Nuestra Delta Mágica: Reclaiming the love for our hometowns on the South Texas border with Nansi Guevara

If you grew up on the South Texas border, the false narrative of there is nothing here permeated both
in our self-identities and our understanding of the place we live. This is a common lie that seeps into
our daily lives and invites us to leave. There is nothing here, so that means we are nothing, and we
need to leave our community to become someone. Nuestra Delta Magica traces this false narrative to
colonization and the myths built around it that help maintain it. Believing that there is nothing there
about any place on the planet comes from the white settler colonial imaginary. During this session, we
will learn about destructive companies threatening to dispossess and harm people in the Rio Grande
Valley. This keynote will invite us to remember the beauty and ecological abundance of the Rio
Grande Delta, and reclaim the river and its delta as a lifeway, as public space, and a site of
connection.