Nicole Rosmarino (2018-05-23). The Grassroots Environmental Activist of the Year: Christine Canaly. counterpunch.org The Fund for Wild Nature's Grassroots Activist of the Year for 2017 is Christine Canaly. For nearly three decades, Christine has worked tirelessly to protect wild nature in the Colorado Rockies. As Director of the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council (SLVEC), she has been at the heart of the campaign to protect Wolf Creek Pass More

Today is Ash Wednesday, the 1st day of Lent (40 days 'till Easter). It's a good time for reflection and making positive changes. Your's truly am going to cut down on processed sugar and vegetable oils; and get more productive by having less-distracting music in the background, like the Mediterranean folk varieties, or none at all (while I'm working).

Lent commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert, en route to Jerusalem to celebrate and stir things up during Passover, according to the Gospels. It's a time of fasting, moderation and for making positive changes, like giving up smoking or a food (like candy) or a bad habit (like laziness or watching too much commercial TV). Some folks make a resolution, like being more positive, working out more, or volunteering to serve the less fortunate.

Hope you have a great Lenten season!

Below is a link to an interesting article about Indian slavery in New Mexico.

By SIMON ROMERO
The New York Times
JAN. 28, 2018

Exceprt: ALBUQUERQUE — Lenny Trujillo made a startling discovery when he began researching his descent from one of New Mexico's pioneering Hispanic families: One of his ancestors was a slave.

"I didn't know about New Mexico's slave trade, so I was just stunned," said Mr. Trujillo, 66, a retired postal worker who lives in Los Angeles. "Then I discovered how slavery was a defining feature of my family's history."

Mr. Trujillo is one of many Latinos who are finding ancestral connections to a flourishing slave trade on the blood-soaked frontier now known as the American Southwest. Their captive forebears were Native Americans — slaves frequently known as Genízaros (pronounced heh-NEE-sah-ros) who were sold to Hispanic families when the region was under Spanish control from the 16th to 19th centuries. Many Indian slaves remained in bondage when Mexico and later the United States governed New Mexico.

More: www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/us/indian-slaves-genizaros.html