Welcome!

Hello Friends,

My wife Rocio and I are really excited to present to you our creative project and labor of love, Borderlandia. Its origins are in the realization of the profound depth of cultural and natural heritage in the borderlands. This is something important that has been obscured over the last decades by a media frequently laser-focused on the unfortunate, negative or sensationalistic aspects of binational dynamics between the US and Mexico.

Repeated media reports have the effect of drowning into stereotypes about the region and our neighbors, which have the ability to cloud a person’s perception or desire to get to know a place, and often it can take the form of fear. A truth we have found is, the further away people live from the border the greater the myths of the place are because of the media’s power. They represent the principal communications connection millions of people have to a region they may have never experienced as a resident. As borderlands residents ourselves, the place we call home is as much in Arizona as it is in Sonora and Borderlandia represents our grassroots alternative educational media platform. So, it is our desire to break those myths as an organization, by way of our founding mission (broken down into three B’s):

Borderlandia is a binational initiative of civil society to build understanding for the cultural and natural diversity of the borderlands.

Because of our geographic location, it is up to us as citizens of the borderlands to prove to the rest of the country and the world that we can be compassionate, empathetic, and simply good neighbors along the 2,000 miles long U.S. - Mexico border. We call this citizen-level diplomacy.

Our strategy is to provide a public service where people will have the opportunity to get to know their neighbors and gain insight and understanding into this shared space by way of educational tours, trips, and media. When you travel anywhere in the world, the opportunity to connect with its local citizens is really what catapults trips from being just memorable to unforgettable lifetime experiences. These are our goals for Borderlandia.

We sincerely hope you enjoy our new website, inaugural edition bimonthly magazine, and all of our upcoming programming. It is our delight to bring this organization into the world!

¡Adelante! (Onward!)

Alex