@Ajaramillo233 It’s wild that citizenship was granted so late, and even then, many Native folks were still denied full rights after 1924. Paper citizenship didn’t stop the government from ignoring sovereignty.

@Ajaramillo233 Crazy to think how much of that started right here in NM. Los Alamos, Site Y, all that secrecy and then it led to something that changed the world forever.

@tesamccracken Some claimed the Great Depression didn’t impact New Mexico because the state was “used to poverty” but that was just a harmful stereotype. Yes, New Mexico had a history of poverty, but the Depression still hit hard. That narrative just ignored the real suffering people went through.

@tesamccracken The Navajo Code Talkers were key to the U.S. victory in WWII, but the way they were treated after the war is messed up. They weren’t celebrated like other vets and had to return to the reservation just to get benefits. Poverty and discrimination followed. The medals they got in 2001 were well deserved but way too late.

@tesamccracken Reies López Tijerina and the Alianza were on a mission to reclaim Mexican and Spanish land grants in NM during the ‘60s. He’s known as one of the Four Horsemen of the Chicano Movement right up there with César Chávez, Corky Gonzales, and José Ángel Gutiérrez. Dude really shook things up.

@tesamccracken Site Y being the codename for Los Alamos during WWII still blows my mind. The secrecy was so intense thousands of people working there and somehow no major leaks? Wild to think about how they kept that under wraps. Makes you wonder what kind of pressure they were under to stay quiet.