New Mexico

America’s Nuclear ‘Downwinders’ Deserve Justice

August 26, 2024 Aspen Coriz-Romero and Anila Lopez Marks, Scheer Post. Educate! Colorado, Health Care, History, New Mexico, Nuclear, Nuclear Weapons, Radiation

It’s been nearly 80 years since the first atomic bomb was tested in New Mexico. Communities have been reeling ever since. For generations, Americans who live “downwind” of nuclear testing and development sites have suffered deadly health complications. And this summer, funding for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) expired, putting their hard-earned compensation at risk. Coming alongside sky-high spending on nuclear weapons development, this lapse is an outrage. Funding for these communities, which span much of the country, should be not only restored but expanded. Alongside New Mexicans, people in Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Utah, and beyond have suffered health complications from nuclear testing in Nevada. And fallout from decades of tests ravaged the Marshall Islands, which were occupied by the U.S. after World War II.

2023, A Year Of Progress: Expanding Voting Rights Across The Country

December 31, 2023 Morgan McLeod, The Sentencing Project. Organize! Elections, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New Years Eve, Pennsylvania, Prisoner rights, Texas, Virginia, Voting, Voting Rights

This year, thanks to the tireless efforts of dedicated advocates and organizations, we’re witnessing a remarkable shift in the political landscape when it comes to expanding and protecting the right to vote for justice-impacted people. Advocacy Based on Lived Experience (ABLE) – an organization dedicated to working to engage people in the democratic process – held several community events across Kentucky, allowing attendees and lawmakers to hold discussions on pertinent issues in their communities, regardless of their political affiliation. Participants frequently discussed state legislation that would restore the right to vote to over 160,000 Kentuckians who are disenfranchised due to their history with the criminal legal system.

The Transit Equity Movement Wins Biggest Zero Fare Victory Yet

December 10, 2023 Liam Crisan, Inequality.org. Create! Albuquerque, New Mexico, Racial Justice, Transit Equity, Transportation, Victory

Albuquerque, New Mexico - It’s happening: The city of Albuquerque is permanently eliminating public bus fares, becoming the largest U.S. city to embrace this critical step toward racial and economic equity. A coalition headed by Together for Brothers — a community organizing and power-building group led by and for young men of color — made the victory possible. In an interview with Inequality.org, the group’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, Christopher Ramirez, explained that it all started in 2017 when Together for Brothers applied for a Health Impact Assessment grant. “When we were applying for the grant, we had a couple sessions with the young men of color we were working with,” Ramirez said.

Wells Fargo Workers At Two Branches Move To Unionize

November 22, 2023 Niket Nishant and Reuters, Portside. Organize! Alaska, Banking, New Mexico, Unions, Wells Fargo, Worker Rights and Jobs

Wells Fargo employees at two of the bank’s branches filed for union elections on Monday, laying the groundwork for potential unionization in an industry that has largely been immune to such labor campaigns. In a petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), bankers and tellers at Wells Fargo branches in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Bethel, Alaska declared their intent to join the Communications Workers of America’s Wells Fargo Workers United (WFWU). Labor action in the United States has picked up pace this year, with unions confronting companies across industries like automotive, entertainment and aerospace.

On Indigenous Peoples Day, Unity And Justice In The Wake Of A Hate Crime

October 9, 2023 NDN Collective, Popular Resistance. Educate! Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Peoples Day, New Mexico, Violence

Albuquerque, NM – Marking Indigenous Peoples Day, Indigenous groups and supporters are calling for unity and justice for Jacob Johns, an Indigenous activist from Spokane, WA, who was shot and gravely wounded by a domestic terrorist at a peaceful prayer ceremony on September 28, 2023, in Española, New Mexico. “This is a hate crime,” said Johns’ attorney John Day. “It needs to be recognized and prosecuted as such. Jacob’s heroism in protecting the lives of innocent people, including children, is important in itself, but there’s an even larger principle at stake here: we cannot afford to minimize or normalize targeting lawful, peaceful assembly of people with violent crime because they belong to a different group.

Show Support For Activist Shot In Hate Crime

September 30, 2023 Backbone Campaign, Popular Resistance. Educate! Hate Crime, New Mexico, Right-Wing, Violence

Many in our Backbone community know Jacob Johns, climate activist, artist, dad. Jacob was shot on Friday by someone wearing a red MAGA hat, while at a prayerful rally, celebrating the postponing of resurrecting a conquistador monument in New Mexico. After being airlifted to the hospital, he had emergency surgery last night to assess the damage; his spleen, liver and diaphragm were damaged, and his spleen had to be removed. He has another surgery scheduled for tomorrow. He is intubated, heavily sedated and will be in the ICU for a few days. He will likely be in the hospital for 1-2 weeks. His mother, brother, and daughter fly in tomorrow. All of his vitals are good, which is extremely good news!

Survivors Of Oppenheimer’s Trinity Test Are Still Fighting For Justice

August 9, 2023 Alessandra Bergamin, Waging Nonviolence. Organize! health, Japan, New Mexico, Nuclear Weapons, Oppenheimer, Radiation, Wars and Militarism

Eighteen years ago, as Tina Cordova read her local newspaper in the town of Tularosa, New Mexico, she noticed a letter to the editor that made her pause. It was written by the now late Fred Tyler, a fellow New Mexican, about his mother’s recent passing from cancer, after having suffered from several types over the course of her life. “I’m wondering,” Cordova recalled Tyler writing, “when we are going to hold our government accountable for the damage they did by detonating an atomic bomb in our backyard?” In south-central New Mexico, the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945.

Protecting New Mexico’s Centuries-Old Water Democracy

May 18, 2023 Pamela Haines, Waging Nonviolence. Resist! New Mexico, The Commons, Water, Water Scarcity

How do we mediate our relationship with water? Those in areas with unquestioned and sufficient supply may have issues with affordability and cleanliness. But in dryer parts of the country — and the world — more fundamental challenges with the allocation of scarce water are coming increasingly to the fore. In New Mexico, the reality of scarcity pits an Indigenous perspective of water as part of the commons against a Western worldview that is centered in a system of individual property rights. These two perspectives are colliding with ever greater intensity and higher stakes. On the one side there is a deep history of traditional water systems, bringing wide support from the Indigenous community, local food and water supporters, and religious and environmental groups.

Largest First-Contract Wins In 25 Years At Two New Mexico Universities

February 4, 2023 Gauge Burnett, United Electrical. Resist! Higher Education, New Mexico, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

New Mexico - Following ratification of first contracts by members of UE Local 1466-United Graduate Workers at the University of New Mexico and UE Local 1498-Graduate Workers United at New Mexico State University, thousands of graduate workers in the state are now covered by collective bargaining agreements. Both locals joined UE in historic “card check” drives at the beginning of the pandemic and have overwhelmingly ratified first contracts in mid-December, earning 7.12 percent and 6.8 percent raises, respectively, for their members. Covering more than 2,500 workers, these are the largest first contracts settled by UE in the last 25 years. The union organizing discussed for decades by UNM graduate workers finally took shape in the spring semester of 2020. A group of graduate workers reached out to UE and hit the ground running as the pandemic exacerbated the unfair treatment and poor working conditions that existed at UNM.

Federal Court Rejects Drilling And Fracking In Greater Chaco Region

February 2, 2023 Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians. Resist! Biden administration, Fracking, Indigenous Rights, Navajo, New Mexico, Oil and Gas, Victory

A federal appeals court yesterday rejected the Biden administration’s defense of unchecked oil and gas fracking in the Greater Chaco region of northwest New Mexico, ruling the U.S. Interior Department flouted the law when approving 199 drilling permits in the culturally significant landscape. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit is being hailed as a victory for Tribal and environmental groups who have worked for years to defend the landscape from rampant oil and gas extraction. With Chaco Canyon at its heart, the Greater Chaco region is a living and ancient cultural landscape, spanning northwest New Mexico, southwest Colorado, southeast Utah, and northeast Arizona. Today, Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, considered one of the most important archaeological sites in the Western Hemisphere.

Environmental Groups Release New Oil And Gas Threats Map

May 31, 2022 Hannah Grover, NM Political Report. Educate! Environment, health, New Mexico, Oil and Gas

In an effort to pressure President Joe Biden’s administration to enact stronger oil and gas regulations, national environmental advocacy groups have released a new map that shows where people’s health is threatened by extraction. Earthworks and FracTrack Alliance coordinated to create the map using publicly-available data and peer-reviewed science. The map is available online and people can type in their address to see how many production facilities are located within half a mile of their house. According to the map, more than 144,000 New Mexicans live within half a mile of an oil or gas production site. More than 28,000 students attend school or day care within half a mile of a site.

New Mexico Teeters On The Edge Of A New Era Of Coexistence

April 6, 2022 Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians. Create! Biodiversity, Environment, New Mexico, wildlife

On April 1, 2022 Roxy’s Law, a ban on trapping on New Mexico public lands more than a decade in the making, goes into effect after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed it last year. Nearly 32 million acres of public lands, including state-owned parcels, national forests, and Bureau of Land Management holdings will be free not only of cruel leghold traps, which can amputate and maim, but also from strangulation snares, body-crushing traps, and deadly poisons like sodium cyanide bombs. From the beautiful Latir Peak Wilderness to the incredible Florida Mountains, vast amounts of New Mexico will be safer for people, pups, and wildlife alike. Along with Roxy’s Law, New Mexico has recently taken other meaningful steps toward protecting wildlife.

Decolonization Or Extinction – Indigenous People’s Day 2021

October 10, 2021 Justin Teba, Red Nation. Resist! Capitalism, Decolonization, Indigenous Peoples Day, New Mexico

In 2015, The Red Nation and a coalition of Native and non-Native organizations led a successful campaign to rename the second Monday of October Indigenous Peoples’ Day (IPD) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Albuquerque City Council issued a proclamation abolishing Columbus Day that was signed by Rey Garduño, Ken Sanchez, Klarissa Peña, Isaac Benton, Brad Winter, and Diane Gibson, with three council members abstaining. The proclamation declared that the day “shall be used to reflect upon the ongoing struggles of Indigenous peoples on this land.” For the first time this year, the city and their nefarious initiative “One Albuquerque,” are hosting an alternative to our annual IPD march and rally, with Albuquerque’s Mayor Tim Keller as the keynote speaker.

New Mexicans Fought For Abortion Access And Won

September 5, 2021 Denicia Sam Cadena And Nicole Martin, Prism. Resist! Abortions, Health Care, New Mexico

Indigenous and Chicanx/Latinx people, who comprise nearly 50% of New Mexico’s population, have been subjected to generational and current day racist reproductive policies under the United State’s federal- and state-funded legacy of forced sterilization and coercive reproductive control. Yet New Mexicans, including Indigenous people, Black people, people of color, and people of faith have built and fought for safe and legal access to reproductive health for centuries to protect our own loved ones.

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