First We Bombed New Mexico

As a New Mexico resident, I am generally aware of the plight of those impacted by the testing of the atomic bomb here. The film presented personal stories of many directly affected at the time of the testing but also of many being impacted still to this day, which is a bigger problem than I was aware of. Other items that the film delves into are the impacts outside of New Mexico, in other areas that are part of the nuclear industry, including mining and processing of relevant minerals and materials. It is important viewing for residents of any state or country to understand more deeply the human toll of the nuclear industry. Having said that I did not find the film overtly political on the topic of nuclear weapons, only demonstrating frustration at the federal government's lack of action to aid those who were impacted by the process of nuclear development.

Unfortunately, for decades, the US government lied to the world and told us that Oppenheimer and Groves performed the world's first atomic test in an isolated desert site. In many ways, Christopher Nolan's acclaimed 2023 film repeats this propaganda. This important documentary film by director Lois Lipman reveals the frightening and racist underbelly that even "Oppenheimer" didn't dare to truthfully convey.

Rather than occurring in an isolated place, the world's first atomic attack was carried out by white scientists on majority Indigenous and Latino nuevomexicano communities in New Mexico. Thousands of people lived nearby and perhaps a million lived across the state, El Paso, and Juarez. Across the entire state, locals have fallen victim to a variety of horrific cancers. The nuclear industry with Los Alamos poisons portions of the north of the state and the Trinity Site in the south.

The documentary wisely relies on a number of experts and professors but it largely and beautifully focuses on activist and community organizer Tina Cordova. Cordova is the director of the New Mexican downwinders and has lost family members to cancer, while also being a cancer survivor herself. Tina's story is so important as her leadership amongst Latinos, Indigenous peoples, and others in the state have provided many a chance at some form of justice given that the US has provided reparations and medical care to other states but not New Mexico. Watch this acclaimed independent film today about this horrific example of environmental racism. Then call your representatives in Congress to convey to them your support for expanding the support for survivors through RECA to include New Mexico!