Isra Hirsi (born February 22, 2003) is an American environmental activist. She co-founded and served as the co-executive director of the U.S. Youth Climate Strike. In 2020, she was named in the ''Fortune'''s

40 Under 40 ''Fortune'' magazine's 40 Under 40 is a list of individuals the publication considers to be the most influential young leaders for the year. The list has existed in two phases: From 1999 to 2003, the list was presented purely as a numeric rankin ...

Government and Politics list. She is the daughter of U.S. Representative

Ilhan Omar Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (born October 4, 1982) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota House of Represen ...

Early life and education

Hirsi was born on February 22, 2003, in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, to

Somali American Somali Americans are Americans of Somali ancestry. The first ethnic Somalis to arrive in the U.S. were sailors who came in the 1920s from British Somaliland. They were followed by students pursuing higher studies in the 1960s and 1970s, by the la ...

U.S. Congresswoman

and Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi. Hirsi attended

Minneapolis South High School South High School, or simply South, is a four-year comprehensive public high school in the Corcoran neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A member of the Minneapolis Public Schools district, it is Minneapolis' oldest and largest public hig ...

, which she graduated from in 2021. She became involved in climate activism after joining her high school's environmental club in her freshman year. Hirsi attended

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

prior to her suspension. She began studying there in fall 2021. She was suspended after participating in an on-campus tent encampment protesting the university's investments in Israel and Israel's invasion of Gaza on April 18, 2024. Hirsi has said that she will continue protesting until her "demands are met."

Activism

At the age of 12, she was one of the participants protesting against the killing of

Jamar Clark On November 15, 2015, two police officers fatally shot Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old African-American man, in Minneapolis. The two shooters were Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze. They were a part of the Minneapolis Police Department which subs ...

at the

Mall of America Mall of America (MoA) is a large shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota. Located within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the mall lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north ...

. Hirsi coordinated the organization of hundreds of student-led strikes across the United States on March 15 and May 3, 2019. She co-founded the U.S. Youth Climate Strike, the American arm of a global youth

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

movement, in January 2019. She acts as the co-executive director of this group. She served as the chair of the Minnesota chapter of the

High School Democrats of America The High School Democrats of America (HSDA) is a student-led organization that seeks to mobilize young people and elect Democrats. HSDA student activists across the country engage in political activity of the Democratic Party. Formerly part of t ...

during the 2018–2019 term. In 2019, she won a

Brower Youth Award The Earth Island Institute is a non-profit environmental group founded in 1982 by David Brower. Located in Berkeley, California, it supports activism around environmental issues through fiscal sponsorship that provides the administrative and orga ...

. That same year, Hirsi received the Voice of the Future Award. In 2020, Hirsi was placed on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's "Future 40" list. On April 18, 2024, Hirsi was suspended from Barnard College for taking part in what Barnard College claimed to be an " unauthorized encampment"

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

on the property of Columbia University in which there were calls for Columbia to

divest In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for financial, ethical, or political objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm. A divestment is the opposite of an investment. Divestiture is a ...

from Israel. She was also arrested by the

NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

later that day and released that evening.

Authored articles

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsi, Isra 2003 births Living people Writers from Minneapolis American women environmentalists American environmentalists American child activists American human rights activists Activists from Minnesota American people of Somali descent American climate activists American communists Youth climate activists American women civil rights activists Barnard College alumni 21st-century African-American women writers South High School (Minnesota) alumni 21st-century American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American writers