We continue with part 2 of a 2 part series with Cam Juárez. He joined the National Park Service in January 2016, serving as the Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator and Public Information Officer for Saguaro National Park where he serves on the park’s leadership team. Cam uses creativity and storytelling to engage nontraditional park attendees. He described how he first was introduced to Yosemite and how that planted a seed for his current career. He works to make the park more inclusive specifically for Latinos and representative of our local demographics for visitors and employees ..read more

Cam Juárez joined the National Park Service in January 2016, serving as the Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator and Public Information Officer for Saguaro National Park where he serves on the park’s leadership team. Cam uses creativity and storytelling to engage nontraditional park attendees. He described how he first was introduced to Yosemite and how that planted a seed for his current career. He works to make the park more inclusive specifically for Latinos and representative of our local demographics for visitors and employees. He reminds us that not only do the parks preserve wi ..read more

Héctor Tobar and Lynn Wiese Sneyd talked about the 13th Annual Tucson Festival of Books. Last year’s festival was canceled due to the pandemic, but the festival has been reimagined virtually. Héctor Tobar discussed his latest novel “The Last Great Road Bum.” He will be in discussion with festival favorite Luis Alberto Urrea and moderator Ernesto Portillo, Jr. on Sunday, March 7 at 1 pm. Information on how you can sign up for sessions is at the bottom of this post. Hector Tobar – Copyright: Patrice NORMAND/Opale – Date: 20120706- Héctor Tobar is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and novelist ..read more

Henry Barajas is a Latinx author from Tucson. He spoke about his pathway as a storyteller. He is best known for his graphic memoir about his great-grandfather titled La Voz De M.A.Y.O. Tata Rambo. It is based on the oral history of Ramon Jaurigue, an orphan and WWII veteran who co-founded the Mexican, American, Yaqui, and Others (M.A.Y.O.) organization, which successfully lobbied the Tucson City Council to improve living and working conditions for members of the Pascua Yaqui tribe—paving the way to their federal recognition. Meanwhile, Ramon’s home life suffered as his focus was pulled fr ..read more

Annie Sykes spoke about local Black organizations and events. She is a member of the Tucson Black Film Club and she spoke about their Tucson Black Film Festival in the time of COVID-19. Ms. Sykes is the Vice President of the NAACP Tucson and she is a member of the Black Women’s Task Force. People interested in the film festival are invited to watch the films at home and join the discussion via zoom. Ms. Sykes spoke about the animated short Hair Love and tied it into the Black Women’s Task Force’s efforts to initiate a CROWN act in the city of Tucson. CROWN is an acronym for Creating a Respectf ..read more

Today on 30 Minutes we spoke with immigration attorney and community leader Margo Cowan about her work as the Project Coordinator for Keep Tucson Together, a grassroots, pro-bono project that is working directly with community members to stop deportations and the separation of families in Southern Arizona. She gave an overview of how their work has shifted from the Obama administration to the Trump administration to the beginning of the Biden administration. Keep Tucson Together is a project of No More Deaths that works side by side with community members applying for status or facing deportat ..read more

My guest today is Amalia Mora, Ph.D. She is the Manager of Innovation and Engagement for the University of Arizona Consortium on Gender-Based Violence and faculty for the newly launched GBV masters certificate in conjunction with the Human Rights Practice Program. The University of Arizona Consortium on Gender-Based Violence is a research and resource center that seeks to model and inspire a radical shift in the way we think about and address gender-based violence. Amalia Mora spoke about the inception of the program, its areas of focus and research, and campus and community partnerships. Amal ..read more

My guest today is from The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) which is a coalition of non-governmental organizations promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty. Alicia Sanders-Zakre is the Policy and Research Coordinator at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. She directs and coordinates research on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, and general nuclear weapons policy. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) enters into force on Janua ..read more

Center for Biological Diversity Conservation Advocate Randy Serraglio discussed two key Arizona environmental campaigns and sacred indigenous lands that are under even more pressure as the Trump administration comes to an end. At stake are Oak Flat and construction on the border wall. He says that government agencies are bowing to political pressure to expedite controversial actions in favor of mining interests. According to the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, on January 4th, the US Forest Service announced that they would be publishing a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on January ..read more

We spoke with Ron Barber just ahead of the ten year anniversary of the shooting that took place on January 8, 2011, at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ “Congress on Your Corner” event in Tucson.  Ron Barber was Gabrielle Giffords District Director at the time of the shooting and was seriously wounded. He later represented Southern Arizona from June 2012 to January 2015. Ron currently is president of the board of the January 8th Memorial Foundation. Ron Barber discussed how he first got to know Gabrielle Giffords while she was still an Arizona State Legislator. He described the moments be ..read more