Why Indigenous Communities Oppose New York鈥檚 New Industrial Park

Nov 17, 2023

The state of New York is building a massive, green-energy-powered industrial park in Genesee County鈥攖he (WNY STAMP). The , which is responsible for the development, says its mission is 鈥渢o facilitate local economic growth and development which fosters investment and job creation for the benefit of our residents and children.鈥�

But the project, saying they were not properly consulted. Robin Wall Kimmerer, writer and distinguished teaching professor at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, has called WNY STAMP a project of 鈥渉abitat destruction鈥� in a story she wrote for 大象传媒. Kimmerer spoke with 大象传媒 Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about Indigenous opposition to the project.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.