She believes in the importance of representation and the inclusion of black, brown and indigenous peoples.įrom atolls, sunken volcanoes–undersea descent Aka started doing poetry with a wish to create nuanced conversations about not only climate change, but also colonialism and indigenous peoples rights. She received her Master’s in Pacific Island Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.Īka Niviâna is a Inuk writer and this is her on-screen debut. She has been selected as one of 13 Climate Warriors by Vogue in 2015 and the Impact Hero of the Year by Earth Company in 2016. Kathy also co-founded the non-profit Jo-Jikum, dedicated to empowering Marshallese youth to seek solutions to climate change and other environmental impacts threatening their home island.
Her work has recently evolved and begun to inhabit gallery and performance art spaces – her work has been curated by the Honolulu Biennial in Hawai’i in February 2017, then the Smithsonian art lab ‘Ae Kai in July of 2017, and most recently the upcoming Asia Pacific Triennial in Australia in November 2018. In February 2017, the University of Arizona Press published her first collection of poetry, Iep Jāltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter.
Her writing and performances have been featured by CNN, Democracy Now, Huffington Post, and more. She received international acclaim through her performance at the opening of the United Nations Climate Summit in New York in 2014. Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner is a poet of Marshallese ancestry.
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