By Alyssa Loughman
Mia Chisholm is a high school senior devoted to a life of activism – attending climate rallies such as the School Strike for Climate in 2019. Mia continues her activism inside and outside of schooling.
Image supplied by Mia.
She aims to "change minds, create allies and ultimately change the world a bit at a time, because we have a long road ahead of us.”
I wanted to talk to Mia to understand her concerns and her plans for the future.
Challenges & Change
When posed with the question: what challenges do you face as a young activist?
Mia responded, “being a teenager and a woman often I feel like my opinions can be dismissed and invalidated as just having a ‘bad attitude’, or ‘you’re too young to know what you’re talking about’, which in itself is a part of the reason I love it; having the opportunity to prove people wrong and stand up for what I believe in.”
“I remember being at a climate rally seeing passers-by stare and laugh at what all of us there had to say, people in the bars we passed in the streets yelling insults from their seats. I find it so ignorant and just upsetting to see people dismiss what we have to say before hearing us purely because of our age.”
She offers a few solutions to these problems stating, “I think the solution comes from the individual deciding to make a change within themselves.” She proposes that we should all listen to each other, be open, and choose kindness.
Mia also says that “our opinions so often get shut down before our message and what we believe in is heard. The most important thing to take on board is listening, when we listen to each other, we ensure all voices are heard, and that's the very core of what activism is – ensuring all voices are heard to create change.”
Passions and interests
Mia has an interest in the arts, especially acting. She believes that the arts give her a platform to express her social and political opinions in an abstract way. Adding that the arts are a space for people who want to be “unapologetically themselves”, and it has helped her discover and embrace her identity and beliefs.
She believes acting helps her in her activism, as it “allows every voice to be heard and continues to transform the lives of people involved. Not only is it very transformative to performers, it allows for audiences to understand the ideologies conveyed from an alternate perspective.”
Image supplied by Mia, from a recent climate rally
Activism and Covid-19
During this pandemic, all activists are having a tough time creating change. Some challenges Mia thinks activists are having during this time is our ability to be heard without being physically present. She explains, “one of the best ways to show our solidarity and our views are coming together and doing things like striking, it gets a lot of media attention thus, spreading awareness of what we are striking for. Without this, it can make it harder to show our solidarity and how serious we are about these issues. The messages we wish to send though they are powerful aren’t always ideally conveyed over social media.”
She believes that during this time it is essential that we do not forget about the climate. Mia is making more conscious attempts to recycle, and even through food shortages, buy sustainable foods. Mia also says that activists need to become more creative in the way we are spreading awareness now. She commented on the Stop Adani Tik Tok dances and that we should all use social media to our advantage even if it is not as effective.
More than ever, Mia urges us to bond as a community during this time so that we all continue to be heard.
If you know of someone doing great things in the activism space, let us know on our Facebook and Instagram pages!