Photo Courtesy of Flickr
By Helen Gloege ’23
Staff Writer
Nadia Nazar is a 19-year-old artist and climate justice organizer from Baltimore County, Maryland. She is the co-founder of climate justice and activist organization Zero Hour. According to The Baltimore Sun, Nazar was in a middle school environmental science class when she learned about climate change. Part of what inspired her to pursue climate activism was her mother’s work as a marine biologist, according to an interview with the YouTube channel, In the Know Through her mother’s work, she was able to learn about how climate change was impacting animals and the greater world. Using social media, Nazar was able to connect to fellow youth activist Jamie Margolin in the early half of 2018. Together, Nazar and Margolin founded Zero Hour, with help from Madelaine Tew and Zanagee Artis, youth climate activists from New Jersey and Connecticut respectively.
According to their website, Zero Hour is a youth-centered climate justice organization that aims to bring together social justice movements, call for climate action and hold elected officials accountable. Nazar holds the positions of co-executive director and art director for Zero Hour. In February 2019, she spoke as the youth representative at the House Natural Resources Committee in Washington, D.C., on climate change, as reported by The Baltimore Sun. In her interview with In the Know, Nazar described how her work as an art director for Zero Hour led her to create art for other climate strikes and demonstrations. In the interview, Nazar stated that “art and music are really good tools to build community and create relationships to support your organizing.” Among many pieces of art, Nazar has created banners that read, ‘Youth for Climate Action Now’ and ‘We Don’t Want to Die.’ Nazar also has her own website, which centers around fighting climate change in a visual format.