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Vegans of Color
Isaias Hernandez Is Making Space for Queer People of Color in the Environmental Movement
The Mexican-American creator of ‘Queer Brown Vegan’ on decolonizing climate action — and his favorite veggie meatballs
Climate change is harmful to all humans, but intersections of class, race, and gender alike can make certain groups more vulnerable. From the ways that redlining puts communities of color at higher risk during heatwaves to the negative global impact on indigenous populations, it’s clear that institutional privilege extends protections even when it comes to the environment. But in the fight for environmental justice, these voices often suffer for lack of mainstream representation.
Isaias Hernandez runs Queer Brown Vegan, an Instagram page that provides educational breakdowns of environmental terms with an emphasis on intersectional perspectives. A graduate of UC Berkeley’s environmental science program, Hernandez has studied climate change and worked within student organizations to diversify the field. Hernandez spoke with Tenderly about his experiences as a POC in environmental spaces, how he came to co-found Alluvia Mag, and how he veganizes his childhood favorite Mexican dishes.
