As COVID-19 continues affecting our lives, I’ve been reflecting on how grateful I am for our public lands, places my family and I can safely go to exercise, get some fresh air or just sit and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us. All of us who live in western Colorado are fortunate to have an abundance of access to open space, great trails and shared lands.

Communities throughout the country will enjoy and connect with the great outdoors during the 7th annual Latino Conservation Week, which begins July 18 and runs through July 26. While this year will lean more toward virtual activities like online expeditions, roundtable discussions, Q&A sessions, scavenger hunts, film screenings and the like, nearly 100 events are being celebrated nationwide.

The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling upholds the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows certain individuals who came to the United States as children to defer deportation and become eligible for a work permit. In response to the ruling, Hispanic Access Foundation’s President and CEO Maite Arce released the following statement:

As the world celebrates Ocean Week, a new report from Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF) finds that the extensive cultural and historical connections Latinos have to the ocean and its coasts could result in this community becoming one of the leading voices in its protection.

“The ocean has always been deeply tied to our families, communities and cultura -- whether it’s depending on the ocean for food, jobs, recreation or the continuation of cultural traditions,” said Maite Arce, president and CEO of HAF. “From overharvesting, plastic pollution and climate change, the threats to our ocean require action to ensure that we protect humanity’s most valuable resource and preserve it for the sake of our children and future generations.”

The ocean sustains us – individuals, communities, the global society - physically, mentally, spiritually. It regulates our weather and climate, provides for every other breath we take, nourishes us and inspires us. Across seas, people, ideas and goods have traveled, connecting us with each other, with culture and with land. We find solace on its shores, seek pleasures on its waves, and will cure each other employing secrets from the deep.  

Practically speaking, the ocean keeps us safe, fed, clothed and employed. Its coral reefs protect us from storms, as do the adjacent wetlands that filter our waters. There isn’t a facet of our life that isn’t touched by the ocean. 

What started as a blog post has instead transformed into more than that - it is a call to action, a plea to mi gente, and a renouncing of racism. 

Mi gente, it’s time to act in solidarity with our Black brothers and sisters. 

Mi gente, it’s time to educate our friends, parents, tios, and tias. 

This pandemic exposed something far more than a health crisis.  It exposed weaknesses in a system that was not prepared to face them.  Without a doubt the challenges multiplied in all areas in a radical way: socially, politically, personally, familially, spiritually, and in the ecclesial arena amongst others.  It changed the way we see and enjoy life.

The video of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officers is atrocious. He called out for breath. He called out to his mother. No one helped him. Prior to his murder, Breonna Taylor was murdered by police in her home. Amaud Arbery was out jogging and was shot to death by vigilantes. Christian Cooper was birdwatching in Central Park and a white woman called the police on him. 

In response to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and the protests in American cities that have taken place over the last several days, Hispanic Access Foundation’s President and CEO Maite Arce released the following statement: