Fighting For Our Future, Together: Here's How We Showed Up In June
- zoeyyucraft
- Jul 11
- 5 min read
YUCCA has been keeping busy over the past month!
The past month has been all about standing in solidarity with our communities who are under attack – whether that meant supporting incredible young organizers taking to the streets against ICE, honoring the ongoing fight for liberation and justice at The People's Juneteenth, marching in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe Pride Parades, or helping to empower young climate leaders across New Mexico as educational partners during the first-ever New Mexico Youth Climate Summit.
We've also been continuing our fight in the courts and against environmental injustice – filing a petition for certiorari with the New Mexico Supreme Court in the landmark Atencio v. State of New Mexico case and taking action with our friends at Tewa Women United to speak out against plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Read on for key updates, ways to take action, and report-backs on the powerful ways our communities are rising up together.
THE FIGHT ISN'T OVER: ATENCIO V. STATE OF NEW MEXICO PLAINTIFFS ASK NM SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW THE CASE
A few weeks ago, we wrote to you with an update on Atencio v. State of New Mexico – our landmark lawsuit brought by youth, Indigenous, and frontline community members to challenge the state’s failure to adequately regulate oil and gas pollution was dismissed by the Court of Appeals.
But the fight is far from over.
Now, we have another important update to share: Last week, we joined our fellow plaintiffs in Atencio v. State of New Mexico to respond to the dismissal of our lawsuit and file a petition for certiorari with the New Mexico Supreme Court, asking New Mexico’s highest court to review the case and hold the state accountable to their duty to protect our right to a beautiful and healthful environment.
During a virtual press conference last Tuesday, attendees had the opportunity to hear from the plaintiffs and our legal team as we spoke about what’s at stake in this case and what’s next in our work to protect the health of our young people, communities, and environment from the devastating impacts of continued fossil fuel extraction in New Mexico.
📢 Missed our press conference? Watch the recording below!
We know that the road ahead may not be easy – but we aren’t backing down. As we take our case to the highest court in the state, we’re continuing to demand the accountability and action that our communities deserve. Be sure to stay tuned for more updates on how you can continue to stand with us in our fight for a livable future.
IMMIGRANT JUSTICE IS CLIMATE JUSTICE: ALBUQUERQUE AGAINST ICE
In June, YUCCA was proud to stand alongside incredible youth organizers from Protest for Change and thousands of community members as we took to the streets to demand an end to ICE, deportation, and the criminalization of our communities.
At YUCCA, we know that climate justice and immigration justice are not separate fights - they are deeply connected struggles for liberation. The same systems destroying the planet are targeting our communities. The same corporations, billionaires, and politicians who profit off fossil fuels are profiting off of raids, detention, and genocide.
There is no justice in a system built to police borders that were never ours to begin with. As YUCCA Policy Campaign Manager Ennedith López reminded us in her speech, the same prison-industrial complex that profits off the kidnapping of migrants is the one desecrating sacred lands, funding genocide, and propping up the fossil fuel industry.
We cannot separate our fight for the land from our fight for the people – because somos uno.
🗣️ Watch the full version of Ennedith's powerful speech above.
📲If you're ready to get involved and support our communities who are under attack, take action now: Text “DEFEND ABQ” to 58910 to get trained by our friends at Organized Power in Numbers to support community members and workers impacted by ICE raids.
El pueblo unido jamás será vencido. ✊
THE PEOPLE'S JUNETEENTH: CELEBRATION, RESISTANCE, AND THE FIGHT AHEAD
Last month, we were also honored to support The People's Juneteenth – a powerful, community-led event organized by Building Power for Black New Mexico, Millions for Prisoners New Mexico, Save the Kids from Incarceration, and Albuquerque Mutual Aid.
At YUCCA, we've said it before: our fights for justice don't exist in silos. The same systems that fuel climate collapse also uphold white supremacy, colonialism, criminalization, and state violence. From poisoned waters to over-policed neighborhoods, our communities are being targeted by interconnected structures of harm–and that means the work of our movements must be deeply interconnected too.
During the event, we were honored to stand in solidarity with the organizers and community members leading the ongoing fight for resistance and liberation in New Mexico. As community came together for the celebration, YUCCA Program Coordinator In-Training Vittoria Judy shared a powerful spoken word performance about what it means to keep showing up in the fight, the rage that fuels our hope, and the responsibility we carry to honor our ancestors’ struggle and demand better.
🎤 Don’t miss Vittoria’s full performance above—a call to remember why we fight, who we fight for, and what it means to build towards freedom together.
TAKE ACTION NOW: 2 WAYS TO SHOW UP TODAY!
🚨 Call to Action: Comment on LANL Plutonium Pit Production by July 14 🚨
Plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Labs (LANL) has devastating impacts on our communities and environment – and the National Nuclear Security Administration needs to hear from us.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists' 2025 report, "LANL's plutonium facility has a troubling record of recent safety violations, worker exposure to plutonium, and fires and floods. The program there appears to have prioritized expediency and cost-savings over safety. This endangers the workforce and the local community–as well as the program itself should a significant accident occur."
But this problem goes far beyond one facility or set of safety violations.
Frontline communities across New Mexico and the country are already facing the impacts of contamination, displacement, and harm caused by ongoing militarism, environmental injustice, and colonial violence, and now is our chance to make our voices heard.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is currently accepting public comments on their draft programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) until this coming Monday, July 14th, and this is our last chance to submit comment on this issue until Summer 2026.
👉 Click the button below for everything you need to take action—talking points, background information, and step-by-step instructions for submitting your public comment from our friends at Tewa Women United and Nuclear Watch New Mexico.
Photo Credit: Anti Uranium Mapping Project
📢 August 1st-29th: Visit the Anti-Uranium Mapping Project at CENTER!
We also encourage our community to attend the opening of Diné photographer and activist Shayla Blatchford's Anti-Uranium Mapping Project, a powerful visual and interactive exhibition exposing the hidden truths and devastating legacy of extractive mining practices on Navajo Nation.
Blatchford's work documents the long-term impacts of environmental violence – from the 1979 Church Rock uranium spill to the continued contamination and exploitation affecting our communities today.
The exhibition will be on display at CENTER, a new photographic exhibition space in Santa Fe from August 1st-29th, with a special reception for the artist being held on August 14th from 5:00-8:00 pm.
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