Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Author Profile picture
Jul 20, 2023 14 tweets 3 min read Read on X
This quote, from the @nytimes review of the OPPENHEIMER film: "He served as director of a clandestine weapons lab built in a near-desolate stretch of Los Alamos, in New Mexico"...

It was inhabited by Hispanos. They were given less than 24 hr to leave. Their farms bulldozed. 1
Many of those families had been on the same land for centuries. The Oppenheimer's crew literally shot all their livestock through the head and bulldozed them. People fled on foot with nowhere to go. Land rich, money poor. Their land seized by the government. 2
All of the Hispano NM men who were displaced by the labs later were hired to work with beryllium by Oppenheimer. The white men got protective gear. The Hispano men did not. 3
The Hispano men all died of berylliosis. These were US citizens, folks. Their land taken, animals killed, farms bulldozed, forced to work for the people who took everything from them, and killed by those people. 4
For 20 years I have been trying to sell a film based on the story of Loyda Martinez, a remarkable whistleblower whose family's land was seized for the labs. Her dad was one of the men who died from beryllium exposure at the labs. She later went to work there too. 5
She is a computer whiz who rose to the top of her department at Los Alamos. Then she started digging for info on the Hispano men the labs killed, like her father. She filed a class action lawsuit, and won. 6
The first Hispano governor of NM, Bill Richardson, appointed Loyda to run the state's human rights commission. She then filed a second class-action against Los Alamos, on behalf of women scientists not paid fairly. 7
But, no. We want more films about the "complex and troubled" "heroic" white men, who conducted their GENIUS in a "virtually unpopulated" place. These are ALL lies. This is mythology in service to white supremacy and the military industrial complex, masquerading as "nuanced." 8
Because of what the labs did to the local Hispano people in northern NM, our communities now have the highest rates of heroin overdose deaths in the nation. The generational trauma and forced poverty is outrageous. We need the real stories of Oppenheimer to be told. END
Nolan, Hollywood, the NY Times - all of them should be ashamed. Someone should fund my Loyda Martinez film. She's like @ErinBrockovich - bubbly, beautiful, was a cheerleader & computer genius. Loyda's is the story we SHOULD be hearing. But we get Hot fucking Cheetohs.
Loyda Martinez. KNOW HER NAME. One of the bravest and most important women in American history. Image
Loyda's mother and father. Her dad was driven off their family's land when Oppenheimer and the US government seized it to make the labs. They then hired him, made him work with berrylium without protective gear (his white bosses got PPE) and he died of berryliosis, like many did. Image
Apologies - corrections. Richardson was the 6th Hispano governor of the US State of NM.
Plesse watch

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Author

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Author Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @AlisaValdesRod1

Dec 8
The top 10 ways the US embargo of Cuba is exactly what narcissistic abusers do to partners who try to leave them:

A 🧵 Image
Oh, the grandeur of American foreign policy! The blue suits, the wagging fingers, the rhetorical smoke rings blown with the smug precision of a carnival trickster. Nowhere is this phenomenon more on display than in the United States’ long-standing embargo against Cuba.
The embargo is a relic of Cold War spitefulness that clings to its victim like a spurned lover bent on control.

Internationally unpopular? Check. Dehumanizing? Check. Like a narcissistic abuser in a toxic relationship? Oh, check, check, and check.
Read 26 tweets
Dec 6
Here's what it was like checking into a hospital in Cuba, as an American. I waited three minutes. A nurse came to greet me. She hugged me and looked me in the eye and asked me if I felt well enough to walk. She wore an old fashioned white paper nurse hat.
I followed her to an office. She handed me a small plastic tub containing new toiletries, a toothbrush, comb and towel in it. Like a hotel.
She sat at a computer and asked my name, birthday and contact info for family and friends. She asked about my health history, medications, current symptoms. She squeezed my hand to put me at ease.
Read 16 tweets
Nov 26
Alright, folks, let’s talk about two things we love in this country: drugs and money. Now, you might be wondering, "What do Mexican drug cartels and U.S. pharmaceutical companies have in common?" Well, pull up a chair, because you might be surprised. Image
A tale of two drug dealers: One wears fancy cowboy boots and deals in illegal narcotics, the other wears a fancy suit and Thomas Pink shirts and sells you pills. But here’s the kicker—they’re both making a killing off of your misery. Literally.
So, the Mexican drug cartels. These guys are basically the Amazon of illegal narcotics, right? They’ve got everything from heroin to meth to fentanyl, which is so powerful that just a tiny speck can kill you. Cool, cool.
Read 26 tweets
Nov 25
Here's a brief but incomplete list of the things it is perfectly legal to put in your food in the USA because doing so makes rich people richer, but illegal to put in your food in Mexico because they make people sick:

A 🧵
Additives and Colorings

Synthetic Food Dyes: Certain artificial colorings like Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 5, linked to hyperactivity and other health issues, are heavily restricted in Mexico while commonly used in the U.S.
BHA and BHT: Preservatives used in processed foods to extend shelf life are banned in Mexico due to their potential as carcinogens and endocrine disruptors.
Read 15 tweets
Nov 24
Friend moved to Mérida, Mexico, 2 years ago, recently visited the US for 1st time since. What he noticed? 1. Food here tastes like chemicals. "Americans are being poisoned." 2. Everyone hates someone. "Everywhere you go, people are filled with hate." 3. Racism is everywhere.
Before you decide to comment about how "dangerous" Mexico is, understand this: There is NOT ONE CITY in the USA that is safer than Mérida, a Mayan city which is the 2nd-safest city in North America, after Montreal. Your stereotypes will get you blocked immediately.
Another observation he made: "In the US, everyone is obsessed with politics and being at war with other Americans. In Mexico, I never hear about US politicians or even Mexican ones. People are busy living their lives, enjoying their friends and families. There's a kindness there.
Read 9 tweets
Oct 27
This is all nothing new for me. I was impeached as freshman class president, by the high school administration, in 1983, for organizing a sit-in at the mall to protest nuclear proliferation instead of hosting the bake sale the teacher advisor had suggested.
At that same school that same year, I was shoved by Mr. Morrow, the algebra teacher, when I stopped standing for the pledge of allegiance, to protest the US invasion of Grenada and the US support of Apartheid in South Africa. I began ditching school to read Gogol & Tolstoy.
Same year, I refused to write an expository paragraph on demand in honor's English because the form seemed needlessly repetitive. I wrote a poem about sunlight through aspens instead. The teacher, Ms. Wilson, humiliated me in front of the class by calling me stupid. Expelled me.
Read 14 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(