Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

"If you love friends, you will serve your friends. If you love community, you will serve your community. If you love money, you will serve your money. And if you love only yourself, you will serve only yourself. And you will have only yourself."
Stephen Colbert (b.1964)
American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host

     As the days become shorter and the connection we have to our communities has less daylight in which to flourish, we'd like to remind you that November is the perfect time to explore new groups and meetings to keep those community connections fresh over the coming Winter months. Many of the offerings in this week's Weekly Email Update focus on building community: community cooking, a discussion about the effects of opioids and loss in our community, and a listening session focused on improving our community's access to legal assistance are all events that you can attend this week. 
     We appreciate all that you do for Windham County and for your own local communities, big and small. We look forward to seeing you at a meeting or event in the near future. 

HAPPENING TODAY, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3rd, 2019

Community Day: Community Cocina
Sunday, November 3rd, 2019 at Broad Brook Community Center (3940 Guilford Center Road, Guilford, VT, 05301). 10am-2pm.
Communal cooking has been at the center of the village for centuries, providing a shared experience for people of all ages to engage and form relationships within the community. While modern conveniences have made our lives much easier in some ways, it has also led to the disappearance of this shared cooking experience.
We would like to rekindle this tradition in Guilford by bringing our energy and talents together to prepare food at the fire (or in our case, the stove) on Sunday, November 3rd from 10am-2pm.We will plan to collaboratively prepare a simple lunch of stone soup and discuss the ways in which we can make community cooking a part of our little town on an ongoing basis. Contact Ragan Layne if you would like to be involved in the planning. RSVPs aren't required, but are encouraged!

______

Rally to Support Impeachment
Sunday, November 3rd, 2019 at Pliny Park (intersection of Main Street and High Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 2pm-5pm.
Stand Up for Our Democracy!
Stand Together to Support the Impeachment of Donald Trump! Bring your signs, your banners, your friends, and your VOICES! We will be signing a resolution to be shared with our Congressional Delegation. Open microphone will be available for 1-minute speeches on Democracy.
Tentative Agenda:
- Jay Cook playing as people are gathering
- Music at start
- Becca Balint welcome and tone setting
- Franz Reichsman reads the declaration that will be provided for signing
- Statements from DC Congressional reps
- Mike Mrowicki provides a song
- 1-minute speeches
- Songs & Solidarity
- John Hagen does the call out for action 

______

Southern VT Sister District Fundraiser 
Sunday, November 3rd, 2019 at Next Stage Arts (15 Kimball Hill, Putney, VT). 4pm. Tickets are available at the door at a sliding scale of $15-50 / adults or $5 / children. We will be serving homemade soup, salad, bread, and a cash bar with a silent auction for some exciting Save Our Nation Vacation rental properties. 
Southern Vermont Sister District presents a silent vacation auction of Save Our Nation rental properties, afternoon concert with the Seymour Sisters and Bourbon Shuffle, and dinner.
We will have available some of our past favorites including the Berkshire condo, Maine lake house and a cottage in the Hamptons and are also excited to add rentals in new locations including southern California wine country, Maui and Oaxaca Mexico. Vacation locations are still coming in and you can peruse all of the offerings when the online auction goes up at the end of October. To get early notification when the auction goes live or to bid online, sign up at: http://SaveOurNationVacation.org
We are excited to welcome back one of last year’s musical guests the Seymour Sisters. They started as a couple of friends who got together weekly for dinner and music. Later they played in the Northeast Kingdom during summers on Lake Seymour and branched out to house concerts.  The band features Kate Wolff on dobro, Laura Williams on guitar and lead vocals, Betsy Williams on bass and Beth Spicer on banjo, mandolin and guitar.  Specializing in synchronized rhythm and harmony, the quartet found music had a healing effect and helped them find and spread joy in difficult times.  They play a blend of Bluegrass, Old Time, Gospel and Folk music. They especially enjoy playing tunes by Red Molly and Gillian Welch, as well as their own original compositions.

______

HAPPENING THIS WEEK, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4th, 2019-SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10th, 2019

Community Listening Meeting About Legal Needs
hosted by Legal Services VT (formerly Legal Services Law Line of VT and Vermont Legal Aid)
Monday, November 4th, 2019 at the Community College of VT (41 Harmony Place, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 1pm-2:30pm. No registration is needed and light refreshments will be provided. Can’t make it to a meeting? Take our online survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RFP92YQ
Legal Services Vermont and Vermont Legal Aid want to meet with you! The nonprofit law firms want to know more about the civil legal problems facing low-income and vulnerable Vermonters. They are holding seven meetings around the state to hear from Vermonters, their community partners and supporters. 
“We want to hear from as wide a cross section of Vermonters as possible. Everyone is encouraged to participate in this process,” said Sam Abel-Palmer, Executive Director of Legal Services Vermont.
“Civil” legal problems are any legal issues that are not criminal in nature. However, the organizations do help with the legal problems of crime victims. Also, the organizations help people with expunging and sealing past criminal records.
Staff from Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont will be at the public meetings. They will use the information gathered to help decide where to put their legal aid resources. It’s part of a statewide legal needs assessment process the organizations will use to provide civil legal help where it’s needed most. The organizations work together to help thousands of Vermonters around the state each year.

______

A Love Story from the Opioid Epidemic
part of the Vermont Humanities First Wednesdays Free Lecture Series
Wednesday, November 6th, 2019 at Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 7pm-8:30pm. More details about this event can be found here. Free and open to the public.
In October 2018, a young Vermont mom named Madelyn Linsenmeir died after a long struggle with addiction. Her obituary went viral and was read by millions of people around the world. Madelyn's sister, writer Kate O'Neill, shares her family's experience loving and losing Maddie, the stories of other Vermonters impacted by this disease, and potential solutions to the crisis.

______

Protest Vigil at TD Bank
sponsored by Post Oil Solutions
Friday, November 8th, 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.

______

The Betrayal of the Kurds
hosted by Windham World Affairs Council and Centre Congregational Church
Friday, November 8th, 2019 at Centre Congregational Church (193 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301) in the Church Sanctuary. 7:30pm. The talk is free and open to the public. For more details, visit our web site: https://www.windhamworldaffairscouncil.org
Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith, who has had a remarkable history with the Kurds, will present a firsthand report from Northeast Syria. He will discuss Trump’s green light, the Turkish invasion, the Rojava revolution, Russia’s triumph and the loss of American dominance in the Middle East, and what it means for ISIS. He will also cover his efforts to get children out of the iSIS camps in NE Syria. Ambassador Galbraith has worked on Near East issues for nearly 40 years in government and as a mediator.  He has a deep history with the Kurds, and since 2014 has made a number of trips to northern Syria because of his long-standing ties with the Kurdish people.

______

Brattleboro Democracy Forum: Impeachment and the Rule of Law with Tim Kipp
sponsored by We Celebrate Democracy / Civil Rights for All
Wednesday, November 13th, 2019 and
Wednesday, December 11th, 2019 at the Robert H Gibson River Garden (157 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301).  12pm-1pm.
This is a 2 part lecture /discussion: The first will be Wednesday November 13, 12pm-1pm and the second will be December 11th, 12pm-1pm and will be hosted by Tim Kipp, retired US history and political science teacher of 39 years and a political activist since the 1960’s.
The concepts of a “nation of laws and not of people” and the “rule of law” are as old as the nation-state itself. Elbowing aside the “divine right of kings” this new system would become the very foundation of democracy.
What happens when the president violates the oath of office? Through the lens of history and contemporary politics this lecture/discussion will examine the roles of the Constitution, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Council, the 25th Amendment, and impeachment in addressing presidential misconduct. The conclusion will ask, “How well is the US living up to the principle of the Rule of Law?”

______

Windham County NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner
hosted by the Windham County NAACP
Saturday, November 16th, 2019 at the American Legion (32 Linden St., Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5pm-9pm.
Tickets are now LIVE for our first annual Freedom Fund Dinner. This is our first Windham County NAACP fundraiser. All proceeds go to fund the branch and our youth scholarship initiative.  
To buy tickets and RSVP visit the link! https://windhamnaacp.app.rsvpify.com/
Agenda:
5pm-6pm: Public Lecture
6pm: Reception 
6:30pm: Dinner and Formal Reception

______

Film Screening and Discussion: Venezuelan’s Under Siege
hosted by Brattleboro Solidarity
Saturday, November 16th, 2019 at 118 Gallery (118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5pm. The event is free and open to the public.
U.S. sanctions block the Venezuelan people from obtaining food and medicine. The sanctions resulted in at least 40,000 deaths between mid-2017 and the end of 2018, according to a study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research – and that was prior to the most severe sanctions, announced in January 2019. 
What exactly is happening in Venezuela? What can be done?  Please join us for the Vermont premiere of a new documentary film Venezuelans Under Siege and a discussion with the film’s co-director, UMass Amherst history professor Kevin Young. Venezuelans Under Siege documents the impacts of the sanctions plus the ways that ordinary Venezuelans are organizing to survive the crisis and to build new institutions of participatory socialism.

______

Climate Reality November Huddle
hosted by The Putney Huddle
Sunday, November, 17th, 2019 at Putney Public Library (55 Main Street, Putney, VT, 05301). 1:30pm-3:30pm.
Doug Grandt will present Climate Reality “24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action”  in a World Cafe style format. World Café facilitates small groups of 3-4 people discussing 3 or 4 questions, in a musical chairs type rearranging of groups so different groupings of people address each subsequent question. Questions begin broadly (high level) and progressively get more specific and local, maximizing individual closure on the topic. It’s fun, engaging and productive!
Climate Reality - OUR MISSION IS TO CATALYZE A GLOBAL SOLUTION TO THE CLIMATE CRISIS BY MAKING URGENT ACTION A NECESSITY ACROSS EVERY LEVEL OF SOCIETY. The Earth is facing a climate crisis, driven by fossil fuels. At Climate Reality, we’re here to make urgent action a necessity. In politics. In business. In every aspect of our lives. Everywhere.
Urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and speed the global shift to renewables. Urgent action to halt the Trump Administration’s radical fossil fuel agenda. Urgent action to make world leaders strengthen and honor their Paris Agreement commitments.
Led by former US Vice President Al Gore and CEO and President Ken Berlin, we do it by empowering everyday people to become activists, equipped with the tools, training, and network to fight for solutions and drive change planet-wide.
The result is over 20,000 Climate Reality Leaders mobilizing communities in over 150 countries. Branches in 10 critical nations and regions around the Earth. 100 activists chapters (and growing) pushing for practical clean energy policies across the US.
Together, they add up to a powerful movement growing by the day. One by the people. Of the people. For the planet. Join us.

______

US Immigration Policy in Historical Perspective
hosted by Vermont Humanities Council 
Wednesday, December 4th, 2019 at Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main Street, Brattleboro, Vt, 05301). 7pm-8:30pm.
One would think that current anxieties about immigration in the US have never been more intense, but history teaches us otherwise. Dartmouth professor Richard Wright examines the present-day contradictions of US immigration policy and places them in historical perspective. Part of the Vermont Humanities First Wednesdays free lecture series.

______

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 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.

______

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. 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, as always, for the time you dedicate to seeking out justice for your fellow neighbors. Your good works are valued and we thank you for all your efforts. Until next time...

Joanna and Leslie 
{{settings.site.full_url}}