The Gift of Water, Faith, and Pursuing a Just Transition with Percy Deal

Percy Deal is a member of the Diné (or Navajo) Nation. He's a rancher and a community advocate from Black Mesa, Arizona, and deeply involved in local community and government issues for the last 45 years. He continues to use his expertise in educating and advocating for community transition on Black Mesa. Christine had the opportunity to sit down with Percy and learn about the very real challenges many Diné community members face, and why creating an equitable transition in Black Mesa is a core issue and need. Lean in as Percy shares words of wisdom and offers a glimpse of the future that many additional communities will face if the current circumstances are not addressed. Thank you for tuning into the Yes! We Rise Podcast. You are part of this collective resilience! A Call To Action For lasting change to occur, we must all do our part. Make your voice heard. Contact elected leaders, the Navajo Government, the Department of the Interior, and Congress. Write letters demanding that they visit the Navajo Nation, to experience the current circumstances Percy and his greater community are facing everyday. Implore that they see firsthand their homes, their land, their transportation. And vote! We must elect officials that are for the people, not the industry. We need advocates for restoration, fighting climate change, and providing resources to the Navajo Nation and all communities. You have the power and the ability to create much needed change! Thank you for your support. LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED Learn more about Percy Deal and Tó Nizhóni Ání. If you missed it, tune in to Christine's interview with Nicole Horseherder on Episode 19. You can also discover more about the work of the Office of Surface Mining, Navajo Nation Minerals Department, and the Hopi Office of Surface Mining. The Yes! We Rise podcast is produced by Dialogue + Design Associates, Podcasting For Creatives, with music by Drishti Beats. Follow the We Rise podcast on Facebook and Instagram. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast so we can continue spreading our message far and wide. Find our email list at the website: www.yeswerise.org. Thanks for listening. The Yes! We Rise podcast features solutions-seekers, change-makers, and those creating a resilient future. We share stories and strategies to inspire action to build collective resilience and community transformation. To create change, people need to feel like they belong and that they are part of a growing movement. They need to know their voice matters and that they have the inspiration, agency and ability to transform their lives and their communities. They are the key to a resilient future.     From the Navajo Nation to the mountains of Appalachia, incredible work is being done by community members and leaders. Change is often sparked by inspiration: seeing what others have done, especially in similar situations and places. People see that when someone looks like them or lives in a place like theirs, and has created real, true and lasting change, change that will allow their granddaughters and grandsons to thrive — they begin to imagine what might be possible for them.  No longer waiting for someone else to come and save them, they realize they are the ones they have been waiting for.  But what creates that spark? What creates that inspiration?  Learning through stories and examples, feeling a sense of agency and belonging, and getting fired up to kick ass creates that spark.  We Rise helps community leaders and members learn to forge a new path toward creating resilience and true transformation. One person at a time, one community at a time, one region at a time, the quilt of transformation can grow piece by piece until resilience becomes the norm instead of the exception. Together, we rise.