Good Trouble Lives On: New Mexico communities join national civil rights protests

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This report is supported by NM Political Report, a nonprofit newsroom working to increase New Mexicans’ engagement in politics and public policy.

Reported by: Kevin Hendricks

Photos by: Roberto Rosales

This report is original reporting by a New Mexico-based independent journalist with support NMreports.org and its readers and sponsors.

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Communities across New Mexico took part in nationwide “Good Trouble Lives On” protests Thursday, joining what organizers called a moral reckoning on the fifth anniversary of civil rights leader John Lewis’s death.

The statewide participation continues New Mexico’s active engagement in 2025 protest movements, with events in at least 11 communities including Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Taos, Embudo, Madrid, Cibola County, Socorro, Roswell, Truth or Consequences, Carlsbad and Tijeras.

In Santa Fe, protesters gathered at the New Mexico State Capitol. Albuquerque hosted a candlelight vigil and march at Roosevelt Park with organizers building a community altar to honor those who have died in ICE custody, as well as what they describe as “the 50,000 Americans who will die each year as a direct result of losing their needed healthcare and being stripped of their human rights.”

In Tijeras, Indivisible Tijeras and Beyond held a sidewalk protest in front of the Tijeras Post Office, with participants bringing signs, U.S. flags, and “defiant spirit.”

New Mexico has consistently participated in nationwide protest movements throughout 2025. The state joined June 14 “No Kings” protests in over a dozen cities including Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Gallup, Los Alamos, Las Cruces and Taos. The nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations drew an estimated 6 million people at more than 2,100 events spanning all 50 states.

Earlier this year, twelve New Mexico cities participated in “Hands Off” protests including Santa Fe, Ramah, Albuquerque, Taos, Gallup, Las Cruces, Portales, Socorro, Truth or Consequences, Los Lunas, Silver City and Alamogordo.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has supported peaceful protest rights, stating that people have “the right to protest without getting violent” and expecting “zero tolerance for violence and illegal acts.”

The “Good Trouble Lives On” movement is led by the Transformative Justice Coalition, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Black Voters Matter and the Declaration for American Democracy Coalition. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition. The Declaration for American Democracy Coalition includes over 260 democracy, environmental, labor, faith-based, and civil rights groups.

Organizers described the July 17 events as “a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the attacks posed on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration and to remind them that in America, the power lies with the people.”

The protests honor John Lewis, the civil rights leader and congressman who died July 17, 2020. Lewis coined the term “good trouble,” describing it as “the action of coming together to take peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice and create meaningful change.”

The movement followed other nationwide demonstrations against the Trump administration organized by the 50501 Movement and other groups since Trump returned to office in January. The 50501 Movement, short for “50 protests, 50 states, one movement,” has organized multiple nationwide protests throughout 2025.