{"id":28714,"date":"2023-03-25T07:00:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-25T01:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/\/?post_type=story&p=28714"},"modified":"2023-03-24T15:13:49","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T09:43:49","slug":"young-leader-shiva-rajbhandari-is-passionate-about-climate-justice-and-students-rights","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/old.globalindian.com\/youth\/story\/cover-story\/young-leader-shiva-rajbhandari-is-passionate-about-climate-justice-and-students-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Young leader Shiva Rajbhandari is passionate about climate justice and students’ rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

(March 25, 2023)<\/strong> About six days after her 18th birthday, Indian American activist Shiva Rajbhandari announced his candidacy for the Boise, Idaho School Board of Trustees elections earlier this year. And in a historic run, the young climate leader, who has been quite vocal about the various natural disasters, unseated the far-right 47-year-old incumbent. A climate change leader, activist, and prolific writer – this 18-year-old teenager is all that, and much more. According to the youngster, his win marks a much-needed, long-overdue change for Boise and represents the irrefutable power of young people mobilizing together to make a change. “I definitely did not expect to be running for office at this age. But I just came to realize how important it was to try to establish a student voice on the school board,” the young leader said soon after winning the elections. “We don\u2019t always get taken seriously as students. So, then it\u2019s on us to take that responsibility on, to fight for our futures,” he added.<\/p>\n

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Recognised by Teen Vogue<\/em>‘s \u201821 Under 21\u2019<\/a>, Shiva is a vocal gun violence prevention activist and has protested state policies aimed at restricting what students can learn. In fact, about three years back, when he was merely 15, he organised roughly 75 students to protest Chase Bank\u2019s financing of fossil fuels. At 16, Shiva also confronted Idaho\u2019s lieutenant governor, Janice McGeachin, about the task force she had set up to ‘examine indoctrination in Idaho education’. Although he has had a long journey as an activist, the young leader believes that he is just getting started. \u201cActivism takes place at the intersection of your interests, your skills, and your community’s needs. From artists to writers to speakers to scientists, there is room for everybody in our movement,\u201d the Global Indian<\/em><\/a> said in his speech.<\/p>\n

Coming of age<\/strong><\/h5>\n

As a young boy, Shiva Rajbhandari would listen to his father quite intently talking about the climate crisis and how deforestation has affected tribal lives. And it wasn’t long after that the teenager started running various campaigns against climate change, gun violence, and various other issues that plague society today. “As I grew in my activism, I began working for tribal justice, voting rights, and gun violence prevention,\u201d the young leader, who started off working in climate activism, said during an interview, adding, “After a two-year long campaign to create a clean energy commitment and long-term sustainability plan in our school district, I decided to run for the school board.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Suddenly, Chairman Skaug values student input it\u2019s just that students in the legislature is a threat to parental rights. Yeah, we\u2019re not buying it either. #LetStudentsSpeak<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/BiwBJIybV5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Shiva Rajbhandari (he\/him) (@_Shiva_R) January 27, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n