Mon.9/18, 7p: Oral history through "testimonio" is at the heart of the community collective project, Humans of New Mexico/Humanos de Nuevo México. We´ll listen to the powerful story of southern New Mexico organizers and community members - Martha Payan and Cecilia Piñon.
Chaparral resident, Martha Payan, talks about the high need of resources in southern New Mexico: “A mí me preocupa mi comunidad porque estamos muy abandonados aquí. Muy abandonados estamos. Nuestros gobernantes no más nos visitan cuando necesitan el voto. (I worry about my community because we are very abandoned here. Truly abandoned. Our politicians only visit us when they want the vote.)”.
Cecilia Piñon, community member in Anthony, details the fear that exists for southern New Mexico immigrant populations: “Yo de niña llegué a trabajar con mis papas en lo que es la agricultura, recogiendo el chile y la cebolla. Y me acuerdo que había inmigración en ese tiempo. Llegaba inmigración y la gente se iba corriendo. Ahora que empezó con lo de Trump, se ha vuelto a ver mucho lo que es las redadas. (When I was a little girl I worked my parents in agriculture, picking chile and cebolla. I remember immigration enforcement at that time. When immigration would come, people would go running. Now with the whole Trump thing, a resurface of raids has happened again.)”
With the goal of gathering the diversity of New Mexican cultural traditions, the project Humans of New Mexico focuses on oral history -recorded and archived for future generations- prioritizing oral and language traditions. This show was hosted by Moisés Santos with Rafael Martínez and Bobby Gutierrez, and edition and production by Froilan Orozco along with recording, editing and transcription of the interviews by the Humans of New Mexico collective with Cristina Baccin´s support.
