A day or two ago there was a woman on Twitter who apparently wants to sell a biopic about a woman who fought for the victims of the atomic bomb tests in New Mexico. One problem: almost everything she said in the thread is made up. It got over 12 million views.
I understand being upset other stories haven’t been told, especially in regards to harms done to one’s people. But #Oppenheimer doesn’t seem to idealize its subject and one can advocate for other stories without lying. 1/
She said the woman sued on behalf of the locals who died due to the tests and won. I could find no record of such lawsuit.
Another claim was this woman was appointed to the New Mexico Human Rights Commission by then-governor Richardson. No proof of that either. Not even on the subject’s own self-authored bio https://fuerzasunidasnm.com/northwest-ruralloyda-martinez/
She *was* one of the named plaintiffs in a class-action discrimination lawsuit against Los Alamos National Laboratory. At least that part was true. The rest… 2/
I am from Chimayo where our heirloom chile seed is helping NASA conduct research by growing chile peppers. Check out the official NASA The Space Chile Grow a Pepper Plant Challenge webpage! In 1999, I was selected for the National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI). Twenty women are chosen throughout the country to participate in developing […]
One thing that curiously wasn’t mentioned in the thread but is actually true is that she was selected to participate in the 1999 National Hispana Leadership Institute’s fellowship program
And while the writer says the woman is difficult to find bc (I’m paraphrasing) she feared the spotlight or some kind of retribution, this doesn’t seem to be the case. She has been involved in a years long crusade against the electric co-op and her neighbors.
https://www.riograndesun.com/news/self-styled-advocatebattles-jemez-co-op/article_1b9616c6-2442-51e2-9350-6f6b42a7bc22.html
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https://www.riograndesun.com/news/intervenors-protecting-co-op-members-rights/article_f441dc3f-86f1-594f-b9c1-cfcaea7daced.html 3/
Oh and the author also said this part of New Mexico was chosen for the atomic bomb tests bc it was deemed to be essentially the “third world.” She used quotes, implying this was said by #Oppenheimer et al. Except that term wasn’t in use until years later.
There are other problems with the thread but it’s Sunday so I’m done. But I will end with that again, I understand wanting the spotlight on the unseen victims of events. It doesn’t mean one should pass off a thread as factual when it’s not. 4/
Thread got broken bc I deleted one post. It just made me feel a little icky pointing out a certain controversy having to do with the author so I nixed it. Here is a link to the post that came after it. https://mstdn.social/@SarahOestreich/110774714010230001
Also the author did just make one correction so I wanted to include it.
And as I said in my since deleted post, if you think I have gotten anything wrong, please let me know!
I didn’t look up some of the more technical claims in the thread bc that is not my area of expertise and I didn’t want to veer into subjects of which I am not an expert. @[email protected] did so on Twitter. Here is the link. https://twitter.com/atomicanalyst/status/1683645781478084611?s=46&t=U2wqbkTGBtFWpR3xFLNqYA I also just want to add that I am open to any corrections in my thread. If I got something wrong, please tell me! I looked at newspapers, New Mexico government publications and various websites but could have missed something.
@SarahOestreich @vaurora Thank you for pointing this out, and for linking to Stephen Schwartz discussing the actual details of the history here.
As you wrote, the author of that thread seems to like co-opting and misrepresenting real & serious problems (such as downwinders being denied recognition and assistance for decades).
@michael_w_busch @vaurora of course! Glad Stephen was able to fill in the parts for which I was ill-equipped.
It is rather disappointing that she seems to have a bit of a tenuous relationship with the truth about such a serious topic. Downwinders deserve their stories to be told and I fear that people hearing that she may have misrepresented some of the history means her thread could end up doing more harm than good. But I do feel fact-checking is still important
stephen judkins
Sarah
Greg Stolze
Michael Busch