Navajos to protest liquor permit in Tohlakai NM on Saturday

STANDING FOR TOHLAKAI ALLIANCE

 Navajo Technical University students sign
"standing for Tohlakai alliance"  petittion.

By Standing for Tohlakai Alliance

Censored News

September 24, 2014

TOHLAKAI, NAVAJO NATION -- Who will speak for the people?

The people will!

The people gather – this Saturday, September 27th, 2014, beginning at 9:00 am at the Tohlakai Store.

The purpose:  To raise our voices together to stop the approval of a liquor dispenser’s license being applied for by Western Refining Southwest, Inc. – owner-operators of the Giant gas station and store at Tohlakai.

The message:  We, the citizens of Tohlakai community – and our neighbors, and people of conscience everywhere – view approval of this liquor license as an event that cannot happen.   This is about the safety of our people, our families, our children.  It is about the safety of the thousands of neighbors and visitors who travel the highway – US 491 – which runs right through our community.  It is about Life and the Quality of Life.

It is well known and documented that the excessive consumption of alcohol in the Gallup region is a major cause of death, illness, disruption of families, and many other detrimental outcomes.  These tragedies have come close and affected all of us.  This is the third time – and our fourth generation ! – that we have we fought the owner’s efforts to obtain a liquor license at this Giant store.

Gallup Mayor Jackie McKinney signs petition 
supporting "standing for tohlakai alliance" efforts 
to halt liquor license application."

We fight this effort, because we will not stand for the destruction that will most certainly come if alcohol is popularized and dispensed at this location.  We fight this effort, because it is unconscionable to allow it to come to pass.  Just a moment of your compassionate reflection on the disastrous influence of alcohol in our communities would convince you that a liquor license in Tohlakai is totally out of the question.

How many accidents and deaths will it take until you realize the consequences?  How many lines of distraught and vulnerable souls seeking your potions will you tolerate before you see the addictions you are feeding?  How many broken bottles and trashed out flop sites in our rugged hills will you allow to accumulate?  How much panhandling and molestation of our young ones will you witness before you understand what you have done?

Fellow citizens, friends, and neighbors!  Teachers, workers and leaders!  We want to hear from you, and we want you by our side on this.  You elected leaders and candidates for public office:  where do you stand?  Will you band with us to oppose this obvious travesty?  Will you stand with us for the safety and well-being of our people?  Will you support our community’s united and passionate desire for justice and decency in this matter?

Join us this Saturday, September 27th, from 9:00am to 1:00pm at the Tohlakai Store.  Bring your friends and family, and be ready to sign on to this campaign to stop this liquor license!