Biomimicry. Forest-bathing. Petro-Masculinity. Imminania. For some of us, these concepts might sound novel or confusing, but for Isaias Hernandez, it’s part of his linguistic interest in defining what exactly is wrong with the planet, and what can be done to make it right.

“The climate crisis is a large topic to cover, and [there are] hundreds of terms to learn,” says Hernandez, also known as @queerbrownvegan online.  “With that comes identifying its root causes and impacts I explore my work by creating visual, colorful graphics, and illustrations that provide bite-sized content for people to engage in climate crisis discourse.”

In an oversaturated platform like Instagram, where memes and gifs abound, Hernandez’s work is quite refreshing, and, most importantly, inspiring. Even if the topics he touches might be unknown or confusing, the way he delivers his message feels approachable and educational. It’s one of the few times a day when you’re happy to stop scrolling and spending time reading a post, rather than just skimming past it. It’s not by chance, though; Hernandez’s background helps him captivate the reader: “Outside of the climate sphere, I am a creative that works on different pieces outside my work through music, writing, and drawing.”

His artistic penchant was put on hold when he left his hometown of Los Angeles to move to the Bay Area, the result of having disconnected from his family, culture and community members in his city. It was only five years later, when he returned to the City of Angels, that he understood what exactly he was feeling. He even has a term for it: “For me, it’s soliphilia, that is, love for a bioregion, environment, or place. When coming back five years later, I recognized how much my environment had changed. However, the people, culture and parts of the environment still existed. It made me recognize that I am still alive today, and no matter how many changes happen to my environment, I will still exist.”

This view applies to the content he’s posting daily on social media, a tool that has merged Hernandez’s passions and talents while helping him answer profound questions. Whenever he thinks he has an answer — or at least an insight — he shares his thoughts with his followers and opens the stage to the discussion, allowing many different voices to participate.

“I realized how important my voice was in college and I promised myself to provide information for people wanting to build their climate framework,” he explained. “Environmental education is a human right, and no one should privatize it.”

His mixed background and Californian heart allow Hernandez to connect to these many views, standing up against fake guilt whenever he spots it. 

“When it comes to race, class and environment — people need to start having these conversations,” he added. “For so long, we’ve seen how White fragility plays a role in the silencing of these conversations and is often ignored by many environmentalists because they feel attacked. To have effective talks and fix our planetary crisis, we need to address how white supremacy is depleting our natural resources.”

“Our biggest opportunity is to recognize our intergenerational movement and acknowledge how Black, Indigenous and people of Color have been fighting to protect their environments,” Hernandez said in closing “We cannot advocate for planetary health while upholding colonial powers that exist in our system.”