-Where do citizen activists go from here?” asks the
20th anniversary issue of The Workbook, published by the
Albuquerque-based Southwest Research and Information Center.
Varying answers come from 19 veteran activists whose essays appear
in this special 47-page issue. In New Mexico, Maria Varela says
empowering land-based communities to develop their economies is the
answer – not “economic-growth artists’ who funnel profits away from
the community. Lori Goodman, a Navajo anti-logging activist with
Diné CARE, says the race for funding local groups continues a
“pattern of colonialism, of imperialism … and is being
perpetuated by the very system everyone thinks is trying to “help”
us.” She thinks local groups working together to raise money can
build both independence and regional partnerships. Designed as a
tool to serve the “vast, nameless movement for change,” The
Workbook offers environmental and consumer information as well as
book reviews. Past issues have examined subjects such as
environmental racism and corporate funding for environmental
groups. For a copy of the anniversary issue or information about
back issues, write The Southwest Research and Information Center,
P.O. Box 4524, Albuquerque, NM 87106 (505/262-1862).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Organizing citizens for the next 20 years.
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