New Mexico Civil Rights and Justice: Tears in the Valleys

Taking a stand for equality in the Land of Enchantment

Veterans returning to New Mexico after World War II found a home altered by more than just the explosion of the first atomic bomb. Former ranchers were forced to eke out a living in zinc mines, leading to protests of conditions that were memorialized in the movie Salt of the Earth, which both the film industry and the government tried to suppress. As the civil rights movement swept across the country in the 1960s, New Mexico found its own champions in activists like Reies López Tijerina, who denounced the widespread mistreatment and abuse of the helpless. Ray John de Aragón follows the heritage of protest in New Mexico, from folk heroes like Padre Don Antonio José Martínez to more contemporary battles against racism and prejudice.

After graduation, Ray John de Aragón joined the Alianza Federal de las Mercedes, led by land grant leader Reies López Tijerina in May 1967, just before the Tierra Amarilla Courthouse Raid. Author of numerous books on the region’s history, he has lectured at various universities and colleges and has been a keynote speaker at conferences, speaking on issues adversely affecting Hispanic populations in New Mexico and the country.