Informed by his life journey, former US ambassador to Mexico, US senator, and US secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar shares his unrivaled vantage on the US-Mexico relationship, the border and migration crisis, and his belief that the diversity of our many communities and cultures is America’s superpower.
Like many Mexican Americans, the Salazars have deep roots in the American Southwest. They have ranched and farmed along the banks of the Rio Grande for more than four centuries, dating back to the founding of the nation’s oldest capital, Santa Fe, when the entire Southwest was part of Spain or Mexico. They have called the San Luis Valley home since the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848.
Ken’s innate connection to our nation’s land, water, and people led him from his family ranch to law school and ultimately to the pinnacles of power in Colorado and Washington.
Borderlands traces the relationship of the United States and Mexico from its early days to the present. Framed by Donald Trump’s attacks on American diversity, Ken recounts the early conflicts between our two countries; the treaties that created our modern and broken border; the political malpractice of both major US parties where it concerns migration and the border; and the necessity to fight for an inclusive and united America.
Told through personal stories from childhood to his time in Washington and Mexico City, Ken asks us to consider:
What does it mean to be a US citizen?
In a nation of immigrants, who counts as an American?
If the diversity of our many communities and cultures is America’s superpower, why is it being forsaken?
How do we catalyze a movement to preserve and strengthen our democracy—one that recognizes the richness of American diversity as our nation’s enduring strength?
Borderlands is a clarion call for a different way forward, one that unites North America instead of divides it. It invites you to come and see the prairies, deserts, and mountains, and feel the history and culture of our peoples. Come and meet your neighbors. Come and witness the strength of American diversity for yourself.
