Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

"Who ever walked behind anyone to freedom? If we can't go hand in hand, I don't want to go."
Hazel Scott (b.1920, d.1981)
Immigrant, Jazz/Piano Prodigy, Political and Equal Rights Activist, First African American to have a national TV show

     Welcome to July, Friends! It seems that the Winter months creep by....and then July is here before we know it! We have 10 (TEN!) NEW additions to the calendar this week so grab yourself a cold drink, a patch of grass under a shady tree, take a moment peruse the new and reoccurring meetings listed below, and make plans to attend one (or more!) of these community gatherings. We would also like to remind you to start sending in your Late Summer/Early Fall (August, September) events to [email protected] as soon as they are confirmed. Have a fantastic week and a safe Fourth of July, WeCANners! Until next week...

______

Of Note:
An immigrant bail fund, the Vermont Immigrant Bail Fund, is located in our state and helps VT immigrants post bail. If you would like to donate, please see the web address below. 
From their website:
Fondo Para La Libertad - VT Vermont Freedom Bail Fund
Approximately 1000­-2000 immigrants from Mexico and Central America have been in Vermont since the mid­1990s, working invisibly at dairy farms, sustaining Vermont’s dairy industry, and paying a heavy price with their lives. We are a tax-deductible fund available to bail out immigrants living in Vermont held on immigration charges. Immigrants with any chance of release from ICE prison need bail in order to be freed from the prison system to rejoin their families and communities, have wider legal options, get help in preparing their cases, and be able to earn their living.
You can find more information here: https://fondo.migrantvt.org. Thank you. 

HAPPENING TODAY, SUNDAY, JUNE 30th, 2019

Reading Frederick Douglass 2019: Frederick Douglass' 1852 4th of July Speech in Jamaica, VT
hosted by Jamaica Community Arts
Sunday, June 30th, 2019 at Jamaica Town Hall (3735 VT-30, Jamaica, VT, 05343). 11:30am-1:30pm. Potluck Lunch following.
Join us as we read together the fiery July 5, 1852 speech in which the great abolitionist orator Frederick Douglass took exception to being asked to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This is a participatory event. Community members are invited to witness and/or join in the reading. Copies of the speech will be provided.

______

Free University of Guilford (Community Day)
hosted by the Broad Brook Community Center
Sunday, June 30th, 2019 at Broad Brook Community Center (3940 Guilford Center Road, Guilford, VT, 05301). 12pm-8pm.
Free to attend! 12 - 6 with a potluck dinner to follow. Schedule below. For more information please email [email protected].
Neighbors teaching neighbors in a day of workshops, demonstrations, and discussions for all ages (childcare provided too) highlighting the wealth of knowledge and experience in our local community. Stay for the whole day or come and go. Bring a dish to share at the potluck dinner if you can. This event is meant to be fun and convivial, spending time with neighbors and learning about a broad range of topics, including: Celebrate the richness of our community and learn a thing or two!
SCHEDULE:
-Dancing // Miriam Shaw  (12pm-12:30pm) Miriam Shaw will utilize her youthful enthusiasm (she is 6!) to lead a group dance improvisation. No experience necessary, just a willingness to explore body movement in a group setting.
-Kitchen Knife Sharpening // Rick Zamore  (12pm-1pm) A sharp knife can make a huge difference in your experience and abilities in the kitchen. Come hone your skills with local cooking nut Rick Zamore. Bring your knives and whetstones if you have them. Leave with a keener sense of this often overlooked art.
-Use of Language With Children // Laura Lawson Tucker  (12pm-1pm) Drawing on her extensive experience in early childhood education, Laura Lawson Tucker will discuss the ways adults use language with young children. Bring your kids and a favorite storybook. Pitfalls and best-practices will be examined.
-Herbal First Aid // Julie Beet  (1pm-2pm) Learn some basics of herbal first aid with Julie Beet. Remedies for common ailments will be discussed, as well as foraging techniques.
-How to Play Jacks // Marty Shaw  (1pm-1:30pm) Learn how to play jacks with Marty Shaw. Wax nostalgic about your grade school feats as you test your dexterity and coordination in this timeless classic. All ages welcome.
-Mending Circle // Mimi Morton  (1pm-4pm)Drop in and out of this circle led by student-of-the-art Mimi Morton. Bring a project to work on or sit and enjoy the company. A portable sewing machine will be available for use. Share techniques and solve mending issues as a group, all while gossiping about regional flora and fauna and road conditions and whatever else comes up.
-Casual Poetry & Road of Words // Verandah Porche  (1:30pm-2pm) Verandah Porche will bring 10,000 words to allow for casual poetic creation. She will also have the supplies for the non-competitive game Road of Words. The rules are simple and can even be changed to improve the moment. Drop in and spend some easy time with words.
-Face Painting, Story Time, & Jacks // Rose Mangum and Marty Shaw  (1:30pm-3pm)-Rose Mangum and Marty Shaw will host face painting, story time, jacks, and other activities for young children and interested adults. Drop in anytime and join the fun!
-History of the Estey Organ Company // Dennis Waring  (2pm-3pm) Join ethnomusicologist Dennis Waring for a discussion of the history and local impact of the Estey Organ Company, which operated in Brattleboro from 1846 to 1960. Illuminated by a slide show and by his captivating storytelling style, Dennis is sure to entertain and inform. After all, he did write the book on the subject: Manufacturing the Muse: Estey Organs & Consumer Culture in Victorian America.
-Tortilla Making // Nika Fotopulos-Voeikoff  (2:30pm-3:15pm) Nika Fotopulos-Voeikoff demonstrates the quick and simple art of tortilla making with a press. Discuss the wide variety of uses for tortillas, and then put words into action at the community potluck dinner!
-Salt Dough Sculpture // Sarah Haydock  (3pm-5pm) Explore form and structure while enjoying the tactile sensations of working with salt dough. Led by Sarah Haydock, this group is open to all ages young and old. 
-Small Engine Maintenance // Jethro Eaton  (3:15pm-4pm) Jethro Eaton will cover the basics of small engine maintenance to keep your chainsaws and mowers humming.
-Art Making & Read Aloud // Cory Sorensen  (4pm-6pm) Join Cory Sorensen for a variety of activities for young children.
-Gluten-Free Baking // Cheryl Redmond  (4pm-5pm) Long-time baker Cheryl Redmond has recently been experimenting with gluten-free options for baking including alternative flours, blends, and techniques. Come discuss these and other baking related topics as Cheryl gives a demonstration of baking a gluten-free cake. Demonstrations of eating to follow at the potluck dinner!
-Library and Research Services // Amber Hunt  (4pm-5pm) Investigate library and internet resources for research with Amber Hunt. Learn how to install the RBdigital app to check out audiobooks and ebooks through the Guilford Free Library. Bring your devices and/or your research questions.
-Weaving // Carol Schnabel  (4pm-6pm) Drop by to try your hand at weaving on a loom with master weaver Carol Schnabel, and learn some insider lingo along the way. Everyone will get a chance to throw the shuttle, work the treadles and heddles, and add a few picks to a group project. But don't worry: Carol will take care of slaying the reed.
-Bicycle Repair // Mike Iacona  (5pm-6pm) Learn the basics of bicycle maintenance and repair with local bike enthusiast Mike Iacona. Feel free to brainstorm ideas to make Guilford more bike-friendly as well!
-Somatic Reawakening and Integration // Joey Lott  (5pm-6pm) In this introduction, Joey Lott will share a simple set of principles for gentle, slow movement that can relieve chronic pain, restricted movement, or discomfort. He will also guide you in several simple exercises that will provide you with greater ease of movement right away. These methods work for all ages and all forms of chronic pain or discomfort.
-Potluck Dinner  (6pm-7pm) Open to everyone. Gather around the tables to share a meal and discuss the day's events while basking in each others' company. Taste the results of the kitchen workshops. Dream of University of Guilford events to come. Bring a dish to share if you can.

______

HAPPENING THIS WEEK, MONDAY, JULY 1st, 2019-SUNDAY, JULY 7th, 2019

Brattleboro Declaration of Climate Emergency Discussion
hosted by Brattleboro Common Sense
Monday, July 1st, 2019 at 16 Washington Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301 at 6pm.
Please register before coming. Suggestions can also be sent by email at [email protected].
BCS in partnership with The Climate Mobilization (TCM) seeks comments and amendments to the Declaration of Climate Emergency, to be promoted as soon as possible.  TCM and Extinction Rebellion have sparked more than five hundred municipal and national declarations in recent months.
The declaration is distinguished by several clauses not found in other declarations and that are particular to Brattleboro and Vermont.  These concern precedent in earlier Brattleboro resolutions, enforceable terms for citizens’ proposals, counting youth among  most affected peoples, loss of foresight, thrift and of other virtues contributing to the crisis, conservation and moderation in reliance on technology, and a plea for unity based in respect for deniers.  The latest revision is below.  Join the discussion at 16 Washington Street in Brattleboro.  Edit the text and help the planning.  This article, to be known as the Declaration of Climate Emergency, is in accordance with a resolution promoted directly by vote of the selectboard in 2003, and with resolutions regarding the environment and Climate Change promoted by Brattleboro Common Sense through petition for votes of the people in 2010, 2014, and 2018.
Whereas Senator Sanders has said, “We must look at climate change as if it were a devastating military attack against the United States and the entire planet. And we must respond accordingly” in other words, with the urgency of war.
Whereas the hardships of war require conservation and rationing of valuable resources, and the virtues of thrift, self-sacrifice, truthfulness, and forethought, for lack of which our society has brought the world into this crisis,
Whereas the climate crisis is causing immense human suffering and damage to the natural world and threatens to destroy civilization and kill billions of people,
Whereas we must feel an extreme obligation and measure of compassion for young people and for Asian and African peoples who are already dying in nameless numbers from the effects of this crisis, in which they share little blame,
Whereas reliance on technology instead of our virtues has also caused the crisis and cannot alone save the world,
And whereas Brattleboro can act as an example by converting to an ecologically, socially and economically regenerative economy at emergency speed, we therefor respond according to the Senator’s exhortation.
Be it resolved that the people of Brattleboro strive for zero emissions across all sectors of the economy by 2025, and that this effort be observed and reported by a sustainability coordinator or other appropriate office of the town,
Be it further resolved that the selectboard shall immediately warn monthly representative town meetings and meetings of the people, where they can make proposals for fuel conservation, shared transportation, mass transportation, subsidies for renewables, fossil fuel taxes, wise use of resources, and other measures that address the climate crisis, and further that the selectboard shall enact emergency ordinances per charter article 4 section 6 AA to test the proposals arising from those meetings,
And finally we the people of Brattleboro declare climate emergency, and resolve to endure hardship and self-sacrifice, exert our utmost energy, and summon the deepest truthfulness and courage even without certainty to secure the survival of our children, ourselves, all humanity and this divinely beautiful natural world, which has sustained us through the ages with unspoken love.
And for sake of unity let no one scorn crisis “deniers”, since their inaction has been no worse than ours who believe it. We have all been living our lives and denying the climate crisis together.  Let us brave our way through it together.  

PRESS RELEASE
After admonishing  the school directors at the Windham South East School Union meeting Tuesday night June 25 for failing to educate students about climate change a worker of Brattleboro Common Sense (BCS) proposed an advisory resolution to include Climate Crisis in every regular meeting of the school directors.  One person spoke against the resolution, and after an enthusiastic debate the resolution was approved.  BCS and die-in protestors at the Heifer Stroll parade on June 8 had carried banners declaring a Climate Emergency, and this advisory to the school directors is part of their plan for a Climate Emergency Declaration.   BCS has been taking comments from the public on two other versions of declaration.  One version was written and circulated by the die-in protestors, and another, in antique-style manuscript  on yellowed vellum paper reminiscent of the original Declaration of Independence, was enthusiastically received at the Slow-Living Expo after the parade.  BCS may request the selectboard assume public support and place the third version on the board’s agenda and approve it through the board’s emergency ordinance procedure without a public vote.   BCS has been preparing the declaration since February and will be partnering with a national coalition, The Climate Mobilization. 

______

Alley Lane Cleanup
hosted by Ask the River, Downtown Brattleboro Alliance, VT Center for Photography, Town of Brattleboro, Brattleboro Area Hospice, Brattleboro Prevention Coalition, with artists Evie Lovett, Andrea Wasserman, and Elizabeth Billings
Wednesday, July 3rd, 2019,
Wednesday, July 31st, 2019,
and Wednesday, September 4th, 2019 in the Transportation Center Alleyway off of Flat Street (77 Flat Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301), between the VT Center for Photography and Experienced Goods. 4pm-6pm. Public metered parking is available directly across from the Alleyway.
Together we can do this! We invite you to help reimagine the transportation center alleyway off of Flat St. between Vermont Center for Photography & Experienced Goods. There will be three project days to clean up the area, mulch, garden and brainstorm.  The date: July 3rd, July 31st, and September 4th from 4-6 PM. 
This effort is part of a larger placemaking effort to transform the area into an inviting and inclusive area for community use and engagement. The effort will culminate with a  pop-event during the September Gallery Walk on Sept. 6th. 
Who is making this happen? Downtown Brattleboro Alliance, VT Center for Photography, Town of Brattleboro, Brattleboro Area Hospice, Brattleboro Prevention Coalition,  a team of regional artists– Evie Lovett, Andrea Wasserman, Elizabeth Billings and all of you!

______

Carry the "Civil Rights for All" Banner in the Fourth of July Parade
Thursday, July 4th, 2019. Meet at Brattleboro Union High School (131 Fairground Rd, Brattleboro, VT 05301) in the student parking lot at 9am. Photo by Brent Seabrook, July 4th 2018. RSVP: [email protected] or call (802) 464 3154.
We are not saying anything new here. Our message will not change.
We are calling for democracy, and we always will. Not the old democracy that serves a privileged minority. But the new democracy that represents and serves all people equally. We want true democracy! Forty of us marched with the banner in the 2017 & 2018 parades. We sang songs and carried signs praising democracy. For us it was a joyous experience, singing about something we truly  cherish and believe in, right on Main Street. As it says on one of the signs we carry: "Democracy needs you", Democracy needs all of us. Marching in the parade is a powerful way to show that we want to fix our democracy.  Let's stand up together, in public, and continue humanity's great work. Join us in the parade. We will update you on our songs, and signs and any changes, on our "We Celebrate Democracy" facebook page as we get closer to the 4th.

______

Reading Frederick Douglass 2019: Frederick Douglass’ 1852 4th of July Speech in Brattleboro VT
hosted by VT Humanities Council and Brooks Memorial Library
Thursday, July 4th, 2019 at Pliny Park (Corner of High Street and Main Street in Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 9:30am. For more information please go here. 
Join us as we read together the fiery July 5, 1852 speech in which the great abolitionist orator Frederick Douglass took exception to being asked to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This is a participatory event. Community members are invited to witness and/or join in the reading. Copies of the speech will be provided.
In 1852, Frederick Douglass, one of our nation’s greatest orators and abolitionists, was asked to speak at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  In his provocative speech, Douglass said, “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” And he asked, “Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?”
Douglass’s speech remains emotionally powerful and thought-provoking more than a century and a half after he gave it. Read a transcript of this speech.
The radio program “Bon Mot” on WGDR at Goddard College hosted a reading of Frederick Douglass’s speech in 2017. Listen to a recording of Douglass’s speech.

______

Brattleboro 4th of July Parade
hosted by Brattleboro Goes Fourth
Thursday, July 4th, 2019 down Main Street in Brattleboro, VT, 05301. 10am-12pm.
Join the town of Brattleboro as we parade along Canal and Main Streets to the Brattleboro Common (Park Place, junction of Route 5 and 30). Participants include marching units, bands, veterans and civic groups, and youth groups.

______

Protest Vigil at TD Bank
sponsored by Post Oil Solutions
Friday, July 5th, 2019 (and every Friday) at TD Bank Brattleboro (215 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT). In front of the building. 12pm-1pm. Signs will be provided
TD is a major investor in Tar Sands. TD helps to fund the Dakota Access Pipeline. What You Can Do (besides attending the vigils): If you’re a TD depositor, change banks! 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 in this era of global warming and climate change to develop sustainable, resilient , collaborative, and socially just communities leading to a self- and community-sufficient post petroleum society.

______

July Meeting with the Chair of the Windham County Dems
hosted by the Putney Huddle
Sunday, July 7th, 2019 at the Putney Public Library (55 Main Street, Putney, VT, 05346). 1:30pm-3:30pm.
John Hagen, Chair of the Windham County Democrats will join us to discuss the future of the Democrats in Windham County. Followed by a Sister District update and activity. All are welcome!

______

UPCOMING EVENTS

Birddogging 101
hosted by Rights & Democracy NH and Rights & Democracy VT
Tuesday, July 9th, 2019 at the Brattleboro Food Coop (2 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301) in the Community Room. 6pm-8pm. Please use the 7 Canal Street entrance. Do not use the Coop main entrance. This is a free event hosted by Rights & Democracy NH and VT. Food and drink will be provided, so come a little early for refreshments and good conversation.
Birddogging 101 is a participatory and interactive training that will give you the skills and confidence to talk to presidential candidates and elected officials about the issues facing our communities.
What is birddogging? It simply means seeking out elected officials and candidates and pushing them for clear answers on important questions. When we do this we can influence their positions as well as the public's perception.
We’ve got so many opportunities to get up close and personal with 2020 candidates in New Hampshire this year, and birddogging is a fun and high-profile way to take advantage of that. It also helps advance our campaigns for social, economic and political justice. Step out and use your voice!

______

Lights for Liberty, A Vigil to End Human Detention Centers: Putney, VT
hosted by the Putney Huddle in support of the Community Asylum Seekers Project
Friday, July 12th, 2019 on the Putney Tavern Green (Corner of Kimball Street and Main Street, Putney, VT). 8:30pm-9:30pm. Please do not park in the Tavern Parking Lot. The Gleanery will be open and needs their parking. Thank you! If you can supply candles please contact The Putney Huddle on Facebook.
We will gather at the corner of Kimball and Main to educate, support the Community Asylum Seekers Project, send postcards to those that hold power and stand in solidarity with the families facing inhumane conditions and treatment.
From Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Detention Camps, will bring thousands of Americans to detention camps across the country, into the streets and into their own front yards, to protest the inhumane conditions faced by refugees. 
El Paso, Texas, where migrants are being housed in outdoor conditions under a bridge with no running water for months at a time, is the anticipated site of the main Lights for Liberty vigil. Legislators, activists, organizers, and members of impacted communities are expected to speak. 
Other key events are planned in Homestead, FL, at a migrant child detention facility that has caused mass abuse and neglect; in San Diego, near the point of entry site from Tijuana; in New York City, at Foley Square, where hundreds of migrants are processed through detention a day; and in Washington, DC, in front of the Capitol building, to demand action from Congress to end human detention and impeach the President.
Across this country, we have witnessed acts against people fleeing persecution many of us thought we would never see in modern times.
At Trump’s human detention camps, teen mothers and babies are held outdoors in “dog pounds.” We have witnessed the sick and elderly confined to “icebox” rooms for weeks at a time. Unbelievably, children as young as 4 months are taken from their parents, medicine is confiscated, and medical care withheld, and LGBTQ and disabled individuals are held in solitary confinement. 
“The Trump administration’s immigration policies and detention camps meet the United Nations’ definition of genocide and crimes against humanity,” said Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin, lawyer, activist and organizer. “Congress is refusing to stop the president and his policies. We cannot allow these atrocities to be perpetrated in our name.”
Perhaps most terrifying, refugees are beginning to be moved onto military grounds, where there will be a lack of oversight from the media, lawyers, and human rights monitors. Many of us thought we would never see anything like this in modern times.
“Now is the time for every person to stand up and say, ‘We will not accept this!’ No more hesitating. No more denial. No more fear. We need to be bold, and loud, and unrelenting. That’s the only way we can stop this,” said Kristin Mink, activist and organizer.
There are many locations partaking throughout Vermont and the rest of the nation...
https://www.lightsforliberty.org/?fbclid=IwAR2vZPk3YqbRSL5ardj4zT7CQ9Z3yeZXpLRo9Ma9OiRmsASvKuw--kN0bFA

______

Vermont Mad Pride 2019 in Brattleboro!
hosted by Vermont Psychiatric Survivors, Inc
Saturday, July 13th, 2019. March starting at Pliny Park (corner of Main Street and High Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301) and ending at the Brattleboro Common (Park Place, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 12pm-4pm. Free t-shirt for the first 100 participants. If you do not have access to transport to the Mad Pride March in VT on July 13th, or have a car and would like to help get folks to the event, we are coordinating carpooling from across the region. Please visit www.vermontpsychiatricsurvivors.org/carpooling to sign up. We will connect you to your passenger(s) or volunteer drivers via email and facilitate organizing ride times.  We will connect drivers to passenger(s) on a first come, first serve basis.
Vermont Mad Pride is a march and celebration organized by psychiatric survivors, mental health consumers, mad people, and those the world has deemed “mentally ill.”  Mad Pride is about challenging discrimination, advocating for rights, affirming mad identities, remembering and participating in mad history, and having fun.  Our lives and contributions are valuable and need celebration!
Vermont Mad Pride 2019 is organized by Vermont Psychiatric Survivors and the Hive Mutual Support Network as well as a planning committee of community volunteers. Vermont Psychiatric Survivors, Inc. is an independent, statewide mutual support and civil rights advocacy organization run by and for psychiatric survivors. The mission of Vermont Psychiatric Survivors is to provide advocacy and mutual support that seeks to end psychiatric coercion, oppression and discrimination.
This Year’s Mad Pride will take place in Brattleboro, July 13th at 12pm. We will meet up at Pliny Park and march to the Commons for a rally with food, music, and speeches.  Our lives and contributions are valuable and need celebration!
Agenda:
12pm: Meet at Pliny Park
12:15pm-1pm: March to the Commons
1pm-4pm: Rally and speeches

______

Guest Speaker: Meagan Gallagher, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England
Tuesday, July 16th, 2019 at Saxton's River Distillery (155 Chickering Drive, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 5:30pm-7:30pm. Donations at the door to benefit Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.  For more information join Reproductive Health Advocates Facebook Group.
Meagan will provide a complete update on the state of reproductive health access nationally and statewide. Q&A following presentation. 

______

Public Film Screening: "Within the Eye of the Storm”
hosted by Jerusalem Peacebuilders and the Windham World Affairs Council 
Thursday, July 25th, 2019 at 118 Gallery (118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5:30pm-8pm.
Please join us for a special program focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Jerusalem Peacebuilders will present the powerful Israeli film, “Within the Eye of the Storm,” followed by small group discussions led by pairs of Israelis and Palestinians from the Jerusalem Peacebuilders’ Vermont Leadership Institute. This is a rare opportunity to meet Israeli and Palestinian peacebuilders and to learn more about one of the most challenging conflicts of our time.  
“Within the Eye of the Storm” is the story of Bassam and Rami, a Palestinian and an Israeli who were once dedicated fighters willing to kill and be killed by one another for their nations. When faced with the tragic loss of their daughters in the conflict, they chose to do the unexpected, and, instead of seeking revenge, they turned from enemies into brothers.
Jerusalem Peacebuilders’ Vermont Leadership Institute brings together American, Israeli, and Palestinian young adults with the focus of creating a new generation of Peacebuilders and leaders. The program challenges participants to consider different perspectives around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In addition, it encourages participants to deepen their understanding of faith traditions and develop strategies for taking action to promote peace.

______

August Meeting with Extinction Rebellion
hosted by The Putney Huddle
Sunday, August 11th, 2019 at the Putney Public Library (55 Main Street, Putney, VT, 05346). 1:30pm-3:30pm.
Extinction Rebellion Vermont representatives Maria Ogden and Ward Ogden will share a presentation on the work that their group is actively engaged in. More details to come! All are invited!

______

SUMMER CAMPS

Farm to Ballet Performance Camp for Kids at Retreat Farm
presented by Ballet Vermont and Retreat Farm
Monday, July 15th, 2019-Friday, July 19th, 2019 at Retreat Farm (45 Farmhouse Square, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 9am-3:30*pm. *Paid aftercare option of 3:30pm-4:30pm for an additional $50. Please go to www.balletvermont.org for performance tickets. 
Your camper can dance on the big stage with Farm to Ballet! Campers who participate in this camp will perform the choreography they learn at camp as the pre-show to Farm to Ballet's Retreat Farm show. Camp week will include daily ballet class, farm and garden exploration, activities, and craft. Dancers will work on choreography and craft costumes in addition to other activities to prepare for the big Farm to Ballet performance. 

______

UPRISE Youth Activism Camp (Ages 13-19)
Sunday, July 28th, 2019-Sunday, August 4th, 2019 in Marshfield, VT. For more information please go here: https://www.uprisecampvt.org.
We're inviting youth ages 13-19 to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont for one amazing week of teen empowerment, creativity, action, and friendship -- all while strategizing for our collective future. As mentors with a broad spectrum of skills, we are passionate about empowering teens as organizers, change makers, and allies in our rapidly changing world. 
The cost of the camp is $450 for the week, but please feel more than welcome to ask us about scholarships. Bring your hopes and fears for the future, your unique style and skills, your passion and ideas -- but most of all, bring yourself, just as you are -- and join us!
Youth interested in attending Uprise! are asked to go through a short application form process. The application will give us an idea of who’s interested in the camp and help our team make this camp accessible and awesome for everyone. There are financial aid questions at the end of the application. You can find information on the application process here.

______

RESOURCE FOR WeCAN: Rapid Response Text Alert System
When WeCAN began, Song & Solidarity set up a Rapid Response Text Alert System for WeCAN Groups. Directions for signing up are on WeCAN's website, here: https://www.wecantogether.net/rapid_response We were reminded of the Rapid Response text alerts system as President Trump moves towards firing Mueller. In the event Mueller is fired, MoveOn is planning a nation-wide simultaneous protest. The trick will be to get the word out fast if/when the time comes. We are grateful to Song and Solidarity for providing this service.

______

STANDING REGULAR MEETINGS  
Women Veterans Weekly Coffee and Tea Social
Thursday Mornings at Brattleboro Legion Post 5 Inc. (32 Linden Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 9am-10am.
All female veterans are invited to join in the Women Veterans group coffee held at the American Legion.  All women veterans are welcome. You do not need to be a Legion member.

______

Lost River Racial Justice, Black Lives Matter-South, and People Of Color Caucus Regular Meeting
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.  

______

Youth 4 Change
Meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month from 5:30pm-8pm. 
For more information please contact Youth 4 Change at [email protected].
Agenda:
5:30pm: Drop in homework time and art making
6:00pm: Food
6:30pm: Meeting and Organizing
Youth 4 Change is for local-area youth 12-22 interested in political organizing around local/state/national social justice issues that are important to them. Brattleboro area advocates and educators are holding a space, and assisting youth in building a strong personal tool kit to organize for change. Using a variety of creative methods, we aim to enable youth with tools for resilience, courage and compassion, while fostering their ability to speak up about issues that matter to them, and to take action in the name of love and liberation for all people.  Come explore issues of racial, economic and gender justice through art, movement, first-hand accounts and contemplative practices. Connect with area youth around the issues that matter to you and strengthen your tool kit for action! 

______

Windham County NAACP Regular Meetings
Monthly community meetings are held on the third Thursday of every month at The Root Center for Social Justice (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301) on the First Floor from 6pm-7pm. Upcoming Meetings: 3/21/19; 4/18/19; 5/16/19. For more information please email [email protected]. All are welcome. 
The meetings are open to anyone interested in racial justice. The Mission of the NAACP is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.

______

ONGOING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING 

Indigo Radio
Sundays at 12pm on Brattleboro Community Radio 107.7FMTo 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.

______

     Thank you for your commitment to your community, our country, and this planet week after week, Friends. You are truly the change we seek. 

{{settings.site.full_url}}