Letters: 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

The month of August will mark the 10-year anniversary of the devastating destruction that Hurricane Katrina brought down on New Orleans. Just as tragic and memorable was the federal government’s careless, chaotic response to those displaced and wounded by the hurricane, particularly in the poor black communities.

The situation later caused rapper Kanye West to go off-script during a charity telethon and declare that, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Ten years later, one could follow that statement with, “And the government still doesn’t care about Native Americans.”

I see parallels between the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and the current crisis imposed on the Navajo Nation in the aftermath of the Animas River contamination. Not long after the toxic waste flowed into the rez, the EPA released nebulously-worded waiver forms that would compensate Natives but prohibit them from filing any future damage claims, knowing full well that long-term consequences are inevitable. Following that, the EPA sent tanks of fresh water to Navajo Country, but it was later revealed by Navajo officials that the water tanks were contaminated with oil, choking off any hope of relief for many Natives who subsist on land and water.

The federal government needs to be held accountable for its negligent treatment of Natives. And while opportunistic Republicans use this crisis to champion their “small government” ideology, they also need to be held accountable for stripping away billions of dollars of funding for the EPA, leaving the agency underfunded and understaffed, thereby allowing this spill to happen. John McCain being chased off the reservation recently can be viewed as a symbolic victory on this end.

For blacks and browns, a heavy distrust of the state exists within us and it is one rooted in history. The events relayed here exemplify why such relations are fraught. Which is why, now more than ever, we need to unite in our struggles for justice. Also, it goes without saying, but we need the support of our white brothers and sisters Ð to be allies and listen to our concerns and demands. For hundreds of years, black and brown bodies have acted as canaries in the coal mine of the corporate state’s hunger for power. Given the way the Animas River has affected the ecosystems along Silverton and Durango, it no longer matters whose community will be destroyed. The corporate state places profit above people, no matter what skin color now.

Whether it’s seeking justice for our bodies against racism and exploitation or justice for our land against colonialism and degradation, the desire for freedom, equality and peace is something we all long for and we must stand together against injustice on all fronts.

Kirbie Bennett
Shiprock, N.M.

‘Hemp’ is one solution for NM’s future

New Mexico needs jobs. More importantly, we need a jobs strategy – a smart way to think about good jobs that we can create by building on our unique strengths and assets.

Imagine, for example, New Mexico jumping into a wide-open industry with a market potential of more than $500 million. An industry we could grow from the grassroots up that would require no tax breaks and no out of state corporations but would need lots of sun and land and very little water. An industry that would help every part of our state, from farmers in rural New Mexico to entrepreneurs in our cities. Imagine an industry based on talents, skills and abilities that are deeply rooted in New Mexico history and culture. Imagine an industry with products that we could proudly brand as “Made in New Mexico.”

This growth industry is industrial hemp. And it’s a perfect fit for our state at a time when we need jobs and a job strategy that’s in our own control. It’s so clearly right for New Mexico that in 2012 an Industrial Hemp Task Force chaired by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture said, “New Mexico is uniquely poised to capture the industrial hemp market because of its rural underpinnings, its decentralized production and its many cultures that can add unique products via alternative approaches.”

What is hemp used for? Pretty much everything, which is why Whole Foods Markets and Wal-Mart are the largest retailers of hemp-based products in the country. Hemp is used in food and cosmetics, clothes and construction material, cars and paper, and much more. In fact, hemp is used in more than 25,000 commercial products. Seven former presidents grew industrial hemp, starting with George Washington, and in World War II “patriotic farmers” were encouraged to grow hemp to make the uniforms worn by our armed forces.

Currently 22 states have responded to the Farm Bill’s provision to allow the exploration of hemp. Last session, after more than eight years of discussion and investigation, with the backing of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture and New Mexico State University, both houses of the New Mexico legislature passed a hemp bill with overwhelming bi-partisan support. Inexplicably, Governor Martinez vetoed it.

It’s not too late for us to seize this opportunity. The governor should put a hemp bill on her call for the next session. It makes sense. If you agree, go to www.TK.com and add your name to a petition calling on the governor to act on a hemp bill.

Growing hemp in New Mexico will help farmers and small manufacturers, retailers and entrepreneurs. If New Mexico State University generates a strain of hemp suited to New Mexico’s climate and soil, we could have a crop as valuable to the state as Hatch chilies.

We need jobs. We need an example of a New Mexico-based jobs strategy that cuts across geographic areas and combines different economic sectors, a strategy that builds on our unique history and our strengths. We need a strategy that we control from inside New Mexico and from the grassroots up.

Hemp is one example of a solution for New Mexico’s future that is hiding in plain sight. All we have to do is plant the seeds, grow the opportunity and harvest the jobs.

Alan Webber
Santa Fe, N.M.

A failed health care system?

It seems to me that IHS’s purpose for existence is to provide health care to indigenous people, and when these services are not being provided consistently, I’m not sure what the point of its existence is. If the people cannot rely on and feel confident about a service they have used all of their lives, the system has failed.

I am 72 years old and was diagnosed with diabetes in 1975. Since then I have relied on my primary care doctor at IHS in Gallup, which is where all my medical records are kept. Except for times when IHS has said they would like to send me somewhere else for issues I have had and continue to have concerning my heart, I have gone to that hospital my entire life.

Very recently and suddenly (and without my knowledge) I was assigned to a different district for health services. The new district I have been assigned to is in Crownpoint, and although it is about the same distance from my home, the IHS facility there is much less prepared and much more inept than the hospital in Gallup. Recently, for example, they closed down the ER and obstetrics portion of their services for well over a week, and even more recently, I was told that the Eastern Navajo Agency hospital could not possibly get me a pair of eyeglasses because they have no funding. What? No money? How do you take care of people when you have no money?

Let me rephrase and repeat that so it’s perfectly clear: How is it possible that the government agency, which provides health care to its patrons, has run out of money? This is always a curiosity to me when it comes to government spending.

Since my eyesight has been compromised by diabetes, I made an appointment to see a doctor at IHS in Gallup. After the exam, he told me that I needed glasses and that the eye clinic would provide me with a pair to improve my vision. When I got to the section where you give them your prescription, I was told that I could no longer use Gallup’s hospital because I lived in the Crownpoint district after the redistricting, which I knew nothing about. It seems to me that when I called for the appointment with the doctor in Gallup is when I should have been informed that I would need to see someone in Crownpoint instead and told why.

A few years ago, I forgot my diabetes medication when I went to Phoenix, so I went to the IHS hospital there and was treated with respect, kindness and courtesy. And I was given my medication. I was far away from my district at that time, but I was also under the impression (re-enforced in Phoenix) that I could go to any public health service organization anywhere in the U.S. and be taken care of as if I were at home. To the people in Phoenix, I remain grateful. Not long ago, though, I was in Albuquerque for a follow-up to a by-pass and was informed at IHS that I could not fill my prescription there because the pharmacy wasn’t in my district.

Yes, this letter is inspired by anger and resentment at the people in charge of the health care services surrounding my life. Make no doubt that I am grateful to be receiving health care from the U.S. government, free of charge. However, when that free health care means that any and all choice has been eliminated because of the way the system is being run, perhaps both governments have been shortsighted. This does not seem like a good way to solve existing issues in an antiquated system. Is taking away the freedom of choice I have as an American citizen the right way to solve anything in a country founded on freedom? I think not.

If I am way off base with my analysis of the situation, please respond to me and all the people who are receiving copies of this letter. I welcome and encourage all of you to communicate not only with me, but also with each other, both now and in the future.

Grace Gallegos
Thoreau, N.M.

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