It feels like the work has been non-stop since I started staying in Chimayo. I am staying with Miguel Moreno and his grandmother Teresa Juarez on their land. They are both part of the New Mexico Alliance and Building Actions for Sustainable Environment (BASE). We have been meeting with different people in the community every day, and often a couple people a day. We are gathering input on the work people want done in the community, as well as talking about Think Outside the Bomb’s (TOTB) campaign and what we wish to do here in New Mexico. We are working with a three pronged outreach strategy to work with existing non-profits and Christian peace organizations, the Hispanic communities here in Espanola that are connected to the labs, and the Indigenous and Pueblo communities around the labs.
“We want to transform the labs from nuclearism and nuclear weapons into renewable and sustainable energies that do not harm people's health or contaminate the land.”
The presence of the labs is a very important part of understanding the social, economic and political aspects of New Mexico and especially here in the Espanola Valley where I have been working. The lab (LANL) is the biggest employer here in Espanola with Walmart being the next biggest employer. Interestingly enough, this also creates a drug sub-economy that in a big way is very connected to the presence of the labs.
As a group of young people coming to New Mexico, we don't want to take away anyone's livelihood, even when that livelihood causes cancers in the workers and their families. We want to transform the labs from nuclearism and nuclear weapons into renewable and sustainable energies that do not harm people's health or contaminate the land. We want to bring green jobs to New Mexico that can help uplift these impoverished communities as well as help bring the country and world into energies that do not depend on dwindling resources and are truly sustainable into the future.
There are two local Espanola events we are planning on organizing to kick off the TOTB campaign here in New Mexico. The first is a youth walk to the Santuario de Chimayo. Walk participants start from the four different corners and converge on Holy Saturday April 3rd, 1 pm at the Holy Family Parish in Chimayo on State Road 76. This is a very important spiritual event for many people in New Mexico and we believe it is very important for us to have a respectful presence at this event to be accepted and recognized by the local communities. We plan to ask for rejuvenation on this walk both for the internal sufferings from drugs and alcohol that have affected these communities, as well as for the external land that has been affected from many stages of the nuclear complex from mining, weapons production and waste storage. Listen to the radio interview on this event at nuclearactive.org .
We are also organizing a large cultural/art event at Northern New Mexico College tentatively set at the end of April. We are working with local organizations and non-profits to host this night of entertainment which would serve as fun for the community as well as an introduction to the campaign and a small fundraiser for future events. We are also going to be present at a local farmer’s seed trading event where we will have a table and give out information about TOTB on March 27th.
Miguel and I went to the Democratic Convention at Buffalo Thunder on Saturday, March 13th and had a great time. We got all dressed up and talked to a lot of politicians and young people. Somehow Miguel worked his magic and we even got inside the convention hall which supposedly is only allowed for delegates. Thanks to Miguel's uncle we had conversations with many people looking to take the Lt. Governor ticket for the Democratic Party as well as many sitting judges. We even had one judge so excited that she committed five of her teens to our walk to the Santuario de Chimayo on Holy Saturday in exchange for court ordered community service! She also wanted us to go inside the prisons to give presentations. We stood up on the stage with Joe Campos who is looking to run for Lt. Governor and talked to him after. A big part of his campaign was about green jobs so we both agreed on the need for economic transformation of the labs.
Other outreach that we are working on is talking directly to youth. We have been going to Espanola Valley High School talking to kids in every class period as well as simply hanging out and talking to kids during the lunch period. Overall, these presentations have gone over very well and many people are getting excited about TOTB and the walk on April 3rd.
Looking towards the future, I hope to get more in contact with the Pueblos and learn from their communities. I have learned a lot about the people in Espanola from staying in Chimayo and working with the community, and now I feel the next step is to do the same in the Indigenous communities. I am in touch with individuals from San Ildefanso and Santa Clara Pueblos. I hope to become more directly involved with the communities to know about the needs of the people there to better help our campaign in transforming Los Alamos.
Jason Ahmadi is 25, and originally from California. He is currently based in Chimayo New Mexico, helping organize for Think Outside the Bomb’s (TOTB) campaign to transform Los Alamos and support the local community. He got involved in the TOTB campaign by attending U.C. Berkeley and learning about the UC's management of the national nuclear weapons labs. He enjoys the quote, "If I can't dance I don't want any part of this revolution." Jason reports on his activities from Chimayo.
Note: Ban All Nukes Generation USA opens this blog to members of the movement for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. The views expressed are those of the author. Bang-USA welcomes blogs from readers, as well as videos for Disarm TV.
