Oppenheimer: Sins of Omission

Nuclear Industry Fallout and Indigenous and Chicana/o Resistance in the Southwest

Thu, March 14, 2024 | 7PM – 8:15PM EST

(Sponsored by MAPA Indigenous Solidarity and Nuclear Disarmament Working Groups)

The award-winning blockbuster film, Oppenheimer, is a biography of one person who facilitated the building of a weapon that could destroy the earth. Despite its wide acclaim Oppenheimer fails to tell the full story—the impacts of the Bomb and the nuclear industry on human beings then and now. The film never attempts to talk about the victims of the bombs dropped on Japan in 1945, nor the victims of the first atomic test in New Mexico, nor the victims of those that worked in uranium mines on the Navajo Reservation, nor the displacement of people—primarily Indigenous —who lived on the present site of Los Alamos National Laboratories, nor the contamination of water and land of the Southwest. The nuclear power industry has been and continues to be a disaster and has never been a Green alternative. The industry is trying to turn New Mexico, “Land of Enchantment”, into a nuclear sacrifice zone. This webinar seeks to shine a light on Oppenheimer’s omissions. Our speakers will tell the story of the impact of the nuclear industrial complex on the people and the land of the Southwest. We hope to offer a program in the Spring on the disposal of nuclear wastes in New Mexico. Please join us March 14 to learn from indigenous activists who are actively resisting the ongoing assault and demonstrating sustainable alternatives.

Speakers:

Tina Cordova – Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium

Tina Cordova is a seventh generation native New Mexican born and raised in the small town of Tularosa in south central New Mexico. Her family was living within 50 miles of the Trinity test in Central New Mexico. In 2005 Tina co-founded the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium (TBDC). She is the fourth generation in her family to have cancer since 1945 and there are a total of five generations that have been affected including a niece that has recently been diagnosed at the age of 23. In 2023 Tina was acknowledged for her 18 years of advocacy work receiving the Con Alma Foundation’s Hero of Health Award, the Physicians for Social Responsibility’s Health Hero Award and the Beyond Nuclear International’s Nuclear Free Futures Award.

Leona Morgan – Haul No!

Leona Morgan (Diné, she/her) has been an anti-nuclear agitator since 2007. Leona is a co-founder of Haul No! – a volunteer Indigenous-led group collaborating with Indigenous communities and leaders, environmental organizations and community-based advocates working to stop nuclear colonialism in the Southwest. She is a graduate student at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Talavi Denipah Cook – Tewa Women United

Talavi Denipah Cook (she/her) is the Environmental Justice and Health Program Manager for Tewa Women United. originally from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, Hopi, and Diné. She joined the staff of TWU in March 2022 with broad academic and work experience in forestry, firefighting, natural resources, and conservation. She is committed to helping her communities to ensure the land and the people are healthy and resilient.

Lilly Adams – Union of Concerned Scientists, Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Advocate

She is the co-founder of Nuclear Voices, which seeks to amplify nuclear frontline communities and issues of nuclear justice, and serves as a member of the Board of Directors at the Arms Control Association. Ms. Adams is a widely-quoted expert on nuclear weapons justice and nuclear frontline communities. She has appeared on The Young Turks, the Press the Button podcast, and National Geographic

Facilitator:

Roberto Roibal – Santa Fe Disarmament and Peace Activist and organizer

Born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Early and longtime activist for Southwest Organizing project. Worked against the US War in Vietnam. Continues working with Venceremos Brigade. Works presently on nuclear disarmament, for a ceasefire in Gaza, and for Peace.