TOKALA pt. 2: Isabel Valentin for @voguemagazine 💛 TOKALA is an ongoing 12 city series centering the stories of climate organizers to show what climate change actually looks like in black and brown communities across the country. Isabel is from San Juan, PR and like everyone else in this series began organizing out of a necessity. Puerto Rico and the need for climate fights happening within it are a direct response to colonialism. An island that is American only when it serves a capitalist agenda of industry and tourism is treated as an afterthought when it comes to the humanity and history of those who are from there. This notion became magnified in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria where a province stripped of its autonomy is forced to rely on a country that could care less about its people. Isabel has been organizing since high school to fight for awareness of these issues and to amplify the voices of her community across the island. “There are so many people that have been yelling and screaming [about the injustices they’ve been facing] for decades and no one’s been listening. So it’s my responsibility to speak when no one is speaking, but it’s also my responsibility to hold the microphone over those that have been speaking for decades and facing systematic oppression.” - Isabel Valentin Please read the full story via the link in my bio. Organizer: @isxbel5 Text: @geometricsleep Editor: @olivebitties Photo: @_carlosjaramillo_ Creative Direction & Style: @marcusjcorrea Hair: @ayleeed MU: @tiffanycox025 @melmichellerr Photo Assist: @cee_gonz Style Assist: @kittyfati Producer: @kaylahbrathwaite Production Manager: @landbackbaddie Special Thanks to @futurecoalition