Abby Reyes: Engaging ‘the slow work’ in the face of urgency and crises

In 1999, Terence Unity Freitas, the partner of our guest today, along with two other Indigenous activists Ingrid Washinawatok El-Issa and Lahe’ena’e Gay, were murdered in Colombia after they left the U’wa territory, where they were visiting to support the Indigenous U’wa community. Now, in one of her first interviews about her new book, Truth Demands: A Memoir of Murder, Oil Wars, and the Rise of Climate Justice, Abby Reyes is here to share her story — and her journey of navigating grief and healing while fighting for truth and accountability from Big Oil. How has the U’wa community been resisting against colonial-capitalist interests? What does it mean to depart from urgency culture and to tap into the “slow work” of deep, social change? And what is the relationship between engaging in the “inner” and “outer” work of systemic transformation? We invite you to… tune in and subscribe to Green Dreamer via any podcast app; subscribe to kaméa’s newsletters here; and support our show through a one-time donation or through joining our paid subscriptions on Patreon or Substack. Disclaimer: Please note that Green Dreamer’s interviews are minimally edited (both audio and non-verbatim transcript) for clarity and brevity only. All statements should be understood as commentary based on publicly available information, and the views expressed in this interview are those of the guest and host only and do not necessarily reflect the views of Green Dreamer. While we have made reasonable effort in our interview research and production process to ensure accuracy, we do not present our content as factual assertion and we are unable to guarantee the completeness or correctness of every piece of information shared. As such, we invite you to view our publications as references and starting points to dive more deeply into each topic and thread explored.