Mexican President Offers Temaca a Compromise: A Shorter El Zapotillo Dam
By Tracy L. Barnett, Earth Island Journal
Obrador’s touted Fourth Transformation must include a balance between city and countryside, and a movement from the rapidly growing and unsustainable megacities back to the land. And megadams like El Zapotillo must become a thing of the past...
Defending the Birthplace of the Sun
By Tracy L. Barnett, Esperanza Project
It was the native Wixárika people—better known internationally by their Spanish name, the Huicholes—who galvanized a global movement with their call for help.
Covid, Culture and the Codices
By Tracy L. Barnett, Esperanza Project
So I think that this is a reminder that we really are children of the planet. That is what I would say: So that everyone works together truly with heart, and with faith, we can make a change.
Spinning a Lifeline in Zapotec lands
By Tracy L. Barnett, Esperanza Project
High up in the southern sierra of Mexico’s state of Oaxaca, an innovative nonprofit business inspired by Mohandas Gandhi is helping Indigenous Zapotec families to weather the economic storm that COVID-19 has brought to the Mexican countryside.
From Beads to Seeds at the Huichol Center
By Tracy L. Barnett, Esperanza Project
This global pandemic is a very loud call to all of us earthlings to share the common ground, and to work together to find opportunities to create a new paradigm for life on our imperiled planet. In other words, the Huichol Center is not alone in our struggle to prevail in these tumultuous times.
Breathing in the Time of Corona
By Tracy L. Barnett, Esperanza Project
Let’s listen to the voices of the original, indigenous caretakers of the lands we now inhabit. This body of wisdom and practical, replicable models is readily available for us to learn and activate in our own communities. Let’s take this time to see how we can do that. I invite each of you to share your own sources of inspiration, solutions and hands-on practical knowledge that we can use as we forge ahead with a new way of being.
Grassroots Aid Workers Bring Help and Healing Across the Border
By Tracy L. Barnett, Esperanza Project
For her part, Zavala is determined to do all she can to ensure that in this camp where she operates, everything possible is being done to assure these traumatized families a measure of dignity and a fair shot at a new life. She says, “In a time where asylum-seekers are being denied the fundamental right to humane and dignified treatment and access to the services they urgently need, we have pledged a strong commitment to fighting for them.”
The Town That Refuses to Drown
By Tracy L. Barnett, Earth Island Journal
In recent years, this remote pueblo of 400 full-time inhabitants in Jalisco, about two hours from Guadalajara, has stepped into the national spotlight, standing up to a total of eight governors in two different states over the years and taking their fight all the way to Los Pinos, the Mexican White House. If the townsfolk get their way, it will probably be the first time that a mega-dam will be dismantled before it is ever used.