voices of all generations—from youth to elders, we must understand all perspectives and gain insight from sources and narratives different from our own. Xiuhtezcatl is a leading force in breaking down barriers and building bridges for intergenerational guidance and inspiration. We are all a part of this movement, and this book is a brilliant example of how we can rise together to bring more peace, more justice, and more integral noise to the frontline crisis’s we face. We are not alone, there is no right way to expand history, except, to stand together, and demand our voices heard. – SHAILENE WOODLEY

We Rise is a title that means exactly that. The rise Xiuhtezcatl describes and embodies comes from the newest people to arrive on earth. They see so clearly. They express truths that are searingly obvious, yet heartbreakingly opaque to most. Xiuhtezcatl lives and speaks without blinders, ideology, borrowed beliefs, or dictums. He, with millions of other youth, see the world as it is and know it will not persist given its current course. We continue to look for love in all the wrong places, to believe that those in power, the aged hierarchies of political and economic might, will lead. Our love belongs to the purity and heartfelt clarity of Xiuhtezcatl and the rising generation who are a blessing, a shower of goodness and heart that could not come at a more propitious moment in civilization. – PAUL HAWKEN