Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

Happy Sunday, WeCAN family. Let's get right to it: 


HAPPENING TODAY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1st, 2017


Share the Harvest Stand 
sponsored by Edible Brattleboro
Sunday, September 24th, 2017 at the Elliott Street Park (on Elliot Street in Brattleboro, VT, 05301) from 11am-1pm.
You are invited to participate in Edible Brattleboro’s Share the Harvest stand where we will be sharing produce from our gardens as well as donated produce from local farmers and gardeners. The stand is set up at the Elliot Street Park every Sunday from 11am - 1pm; rain location - in front of Experienced Goods / Transportation Center on Flat Street. Everything is available to the community at no cost. 
We are happy to accept your donations from your garden - please drop off your surplus to our stand on Sundays as close to 11amas possible. We also need volunteers to keep this going throughout the season. Please visit http://signup.com/go/GmYCbae to sign up for a spot. It’s real easy to sign up, and your contact information is never shared. We need teams of two to glean at the Farmers’ Market on Saturdays or to operate the stand on Sundays. Brief descriptions of the tasks are on the sign-up site, and complete directions are provided via email. Brattleboro Time Traders can earn hours, too!
URGENT CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: If we do not have sufficient volunteers in the coming weeks, we will not be able to continue to offer fresh produce every Sunday through October. I urge you to look over the schedule online and commit to offering several hours in the coming weeks so we can continue to provide this much appreciated service. We're using SignUp.com to organize our upcoming SignUps.'
Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:
1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp.com: http://signup.com/go/GmYCbae
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com.
Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.
Come Grow and Share with Us!


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Islam 101: An Educational Forum
Sunday, October 1st, 2017 at the Congregational Church of Westminster West (44 Church Street, Westminster West, Vermont 05346). 4pm-7pm. Free, donations appreciated. 
This Fall, the church will host an educational forum entitled "Islam 101," with special guest presenters Imam Sami A. Aziz and Margaret Robbins (bios below). Our congregation believes that interfaith dialogue and friendship is critical to establishing world peace, and we know that the first step to forming relationships with people of other faiths is to understand more about their beliefs and culture. We encourage our neighbors (of any or no faith) to join us for the educational event Sunday October 1, beginning at 4 p.m. After the presentation, we'll break bread together with a potluck supper. There is no admission fee for this event, but donations will be accepted. Here's a bit of background on our two presenters: Imam/Chaplain Sami A. Aziz is a public educator and spiritual peacemaker. He is the founder of Common Ground Institute & Services (www.CommonGroundServices.org), an Islamic consulting firm dedicated to educating the public on Islam and collaborating for peace. He also serves as the Chaplain for Wesleyan University as well as the Imam for Bloomfield Muslim Community Center. In the virtual world he is an Imam for PrayerSpark.com, a global interfaith prayer service as well as the founder and/or maintainer of many websites & Facebook pages including; Philly Muslims, Connecticut Muslims, and Lighthouse for Humanity and to name a few. In his capacity as Imam he represents the Muslim community at the Bloomfield Interfaith Association and the Interfaith Refugee Resettlement Committee of which he is a founding member. He is a graduate of the Master’s in Islamic Chaplaincy program at Hartford Seminary. Imam Aziz has been on an educational campaign since 2015 to fight against ignorance, hate, and fear of Muslims, while creating peace between faith communities. He has visited institutions across America to spread the message of peace, which is the core of Islam. Margaret Robbins has lived in West West for 40 years. She was raised in a Jewish family, and started becoming exploring various spiritual teachings in her mid-twenties. She engaged in Islam after becoming involved with Western Sufism (the mystical dimension of Islam). She has presented basic Islam to some churches in Vermont and has joined in training with Sami Aziz who has founded the Common Ground Institute. She is the coordinator for creating talks and discussion on Islam, Isis and Islamophobia in VT and NH. She works as a therapist in Bellows Falls.


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ACLU’s People Power Launch: Let People Vote
sponsored by Brattleboro’s Indivisible Chapter 
Sunday, October 1st, 2017 at the Oak Meadow School (132 Main St, Brattleboro, VT 05301) in the Conference Room. 7pm. 
Join us for a live stream training that will cover everything needed to immediately get to work in our state and county as well as make a plan to take action together to protect our voting rights. Please use this form to sign up: https://go.peoplepower.org/event/voting_rights/10272?source=map&akid=. We look forward to seeing you there!


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The Gathering Series Live Stream: Ecological Devastation with Rev. Dr. William Barber
Sunday, Oct. 1st, 2017 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301).  First Floor. 5:30pm-8:30pm.The Root is nut-free and fragrance-free.
The Vermont Workers’ Center and Justice for all are are sponsoring live streams of a program called “The Gathering,” which is being presented by Rev. Dr. William Barber. Dr. Barber, as president of the North Carolina NAACP, was a prime leader of the North Carolina Moral Monday movement. He is now leading the new Poor People’s Campaign for Moral Revival, which is reviving the vision and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, who was working with other activists on the original Poor People’s Campaign when he was assassinated. We’ll be live streaming the fifth in The Gathering series which Dr. Barber has been leading with Repairers of the Breach, an ecumenical organization that is part of the new Poor People’s Campaign. They describe their mission as building “a progressive agenda rooted in a moral framework to counter the ultra-conservative constructs that try to dominate the public square. Repairers will bring together clergy and lay people from different faith traditions with people without a spiritual practice but who share the moral principles at the heart of the great moral teachings.” The topic for this month is Ecological Devastation presented in partnership with 350.org, Appalachian Voices, and Our Children’s Trust. We will hear from people affected by ecological devastation around the world on how we can join the fight for climate justice. With millions of people struggling at this moment to recover from the extreme effects of ecological devastation, this topic could not be more timely.For more information: [email protected] or (802) 257-4436.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK MONDAY, OCTOBER 2nd, 2017 - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2017

Youth4Change Group Meeting
Monday, October 2nd, 2017 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5:30pm-8pm.
For more information please email [email protected].
Youth4Change is a project of the Root that meets every 1st and 3rd Mondays. It is for youth 12-22, particularly those from historically disenfranchised groups, who want to use education, art, and action to address racial and intersectional justice. The October 2nd meeting is an organizing meeting for local campaigns, and coming to hang out with us is Madina Haji from the Civil Rights Program of the U.S. Dist. Atty. for the Vermont region.
5:30pm: Space opens for art and hanging out.
6:00pm: Food!
6:30pm-8:00pm: Group meeting/training/strategy session.

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Girl Power Fall Book Talks: Chapter Books and Middle Grade Books
Wednesday, October 4th, 2017 at Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main St, Brattleboro, Vermont 05301) in the Children’s Room. 6:30pm-7:30pm.

Join us at Brooks Memorial for an hour of fast-paced book talks from three local book superheroes: Local Author Ann Braden, Everyone's Books Owner, Nancy Braus, and Youth Services Librarian, Lindsay Bellville. For this book talk, the second in our three part series, we will go over books with strong, female characters that would be perfect reads or read alouds for kids in grades 1-8. For more information call the Children's Room (802)-254-5290 x110.


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Protest Vigil at TD Bank
sponsored by Post Oil Solutions
Friday, October 6th, 2017(and every Friday) in front of TD Bank Brattleboro (215 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 12pm-1pm. Signs will be provided.
TD is a major investor in Tar Sands. TD helps to fund the Dakota Access Pipeline. The State of Vermont Keeps Most of Our Cash in TD.
What You Can You Do (besides attending the vigils):
If you’re a TD depositor, change banks!
If you’re a Vermonter, demand that state funds not be deposited with a bank investing in fossil fuels.
Contact your state legislators to support the bills in the House & Senate calling for a commission to explore the possibility of a State Bank.
Founded in 2005, Post Oil Solutions is a 501c3 community organizing project in Southeastern Vermont whose mission is to help empower the people of the Central Connecticut River Valley bioregion to develop sustainable, resilient , collaborative, and socially just communities leading to a self- and community-sufficient post petroleum society. For more information please contact [email protected] or 802.869.2141.


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The Bi-Weekly Solidarity Vigil
sponsored by Post Oil Solutions
Friday, October 6th, 2017 at the Windham Hotel corner (across from Flat Iron Café Bellows Falls, VT). 1pm-2pm. 
A vigil of community, solidarity and diversity. We are one cause of peace, freedom & social justice for all living beings. Bring signs expressing your passion and concerns.


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A Meditative Vigil of Lovingkindness
sponsored by Post Oil Solutions
Saturday, October 7th, 2017 on the lawn in front of the First Baptist Church (190 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT. Next to Brown and Roberts). Please do not block walkway, door or driveway. 12:30-1:30pm.
All too often, when we become caught up in the righteous practice of resisting the evil in our world, we can lose sight of the importance of also expressing and simply being our inherent heart values. Though silent, the Vigil of Lovingkindness is intended to give voice to these values that are the foundation of a wholesome society, and to speak up for the compassionate alternative that they represent. Under a banner that reads “May All Beings Be Free Of Pain And Suffering, May All Beings Know Peace And Happiness.” Post Oil Solutions is continuing its series of silent vigils of lovingkindness for the peaceful, socially just society we are all seeking.
Please join us. All are welcome to join for a few minutes or for the entire hour. People may stand, sit or kneel, as they see fit. Please bring a chair, cushion, mat, or whatever you are comfortable with. For further information, or if you wish to be part of a contact list that will inform people of future Lovingkind Vigils, please forward your name, e-mail address, and phone number to: [email protected] or 802.869.2141.

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Civil Rights for All Banner Raising
Sunday, October 8th, 2017 on Main Street in Brattleboro, VT. 8am-9am. 
Let's Fly the "We Celebrate Democracy/Civil Rights For All" banner over Main Street in Brattleboro!
The Trump administration is holding an endless nation-wide "hate rally". We believe what the civil rights organization The Southern Poverty Law Center says about fighting hate: "Every act of hate should be met with an equal act of love". Otherwise hate will spread until it takes over the whole country, the way it did under Hitler in Germany. The result would be horrible for all of us. We firmly believe that "democracy/love versus tyranny/hate" is our winning battlefield. We must hold a nation-wide "love rally" to stand up to the Trump administration. Taken together all our small positive nonviolent public actions add up to a huge "love rally".  The "We Celebrate Democracy/ Civil Rights For All" banner says "I love you" to all people.  The banner raising is just a small part of our "love rally", but every part is an essential  part.   We need to be in the streets standing up for loving,  caring, sharing and helping, in a massive way. Unite! We can only win this together. Stand with the banner! Stand up to hate! Please help us by making a small donation to cover the $600 banner raising fee (sixty $10 donations) as we fly the "We Celebrate Democracy/Civil Rights For All" banner over Main Street on Indigenous Peoples’ Day weekend. To donate via check please donate to "We Celebrate Democracy/Civil Rights For All" (WCD/CRFA), 1196 Lower Dover Rd, Brattleboro VT 05301 or visit our GoFundMe site here.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

AMERICA IN TRANSITION : Forging Families That Work for Us
A screening and workshop with filmmaker Andre Perez
Tuesday, October 10th, 2017 at the Marlboro College Graduate Center (28 Vernon St, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 6pm-8pm. Free. Trans folk and allies are welcome. 
America in Transition is a web series, interactive documentary, and community engagement campaign taking a real look at social change from the perspective of trans people in marginalized communities. Each episode explores one person’s story in depth, tackling intersectional issues such as HIV criminalization in Arkansas, black trans masculine (in)visibility in the media, and barriers facing trans Latina immigrants. Forging Families Workshop: Many trans folks have conflicted relationships with our families of origin. There are often layers of trauma, misunderstanding, and frustration. Some choose to craft chosen families of our own design. How much should we change for our families and how much can we expect them to change for us? In this interactive workshop, we share personal experiences and strategize about how to navigate the complexity of family in order to build a network of supportive relationships that will nourish us. 

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Indigo Institute
hosted by Brattleboro Solidarity
October 13th-14th, 2017. Multiple locations. For more information, please check out the Facebook event here.

Friday, October 13th, 2017
7pm-9pm
Dramatic Reading
Voices of Working Peoples
Headroom Stages (17 Elliot St, Brattleboro, VT, 05301)

Friday Event Details: Voices of Working Peoples
Brattleboro Solidarity and community members will read Voices of Working People's History, a play written by Western MA Jobs for Justice. There will be a dramatic reading of labor organizers, abolitionists, and civil rights organizers. Join us to remember the struggles of our ancestors and to have a discussion about current labor struggles and how this topic can be brought into the classroom.

Saturday, October 14th, 2017
9am-3pm
Social Justice in the Classroom
Location:  Marlboro Graduate Center (28 Vernon St, Brattleboro, VT 05301)

Saturday Event Details:
Morning (9am-12pm): Presentations by local teachers.
* Studying the Brattleboro Cotton Mill:  Using local history to meet Social Studies and Writing standards for 3rd Grade
* Bringing people's history into the classroom through research and role play 
* Teaching water justice through Science, Math, and Technology (Grades 3-6)
* From the massacre of Wounded Knee to Standing Rock:  Connecting yesterday to today
* Salt of the Earth:  Labor in the Classroom
* Bringing Palestine into the Classroom
~ Classroom resources, materials, and lessons will be provided. 
~ Professional Development credits are available through the Spark Teacher Education Institute (certified by VT Dept of Ed)

Afternoon (1pm-3pm): Discussion on how to teach current events in the classroom with attention given to the recent climate disasters both nationally and internationally and the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville late summer. 
We will have a chance to talk about what's going on in our classrooms and walk away with concrete ideas to use in your teaching. 

 

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Rights & Democracy's Movement Politics Training
sponsored by Rights and Democracy (RAD)
Saturday, October 14th, 2017 in Manchester, VT (location TBD). 9:30am-4:30pm. The training costs $50 or signing up as a $10/month sustainer (we will accommodate those to which the financial cost may be a burden). 
To move from protest to power we need to get serious about impacting elections, either by running for office ourselves or supporting campaigns run by our allies in the movement. Join RAD Political Director Isaac Grimm, RAD Comms Director Shay Totten, Bennington Representative Kiah Morris & former Manchester Rep. Steve Berry for a training on how to build powerful grassroots electoral campaigns.
If you'd like to join our day long movement politics training, fill out this registration form.  We will then follow up with a phone interview before accepting applicants. Training starts with a grounding in how we got to our current political situation, our long-term agenda, and a power analysis, and then delves how to build our base, the nuts & bolts of planning & executing a campaign, messaging & media, fundraising, and operating a field campaign.

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WeCAN Cafe: Recharge Your Activist Spirit
Thursday, October 19th, 2017 at 118 Elliot Street (Brattleboro, VT 05301). 7pm-9pm
Created as a follow-up to the Action Fair this past spring, the WeCAN Cafe is an evening designed to build community, learn from each other, share success stories and find out about the progress being made by organizations in the area -- and to remind ourselves that we're not alone! There will be food, music, poetry, information sharing, connection to others, and a cash bar. The goal is to head home feeling better than when we arrived.

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New England Mass Meeting of the Poor People’s Campaign
Oct. 19th, 2017 at Trinity Church (206 Clarendon St., Boston, MA). 7pm-9pm. 
The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has emerged from more than a decade of work by grassroots community and religious leaders, organizations and movements fighting to end systemic racism, poverty, militarism, environmental destruction & related injustices and to build a just, sustainable and participatory society. The Campaign, chaired by co-chairs Rev. Dr. William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, aims to build a broad and deep national moral movement, rooted in the leadership of poor people and reflecting the great moral teachings, to unite our country from the bottom up. The Campaign is holding mass meetings across the country. The New England meeting will be in Boston. The Vermont Workers’ Center and Justice for All are part of the PPC, and we are organizing carpools for the Boston Mass Meeting. For more information or to sign up for a carpool, contact Ellen, [email protected] or (802) 257-4436.

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Local Love Brigade Party at Avenue Grocery
Saturday October 21st, 2017 at the Avenue Grocery (82 Western Ave., Brattleboro, VT 05301). 2pm-4pm. 
Join the Local Love Brigade! Drop by, get a cider donut, and make postcards to send out in an avalanche of love to support victims of hate. There will be plenty of materials to make a card, and no artistic experience is necessary. All are welcome.

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STANDING REGULAR MEETINGS

Lost River Racial Justice, Black Lives Matter-South, and People Of Color Caucus Regular Meetings
Reoccurring racial justice organizing meetings every 2nd Monday at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio of the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301) on the First Floor. 6pm-8pm. Childcare provided. Fragrance & nut free space.  

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SKILLED VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

Childcare as a Radical Act: Sign up to Provide Childcare! 
The Family Solidarity Action Network is moving forward with their next big effort to support families in local activism: a collective of folks to provide childcare for local activist meetings or events. If you or someone you know would be able and willing to offer childcare (as a volunteer, or paid) for meetings and events please fill out this spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YGVI8wECe4ZDdghtAG147j7ktwgB_J5ZoWUPkwGrOhM/edit#gid=0
We are looking for people young and old with varying degrees of experience.  Having a large pool of people to call on will make it much easier for organizers to arrange childcare for meetings, allowing for more voices of families with young children to participate in local activism!  We will then be making this list available to other local organizations so we can be sure that childcare doesn't have to be a barrier to participation for anyone. 

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VOLUNTEER AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES

Soup's On (Again)!

Please support our fun and delicious fundraising effort to support Sister District. Project and our two Virginia House of Delegates candidates: John Bell and Jennifer Foy. You can sign up to receive delicious soup monthly with pick up in Putney or Brattleboro, or if you are going to be out of area you can donate your soup to the Putney Foodshelf. Sign up, spread the word, and share with friends! Our last round raised over $3500 and our goal for the next 8 months is $10,000. If you are interested in cooking, you can volunteer by emailing us: [email protected].

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ONGOING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING

Indigo Radio
Sundays at 12pm on Brattleboro Community Radio 107.7FM
To stream live: Visit www.wvew.org 
Indigo Radio, deepening understanding and making connections!
IndigoRadio is a group of area educators seeking to learn through engaging with others in our community and throughout the world. We will be talking about educational and social issues both globally and locally and connecting them to our lives and Brattleboro community.
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indigoradiowvew/. For archive recordings of past shows: https://soundcloud.com/user-654648353

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Democracy, Eventually 
WVEW 107.7FM, Brattleboro Community Radio Station
You can listen to recorded and archived episodes here: https://soundcloud.com/democracy-eventually and you can find us on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/democracyeventually/ and on Twitter here @Democrazeee.
We are Democracy, Eventually a radio show covering local, state, and underreported national news stories from a progressive analysis. We air live on WVEW 107.7FM LP Brattleboro Community Radio Station. 


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Your Friendly WeCAN Admins,
Ann and Joanna