Today, the griot was pleased to welcome Genesis Butler onto Bucknell’s Campus
Genesis Butler is an Afro-Indigenous activist whose love for the environment and its inhabitants can be felt from the moment she enters a room. Her activism involves using her voice as well as action to change policies and minds.
My hope for this interview is that readers get a new sense of hope for the future and have some introspection regarding their treatment of the earth and her inhabitants.
Grace: Hello, Genesis. (smiles) So you are a very youthful animal rights activist. I watched the TED Talk that you gave at 10 years old. As I was watching it, what really struck me was the empathy. That and the emotional intelligence that you displayed at such a young age. All that mature emotion that came from your curiosity about where chicken nuggets or cow’s milk came from. That seemed really profound for a child of that age. Your response to the answers that you received was even more incredible. So, my question finally is, what do you think you understood then as a kid about empathy and social justice that many people, even in their later years, don’t really understand, right, about empathy or justice in that way?
Genesis: Yeah. I am indigenous and I’ve always felt really drawn to the earth and the land, and I’ve always known about the importance of loving animals and saving animals. Most children, especially at a young age, love animals, whether they watch it on TV or if they’ve had pets growing up. I have just always known the importance of treating everyone with compassion, whether they were an animal or a human. It is just really important just to be compassionate to one another. Being indigenous has made me realize why it is so important to protect the land, and indigenous people have already been protecting the land for years. The empathy and compassion was already driven in me. I just always knew it was deeply important to love the planet and the animals.
Grace: Nice, and that indigenous culture of protecting the land covers protecting the animals as well, right?
Genesis: Yeah, exactly. I always loved animals growing up. I didn’t have pets, but I would love watching them on TV. My favorite show was Peppa Pig.(chuckles) So I would always watch it. And even from that, I knew that they had personalities, and then when I grew up, I started going to animal sanctuaries, and I saw the nature of animals; they are so loving, and they understand what’s going on to them. Even before they go to slaughterhouses, I feel like people don’t realize that they understand what’s happening to them.
Grace: Yes, I do feel as though people don’t talk about animals like they have personalities. And you don’t have pets, you said?
Genesis: I do have pets. When I was three, I didn’t have any pets. I didn’t have any dogs, nothing. But then, when I turned six, I got my 1st dog, and now I have 3 rescue dogs.
Grace: Wow, that’s great. You must love dogs.
Genesis: Yeah, I do. (laughs)
Grace: So, you became vegetarian when you were 3 and vegan when you were 6. And your mom supported you through that journey. For some kids, if they were in your shoes and they decided, I don’t want to eat meat. Well, some of the parents may just say, ‘you’re going to have dinner with us and eat the meat we cook’. So that support from your mom and from your family, how did that help you understand what kids were able to speak out on? Did it give you more confidence to pursue activism?
Genesis: Yeah, it actually really did. My mom has always told me it’s important to ask questions and to question adults. So that’s what I started to do. I was asking random questions, and then I started to think, when I was eating meat, I was thinking, okay, well, what is this that I’m eating? She really gave me a push just by encouraging me to ask questions. So, I started doing it. I wish more adults would tell youth that it’s important to ask questions, especially to adults. At a young age, we feel very shy because we’re very young and we’re all thinking, well, what if they don’t want to listen to me? Or what if they don’t give me an answer? But I was really lucky that she did. It is just so very important to start asking questions because you never know where those questions can lead you.
Grace: Exactly. Okay, switching into the topic of meat products, the average American eats about 200 pounds of meat a year, and switching from completely eating meat to being vegan the next day is what many people may think they need to do, and that would be jarring. What do you suggest people take on this adventure, and how do you envision progress in that sense?
Genesis: Yeah, I’ve always had an approach where people don’t have to change overnight because, as much as I would love people to go vegan, I know that for some people, that’s not possible. And I understand that. A very important beginner’s step would be to make switches, and we can start at home simply by switching out our butters for a plant-based butter or our milks for a plant-based milk or our meats, et cetera. We can switch it out. And just by making those switches, we can start getting more familiar with eating plant-based foods, and eventually you realize that it’s not as hard as you thought it was. Another one could be whenever you go out to a restaurant, instead of getting a meat option, get a plant-based option. Just switches like that can add up because the foundation of it all is that more people need to be more mindful of their choices. All that it really takes is being aware and questioning whether the meals you are eating are going to have a positive impact on the environment or a negative impact. And then you can decide which option that you would like from there. Switching is important, and you definitely don’t have to do it overnight because that will feel very overwhelming.
Grace: So, word on the grapevine is that you like lasagna.
Genesis: Yeah. (laughs)
Grace: So, lasagna, as I understand it, I don’t know, I’ve never had lasagna, but I looked up what lasagna was, and it’s like a cheesy, meaty kind of thing. So how do you substitute the ingredients? And do you have a recipe that you would care to share? Because you love to cook, right?
Genesis: I do love cooking, and I’ve been cooking forever. Lasagna was one of my favorite foods, and it’s actually very expensive to make, but the vegan version isn’t as expensive because I use tofu. So instead of using cheese inside, I use a tofu blend, and I just crush it up, and then I add nutritional yeast, which is like a vegan cheese, a substitute. And then I’ll put like salt, pepper, garlic powder, and some fresh garlic. I’ll put spinach and then I mix it all together, and it’s so good. It’s like the best thing ever. I take it to potlucks. My siblings love it, and my brother likes to humble me, but he loves it. I would recommend it.
Grace: Adding that to the list right now. It is interesting that you said it’s less expensive. Because in my head, when I think vegan, I think a little more expensive. Is that not true? Are vegan products usually less expensive?
Genesis: Yeah, I feel like, especially now, everything is expensive, but I think that it just depends on what vegan products you’re eating. For the vegan meats and cheeses, yes, it can get pricey, but if you’re eating things like tofu, things like beans, lentils, things like that, then it’s not as expensive.
Grace: Okay, wow. That’s really nice to know. Switching back to the topic at hand, your activism commonly extends beyond talks. You have been involved in actively changing policies that leave an actual impact, and you’re a young person challenging billion-dollar industries. Have you ever felt underestimated in these places you walk in, and then they think because of your age or your origin that, you know, it’s not fruitful what you’re doing or have you felt that?
Genesis: Yeah, I definitely have felt that, especially starting so young because I started when I was six, so of course, as a little kid walking in, you would think that people wouldn’t listen, but I realized the more that I continued speaking up and continuing with my activism, and also because I’ve been an activist for 13 years, people realize that I’m very passionate about this. Just continuing to speak up has made me more credible because people realize that this isn’t just a little phase, like, oh, she loves animals. It’s always been more than that for me. I’ve realized how important it is to protect them and to love the environment and to just be mindful of our choices.
Grace: And the more you do it, the more confidence you get in yourself.
Genesis: Yeah, exactly.
Grace: Speaking of billion-dollar industries, fossil fuels are the largest contributor to climate change, but animal agriculture is still a significant right hand. So when you step into these places, do you feel that fossil fuels dominate the conversation and people don’t really care to talk about animal agriculture?
Genesis: They definitely dominate all climate conferences that I go to. I always notice people are always talking about fossil fuels, but animal agriculture is rarely talked about, or if it’s talked about, it’s like pushed off to the side of a part of the issue, but it’s also a huge part of the issue. People don’t realize how animal agriculture has more greenhouse gas emissions than the whole fossil fuel transportation industry. So we have our boats and our airplanes and our cars, which we’re speaking about, and we know that they’re ruining the environment, but greenhouse gas from animal agriculture is just as harmful, and we’re leaving that out.
And whenever we go to climate conferences, oftentimes we’ll walk out to go eat, and it’s all meat and dairy, but we’re talking about saving the environment. And then there’ll be grapes for the vegans, but it doesn’t really add up because we’re talking about saving the environment, but we’re eating foods that are harming it.
Grace: Yeah, that’s interesting that they’d have meat at the time.
Genesis: Yeah. It’s so interesting. (chuckles)
Grace: Yeah, so how do you feel that might change? Do you feel as if there’s a change brewing in terms of people now starting to talk about animal agriculture?
Genesis: There is starting to be a bit of a change now, just because more people are aware of how animal agriculture is harming the environment, but I still think that it’s not as talked about as it should be. I feel like it’s very, it’s mostly left out, I would say, it is really rare that I hear people talking about it, unfortunately. This is also why we just need to keep talking about it.
Grace: You were also recently involved in legislation. You joined 17 other youth in suing the EPA for the policy of removing consideration of the effects of pollution on people’s health and well-being from the cost-benefit analysis of pollution limits. Could you talk a bit more about this new policy they’re introducing, how harmful it could be if enacted, and what the legislation is like?
Grace: Yeah, we actually have a hearing for a case on March 6th in San Francisco that I’m going to. It is me along with 17 other youth, and we’re bringing attention to how the EPA has harmed our health and our well-being with the climate crisis because they have allowed so much climate pollution into the atmosphere, and wildfires have resulted from this. Many of the youth on the cases have lost their homes due to wildfires and floods, and it’s really traumatizing for us to see this all unfold in front of us and to have to turn on the news and see a new fire popping up or knowing about the climate crisis. It’s very worrying for us, and we can’t focus on school like normal kids used to be able to. We used to just be able to go to school, and now we have to be activists.
And we’re seeing more youth pop up and talking about the environment because we realize how important it is. That is why we have this case, because youth don’t want to just sit back. It is more than just the climate crisis for them. They realize that their lives are on the line.
Grace: Have you had any court appearances recently?
Genesis: Yeah, we have had some appearances. We had one last year, but this upcoming one is gonna be an update on the hearing because they wanted to dismiss the case. We are trying to appeal that.
Grace: They wanted to dismiss it based on what grounds?
Genesis: They gave the reason that since youth can volunteer for local cleanups, and my lawyers actually have like the actual terms for this, they can not really have a say in the climate crisis, essentially because they can do beach cleanups. They can join with their local mayors and their schools. They’re saying that we can help in those ways. Yeah, the loopholes that people are trying to jump through are interesting.
Grace: That is very interesting and unsettling, honestly. Also, where did you meet these other 17 people?
Genesis: They actually had all submitted their stories for the case. It was great.
Grace: You have mentioned previously that climate change disproportionately impacts communities of color and indigenous communities. What does this mean for environmental activism, and how should policy be thought about and enacted to help everybody?
Genesis: Oftentimes, when people talk about the climate crisis, they are thinking that the climate crisis isn’t happening now, but for indigenous people and people of color, this has long been their everyday life. A lot of people of color live near factory farms, which causes health issues. Indigenous people live in rainforests that are being leveled for animals to graze, so they’re not able to live there anymore. This is their every single day life. Some people are lucky enough to just see the climate crisis on the news and know what’s happening, but other people are living it, who are mostly people of color, and this needs to be talked about more.
Grace: What do you think the next few years of activism look like for you? Are you planning on expanding into other areas, or do you want to cement yourself as an environmental and animal rights activist for the foreseeable future?
Genesis: I’m gonna be finishing school soon, so I want to be more focused on activism and doing more traveling for speaking events. I want to continue speaking to more youth, which is something that I’m doing now. I talk a lot about animal rights and climate activism, but I do want to be more intersectional and talk about racial justice. I never like being in just one box as an activist. I like to be able to branch out because there are so many causes that I can talk about. The climate crisis has just been so urgent for me, so that’s my main focus, but I do want to branch out and continue being intersectional, talking about different causes.
Grace: Do you have any sources of hope right now that are keeping you going through this activism?
Genesis: I would definitely just say young people speaking up is my hope because I think that we, as youth, especially since we’re so young, normally we’ll be focusing on school or hanging out with friends, but instead, you’ll see a lot of us at Climate Protest or speaking up on social media or joining campaigns, things like that. And that gives me a lot of hope because as young people, we always wait for someone to be the one to make the change or our world leaders to step up and make the change, but we haven’t seen that happen. So we realize that we have to be the leaders to come and step up. We need people to be brave enough and to have enough courage to speak up, and that really gives me hope, seeing that young people are realizing that they can make a change.
Grace: Yeah. I like that you said that we have to stand up and try to save ourselves in the future for other people, right, the next generations. You have mentioned a lovely native American proverb before that I will paraphrase as ‘we do not inherit the earth, we borrow it from our children’. It seems backwards that now people are having to fight for their future instead of older people fighting for them. Why do you think the values present in this proverb are not reflected in the attitudes of how people treat the youth or how people treat the earth?
Genesis: With the earth, people do not understand how important it is to speak about the climate crisis and how the climate crisis is happening right now. It’s as if some people think that we have multiple different planets and that after this planet’s gone, we can just all move. But that’s not the case. This is the only planet that we have. And it’s not only the planet that we have for us, but it’s also the planet our future generations will have. It is very important to encourage the youth, but also to not only say, ‘wow, you guys are the future, you guys give me hope’, but to actually take us seriously. And if you have events, invite us to your events to go speak because we have important things to say. If you have new policies, invite us and ask, well, how can I make this better, because this is going to be a future for us all. It’s just very important for youth to be invited into these spaces when there are decisions being made for the future because we’re going to be the ones who are actually going to have to be living with these policies.
Grace: Exactly. The collaboration has to be multi-generational because at least our generation is very good at speaking up, but the thing is we’re not in power exactly. The change really has to come from a multi-generational effort.
Grace: So, there is a lot of uncertainty right now, politically, environmentally, and economically. Do you think this uncertainty is pushing more young people to act, or do you think it can sometimes make it too overwhelming to face?
Genesis: It’s very overwhelming growing up now because there are so many issues going on that we’re seeing constantly. But I think that the uncertainty definitely is driving youth to become activists. When we go to climate marches, there would be thousands of youth marching. Some will even miss school just to attend a March because they realize how important the cause is. I mean you can’t attend school on a dead planet, so they realize that this is more important. Just seeing youth speaking up is so empowering and it is so needed because we are the ones who are gonna be inheriting this planet. We still have so much time. So we realize, okay, well, we’re not going to have that much time as we think if we don’t have a thriving planet. That is why we’re stepping up and using our voices.
Grace: Amazing. How and where can young people find opportunities to have their voices heard? Where can they start?
Genesis: It was really easy for me to reach out to people and organizations. I would say definitely start there for whatever you’re passionate about. Reaching out works because a lot of organizations do want to help youth. And in my case, when I first started off, I reached out to organizations asking how I could help the animals. And they told me how to help. Then with climate cases, I would reach out to organizations and ask, well, how can I get involved? What type of actions do you currently have going on? I would definitely start just by reaching out. Another thing that I would definitely start is talking to your friends and your family, and maybe you can also give speeches, you can do public speaking opportunities, just getting your name, your voice out there, so people will be more familiar with you. And then lastly, I would say just simple actions by choosing plant-based meals or taking a plant-based dish when you go out to a restaurant or when you go to a potluck or a birthday, um, just by being more mindful of our choices can make a big difference.
Grace: Thank you. And so I will end my interview by asking, do you have a favorite vegan dish?
Genesis: (chuckles) Yes, I would say my favorite is potato tacos and beans and rice. It’s like one of my favorite things ever and it is also really cheap to make because it’s just like potatoes and tomatoes and tortillas and beans and rice, which is not really expensive to do. I love it.
–Grace Ifiegbu