Paving the Path Forward: Lessons in Radical Citizenship from New Mexico

Speakers include:

• Taifa Smith Butler, President, Dēmos
• Leon Howard, Executive Director, ACLU of New Mexico
• Katy Duhigg, New Mexico State Senator, 10th District
• Johana Bencomo, Las Cruces City Councilor, District 4

Moderator:

• Oriana Sandoval, CEO, Center for Civic Policy

We will talk with these local and national advocacy experts who are using radical citizenship as a praxis for power-building, and proving that a different future remains within our grasp, if we have the courage and the conviction to reach for it.

Our nation is at a critical juncture. In times of profound upheaval, there is also profound opportunity, and the lessons and hard-earned victories of past and present movements offer a roadmap forward, reminding us again and again that power is built from the ground up. New Mexico offers a living example of this tension and possibility: passing an omnibus pro-voter bill in 2023, and becoming the first state to guarantee free, universal child care in 2025, while simultaneously remaining a hotspot for ICE activity and the targeting of immigrant communities. As communities across the nation deal with soaring costs of living, coordinated attacks on their constitutional rights, and the targeted persecution of friends and neighbors, recent wins in New Mexico remind us that hope is not abstract—it is practiced.

Since our nation’s founding, we have experienced a recurring cycle; Moments of progress toward a multiracial democracy are met with fierce and often violent white supremacist backlash. While this moment may feel unprecedented, it is not new. What is new is our growing understanding that Democracy is not something we have—it is something we do. It’s something we build, protect, and wield—together, with public purpose, and through the sustained practice of radical citizenship—collective, organized participation that builds people power and reshapes who gets to belong, decide, and govern.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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