Indigenous Peoples Hold the Planet: A Conversation with Nara Baré

“It's as if the Indigenous peoples were holding the whole planet. And the time will come when if you don't come with us for this fight, we won't be able to do it alone.” – Nara Baré 

In this episode of Seedcast, meet Nara Baré, member of the Baré Nation. Nara's story is one of empowerment through knowledge. She shares how her educational pursuits, including participation in student protests, prepared her to join the larger movement to support land sovereignty for the Indigenous peoples across the Brazilian Amazon. Nara currently serves her community as the first female General Coordinator for COIAB (Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon). 

This episode won a 2023 Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA, formerly Native American Journalists Association) award for Best Radio/Podcast Coverage of Native America, First Place. 

Host: Jessica Ramirez. Producer: Marianna Romano. Story editor: Jenny Asarnow. 

Learn more about COIAB on their website and follow their work on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Convidamos você a curtir esse episódio com Nara Baré em português aqui!

Seedcast is a production of Nia Tero, a global nonprofit which supports Indigenous land guardianship around the world through policy, partnership, and storytelling initiatives.

Enjoy the Seedcast podcast on the Nia Tero website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

Keep up with Seedcast on Instagram and use the hashtag #Seedcast.

Transcript

Seedcast Season 2 Episode 5 

Indigenous Peoples Hold the Planet: A Conversation with Nara Baré

May 11, 2022

[00.00] Jessica Ramirez: Hey, I’m Jessica Ramirez, your host for Seedcast. This season, we're focusing on stories about Indigenous guardianship—Indigenous peoples’ inherent right and responsibility to govern and manage collective territory using their own laws and values, culture, language, and traditional practices. And on today's episode, we'll go to the Rio Negro. It's the largest river that flows into the Amazon. And you'll hear from Nara Baré, a member of the Baré Nation. She’s the first woman to lead the largest Indigenous organization in Brazil. 

Theme song by Mia Kami: We are standing, hear our calling, we are rooted to the ground we’re here to stay. No staying quiet, we stand united, we are rooted to the ground, can't tear us down, we’re here to stay…  

[00:01:08] Jessica: Nara Baré fights and struggles alongside so many other Indigenous peoples who are protecting the Amazon. In a culture where men traditionally take up space in leadership, Nara and other Indigenous women, and young people, saw that they also had the skill and leadership capabilities to protect their land in the Amazon. Producer Marianna Romano shares Nara’s story. 

[music plays]

[00:01:47] Marianna Romano: Our story begins in the far Northwest of Brazil. There's a region there that borders both Colombia and Venezuela. If you look at the shape of it on the map, you can easily see the head of an animal. You can make out its open mouth, the ears up high, the thick neck below the jaw.

[00:02:05] Nara Baré: [Speaks in Portuguese]

 [00:02:12] Marianna: This is Nara Baré, she was born in this region, called Cabeça do Cachorro. It means “head of the dog” in Brazilian Portuguese. But to Nara, and those who grew up there, the head is actually of a jaguar, not a dog. Nara explains it's a case of something lost in translation.

[00:02:30] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:02:36] Marianna: Onça, or the jaguar, is a big cat, strawberry blonde with black semi-circles all over its coat. It's like the leopard print. It's an animal from the deep forest of Brazil. Nara says that when non-Indigenous peoples came to Brazil, they saw a dog instead. It's one of so many ways that non-Indigenous peoples have misunderstood this place.

[00:02:57] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:03:04 ] Marianna: Nara, like the jaguar, is from the Amazon. That's her home. Home also to other 60 tribes in the state of Amazonas. A quick note here: Amazonas is a state. And Amazonia, or Amazon in English, is that big chunk of greenery that extends also to other countries that Nara and many others wish to protect. Protect from the ones that see her home as a business ground for powerful people.

 All over the world, companies look to the Amazon seeking products such as meat and wood, sometimes buying them from illegal suppliers. This illegality is destroying the Amazon as we know it. Under the current government of President Jair Bolsonaro, the government has taken measures to weaken Indigenous territories from the very beginning of his mandate. In 2019, his alliances walked hand-in-hand with agricultural interests, which enabled illegal loggers, guns, deforestation, and many other harms into Indigenous soil.

To have an idea of how much this is a priority to him, only hours after taking office, Bolsonaro slashed the power of the agency in charge of delimiting Indigenous territory and gave that power to the Ministry of Agriculture. Agriculture has no business in delimiting Indigenous territory. Today, we talk about one of the people who has the drive to rise against these crimes. This is a story of how Nara Baré became an important voice and fought for what she believed. 

[00:04:50] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:05:01] Marianna: She says her Indigenous name is Landara, which means midday. It's like that strong sound from that hour, she says. But the name we know, Nara, is short for Francinara. Nara was born in 1978 in São Gabriel da Cachoeira. Nine out of 10 people there are Indigenous—more than anywhere else in Brazil. The town is located on the back of the jaguar’s head. Through it runs Rio Negro.

 [00:05:30] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:05:38] Marianna: Nara says her people, Baré, inhabit the whole extent of Rio Negro from Brazil to where it meets Colombia in Venezuela. The river provides their sustenance, their livelihood. She says they have a strong connection to their whole territory, but to the waters most of all. She talks about how there are lords of the waters.

[00:06:00] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese

[00:06:08] Marianna: And it was among the waters that Nara was growing and becoming a teenager soon. At home, her parents were already noticing her strong personality, always inquisitive, and a little bit rebellious.

 [00:06:21] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:06:27] Marianna: One day, when she was nine years old, Nara was at school thinking it would be just a regular day. She heard a gathering of sorts coming from inside the gymnasium. So she went inside to take a look, of course, and what she saw stuck with her.

[00:06:43] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:06:50] Marianna: She saw many Indigenous people gathering and talking about what seemed to be important things; leaders of tribes. It was the first gathering of the Confederations of Rio Negro. The representatives of the tribes were gathering to form an organization between peoples of their region that surrounds the river. But even so, something seemed conspicuous in that scene, even to her.

[00:07:15] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:07:22] Marianna: There were only men there to speak, she says. She saw no women, no children, among all those people. In her community, everybody was always mixed. And that's why this particular scene seemed so different to her.

[00:07:36] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:07:40] Marianna: And then, Nara noticed something different was happening. The mother of a friend stood up from the audience and asked for the microphone. Dona Joaquina was her name, she remembers. She was the mother of a classmate from a different tribe than Nara’s. They gave her the microphone, and she began speaking in broken Portuguese.

[00:08:01] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:08:13] Marianna: She pointed out the gender inequality in the room, and spoke about the importance of women being part of the discussions that matter to them collectively; that they wanted to be heard and have an active voice in the community. That image of Dona Joaquina speaking is something that Nara never forgot.

 Nara was beginning to understand the inner workings of the world she lived in, and at home she found support from her family to help her as her guide. Like Nara’s grandmother, for example. She was sent away to live with nuns until she was married off to Nara’s grandfather. She didn't have an opportunity to actually study, and saw how that was a setback for her in life. But she became a midwife, and used to have talks with young Nara. Nara says her grandmother was a wise woman. So sometimes, Nara would use the opportunity to ask about what her ancestors were like, but her grandmother didn't like talking about the past.

[00:09:16] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese] 

[00:09:25] Marianna: She said that when you talk about the past, you revive it, and some things are not worth reviving. The past needs to stay in the past, she said.  

[00:09:34] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:09:40] Marianna: Her grandmother said to Nara, “Today, you're a person”—like Nara should enjoy being perceived as a person. Her grandmother didn't get that basic respect. Nara didn't quite understand what she meant at the time. But she began to learn about the trauma women experienced, and that Indigenous people experienced. 

[00:10:00] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese] 

[00:10:25] Marianna: She says that later, she would understand that missionaries violated their culture by not letting Indigenous peoples speak their own language; that they were told by those same so-called saviors that they were incapable. But Nara’s parents knew better and made a point to go against it by participating in groups and supporting the Indigenous movements. But there was a difference between how each parent participated. She used to watch her dad come and go with male leaders of the Indigenous movement. He wasn't the head of the tribe, or as we call it cacique, but he was involved in the tribe’s politics in his own way; as was Nara’s mother, who gathered with women to talk to each other about the ideas they had.

 [00:11:11] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

 [00:11:23] Marianna: The women participated, but not directly. Nara says they didn't speak at the meetings, but they did speak with their partners in conversation. They would call out to their husbands how wrong it was that they were left out, or any other problems that they observed. And the men in turn would sometimes bring those issues to the meetings that they had. Nara’s parents wanted a more dignified future for their daughter. To them, formal education was the way to do this. It was a tool of freedom, of proving everybody wrong, that girls could do anything.

[00:11:57] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:12:04] Marianna: Nara wanted to keep living at home, but her parents felt strongly that she should study elsewhere. Nara’s mom had studied at a Catholic boarding school locally, and knew that wasn't enough to get her daughter very far in life. So once she was done with a basic level of education, they sent her to Manaus to finish high school.

 [music plays in the background]

Manaus is the capital of Amazonas. Much smaller in area than São Gabriel da Cachoeira, where Nara grew up, but way more populated; a very dense concentration of people. Manaus is cosmopolitan, vibrant, entrepreneurial, and all the diversity of tribes that exist in Amazonas and the Amazon didn't immediately translate into how Manaus treated Indigenous peoples. Racism and prejudice made their life so much harder. Crimes against Indigenous peoples were on the rise in the 2010s when Nara moved there. Some even committed suicide, she says.

[00:13:07] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

 [00:13:24] Marianna: But Nana found a place where together, fellow Indigenous students could feel supported by each other so far from their home bases. 

[00:13:32] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese] 

[00:13:42] Marianna: The Indigenous students’ movement of the state of Amazonas, it was like a family outside their homes, a place all day from anywhere in the 60 plus peoples of Amazonas, could meet each other. They also played music, went on hikes, and most importantly gathered to figure out how to ensure their stay in the capital. 

[00:14:02] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:14:14] Marianna: During the time of the students’ movement, she helped advocate for the group she was in, and she felt a strong pull towards fighting for the collective wellbeing. She realized that there were many ways to make a difference and that together, this could be possible. The organizations they were talking to felt out of reach before. She says that this is the point where her fight started.

[00:14:37] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

 [00:14:48] Marianna: So one of the organizations the students were working with during this time was COIAB. We're going to talk a lot about them, so keep that name. COIAB became central in her life, and is vital for the Indigenous fight in Brazil.

[00:15:02] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese] 

[00:15:06] Marianna: Their name is an acronym, meaning, “Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon”. COIAB. 

[00:15:14] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:15:19] Marianna: COIAB is the largest Indigenous organization in Brazil. And in order to talk about the importance it has, we need a bit of context. Brazil went through a harsh dictatorship from 1964 to the mid-80s, started by a military coup. According to Nara, up until then the tribes of Brazil thought they each existed alone, isolated. 

[00:15:45] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:15:51] Marianna: Indigenous peoples had been persecuted for centuries since the colonization. And that continued under the dictatorship. Isolated tribes were found in their territories and decimated during the massive genocidal attack. Having faced all the terror, tribes decided to unite. Nara says their motto was, “Integrate the Amazon, so we don't surrender.”

 [00:16:16] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:16:34] Marianna: After the dictatorship ended, the country started over with a new constitution. In it, there were articles written to protect Indigenous peoples. For the first time, this document recognized that Indigenous peoples were the first and original occupiers of Brazilian lands. Indigenous peoples wanted to make sure that the new constitution was put into practice. So they went by whichever means they could to the capital of Brazil by canoe, by plane, by foot, to make those demands.  

[00:17:08] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:17:20] Marianna: The constitution was supposed to protect the tribes from invaders. 

[00:17:23] Daniela Lerda: But the same constitution in Article 20 also establishes that these lands are considered property of the Union, which should grant rights to Indigenous peoples for their exclusive use. 

[00:17:35] Marianna: This is Daniela Lerda. She is the Brazil representative for Nia Tero and has worked for decades getting funding for COIAB, and other Brazilian Indigenous institutions. She'll help us in this episode to clarify some questions. She has just told us that the land is considered property of the Union. This means that although Indigenous peoples have the rights to use the land, it is up to the federal government to say which areas can be occupied, and by whom. The constitution established that by 1993, all Indigenous lands should have been demarcated.  

[00:18:08] Daniela: But they haven't kept to their promise, and many Indigenous peoples continue to wait for the government to deliver on their promise. I'd say the experience of Indigenous people has been very frustrating. 

[00:18:19] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:18:22] Marianna: Nara says it's the State's duty to recognize and demarcate all Indigenous lands of Brazil; that because they weren't demarcated, they ended up not being theirs.  

[Nara speaks in the background]

 This process of demarcation is a major issue in Brazil when it comes to Indigenous protection. It can be fatal for tribes and for forests when those rights are violated. 

 [00:18:46] Daniela: Over many decades, Indigenous peoples have seen their territories be invaded, subdivided, and explored by economic interests and mining, cattle ranching, soy, and major infrastructure projects. 

 [00:18:58] Marianna: These invasions often resulted in forced migrations, reductions in Indigenous lands, induced epidemics, and assassinations of Indigenous leaders under the excuse that they do this to assimilate Indigenous peoples into Brazilian society. These are some of the problems Indigenous peoples have been facing in the past decades and centuries.

 [music plays]

 [00:19:23] Marianna: So when Nara came in touch with COIAB and the power that tribes had when they united towards something, she felt a calling to continue on this path. To Nara, those who were fighting, communicating actively—be that with the people or with the state—need to be able to speak as equals and to do that, the greatest tool is the power of knowledge.

[music plays in the background]

[00:19:47] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:20:00] Marianna: COIAB ran educational programs. So when they announced that a new program was going to take place, she jumped at a chance to join. There, she studied environmental management. Nara was 28 at this point, and one of the eldest in a class full of 15 year olds.

[00:20:18] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

 [00:20:30] Marianna: Her class was composed of 10 men and 10 women. This was the first time women were allowed to attend. Nada says it's like women hadn't been seen up until that moment. As she studied, she saw how technical knowledge could enhance the Indigenous fight. Her class studied subjects like inspection and protection of Indigenous lands, geographic informational systems, environmental and Indigenous legislation, and others. These were treasures the students would each bring back to their home base community, eventually. It was a fruitful moment for Nara. But just as COIAB was starting to open its doors to all genders, it was facing the disastrous effects of long standing administrative problems. 

 [00:21:11] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

 [00:21:16] Marianna: These problems happened not only at COIAB, but many other Brazilian Indigenous institutions. These issues added up. And when women wanted to help, they still weren't taken seriously. Women were seen as mere secretaries within the organization. They couldn't help in the capacity that they knew they were able to. Stakes were high. The biggest Indigenous institution could close its doors for good. 

Nara was finishing her studies when these problems emerged. With all the knowledge she obtained during these years, she knew she could help see COIAB out of the problem. So the women of COIAB got ahead and made a calling for people to step up and help out. An open call took place in 2013 recruiting young people to show up and be part of the change. 

[00:22:03] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

 [00:22:19] Marianna: The education of Nara and her peers was not only political, but technical. She had natural resource management techniques now. And this type of knowledge might be just what they needed to rise again. It was during this time, in 2013, that fellow women workers at COIAB encouraged Nara to run in the election for Coordinator Treasurer. Because of her administrative and financial background, the women felt she was the perfect person for the job. They begged her to try.

 [00:22:48] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:23:01] Marianna: This was a crossroads for Nara. She now had a baby, and was about to go into her last year of university. She had a decision to make: to either run for a leadership role at COIAB and try to rebuild the institution, or focus on her own life and career.

 [00:23:18] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

 [00:23:29] Marianna: She says the women cried and hugged her, claiming she was their only hope, and that she was the one that could prove all the men wrong. So she ran for the post of Coordinator Treasurer, and was elected. But it was a weird time to get excited. Just when she got in, it might be time for everybody to get out. But Nara says that she had faith that a female perspective could get COIAB to open its doors again. 

[00:23:54] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:24:06] Marianna: Nada says that the first three years of her in the office were really difficult. COIAB was closed for most of that time. Meanwhile, Nara was figuring out a game plan to have COIAB thrive again. And the plan was to turn to the communities and work closely with them. Base work. 

[music plays]

This was the arduous work ahead of Nara and the whole team at COIAB, but many in the communities didn't take her seriously at first.

[00:24:37] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:24:47] Marianna: She says it wasn't easy; first and foremost, because she's a woman. People saw Nara as an inexperienced young female, who didn't come from a leadership lineage, not the daughter of a cacique, not with a background in executive posts anywhere. During a live stream with over a thousand people, Nara was asked, “Who is Nara Baré?” to which she replied, “I am like you. Just a normal person.” 

[00:25:14] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

 [00:25:21] Marianna: A normal person who felt the responsibility in her heart, she says; that her efforts weren't just about her, or her kid, or even her tribe. But to honor the history of COIAB, the people who faced the cold, the hunger, and got to Manaus with nothing and were taken in by the women from Rio Negro. So Nara began touring communities, presenting political plans to protect the Amazon.

[music plays]

[00:25:52] Marianna: Plans that came from years of preparation in technical studies. Through displaying competence in these plans, she finally got heard.

[music plays]

 [00:26:04] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:26:15] Marianna: “Você precisa continuar." You need to continue. She started hearing this from the caciques, the head of the tribes. You need to continue. And so she did. After years of enduring the fight, she rose to the post of general coordinator in 2017. The top role in COIAB, representing those 160 tribes.  

[music plays in the background]

She's the first Indigenous woman to have the job. And she was elected by an assembly composed mostly of men.

[music plays]

[00:26:51] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:27:02] Marianna: It took 30 years for the organization to have a woman in the leadership position. She scoffs at the idea that this is about maturity of the organization. To her, it is about respect. There isn't a battle of the sexes. Everybody must work together to achieve results. When she entered the office, it was not only more diverse in gender, but also younger, generally. 

[00:27:27] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese] 

[00:27:29] Marianna: Nara says this was the management shock COIAB needed to revitalize. So the vision now is working on relationships within COIAB, and also outside, like at COP26 International Climate Change Talks, where we spoke to her and recorded the audio we heard in this episode. Nara’s perception is that she needs to develop projects alongside her people.

[00:27:53] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:27:56] Marianna: Nothing for us, without us. She wants people to take firm steps towards the future. She says those who run get tired. Those who walk get there. She wants the territories to be protected and healthy, so her grandchildren can also get to eat the lowland paca, a wild animal that Nara loves so much. 

[00:28:20] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[music plays]

[00:28:56] Marianna: Today, COIAB does a good job at galvanizing public opinion towards taking Indigenous issues into national consideration. Right now, Brazil needs it more than ever. 

 [music plays in the background]

When we look at the beautiful nature, we see hope for the future. But when others look at it, they see the minerals below the earth, and land to clear for agribusiness, and not the life that thrives above. Like the jaguar and the dog, Indigenous lands keep being targeted by false translations.

[00:29:28] Daniela: The Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has said many absurd things, including that Indigenous peoples need to become “humans like us”. But what he ignores when he says that is that they don't need to be “like us”. They have their own ways. 

 [00:29:42] Marianna: There is no shortage of proposed bills that go directly against Indigenous peoples and the environment. Some examples: 

A 2020 bill that grants amnesty to those who have illegally invaded public lands, including Indigenous territory. Or the Anything Goes Indigenous bill, which opens Indigenous territory for mineral and water exploration. 

[00:30:05] Daniela: Any of these bills, if approved, will have dire consequences for the lives of Indigenous peoples in many other traditional populations in the Amazon. 

[00:30:14] Marianna: This problem didn't start with Bolsonaro, but it has gotten way worse since he stepped into office. Brazil will elect a new president in October 2022. The next months will either make it or break it. Together, the people of Brazil have the power to vote him out. If you know any Brazilians in your circle, ask them about how they'll vote. Meanwhile, the Indigenous fight continues. 

[00:30:44] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:30:46] Marianna: Quote: “Our message is that you do not continue in error. We believe that there has been more than enough time for you to really see who the true protectors of the Amazon are.” 

[00:30:58] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese] 

[00:31:00] Marianna: “The protectors of the territories are us, because we are the ones who are there.” 

[00:31:04] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese] 

[00:31:10] Marianna: “The territory isn't ours. The territory is us.”

 [00:31:14] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:31:15] Marianna: “We are the people of the waters, of the mountains, of the forest, of the plants, of the animals, the fauna, and flora.

[00:31:22] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:31:26] Marianna: “So there has been enough time for this understanding.” 

[Nara continues speaking in the background]

Marianna: “So we expect the state to comply with its commitment.”

[Nara continues speaking in the background]

Marianna: “And we cannot discuss the future. We need to act—act now, in the present, by talking to Indigenous people.”

 [Nara continues speaking in the background]

 Marianna: “Many say that we do not have the ability to take care of our territory.”

[00:31:48] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

 [00:31:55] Marianna: “But where does the Amazon happen to be intact? It's in our territories, where we do all the management of protection, reforestation, and we are doing this work where it is being impacted by butchers who try to enter the territories to destroy the forest, to plant soybeans, cane, to put pasture or livestock.” 

[00:32:14] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:32:20] Marianna: “I believe that this is a moment of recognition of the Indigenous capabilities.”

[Nara continues speaking in the background]

Marianna: “With the participation of all: with the children, with the young, with the women, with the older ones—especially the older ones. So it’s as if the Indigenous peoples, the women themselves, were holding the whole planet.”

[00:32:43] Nara: [Speaks in Portuguese]

[00:32:49] Marianna: “And the time will come that if you don't come with us for this fight, too, we won't be able to do it alone.”

[music plays and blends into the sound of people chanting at the 2022 Acampamento Terra Livre mobilization and slowly fades out]

 [theme music begins]

 [00:33:47] Jessica: Big thank you to Nara Baré for sharing her story. Thanks to Marianna Romano, who produced this story from Brazil. And thanks to my colleague, Daniela Lerda, for sharing her voice and knowledge for this story and for recording the chants you just heard at the recent Acampamento Terra Livre Indigenous mobilization and Brazil. 

 Nia Tero is a Seattle-based foundation. We're both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples with a mission to secure Indigenous guardianship for all vital ecosystems. That means we provide support to Indigenous peoples globally who are protecting their homelands from colonization and destruction. Their practices are one of our best guides for making earth livable for generations to come.  

Here at Seedcast, our guests represent themselves. They don't necessarily reflect the views of Nia Tero. We honor their honest perspectives and lived experiences. You can learn more about Seedcast, and about our work at Nia Tero, on our website: niatero.org.  

This episode was produced and mixed by Marianna Romano and edited by Jenny Asarnow. With original music by Marianna Romano. David Rothschild and Tracy Rector recorded Nara’s interview at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow in November 2021. 

Our executive producer is Tracy Rector. Our senior producer is Jenny Asarnow. Consulting producer, Julie Keck. Producer, Felipe Contreras. Fact-checker, Romin Lee Johnson. Social media by Nancy Kelsey. Transcripts by Sharon Arnold. And theme song by Mia Kami. I'm your host, Jessica Ramirez. And we look forward to sharing more stories with you all very soon. 

Theme song “Rooted” by Mia Kami: Like the wind we still move, like the waves we rise high, like the sun we never die. 

No staying quiet, we stand united, we’re rooted to the ground can’t tear us down, we’re here to stay… 

Theme song “Rooted” by Mia Kami: Like the wind we still move, like the waves we rise high, like the sun we never die.

No staying quiet, we stand united, we’re rooted to the ground can’t tear us down, we’re here to stay…