"It Rips Your Heart Out" — Defending Southern Arizona's Borderlands with Kate Scott and Tony Heath

January 8
1h 11m

Episode Description

Welcome to Truth and Reckoning, a podcast and newsletter from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). We are organizers, lawyers, and revolutionaries who educate and agitate to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s relationship with the Earth.

For more than 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate power, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-governance grounded in ecological balance. Subscribe to learn about rights of nature, environmental movement strategy, and stay updated on our work.

In this episode of the Truth and Reckoning podcast, we speak with Kate Scott and Tony Heath about resisting border wall construction.

Last month, CELDF’s executive director Kai Huschke traveled to southern Arizona to participate in a rally against the construction of a 30-foot wall impervious to not just humans, but animals as well — including critically endangered jaguars, as well as ocelots, pronghorn antelope, and black bear who live in the area.

In this interview recorded on-site, Kai speaks with Kate Scott and Tony Heath. Kate and Tony are the co-founders of the Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center (MAWC) and part of a broad community-based and bi-national coalition opposed to the construction of the border wall.

The interview focuses on the ecological impacts of the wall, drivers of mass migration, the jaguar and other wildlife, and the urgency of resistance to this project.

Links and Resources

* Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center

* Border Wall Resistance Coalition

* Madrean Archipelago Films

The YouTube version of this podcast can be found here:

Keywords

border, activism, ecology, environmental impact, community, wall, San Pedro River, jaguar, indigenous rights, climate crisis

About the Truth and Reckoning Podcast

In this show, we learn from front-line organizers and communities fighting against environmental destruction. We explore different perspectives and innovative strategies for movement building, the potency and potential of rights of nature, and effective action in defense of our communities. And, we share inspiring stories of people working towards right relationship with the land and each other. The show is hosted by CELDF Community Resistance and Resilience Program Co-Director Max Wilbert.

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About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund

CELDF is a nationwide community of organizers, lawyers, and partners who educate, agitate, and organize to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s reciprocal relationship with the Earth. For over 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate exploitation, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-govern through systems grounded in ecological balance and collective power.

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Together, we’re advancing Rights of Nature and Community Rights in the name of Community Resistance + Resilience, challenging a system that treats nature as property and people as obstacles. Please donate today!



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