Chip Thomas: The Good Fight

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CHIP THOMAS AKA JETSONORAMAnation to mill sites in Utah, and thedetrimental effect this has on theenvironment and human health,I most definitely plan to do morepublic art work around this issue.The uranium issue is multifacetedin that there’s the concern regardingcleaning up the 523 abandonedmines that haven’t been sealedfrom the Cold War period whichare contaminating the land, water,animals, and people to fightingnew efforts at mining and millingin and around the reservation.How do you feel watching socialmedia concentrate on #blacklivesmatterwhen you’re surroundedby people in poverty, smack dabin the middle of the most developednation maybe in the world?Well, it’s about working for socialjustice where you are. The Dinénation is 27,500 square miles insize and is home to approximately180,000 people. The land is richwith water in aquifers, coal, oil,natural gas, and uranium. Withthese resources, the Diné should bethe materially wealthiest communityliving in the Western hemisphere.But because the reservationis treated as a colony, the contractsfor exploiting these resources werewritten to benefit multinationalcorporations and not the Diné.Instead, the unemployment ratehere is over 50 percent. Twenty fivepercent of the people here don’thave running water or electricity,yet I live thirty miles from thePeabody Coal Mine and fifty-fivemiles from the Navajo GeneratingStation (a coal burning powerplant), and Glen Canyon Dam(a hydroelectric dam). There aregrassroots organizations across thereservation addressing these issueslocally and at the state and nationallevels. But, sadly, change is slow.If your question is why is it that I asan African-American man am notadvocating for social justice in theBlack Lives Matter movement, I’llshare with you something I sharedwith a friend twenty-two years ago.In a sense, I feel like a modern-dayslave in that in my day-to-day lifeon the reservation I don’t have todeal with institutional racism orracially based abuse outside the workenvironment, as many of my brothersand sisters do in their interactionsin urban areas. Just as escapedslaves found solace in indigenouscommunities back in the day, I havefound that here where I feel thatthe work I do makes a difference.Tell me about the PaintedDesert Project.The Painted Desert Project grewout of a conversation with a fellowstreet artist in 2012. I see it as acase study in building communitywhile sharing the tools of muralismwith interested members ofthe community. I’ve taught a fewyouth on the reservation my processwho have expressed interestand have conducted workshops atuniversities across the country. I’vedone some pieces with my fellowJustseeds member, Jess X. Snow.What does your artist name- Jetsonorama - stand for?My birth name is James EdwardThomas Jr. My initials are JET. As akid in the 1960s, I used to love theJetsons. In 2009, when I created mygmail account, I wanted jetson@gmail.com as my email address,but Mr. Google said that name wastaken and suggested three othernames. One of the three names wasJetsonorama. Loving mid-centurymodernism and being a child ofthe atomic age, I loved the “orama”reference and went with it.Mary Reese Manna byJetsonorama, 2014SIDEBAR BY EMILY PIER | SEPTEMBER 22, 201710
IT’S ABOUTWORKING FORSOCIAL JUSTICEWHERE YOU ARE.#ThepainteddesertprojectNAVAJO NATION ARTISTSRESPOND TO THE THREATOF URANIUM RADIATIONNuclear contamination from abandoneduranium mines is rampant across the NavajoNation. A community of artists are raisingawareness through a street art project.Uranium Contamination by Jetsonorama, 2016.MEDICINE + ARTNuclear contamination from abandoned uranium mines is rampantacross the Navajo Nation’s 27,000 square miles of land,throughout Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. This situation hasleft thousands of people without access to safe drinking water,according to the Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA). ThePainted Desert Project is a street art collaboration that warnspeople of ra-dioactive pollution in the area of the Navajo Nation,and is curated by Dr. Chip “Jetsonorama” Thomas, a medicaldoctor who lives on the Indian reservation and treats peoplewho have developed cancer and other health complications asa result of radioactive exposure. Jetsonorama’s art serves as ameans of educating people about environmental injustices thatdeeply affect the Navajo Nation. He hopes that his artwork willencourage people to petition Congress and the federal governmentto clean up old mines and contaminated land and water.Inside of a hut he had wheat-pasted, Jetsonorama hung a signstating: Welcome to #ThePainted-DesertProject. The photo… speaks to the land around this old pump house. Much of theland is contaminated with uranium. There’s >500 uncappeduranium mines on the rez. They affect this land, the water, animals+ people. (Don’t linger in this room + don’t kick up dust.).11
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