Bill Xu is a full time Human Rights student at Carleton, and a part time climate justice activist, community organizer, coffee addict, foodie, outdoor enthusiast, and … plant lover? Before immigrating to Turtle Island at the age of nine, Bill spent most of his childhood in rural and suburban NanJing. With relations to Bill’s Chinese Name (Xu Jing Ze), meaning “to live peacefully by the river”, Cháng Jiāng (the Yangtze River) plays a significant role in Bill’s activism, as it is the river that gave and continues to give life to his city. As co-founder of the new OPIRG working group, Carleton Students for Climate Justice, Bill would like to shift approaches to climate justice activism in a way that centres anti-racism, Indigenous sovereignty/solidarity, and migrant justice; in doing so, creating a safer platform for BIPoCs to discuss climate justice without the influences of toxic-whiteness.
Throughout Next Up, community events, and his post-secondary education, Bill wishes learn more about the intersections between his roots/race and his queerness with hopes to further decolonize conversations around sex, gender, and sexuality in the Queer Asian community.