{"id":44964,"date":"2024-04-24T13:01:22","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T20:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=44964"},"modified":"2024-04-29T13:05:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T20:05:22","slug":"at-the-end-of-the-day-were-on-this-ship-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/at-the-end-of-the-day-were-on-this-ship-together\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018At the end of the day, we’re on this ship together.\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
Subscribe to Our Land Weekly<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the Center of Southwest Culture\u2019s Arturo Sandoval was on New Mexico in Focus. One of the organizers of the original Earth Day in 1970, Sandoval explained that the event blew up beyond what they ever imagined \u2014 and had a big impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress passed laws like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. Even President Richard Nixon was on board with environmental and public health protections for Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, it looked to us at that time that we had made a significant impact, and that the environment was going to be in a better place,\u201d he told me. \u201cAnd for a short period, it was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, something happened over the last 30 years, he said \u2014 and activists ran into an enemy they weren\u2019t expecting: what he called \u201cunfettered capitalism.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The capitalists are very, very disciplined in their approach and their political strategies. They’re very, very good at it and they have enormous resources,\u201d Sandoval said. \u201cAnd what they proceeded to do \u2014 and where we are today \u2014 is they have completely suborned the legislative, the judicial, and the executive branches of the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can watch both segments of the interview online if you missed it.<\/a> And Sandoval didn\u2019t just talk about the problems, he also discussed his vision for a post-capitalist economy. And he talks about the center\u2019s work with programs like Story Riders<\/a> and \u00a1Sembrando Salud!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frankly, it\u2019s the kind of conversation I love having \u2014 in a coffee shop or in our studio. And it\u2019s the reason I still love being a journalist. It\u2019s a privilege I don\u2019t take for granted, especially when asking uncomfortable questions other people might wonder about, as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked one of those questions toward the end of the interview<\/a> \u2014 about how we can see and respect one another\u2019s differences while also setting some differences aside to protect one another and our planet. I hope you\u2019ll use this opportunity to watch, listen, and keep the conversation going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, please tune into NMPBS on Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m. to watch our new documentary, <\/strong>Ancestral Connections<\/a>.<\/strong> It\u2019s about the Pueblo of Santa Ana\u2019s restoration of Tamaya Kwii Kee Nee Puu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, the Pueblo of Santa Ana paid $30 million for 60,000 acres of their ancestral lands \u2014 lands that had been privatized and then grazed for more than a century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even though they bought those lands eight years ago now, they\u2019re still waiting for the U.S. Congress to act so that they\u2019re a part of the pueblo\u2019s sovereign lands. In other words: Not only did the pueblo have to buy back their ancestral lands, they also still pay taxes on them since they\u2019re still considered \u201cprivate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n