14-Year-Old ‘Kid Warrior’ Rallies Youth Around the World to Protect the Planet

http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/04/23/14-year-old-kid-warrior-rallies-youth-around-the-world-to-protect-the-planet/

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is not your average teen.

At the rebellious age of 14, he has given a Ted Talk and spoken twice at major United Nation’s forums. President Obama awarded him the Youth Change Maker of the Year Award and he is a member of the Presidential Youth Council to advise the president on youth views and policy.

He is the youth director of Earth Guardians, a non-profit environmental organization that is committed to protecting the water, air, Earth and atmosphere. To reach young people, Xiuhtezcatl and his younger brother Itzcuauhtli started an eco-hip-hop duo in the namesake of their non-profit, “Earth Guardians.” Xiuhtezcatl is on the radar of every major environmental organization and is working with various media giants on promoting his message.

“The earth has been here long before us, and it will continue to be here long after we’ve been wiped out, said Xiuhtezcatl. “The biggest challenge we face is shifting human consciousness, not saving the planet. The planet doesn’t need saving. We do.”

You can find him in Showtime’s “Year of Living Dangerously” series, brought to you by director James Cameron along side a mega cast of Harrison Ford, Jessica Alba, Matt Damon, Arnold Sawzeneggar among other top Hollywood players. HBO produced a music video for his song “Be The Change.” Rather than camp, his summer schedule includes an Arctic expedition with National Geographic to study glacial recession and meetings with major climate players like Leonardo DiCaprio and the former prime minister of the Netherlands.