Climate Justice from the Perspective of Indigenous, Black, and Campesinx Leaders in Abya Yala

Introducing our interlocutors and our research Our methodological approach was based on semi-structured interviews conducted between October 2022 and February 2023. These interviews involved indigenous, Afro-descendant, and Campesinx leaders from academia, labour unions, and social movements. We conducted the interviews in person through video calls, email, and phone. Due to the diversity of the participants, the interviews were performed in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. We had the support of native and bilingual speakers to review the translations1 and shared the final version of the document with the interviewees. The research highlights the perspectives of several influential voices, including Ana Lucía Ixchiu Hernández, a K’iche’ indigenous social leader and renowned activist for climate and cultural rights in Guatemala; Jen Deerinwater, an award-winning journalist and community organizer from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in the United States (US); Eliana Asprilla, an Afro-descendant environmental engineer specializing in urban and management planning from Colombia; Ana Lilia Felix, an academic who aligns with the Zapatista movement's ‘Sixth Declaration of the Lacandona Jungle’ in Mexico; and Maria Estélia de Araújo and Luciomar Monteiro, members of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) and the Catholic Church's Land Pastoral Commission (CPT) in Brazil. For the interviewees’ biographical information and guiding questions, please refer to Appendix 7A in this chapter. In terms of our selection criteria for interviewees, we employed a non-random sampling approach, specifically purposive sampling. This selection was based on the significant roles that these activists play in the social and environmental justice arenas within both their individual countries and the broader region.