Rita Cantu

Member of the Board of Directors

Rita grew up in Tucson, roaming the desert lowlands and “sky island” mountains of southern Arizona.  She has pursued deeper understandings of her Mexican immigrant roots with an ever-branching appreciation of the culture and history they anchor. Her interpretive career as a ranger in national parks and forests further enriches a lifetime of “ah-ha’s” that encompasses her avocation as singer, songwriter, and storyteller of The People (as nearly every indigenous group calls itself in its own language). Calling places like Spain, Australia, Scotland, Maui and Alaska “home” at times, she nonetheless considers herself first and always a bona-fide Desert Rat, and no place holds her heart like the verdant Sonoran.

“Why BCA? Even though my farm is north of Prescott, being part of this community feeds my constant hunger for the land and people of the Borderlands; and if I’m fed, I must also feed.  Here I can nourish these deepest roots in myself and others: a sense of Place, a sense of Self, a sense of Purpose.  And did I mention joy, delight, fun? SI, SE PUEDE!”