Peace & Justice Center 12/27/22 Peace & Justice Center 12/27/22

December 2022

December 2022 Newsletter

Unhoused not Unheard (anymore!)

“I don’t want to live like this, it’s not comfortable, and I’m just gonna waste my life. I went to school for C++ computer programming and I want to go back and finish for the programming. That would be a nice start for me to do something with my injury and get back to myself.

But I can’t do it in tent city, someone will really steal my homework out there.. ha

We need to have some landlords that are willing to do something .... I don’t expect anyone to house me for free, that’s not but if it’s a voucher that can pay for something. I’ll do whatever I need to do to get it. they dont think its gonna come through, they don’t think they are gonna get paid….There so many people who have the ERA voucher.”

— an unhoused resident of the "Tent City" community

In October, we held a forum called Let’s Talk About It convening around 20 community members, including a few UMA Bangor campus staff and unhoused neighbors from the Tent City behind the Hope House/PCHC transitional housing facility.

We highlighted both the history and current practice of the Greater Bangor Houseless Collective as well as the goals and plans looking ahead. Referring to many statements and actions from the city which have indicated that they are exploring more aggressive sweeping policies. Even though such actions lead to the deaths of 3 people a little over a year ago.

The event began with a slide show and opened into a discussion, where community members sought a a deeper understanding and concrete ways to move humane policy forward. We recognize that the problems facing our communities are multifaceted and the insight of those most impacted must guide our actions.

As our unhoused neighbors explained; often just small barriers like licenses, or missing appointments or paperwork that made getting stably into housing difficult: One such resident shared this when asked about his concerns:

“Penquis ERA voucher is running out first …people starting trashing up motel rooms and ruining it for others and now they don’t want to continue, sometimes things get ruined and I don’t blame them. But that was like the one voucher I had and it put me up with my wife for quite a few months.

And um.. she passed and I couldn’t stay there and I ended up back here [tent city encampment] and I’m doing real bad trying to get housing. no voucher now and um you know ….the shelter, there I feel uncomfortable.”

”I know that being 35 years old, when I have a home to go to to put my head down I can actually get up and conquer the tasks of the next day

But when I gotta worry every second of my life; there’s no fun and there’s no happiness and joy and I’m not having any. Its just…

It’s always like that out here…”

As long as these voices, stories and other injustices in our communities don't get heard, healed and recognized how can we move towards a just future. GBHC continues its outreach and mutual aid work, we at P&JC are looking at how to continue to partner and develop this important work in our community.

The Penobscot County Cares group meeting is also a place to raise these issues with others, as has been highlighted in previous newsletters. PCC meets every other Thursday at 4pm the next is on the 29th and you can attend by clicking this link.

We need your voice and your vision.

Check out our new drop-in calls to talk to an organizer about responding to the urgent need to support the direct mutual aid organizing as well as developing our own plan to help bring these injustices to the public square, the city hall, and the state house.

Speak Peace & Build Justice: weekly drop-in calls with a staff member to share updates, ideas and opportunities about the current housing injustice we are facing and more. Starting December 27th! Tuesdays at 6:30pm

Zoom Registration Link

You can also email us: peacectr@gmail.com

Let us know what's moving you in these times. Please take a moment to fill out the survey below.

Peace & Justice Center Check-In Survey

Wednesday Peace Vigils Weekly at 12:00 Noon

THE WAR RAGES ON

The Peace and Justice Center vigilled for twenty years while the US military occupied Afghanistan. While the pullout last year was not well done, the Center believed the US should never have been there in the first place.

Now we have a new war, in Ukraine; it is destroying the country and traumatizing its people. It is killing Russians and Ukrainians alike, probably none of whom want this war. We vigil each Wednesday from 12 noon to 12:30 PM in front of Bangor City Hall on Harlow Street in downtown Bangor. Join us!!

While a single vigil has not usually ended a war, it is important that we speak on behalf of peace, not an escalation of the conflict. We need multiple pressures for peace—from the US public, the Ukrainian public, and the Russian public.

This is the war that is getting publicity, but it is hardly the only conflict that is killing many and hurting many more. There is still Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and other conflicts.

Our reasons for the vigil include:

*Start and maintain negotiations to stop the violence (use intermediaries like the UN, thousands are dying!!!, )

*Withdraw Russian military from all of Ukraine (they do not belong there)

*Stop militarization of the region—fewer troops and weapons, not more (the more weapons, the harder to negotiate an end to the fighting and the more dead and suffering)

*Support all refugees, including those from other countries and who are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color)

*Give more attention to ending wars that have been going on for years or even a decade or more (Yemen, Syria, Somalia, etc.)

*End sanctions that hurt the Russian public (promote sanctions that help Russian people pressure on their government to end the war)

*No regime change by US/EU in Russia or Ukraine (For the Russian/Ukrainian people to decide)

*Support Russians opposing the Ukraine war (so they can build a movement to end the war)

*Stop threats to use nuclear weapons (use of them would create massive casualties)

For more information, Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine: Larry Dansinger, (207) 262-3706 or larryd@myfairpoint.net

A Moment of Remembrance:

Marta Goodale was a longtime supporter of the Peace & Justice Center along with her husband Eric. She died peacefully this weekend. In spite of years of gradual deterioration due to Alzheimer's, she continued to participate in protests, vigils, tabling, and in any other way that she could still contribute. She was a person of deep compassion for all living beings.

May we hold her family and loved ones in our hearts. Let us remember and build on the goodness she fought for and brought into this world.

Stay safe, warm, and in community.

Let Peace and Justice ring out this new year!

Donate Now!

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Our mailing address is:
peacectr@gmail.com

Peace & Justice Center 12/27/22 Peace & Justice Center 12/27/22

October 2022

October 2022 E-Newsletter

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Special Feature Story:

Stop Killing Us Rally

The sun shone brightly on Capital park in Augusta; cars lined the edge of the park and the state capital building stood prominently across the thoroughfare as signs in memorial of people lost in Maine jails and prisons alongside the signs bearing the title of the event.

Stop Killing Us.

Fourteen lives lost this year while incarcerated and at least 87 deaths since 2012. The speakers included advocates from Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, Maine InsideOut, recovery and harm reduction organizations as well as 2 representatives from the statehouse.

The event help space for testimonies from victim’s families, the poetry, dreams, and memories of the people who had passed and urging for change from advocates and social service workers.

The powerful group gathered there celebrated the lives of those lost as well as the indignities and lack of healthcare and negligence in Maine's jails and prisons. Two clear calls to action came from the speakers:

Tell your State Senators & Representatives (who are running for reelection) to commit to NO MORE DEATHS.
The state government and communities need to fund TREATMENT NOT PUNISHMENT.

“Policy makers have focused our attention on punishment and incarceration Instead of treatment and prevention. It does not have to be this way. This is not an intractable problem.”

“We can prevent people at the beginning of these issues and not at the end....so people don’t end up tangling with law enforcement or end up incarcerated or in our emergency rooms”
Let's all make sure that our elected officials remember that incarcerated lives matter and that we REFUSE to let these deaths of neighbors while in state custody continue to be ignored.

Some news coverage of the September 10th event: Newscenter, WMTW and a Beacon article linked in the picture below.

Penobscot County Cares

Penobscot County Cares is a collaborative effort involving more than 35 community-based organization.

Since PCC began one year ago, their collective efforts to raise awareness and call for action have had an impact. The City of Bangor and Penobscot County responded to requests from PCC and others to create a public process for people to express concerns about community needs and indicate how they believe millions in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) should be spent.

The public responded by prioritizing the crises PCC has been working to address: affordable housing, substance use disorder treatment and services for those suffering from mental health/brain illnesses. Through forums and surveys, the public expressed its desire to direct ARPA dollars toward efforts to mitigate these crises.

During a recent Recovery Resources forum hosted by PCC and attended by more than 60 people, the need for greater shelter and permanent housing was raised again and again by panelists. Penobscot County Cares is calling on elected officials to prioritize solutions to these crises when making decisions about the use of millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Join in and raise your voice.

Penobscot County Cares meets every other Thursday at 4PM.
(Next meeting is October 6th, click here to join at 4pm)
To learn more e-mail: penobscotcountycares@gmail.com
or visit www.penobscotcountycares.org

Read More :
Coverage of Recovery Resources Forum
October 1st Article by the BDN Editorial board
Article about other Cities' Solutions to Homelessness

Upcoming Event

The End of Policing:a webinar with author Alex Vitale Thursday, October 20 at 6:30 pm Peace and Justice Center will be co-sponsoring this event alongside: Maine Scholars Strategy Network and the Department of Sociology, Native American Programs, McGillicuddy Humanities Center, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, [all of the] University of Maine, IndivisibleBangor and The Wilson Center for Spiritual Exploration and Multifaith Dialogue.

Peace and Justice Center

Brenna Jones (She/Her) is a homelessness activist in Bangor, Maine. She is currently attending the University of Maine in Orono to get her B.A in Sociology with minors in Criminal Justice and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies and a B.S. in Mathematics. Living in Maine her entire life, she sought out activism work in the Greater Bangor area after being unhoused off and on during her high school years. She is currently acting as the Financial and Food coordinator for the Greater Bangor Houseless Collective. In addition to her activism work, Brenna is doing research through several grants in the Greater Bangor area titled, "Understanding the Socioeconomic Barriers of Precariously Housed or Unhousd people''. Her goal for P&J is to work to create more educational programs to inform Mainers on important political issues by empowering people with lived experience. In her spare time, Brenna enjoys snuggling with her dog, baking too many cookies, and traveling to interesting museums across the country.

Josh Kauppila (They/Them) is an organizer in Bangor They were born and raised in Michigan but have made Maine their home for 11 years (and Bangor for 6) both to continue learning about sustainable agriculture (goats) and to find a more queer-friendly community. Josh has been involved with environmental and other justice causes for many years and more recently is holding leadership responsibilities. They have been organizing with the Maine Poor People’s Campaign for over 3 years and currently serves as a tri-chair. After moving to Bangor while unhoused and in early recovery, Josh has been active advocating and organizing alongside unhoused neighbors with GBHC since it’s founding. A lover of words and justice, a Buddhist (inspired by the Thai Forest Tradition), an artist and musician Josh hopes to bring their skills and passions to this work of building a connected and compassionate community to the Center.

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

Checks can be made out to the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, or for a tax exempt donation please make all checks out to our fiscal sponsor R.O.S.C. (Resources for Organizing and Social Change) and sent to PO Box 2628 Bangor, ME 04402. If you would like to donate online or set up a monthly donation CLICK HERE

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

Peace & Justice Center 12/3/21 Peace & Justice Center 12/3/21

December 2021

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December 2021 E-Newsletter

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Fall Appeal

Volunteers gather to collect signatures for "Bathrooms for Bangor."

It’s hard to believe how fast this year has gone by. The Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine has certainly kept busy in that time by supporting a variety of community events, programs, and movements.

We kicked off our summer tabling at Bangor’s Pride Plaza, showing support and providing resources for our queer community. We helped organize a powerful “Rally for the Penobscot River and Wabanaki Sovereignty” in response to the state denying the Penobscot Nation their sovereign right to protect their relative, the Penobscot River. Throughout the following months we collaborated on a “HomeFULL Cookout,” “Bangor Arts & Music Expo”, and “Haunted by the Housing Crisis” rally with our houseless community and the Greater Bangor Housing Coalition. We recently assisted Mabel Wadsworth Center with a “Rally for Abortion Justice” to take action against the unjust laws in Texas and beyond limiting abortion rights.

The Peace & Justice Center tackled local and statewide issues within the legislative realm. Co-Program Director Sam testified in court for Maine People’s Alliance v. HoltraChem in support of a mercury cleanup, a case the center has followed for over 20 years. They also gave testimony for LD 1600 and spoke on a panel for the Equality Act. Both Program Directors attended local council and commissioner meetings and encouraged community members to attend, emphasizing the importance of listening to impacted groups. The center also joined Penobscot County Cares, an initiative working to allocate American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to community needs.

The center continued supporting various programs. We helped the UMA Bangor Community Garden and Labyrinth provide over 450lbs of food to the community this harvest. Our Education Committee hosted readings of The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations, with various authors and Wabanaki community leaders guiding discussions. We organized a design opportunity that uplifted the works of local artists and gave our merch a new look. The center additionally helped provide meals during Saturday gatherings in Bangor to the houseless community. Our Program Directors are also in the midst of building “Imagine Abolition,” a long-term program focused on educating our community on abolition.

Here’s where we need your help. In September we parted ways with our physical space on Harlow Street. With the repercussions of the pandemic our funds have been struggling, and we need your support to regain our footing. We want nothing more than to be able to continue this community work, and we can achieve this through you.

We are setting the goal of raising $30,000. Reaching this goal will be the first step in providing sustainability to the center. It will allow us to maintain our current staff, aid in maintaining a new space, and allow new and existing programs to grow within our community. Please consider donating the most you can afford to reach this goal by check or virtually via Donorbox.

Checks can be made out to the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, or for a tax exempt donation please make all checks out to our fiscal sponsor R.O.S.C. (Resources for Organizing and Social Change). Send your checks to:
Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine
PO Box 2628
Bangor, ME 04402

We would like to lastly thank our supporters who have continued to uphold the center. It is because of you that we get to do this incredible work in a community of love. Thank you!

For a More Just & Peaceful World,

Anthony Jackson (he/him) & Sam Bullard (she/they)
Peace & Justice Center Co-Program Directors

P&JC Merch

Please Use Other Door's design (left), Rory Turnbull's design (center), and Olivia Baldacci's design (right) are available this month as shirts, stickers, and cards.

The Peace & Justice Center now has new t-shirts and stickers! Funds made on these items will go towards supporting our center so we can continue doing our community work.

You can now order your own shirts and stickers on our Teespring website: https://pjc-of-eastern-maine.creator-spring.com

Thank you again to all the wonderful artists that participated! Your art deserves to be recognized and uplifted, and we appreciate having you in our community.

Click the button below to explore our new merch:

P&JC Merch

Education Committee

Houselessness is dire in our community and around the country. The Education Committee will be hosting a series of panel discussions on this issue. Part I: Providers’ Perspective will take place on Sunday, January 16th at 6PM. The committee will be hosting the following providers: Pat LaMarche, Tracey Hair, Jamie Beck, and Boyd Kronholm.

Jamie Beck is the founder and president of Dignity First, a housing first nonprofit located in Bangor. Dignity First operates on a solidarity, recovery-oriented model based in the philosophy all people deserve a roof over their heads and housing is a precondition for recovery. Tracey Hair is the executive director at HOME since taking over for Sister Lucy Poulin in 2016. From their website: "Home is a nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping and enhancing the quality of life for low income and homeless families."

Part II: Community Perspective will take place at another date to be announced. This event will focus on the voices of those most affected by houselessness and their community wisdom.

Please join us for this important discussion on Zoom on January 16th. If you would like to join us for these discussions, please email Kay Carter (Kaycarter08@gmail.com) for the Zoom link. We look forward to seeing you!

If you want to keep seeing programs like this, you can donate to the Peace & Justice Center by mail or via Donorbox to support our efforts. Donations help us provide honorariums and materials that keep our Education Committee events running.

Greater Bangor Housing Coalition

Faith Linking in Action gathers with GBHC to give donations for the Winter Drive.

This month, the Greater Bangor Housing Coalition (GBHC) alongside Needlepoint Sanctuary (NPS) continued to collect gear for the Winter Drive. Mid-month the group was happy to host Faith Linking in Action (FLIA), who brought a truck bed's worth of materials to give out. The group and our community greatly appreciated this kind gesture and it was certainly put to use.

GBHC and Needlepoint Sanctuary are still in search of donations to prep for the cold winter ahead. Some useful physical donations are listed above. Drop off physical donations at their Saturday meetings. Direct funds are also invaluable; NPS has a GoFundMe where you can donate funds to this cause.

The group meets every Saturday at 1:30PM in Pickering Square, with a rain location at the Unitarian Universalist Church. You can donate to GBHC here on their Donorbox. If you want to be part of this vital work you are welcome to join us. Follow the group’s progress on their Facebook group page.

Penobscot County Cares

Penobscot County Cares is a collaborative effort involving more than 35 community-based organization. It's focused on raising awareness about chronic, worsening crises related to inadequate mental health care, insufficient substance use disorders, and far too little safe/affordable housing. Penobscot County Cares is calling on elected officials to prioritize solutions to these crises when making decisions about the use of millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Penobscot County is receiving $30 million. A meeting with several Penobscot County legislators was held November 19th.

More individuals, agencies, groups and organizations are encouraged to join this effort. Everyone is welcome to attend the Thursday meetings to learn more and hopefully get involved. Additionally, representatives from the current participating organizations are urged to join the upcoming meeting. They need more groups and organizations--small or large--to join this effort and for participants to attend.

Penobscot County Cares meets every Thursday at 4PM. To obtain the Zoom link, please e-mail Doug Dunbar at: penobscotcountycares@gmail.com.

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion (NPCJE) continues to advocate for a reduction in the number of people jailed, for better treatment of those who are held at PCJ, and for investments in solutions to problems contributing to incarcerations rather than any efforts to expand the size of the jail.

Unfortunately, the Penobscot County Commissioners are once again proposing an enormous expansion of the jail. The plan calls for adding space to hold up to 200 more people. It's a terrible use of tax dollars. It won't solve problems. In fact, it'll make them worse. People are needed to join No Penobscot County Jail Expansion.

The next meeting of No Penobscot County Jail Expansion is Sunday, December 5th, at 4PM. People can join by contacting Doug Dunbar via email at dougdunbar@yahoo.com, nopenobscotjailexpansion@googlegroups.com, or 207-299-5626. For more information on the group, check out their Facebook page, website, or email them at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com.

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

We will continue to monitor the State of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and use them to inform our decisions on meetings, gatherings, and any and all safety matters or measures. We request that anyone attending our events continues to wear a face covering.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Peace & Justice Center 11/3/21 Peace & Justice Center 11/3/21

November 2021

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November 2021 E-Newsletter

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Update on the Center

Our organization is looking to relocate to a more sustainable space. The Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor has been kind enough to give us a place while we search for a more permanent solution, and it has been wonderful working with them!

If you are looking for ways to assist us in this transitioning time, let us know of any decent local listings and donate to the effort via our Donorbox here. Our landline will be disconnected for the time being, so any communications with us can be sent through our email, peacectr@gmail.com, or via mail. Our new mailing address is as follows:

Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine
P.O. Box 2628
Bangor, ME 04402

We look forward to seeing how our center will grow with this transformation, and we thank you for all of your support.

New P&JC Merch

Please Use Other Door's design (left), Rory Turnbull's design (center), and Olivia Baldacci's design (right) are available this month as shirts, stickers, and cards.

P&JC Merch

Steering Committee

We are inviting members of the community to join our Steering Committee! The Steering Committee is responsible for implementing the vision and values of the Peace & Justice Center. We ensure that the organization's direction continues to organize and engage in initiatives that push forth peace, global justice, and equity for all.

If you are interested, please contact our Steering Committee Representative David Patrick at: david.g.patrick@maine.edu or 207-949-4397. David will be a liaison through this process and can answer any questions you have about the organization, the responsibility of steering committee members, current projects, and mobilization efforts of the Peace & Justice Center.

Education Committee

During October and November the Peace & Justice Center has been hosting a bookclub focused on The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations.

The first two discussions were well attended with 25-30 people joining via Zoom. During the October 10th discussion breakout rooms were utilized due to the large gathering, and the discussion focused on the authors' experiences navigating Indigenous-settler relations. Conversations were rich and open.

Two of the authors, Shirley Hager and Alma Brooks, joined for the second discussion. Alma is a Maliseet Clan Mother, member of the Maliseet Grand Council of New Brunswick, and a widely renowned environmental activist. Shirley is a non-native, longtime activist and seeker. They both shared their experiences as well as the long history of broken treaties, promises not honored, and genocide perpetuated by European settlers.

Ambassador Maulian Dana will be joining the discussion on November 21st! She will be discussing the status of LD 1626 and the actions which folks can take to support the efforts for Wabanaki sovereignty. This is sure to be a wonderful opportunity. Book discussions will be held via Zoom and are scheduled as follows:

Nov 7th 6-7:30PM - General discussion (pgs. 183-END)
Nov 21st 6-7:30PM - Discussion led by Ambassador Maulian Dana

If you would like to join us for these discussions, please email Kay Carter (Kaycarter08@gmail.com) or Doug Poulin (dugbug45@gmail.com) for the Zoom link. We look forward to seeing you there!

Rally for Abortion Justice

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
Rally attendees stand in Peirce Park while speakers talk about abortion justice (left); Co-Program Director Sam manages the postcard action table at the rally (right).

On Saturday, October 2nd at 11AM the Peace & Justice Center joined Mabel Wadsworth Center's Rally for Abortion. The rally was empowering and had a spectacular turnout. Speakers from various orgs spoke profound poetry, personal stories, and chants of solidarity. The rally also had actions such as postcard writing to Texas clinics, places to donate, and informative tables.

Here is what Mabel Wadsworth Center has to say about the current situation our country is facing:

The Supreme Court has allowed Texas politicians to ban abortion after six weeks and anti-abortion politicians in other states are eager and ready to do the same. With more than 90 state restrictions enacted so far in 2021, this year is the worst on record for attacks on abortion care.

We envision a world where abortion is there when we need it without barriers based on who you are, where you live or how much money you earn. We won't back down!

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
A poster listing clinics in Texas to mail postcards of support.

The fight for abortion justice doesn't end with rallies. You can write postcards of support to Texas clinics (find their addresses in the image above). You can contact your legislators and telling them to support WHPA and the EACH Act. Maine is often a crucial state for these votes, so use your voice today!

MPA v. HoltraChem

Last month our Co-Program Director, Sam, spoke in court in support of the proposed Penobscot River mercury clean up in the case Maine People’s Alliance v. HoltraChem Manufacturing Co., LLC.

This is an issue the Peace & Justice Center has been following and fighting for more than 20 years. In that time we have seen valuable fisheries shut down and our environment’s health degraded due to the effects of this mercury contamination. We are allowing our state’s natural integrity to be violated by out of state interests purely out of convenience for them and a disregard for our own lands. At the very least, our state could do better by uphold cases like MPA’s that further protect our ecosystems from harmful chemicals.

This issue also lives at the heart of Maine’s community; so much of Maine is made up of our beautiful rivers, lakes, and other natural resources. These are all incredibly important to the Wabanaki people, who have always been stewards and protectors of the land. With the current levels of pollution permitted in our waters, we are seeing what was once clean drinking and fishing waters turn into toxic landscapes slowly poisoning our wildlife and our communities who depend on these waterways. For far too long the colonial mindset has desecrated and polluted vital parts of ourselves and the world we live in. Allowing such levels of waste into our ecosystems is an attack on the Penobscot Nation, and on all of our community.

We will continue to follow this case as an organization as the courts move closer to a decision. The outlook seems positive right now, but keep an eye out for future actions you can take to help!

Housing Justice Maine Retreat

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
Collaborative activities from the retreat helped us realize our mutual vision for the future of Maine housing.

The last Friday of October, Co-Program Directors Anthony and Sam attended the Housing Justice Maine Retreat. This was a six hour workshop in Augusta with various orgs across Maine that are concerned with issues of housing.

The retreat focused on attracting more members to the coalition, deciding on strategic goals for the coalition and prioritizing them, revisiting and renewing community agreements, and outlining the legislative priorities for the upcoming years. It was an inspiring opportunity to network with other activists and listen to the input of those most affected by issues of houselessness. Our directors look forward to taking this experience and its teachings to our community and expanding the movement for housing for all.

UMA Bangor Community Garden

Photo Credit: Kati Corlew
Rows of green beans fill the community garden with life.

The UMA Bangor Community Garden and Labyrinth continues to operate in partnership with the Peace & Justice Center. This beautiful, open space is located on the UMA Bangor Campus, behind the Fitness Center.

This season they have harvested over 450lbs of food, including tomatoes, kale and lettuces, edible flowers, yellow squash, green beans, kidney beans, garlic, onions, and pumpkins. This organic produce has been donated to the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, the Health Equity Aliance pantry, Wabanaki Health and Wellness, the UMA Bangor Food for Thought food pantry, and to community members.

The garden group is currently putting their plants to bed and prepping for the cold season. Although it may not seem like much right now, this is a crucial time to prepare for the next growing season.

Visit their Facebook Page here to learn more and to sign up to volunteer! No experience is necessary. We are all learners here.

Greater Bangor Housing Coalition

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard and Josh Kauppila
GBHC members and supporters all gather for the "Haunted by the Housing Crisis Rally."

On October 30th the Greater Bangor Housing Coalition (GBHC) hosted their event, "Haunted by the Housing Crisis." This coincided with GBHC's one year anniversary. This event focused on the housing crisis our community is currently facing and uplifting community members most affected by it. You can read more on the Bangor housing crisis via this Op-Ed Co-Program Director Sam wrote on the topic.

The rally consisted of various speakers from the Greater Housing Coalition emphasizing the dire situation we are facing and the need for action. Breaking down oppressive systems, listening to community voices and their wisdom, and acknowledging how these structures harm marginalized folks most were all focused on in these speeches. The event also promoted supporting Penobscot County Cares, getting out to vote, signing GBHC's bathroom petition, donating to the winter drive, and joining their mutual aid efforts.

Throughout the event there was chalking, chants, food, interactive art, and networking opportunities. The rally ended with some attendees marching over to Bangor City Hall and taking a picture with their signs.

GBHC is also in search of physical donations to prep for the cold winter ahead. Some useful donations are listed above. Direct funds are also invaluable. You can donate to GBHC here on their Donorbox or drop off physical donations at their Saturday meetings.

The group meets every Saturday at 1:30PM in Pickering Square, with a rain location at the Unitarian Universalist Church. If you want to be part of this vital work you are welcome to join us. Follow the group’s progress on their Facebook group page.

Penobscot County Cares

Penobscot County Cares is a collaborative effort of 35 agencies, groups and organizations in Penobscot County. It's focused on raising greater awareness about chronic, worsening problems caused by insufficient mental health care, inadequate substance use disorder treatment, and far too little affordable housing. The coalition is calling on county and municipal officials for use much of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to address these needs. Penobscot County is receiving $30 million. The City of Bangor is getting $20 million (as a regional hub community). A ll other cities and towns in Maine are also receiving smaller amounts, typically $100,000 to $1 million depending on size .

More individuals, agencies, groups and organizations are encouraged to join this effort. Everyone is welcome to attend the Thursday meetings to learn more and hopefully get involved. Penobscot County Cares meets every Thursday at 4PM. To obtain the Zoom link, please e-mail Doug Dunbar at: dougdunbar@yahoo.com or penobscotcountycares@gmail.com.

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Peace & Justice Center 10/1/21 Peace & Justice Center 10/1/21

October 2021

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View this email in your browser

October 2021 E-Newsletter

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Update on the Center

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard

Volunteers and members helping us prepare for our transition to a new home.

It is the season of change, and the Peace & Justice Center is transforming with it. Due to the financial challenges the pandemic brought on, our organization is looking to relocate to a more sustainable space, which means parting with our current center on Harlow Street. The Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor has been kind enough to give us a place while we search for a more permanent solution, and we look forward to working with them.

This past week we have settled into our space thanks to the help of some amazing members and volunteers that showed up. Whether it meant finding a home for precious artifacts of the center, packing, moving, or cleaning, every effort helped get us through. We are so appreciative of you!

If you are looking for more ways to assist us in this transitioning time, let us know of any decent local listings and donate to the effort via our Donorbox here. Our landline will be disconnected for the time being, so any communications with us can be sent through our email, peacectr@gmail.com, or via mail. Our new mailing address is as follows:

Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine
P.O. Box 2628
Bangor, ME 04401

We look forward to seeing how our center will grow with this transformation, and we thank you for all of your support.

In Solidarity,
Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine

Rally for Abortion Justice

The Peace & Justice Center will be supporting Mabel Wadsworth Center's Rally for Abortion on Saturday, October 2nd at 11AM at Pierce Park (by the Bangor Public Library). MWC asks that all who attend wear a mask and socially distance at the event. The rally will have speakers and actions you can take to support abortion justice throughout the nation.

Here is what Mabel Wadsworth Center has to say about the current situation our country is facing:

The Supreme Court has allowed Texas politicians to ban abortion after six weeks and anti-abortion politicians in other states are eager and ready to do the same. With more than 90 state restrictions enacted so far in 2021, this year is the worst on record for attacks on abortion care.

We envision a world where abortion is there when we need it without barriers based on who you are, where you live or how much money you earn. We won't back down! On October 2, the Women’s March and over 90 other organizations will be taking to the streets in all 50 states. Join us!

We look forward to seeing you then! Feel free to reach out to our Co-Program Director, Sam, with any questions at: peacectr@gmail.com.

Steering Committee

For several generations the Peace & Justice Center has been a leader in social justice, peace, and equality for our community, working to help our planet's most vulnerable and underrepresented individuals and groups.

During this time, the Peace & Justice Center has gone through many transitions which have mirrored the those of our local and global citizens. With new leadership and the same values and vision of our founders, the Peace & Justice Center has relocated to a new space. We have also seen some of our most dedicated and committed members transition to new roles in the community and with their families providing support and advocacy for loved ones and those most vulnerable.

For these reasons, we are inviting members of the community to join our Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is responsible for implementing the vision and values of the Peace & Justice Center. We ensure that the organization's direction continues to organize and engage in initiatives that push forth peace, global justice, and equity for all.

If you are interested, please contact our Steering Committee Representative David Patrick at: david.g.patrick@maine.edu or 207-949-4397. David will be a liaison through this process and can answer any questions you have about the organization, the responsibility of steering committee members, current projects, and mobilization efforts of the Peace & Justice Center.

Education Committee

This fall the Peace & Justice Center's Education Committee will be exploring The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations, a book by Shirley Hager and Mawopiyane. This book focuses on how Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples can come together to create meaningful and lasting relationships.

Thirty years ago, in Wabanaki territory – a region encompassing the state of Maine and the Canadian Maritimes – a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals came together to explore some of the most pressing questions at the heart of Truth and Healing efforts in the United States and Canada. Meeting over several years in long-weekend gatherings, in a Wabanaki-led traditional Council format, assumptions were challenged, perspectives upended, and stereotypes shattered. Alliances and friendships were formed that endure to this day.

We are excited to announce Ambassador Maulian Dana will be joining the discussion on November 21st! This is sure to be a wonderful opportunity. Book discussions will be held via Zoom and are scheduled as follows:

Oct 10th 6-7:30PM - General discussion (pgs. 1-120)
Oct 24th 6-7:30PM - Discussion with the authors (pgs. 131-182)
Nov 7th 6-7:30PM - General discussion (pgs. 183-END)
Nov 21st 6-7:30pm - Discussion led by Ambassador Maulian Dana

You can find copies of the book at the Maine State Library, Bangor Public Library, and Fogler Library. It is also available online as a PDF or for purchase.

Check out this brief article called "Tribal Sovereignty in the Dawnland" by Ambassador Maulian Dana to learn more about sovereignty in Maine.

If you would like to join us for these discussions, please email Kay Carter (Kaycarter08@gmail.com) or Doug Poulin (dugbug45@gmail.com) for the Zoom link. We look forward to seeing you there!

New P&JC Merch

Please Use Other Door's design (left), Rory Turnbull's design (center), and Olivia Baldacci's design (right) are available this month as shirts, stickers, and cards.

Last month the Peace & Justice Center hosted a Design Opportunity on the theme of "Community Justice." We received some beautiful submissions that have now been transformed into t-shirts and stickers!

You can now order your own shirts and stickers on our Teespring website: https://pjc-of-eastern-maine.creator-spring.com

Cards were not available on this site, but if you would like some made of one of these designs reach out to us at peacectr@gmail.com to request them.

Olivia Baldacci's design will also be available this month as shirts, stickers, and cards

P&JC Merch

UMA Bangor Community Garden

Photo Credit: Kati Corlew
Rows of green beans fill the community garden with life.

The UMA Bangor Community Garden and Labyrinth continues to operate in partnership with the Peace & Justice Center. This beautiful, open space is located on the UMA Bangor Campus, behind the Fitness Center.

So far this season they have harvested over 450lbs of food, including tomatoes, kale and lettuces, edible flowers, yellow squash, green beans, kidney beans, garlic, onions, and pumpkins. This organic produce has been donated to the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, the Health Equity Aliance pantry, Wabanaki Health and Wellness, the UMA Bangor Food for Thought food pantry, and to community members.

Photo Credit: Kati Corlew
Sunflowers, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and borage are seen decorating the garden high and low with color.

Though the garden group is not hosting their typical community events and activities, they have been active and operating during the pandemic. They meet twice a week for their gardening sessions, limited to 10 or fewer people who must follow COVID safety protocols. Volunteers come from UMA, the Peace & Justice Center, Maine Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener Volunteers, and regular folks from the community who just want to come out and get their hands dirty.

Visit their Facebook Page here to learn more and to sign up to volunteer! No experience is necessary. We are all learners here.

Greater Bangor Housing Coalition

Sign On

This month the Greater Bangor Housing Coalition (GBHC) has taken some time to reflect on the values of their organization and set more distinct working subgroups. It has been a productive month that has helped the group refocus on their values and goals for the future. Keep your eye out for upcoming actions this month. If you haven't done so already, sign GBHC's "Bathrooms for Bangor" petition using the button above.

GBHC is also in search of physical donations to prep for the cold winter ahead. Some useful donations include: handwarmers, tents, feminine products, clothes, shoes, socks, hygiene supplies, water, menstrual products, and food for community meals. Direct funds are also invaluable. You can donate to GBHC here on their Donorbox or drop off physical donations to the Center.

The group meets every Saturday at 1:30PM in Pickering Square, with a rain location at the Unitarian Universalist Church. If you want to be part of this vital work you are welcome to join us in person or virtually. Email us at peacectr@gmail.com if you want the link, and follow the group’s progress on their Facebook group page.

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion (NPCJE) along with the Peace and Justice Center were among over thirty local and statewide organizations that sent a letter to both Penobscot County commissioners and Bangor City Council members urging them to set aside a significant part of the money both governments are receiving from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). NPCJE is helping form a coalition around this action.

The coalition wants much of that money to go for human needs—especially more mental health treatment, substance use disorder programs, and affordable housing. Those three problems have been magnified during the pandemic. It is noticeable in the numbers living on the street and increases in arrests and jailings of people in the area. Yet, little or nothing is being done to address these larger problems.

The coalition, including groups as diverse as the Greater Bangor Housing Coalition, Wellspring, the BARN (Bangor Area Recovery Network), and Racial Equity & Justice, sponsored a successful media event on September 16 in downtown Bangor. It intends to put continued pressure on county commissioners and city councilors to set aside some or much of the ARPA funding--$29 million (county) and $20 million (city of Bangor)--for human needs. While some governments are using funds for their jails and police or high speed internet, the coalition wants money spent where it is needed most—to reduce the struggles of those most impacted by the pandemic.

More people are needed to attend NPCJE's and the new coalition's meetings and get involved as activities are scheduled. They're hoping to arrange or encourage public forums with municipal and county officials. For more information reach out to Doug Dunbar.

NPCJE's next meeting is Sunday, October 24th @ 4PM. For the Zoom link contact Doug Dunbar at: dougdunbar@yahoo.com or 207-299-5626. For more information on the group, check out their Facebook page, website, or email them at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com.

Resources for Organizing and Social Change

Join Resources for Organizing and Social Change and host poet Carol Bachofner at 6:30PM on Thursday, October 7th for a community poetry reading exploring themes of resistance and resilience. This will be a virtual event hosted on Zoom. The link can be found here.

ROSC also recently published an impacted community report that explores the root causes of hunger and poverty, and offers a review of a legislative plan created to end hunger in Maine by 2030. That report can be found here.

You can learn more about ROSC and their ongoings via their website.

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

We will continue to monitor the State of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and use them to inform our decisions on meetings, gatherings, and any and all safety matters or measures. We request that anyone entering the center continues to wear a face covering.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Peace & Justice Center 9/1/21 Peace & Justice Center 9/1/21

September 2021

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September 2021 E-Newsletter

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Design Opportunity

Please Use Other Door's design (left) and Rory Turnbull's design (right)

are available this month as shirts, stickers, and cards

This month Peace & Justice Center hosted a Design Opportunity on the theme of "Community Justice." We received some beautiful submissions from the artists as seen above and below.

Please Use Other Door's design (above left) was selected via ranked-choice by the Steering Committee to receive the $100 artist appreciation reward. The design shows a compelling figure at a vigil that emanates strength, perseverance, and hope. Runner-up of $50 went to Rory Turnbull's colorful design (above right), which welcomes the viewer in with its warmth and sense of welcoming community. Olivia Baldacci's design (below) receives $25, with her charming characters participating in a range of activities the Peace & Justice Center is known for.

Olivia Baldacci's design will also be available this month as shirts, stickers, and cards

Each artist will receive a cash prize and merch of their own designs for participating. We loved the designs so much we decided to make all of them into T-Shirts alongside the stickers and cards! The merch will be available later this month, so be sure to look out for them on social media, email, and the website.

Thank you to all the wonderful artists that participated! Your art deserves to be recognized and uplifted, and we appreciate having you in our community.

Bathrooms for Bangor

To the community and Peace & Justice Center's dismay, the City of Bangor has once again removed public bathrooms from downtown. This was done quietly and without consulting us or the public. These actions show little regard for our people and the values of health, hospitality, and human dignity.

On Monday, August 23rd, Peace & Justice Center gathered with GBHC and other community members to approach Bangor City Council on the issue. Their speeches in public comment were poignant and powerful. Our Co-Program Director had the following to say on the issue:

"[...] This isn’t just a matter of some locals stirring up a fuss; this is about our moral duty to others as humans. People deserve to be treated with dignity and to have their basic needs met. While you get the luxury of using your office facility, someone on the streets out here is panicking because they have to go and they’re worried about getting arrested if they try. While you buy a bidet and double ply toilet paper another person is jaunting miles on foot to the nearest gas station because it’s all that’s open right now that won’t turn them away. While you garnish your vanity with artisanal soaps someone is crying in their car because their IBS is flaring and they’re at a loss of what to do. We cannot rely on the hospitality of private businesses to meet this need. We can’t keep ignoring the evergrowing health concern that comes with denying people a sanitary facility. We can’t continue to ignore the hurt and shame we are inflicting on our community when we deny them basic provisions [...]"

There are many ways you can help us in this effort to get bathrooms for Bangor. Write to Bangor City Council, sign our petition, speak out at council meetings, write an LTE or Op-Ed, and get involved with us at GBHC's Saturday meetings. Any support is appreciated!

Sign the petition here:

Sign On

Education Committee

This fall the Peace & Justice Center's Education Committee will be exploring The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations, a book by Shirley Hager and Mawopiyane. This book focuses on how Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples can come together to create meaningful and lasting relationships.

Thirty years ago, in Wabanaki territory – a region encompassing the state of Maine and the Canadian Maritimes – a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals came together to explore some of the most pressing questions at the heart of Truth and Healing efforts in the United States and Canada. Meeting over several years in long-weekend gatherings, in a Wabanaki-led traditional Council format, assumptions were challenged, perspectives upended, and stereotypes shattered. Alliances and friendships were formed that endure to this day.

Book discussions will be held via Zoom and are scheduled as follows:

Oct 10th 6-7:30PM - General discussion (pgs. 1-120)
Oct 24th 6-7:30PM - Discussion with the authors (pgs. 131-182)
Nov 7th 6-7:30PM - General discussion (pgs. 183-END)
(Tentative) Nov 21st 6-7:30pm - Discussion led by representatives of Wabanaki Alliance

Greater Bangor Housing Coalition

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
The community gathers together at the Bangor Arts & Music Expo in Broad Street Park.

This month the Greater Bangor Housing Coalition (GBHC) kept busy with the Bangor Arts & Music Expo and more bathroom related activism.

The Bangor Arts & Music Expo took place Saturday, August 28th in the afternoon. The event opened with a cookout and interactive art tables (as seen below), and an hour in they had an open mic for musicians and poets to express themselves. Community members were given a space to share their creative side with their voices and their paintbrushes alike after more than a year of low accessibility to these community activities.

This event also made apparent the need for public bathrooms in Bangor. With the event lasting a few hours some individuals had to walk or drive to other locations to relieve themselves. Unfortunately, the city once again quietly removed one of the only public restrooms in the area. GBHC banded together with the Peace & Justice Center to bring this issue to light in front of council. You can read more on this above in "Bathrooms for Bangor."

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard

The group meets every Saturday at 1:30PM in Pickering Square, with a rain location at the Unitarian Universalist Church. If you want to be part of this vital work you are welcome to join us in person or virtually. Email us at peacectr@gmail.com if you want the link, and follow the group’s progress on their Facebook group page.

GBHC is also in search of physical donations and community volunteers, as listed below. You can donate to GBHC here on their Donorbox or drop off physical donations to the Center.

Needlepoint Sanctuary

Needlepoint Sanctuary (NPS) has recently hired two new organizers to focus on harm reduction outreach to BIPOC and indigenous communities in the greater Bangor area. They have also been continuously been doing outreach in the Bangor community, cleaning up local areas and distributing supplies to those in need. Anyone interested in getting involved in our new projects, harm reduction, or mutual aid work please reach out to us at needlepointsanctuary@gmail.com or contact Willie at 207-505-1510.

You can also join NPS at their weekly mutual-aid tabling in Pickering Square on Saturdays from 1-3PM. The Greater Bangor Housing Coalition also meets at this time in Pickering Square- come say hi!

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion's (NPCJE) began circulating a petition in July. It encourages Penobscot County Commissioners and Bangor City Councilors to use money from the American Rescue Plan to address problems that lead to many incarcerations. Nearly $50 million in total will be provided to the County ($30 million) and City ($20 million). Half has already been received. The other half will arrive in less than a year. No Penobscot County Jail Expansion is calling for funds to be used to expand mental health care, substance use disorder treatment and affordable housing.

More people are needed to attend our meetings and help gathering petition signatures. Reach out to Doug and share the petition around if you wish to help. You can sign it here.

Their next meeting is Sunday, September 5th @ 4PM. For the Zoom link contact Doug Dunbar at: dougdunbar@yahoo.com or 207-299-5626. For more information on the group, check out their Facebook page, website, or email them at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com.

Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM

Looking to get involved again in a safe, socially distanced way? Kevin continues to meet every Tuesday at noon with other activists for the weekly Peace Vigil. The group meets across the street from the Peace & Justice Center on the corner of Harlow and Central Street. We hope to see you there masked up and ready to demonstrate!

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

We will continue to monitor the State of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and use them to inform our decisions on meetings, gatherings, and any and all safety matters or measures. We request that anyone entering the center continues to wear a face covering.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Peace & Justice Center 8/12/21 Peace & Justice Center 8/12/21

July 2021

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August 2021 E-Newsletter

Become a Monthly Supporter

Design Opportunity

The Peace & Justice Center is hosting a Design Opportunity! We are searching for a new design for our organization that echoes our values and centers on the theme of "Community Justice." The winning designs will be featured on various merchandise and sold by our center with rewards for the top artists.

Artists of all ages are encouraged to apply. Submissions are due Sunday, August 15th. If you are interested in this opportunity, you can read more and submit design on our website here. You can also email us with any questions at: peacectr@gmail.com. We are excited to see what you will create!

Education Committee

This fall the Peace & Justice Center's Education Committee will be exploring The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations, a book by Shirley Hager and Mawopiyane. This book focuses on how Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples can come together to create meaningful and lasting relationships.

Thirty years ago, in Wabanaki territory – a region encompassing the state of Maine and the Canadian Maritimes – a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals came together to explore some of the most pressing questions at the heart of Truth and Healing efforts in the United States and Canada. Meeting over several years in long-weekend gatherings, in a Wabanaki-led traditional Council format, assumptions were challenged, perspectives upended, and stereotypes shattered. Alliances and friendships were formed that endure to this day.

Book discussions will be held via Zoom and are scheduled as follows:

Oct 10th 6-7:30PM - General discussion (pgs. 1-120)
Oct 24th 6-7:30PM - Discussion with the authors (pgs. 131-182)
Nov 7th 6-7:30PM - General discussion (pgs. 183-END)
(Tentative) Nov 21st 6-7:30pm - Discussion led by representatives of Wabanaki Alliance

You can find copies of the book at the Maine State Library, Bangor Public Library, and Fogler Library. It is also available online as a PDF or for purchase.

If you would like to join us for these discussions, please email Kay Carter (Kaycarter08@gmail.com) or Doug Poulin (dugbug45@gmail.com) for the Zoom link. We look forward to seeing you there!

Mutual Aid Training

Photo Credit: Sedum Jackson
Community members gather outside the Peace & Justice Center to learn about mutual aid.

On Saturday, July 31st, the Peace & Justice Center gathered with Racial Equity & Justice, Needlepoint Sanctuary, Greater Bangor Housing Coalition, Dignity First, and Maine Access Points to discuss mutual aid with the community.

This community coalition discussed principles of mutual aid, harm reduction, recognizing privilege, setting and accepting boundaries, and best practices to build an organized network that responds to community needs. Mutual Aid is the idea that we as a community don't have to wait for failed systems to meet our needs. We can come together and share our collective skills, resources, and support to build a stronger more organized community.

If you would like to participate in helping with grocery deliveries, providing rides, delivering harm reduction supplies, or other community-building services:

Rally for the Penobscot River and Wabanaki Sovereignty

Photo Credit: Sunlight Media Collective
Lokotah Sanborn speaks at the Rally for the Penobscot River and Wabanaki Sovereignty.

On Sunday, August 1st, The Peace & Justice Center helped support a "Rally for the Penbscot River and Wabanaki Sovereignty." This rally was meant to bring the community together in solidarity for the Penobscot Nation's River rights, which the State of Maine has been outright denying to them. Most recently, the Federal Court of Appeals sided again with the state of Maine in declaring the Penobscot Nation doesn't have any rights to the Penobscot's waters that run through their land.

Sunlight Media Collective had the following to say about this:

The Penobscot People have lived along the Penobscot River since time immemorial. The River is our relative, one who has granted us with the gift of life and the ability to thrive. We have always been protectors of the River, she is where we derive our namesake as a people. We are just as much a part of the river as the river is a part of us. Historically the Penobscot River has been our main source for transportation and sustenance, things that have been rendered near impossible with the construction of dams along the waterways and the continued pollution of the river which makes the fish and the animals that feed upon the fish toxic to eat [. . .] Our sovereign rights, and ability to protect the River do not solely impact Penobscot People; our sovereignty is crucial for securing a livable future which includes all peoples in Maine. We must all come together to show solidarity.

There was an amazing turnout and many powerful speakers at the event; however the fight is not yet over. The Penobscot Nation plans to take the case to the Supreme Court, which you can read more about here. We must continue to show up and support our Indigenous community and stay informed. Check out Sunlight Media Collective's work to educate yourself on these issues.

Pride Plaza

Photo Credit: Anthony Jackson
Our community tabling at Pride Plaza.

Last month the Peace & Justice Center offered out a selection of books and other community resources at Pride Plaza - put on by Health Equity Alliance. P&J teamed up and tabled with some of the amazing organizations listed on this page and together we were excited to uplift and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. We started conversations with new people about our ongoing work, we met other organizers in the community, and we had fun!

Remember that at the Peace & Justice Center we accept you no matter what month of the year it is. No one should have to live in fear or shame for who they are. We all deserve to feel welcomed, loved, and appreciated in our community. Let's keep having each other's backs and supporting those who need it most. Happy Pride!

Greater Bangor Housing Coalition

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
Community chalk art welcomes in people to GBHC's HomeFULL Cookout.

This month the Greater Bangor Housing Coalition (GBHC) was busy with a handful of events! The group hosted the "HomeFULL Cookout" early in the month and then wrapped up July by participating in Pride Plaza and the Mutual Aid Training, as mentioned above.

The HomeFULL Cookout took place on July 10th in Pickering Square, and there was a fantastic turnout. There was chalk art, local performances, delicious food, and heartfelt testimonies from community members. GBHC also had tables set up with information on their organization, resources, and their recent work. The atmosphere was overall very positive, loving, and communal, and the group hopes to create more memories like these with the community.

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
Scenes from the HomeFULL Cookout.

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion's (NPCJE) is sharing a petition in hopes of finding a use for the old YMCA building in Bangor. Join their group in asking Penobscot County to use the American Rescue Plan funds to address the horrendous impacts of COVID on substance dependency and overdose deaths, mental health, and loss of housing. Counties are receiving large sums of federal money from COVID relief bills, so now is the time to demand they use the money to help our community. Sign the petition here.

Their next meeting is Sunday, August 8th @ 4PM and everyone is welcome. For the Zoom link contact Doug Dunbar at: dougdunbar@yahoo.com. For more information on the group, check out their Facebook page, website, or email them at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com.

Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

We will continue to monitor the State of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and use them to inform our decisions on meetings, gatherings, and any and all safety matters or measures. We request that anyone entering the center continues to wear a face covering.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Peace & Justice Center 6/1/21 Peace & Justice Center 6/1/21

June 2021

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June 2021 E-Newsletter

Donate Now!

Mabel Wadworth Center and Planned Parenthood volunteers march in Bangor's 2019 Pride Parade.

June is a month where people in the LGBTQ+ community come together to celebrate queer pride. Flags of every color paint the city walls and streets. Flamboyant parades, spectacular drag shows, cheerful karaoke nights, and more fill up the days of this young summer month. People of all kinds, young and old, closeted and out, get the chance to gather together in spaces that finally feel their own. But don't mistake Pride for just being a colorful celebration of gender and sexuality; it is also a time of mourning, remembrance, and political action.

Pride started in 1969 with the Stonewall Riots with queer people of color at the lead, finally taking a stand against homophobic police raids that didn't want queer people to exist in public. The Stonewall Inn had been known for being a safe haven for queer people at the time, and the people in power didn't like that. Regular police raids of these bars often occurred with people being arrested for crossdressing and displays of queerness; but on June 28th the patrons of the Stonewall Inn decided to take a stand. After the police became violent toward some of the patrons, they fought back with homeless youth, butch lesbians, and queens like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson leading the way. These riots continued into the next night, and the passion with which they fought emboldened the LGBTQ+ community. These events inspired the first Pride a year later.

Pride has also been a time for us to remember those who have died of HIV/AIDS and violence against us. In the Bangor community we honor the memory of Charlie O. Howard every year, a young gay man who was murdered in 1984 by three hateful teenagers. Charlie was a light for the community in a time where it was scary and often unsafe to be out. He was known for his involvement in the Unitarian Church community and always being unapologetically himself. You can read more of his story here.

We have come far since the 60's, but there's still so much we are still fighting for: universal anti-discrimination laws, banning conversion therapy (which Maine has done, but many states have not), adoption rights, trans acceptance, and normalization of our queer identities. Even now we see regressive legislation hitting our senators' desks, banning us from sports, restricting the public goods we can utilize, and othering us in order to suppress our identities.

Photo Credit: Katie Liberman
Sam stands with their 2021 Bangor Wheatpaste Mural, titled "Acceptance."

Speaking myself as an out queer person, seeing these acts of hate and experiencing homophobia and transphobia are what kept me in the closet for so long. I spent almost 26 years afraid of being who I am, trying to suppress parts of me I was taught were vile, immoral, and unnatural. But it has been through my activism within my community, my found family, and my self-expression through art that I have learned to love myself and embrace each of my identities. The spirit of Pride continues to live on in me and all the beautiful people within this rainbow. I hope one day others will see this amazing community the way I do.

- Sam Bullard
she/they

Support Palestine

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
A collection of images from the "Support for Palestinian Civilians and a Call for Peace" event.

On May 20th, Dina, Marwa, Tameem, Omar, and our friends at the Islamic Center hosted an event: "Support for Palestinian Civilians and a Call for Peace." This event was meant to protest the violence being perpetuated against the Palestinian people and bring people of all backgrounds together in solidarity. An array of powerful speakers shared their stories and came out to show our community that they are not alone in these difficult times.

Overall the gathering was powerful, unified, and peaceful. The Peace & Justice Center was happy to provide support during this event and spread the word through our community. To any of you struggling right now, we stand in solidarity with you.

Community Food Effort

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
An example of the food boxes provided to us by the Ecumenical Food Cupboard.

We have been keeping busy with the eleven families we are giving our food boxes to every week. Thanks to the efforts of many, we have been able to consistently provide these families with food all month. The Ecumenical Food Cupboard has been doing the box arrangements and will continue doing so for us.

We are now reaching the end of our COVID relief grant that helped us fund this project. We plan to continue these deliveries until the end of June, and in the meantime we are working on establishing other resources and connections for the families we serve. It has been so gratifying having this opportunity to help our local community, and we plan to continue initiatives that do so in other ways.

We give a special thanks to the Ecumenical Food Cupboard for their incredible food boxes and kind collaboration with us, and to our amazing volunteers that assisted us weekly with transporting these essential resources to our participants. We also thank all of you who donated graciously to this initiative. We couldn't have done it without all this amazing community support; you are all appreciated!

Greater Bangor Housing Coalition

Photo Credit: Sedum Jackson
A still from one of GBHC's first meetings.

The Greater Bangor Housing Coalition (GBHC) has been busy with negotiations with the city to push forward a temporary public bathroom plan. Public bathrooms are currently lacking within our community, and it has been one of the top complaints of our houseless community next to housing itself. The Peace & Justice Center has been a major part of these discussions and will continue to support GBHC through these negotiations with Bangor. The city also conducted a meeting last month directly with houseless community members and promise to have more of these in the future.

GBHC is also in the midst of building a list of mutual aid and community resources for residents to utilize. There is a lack of this knowledge being spread and many people don't know what resources in the Greater Bangor Area are even available to them. The group hopes that creating this map of resources and communications will strengthen our community and give members more agency over where they seek aid.

The group meets every Saturday at 1:30PM in Pickering Square, with a rain location at the Unitarian Universalist Church. If you want to be part of this vital work you are welcome to join us in person or virtually. Email us at peacectr@gmail.com if you want the link, and follow the group’s progress on their Facebook group page.

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

Sketch of Scotty for his portrait by Lizzy Schule
Taken from No Penobscot County Jail Expansion Groups' Facebook Page. Scotty is one of their people featured in the PCJ Storytelling Project.

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion (NPCJE) is planning a news conference for early June on possible events and activities during the summer.

The group is also doing a storytelling project to gather the stories of community members who have spent time in Penobscot County Jail from 2018 to the present. Each participant also has the opportunity to have their portrait painted by a Maine artist. The group will be sharing these stories and portraits in a variety of ways to help create change inside the Penobscot County Jail and in the community. To read more about the project, check out their website here.

People who have spent time in PCJ and are willing to tell their story are invited to contact storytelling project organizer Dylan Moore at zeraph.moore@gmail.com. Participants can be anonymous if desired. For more information on the project, check out this Google Doc here.

Their next meeting is Sunday, June 6th at 4:00PM and everyone is welcome. For the Zoom link contact Doug Dunbar at: dougdunbar@yahoo.com. For more information on the group, check out their Facebook page, website, or email them at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com.

The Equality Act

Photo Credit: Human Rights Campaign Page

Let's pass the Equality Act! This act would be a huge step in supporting queer rights throughout the U.S., and it has already been passed by the House.

As stated by the Human Rights Campaign, this piece of legislation would "provide consistent and explicit anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people across key areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service."

How can you help? First, if you live in Maine, Senator Susan Collins is a crucial target for this bill. You can call and email her office (or your own Senators in your state) and come to this rally on June 27th at 12PM at the Federal Building in Bangor. You can also spread the word and educate others on the bill. To learn more, check out HRC's page here.

Needlepoint Sanctuary

Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

We will continue to monitor the State of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and use them to inform our decisions on meetings, gatherings, and any and all safety matters or measures. We request that anyone entering the center continues to wear a face covering.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Peace & Justice Center 5/6/21 Peace & Justice Center 5/6/21

May 2021

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View this email in your browser

May 2021 E-Newsletter

We hope you all are safe and have access to critical resources and healthcare during these trying times.

Steering committee members have continued to meet via video chat to develop ideas and programs to be implemented in the near future.

We will monitor the State of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and use them to inform our decisions on meetings, gatherings, and any and all safety matters or measures that pertain to the reopening of the Peace & Justice Center.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Community Clean-Up

Photo Credit: Racial Equity & Justice
Images of some of the volunteers that helped with the Community Clean-Up.

On Saturday, April 24th, multiple community members and activists came together for a community clean-up in Bangor. This event was hosted by Greater Bangor Housing Coalition, the Peace & Justice Center, Racial Equity & Justice, Needlepoint Sanctuary, and Dignity First. Volunteers were split up into two groups and ventured to clean up the Waterfront and Second Street Parks.

Photo Credit: Josh Kauppila from Greater Bangor Housing Coalition
Boston speaks to the volunteer group before the clean-up.

Before the clean-up, some members of GBHC spoke before the group. Boston, one of the group's unhoused members, gave a powerful speech about the blame often put on houseless community members for litter in public spaces, and why putting the blame on this community is misdirected and lacks empathy for our neighbors. Letting go of this stigma and taking the time to work together on these issues is what will ultimately make our community a better place.

Community Food Effort

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
An example of the food boxes provided to us by the Ecumenical Food Cupboard.

We are still taking nominations for our community food effort! You can anonymously nominate a family (including your own) here on our Google Form here.

We have been keeping busy with the 30 people we have been giving our food boxes. Thanks to the efforts of many, we have been able to consistently provide these families with food all month. The Ecumenical Food Cupboard has been doing the box arrangements and will continue doing so for us.

We also still welcome volunteers for our delivery drivers. Please let us know if you want to volunteer with us on our food pantry efforts too. Thanks for your support!

Greater Bangor Housing Coalition

Photo Credit: Sedum Jackson
A still from one of GBHC's first meetings.

The Greater Bangor Housing Coalition (GBHC) has good news for this month. GBHC was able to present their bathroom proposal to Bangor City Council and the proposal was accepted! The group has also initiated conversation around housing with the council and community as well.

You can read GBHC's bathroom proposal here. Some of the members are currently negotiating where the bathrooms will be placed. GBHC's plan asks for three to be placed in Pickering Square and one be placed by the waterfront. There will also be hired bathroom attendants that will clean and inspect them every day, and the group's goal is to hire community members to do this.

The group is in communication with the council over the housing crisis in Bangor too. GBHC has been emphasizing the importance of listening to the voices of those most affected by houselessness and including community members in the planning and implementation of related policies. The group also wants the city to prioritize supporting rather than criminalizing our neighbors, and the first step to doing this is looking at more housing solutions. Some ideas for exploring include tiny homes, city-run tenting locations, and looking at other successful cities' plans.

The group meets every Saturday at ~1PM in Pickering Square, with a rain location at the Unitarian Universalist Church. If you want to be part of this vital work you are welcome to join us in person or virtually. Email us at peacectr@gmail.com if you want the link, and follow the group’s progress on their Facebook group page.

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

Portrait of Devin by Lizzy Schule
Taken from No Penobscot County Jail Expansion Groups' Facebook Page. Devin is one of their people featured in the PCJ Storytelling Project.

The No Penobscot County Jail Expansion is working to encourage Penobscot County Commissioners to use federal American Recovery Plan funding to invest in community-based services. Their priorities are mental health care, substance use disorder treatment and housing.

The group is also still doing a storytelling project to gather the stories of community members who have spent time in Penobscot County Jail from 2018 to the present. Each participant also has the opportunity to have their portrait painted by a Maine artist. The group will be sharing these stories and portraits in a variety of ways to help create change inside the Penobscot County Jail and in the community. To read more about the project, check out their website here.

Their next meeting is Sunday, May 16th, from 4:00-5:30PM and everyone is welcome. For more information on the group, check out their Facebook page, website, or email them at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com. You can also directly contact one of the organizers, Doug Dunbar at: dougdunbar@yahoo.com.

Freedom & Captivity: Art on Abolition

For those of you with a creative mind, you may be excited to hear about this opportunity to share your art! The Freedom & Captivity Coalition and other orgs are in search of visual artists, writers, and musicians for their upcoming show, "Freedom & Captivity: Art on Abolition." This exhibit focuses on the theme of abolition and a reimagining of the world through this lens.

This group understands abolition as the "tearing down of racist systems of policing, detention, captivity, and monitoring" and replacing it with "community-led systems of caring for people and harm reduction." This exhibit is an open call that especially welcomes those who are incarcerated or have been incarcerated to participate, as well as anyone in the community that cares about this issue. The exhibit launches on August 2nd, with existing work submissions due June 1st.

For more information on this exhibit and how to apply, check out this flyer as well as this website here. We hope to see some of your work there!

Needlepoint Sanctuary

Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

Donate Now!

Peace & Justice Center 4/5/21 Peace & Justice Center 4/5/21

April 2021

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View this email in your browser

April 2021 E-Newsletter

We hope you all are safe and have access to critical resources and healthcare during these trying times.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Stop Asian Hate Vigil

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
Images of some of the chalking and attendees at the vigil on March 25th.

Thank you to all who were able to attend our Stop Asian Hate Vigil yesterday. We had a group of around 40 people who joined us, including some activists from Bucksport. The vigil began with writing messages of solidarity in the square and a powerful statement from Blue Hellwig, a member of the AAPI community and volunteer for Needlepoint Sanctuary and Greater Bangor Housing Coalition. This was followed by a moment of silence and then an open mic for anyone wishing to speak. The community members that came forward spoke eloquently and emphasized why it is so important that we care about these issues.

The vigil itself was successful, but the work to stop these acts of violence against our community members is far from over. Let's continue to do the work to fight white supremacy and the systemic structures that allow hate to persist. Lastly, don't forget to check in with the people in your life; a simple check in can mean a lot to people when faced with these violent occurrences.

Here is an article with resources to support our AAPI community.

Art Night with Sam & Anthony

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
Some stills from the Art Night with Sam and Anthony. The bottom right is a drawing Sam created and used as a reference for her painting.

On March 31st our Co-Program Directors, Sam and Anthony, hosted an Art Night in celebration of Women's History Month. This event was meant to bring the community together through fun conversation about feminist topics and creating art with each other. This event featured Sam Bullard, who is a local artist from Bangor on top of being a Co-Program Director for P&JC. You can check out her work here: https://linktr.ee/samanthabfineartist

Around ten people attended and there was much stimulating conversation related to feminism, intersectionality, and allyship. It was nice to be among other creative minds with similar interests. Sam has yet to finish her artwork, but we will share it when she completes it.

We appreciate all who were able to attend! If you want to support more of this work, you can donate to us using our Donorbox here. We hope to do more of these events in the future.

Community Food Effort

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
An example of the food boxes provided to us by the Ecumenical Food Cupboard.

We also still welcome volunteers for our delivery drivers. Please let us know if you want to volunteer with us on our food pantry efforts too!

Thanks for your support, and please be sure to share our form so we can help out our community!

Greater Bangor Housing Coalition

The Greater Bangor Housing Coalition (GBHC) made some great strides this month on many fronts! We pushed to Bangor advertise and install more needle deposit boxes around downtown after our members brought forth the lack of boxes as an issue. Also with months of hard work and amazing volunteers GBHC was able to present their bathroom proposal to Bangor City Council.

The following is just a piece of the many statements GBHC made to the council on the bathroom issue:

"After in-depth discussions with our neighbors without walls, it became clear that the lack of restrooms available is a gross oversight in providing basic human necessities to our Bangor citizens. Our city currently has a bus terminal with no public access to toilets. This not only affects our unhoused population but those who use public transportation. We have heard of plans for the renovation of this location, but have yet to see an immediate action plan to resolve this issue. Outside the bus terminal, there are few if any appropriate places for a person to relieve themselves. This negligence forces people into humiliating and unsanitary positions that are not healthy, or good for any person in our city. We ask you to consider our proposal and respect the humanity of our entire community by simply providing safe clean places to use the bathroom."

You can read GBHC's bathroom proposal here. If you wish to support this initiative, come to the next GBHC meeting or voice your support at the City Council Workshop and Meeting on April 12th. Here are some talking points to bring up during the meetings.

The group meets every Saturday at ~1PM in the Unitarian Universalist Church and Pickering Square. If you want to be part of this vital work you are welcome to join us at either location or virtually. Email us at peacectr@gmail.com if you want the link, and follow the group’s progress on their Facebook group page.

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

Portrait of Breann by Zeraph Dylan Moore
Taken from No Penobscot County Jail Expansion Groups' Facebook Page. Breann is one of their people featured in the PCJ Storytelling Project.

The No Penobscot County Jail Expansion has embarked on a storytelling project to gather the stories of community members who have spent time in Penobscot County Jail from 2018 to the present. Each participant also has the opportunity to have their portrait painted by a Maine artist. The group will be sharing these stories and portraits in a variety of ways to help create change inside the Penobscot County Jail and in the community. To read more about the project, check out this Maine Beacon article they helped write.

Their next meeting is April 11th at 4PM. For more information on the group, check out their Facebook page, website, or email them at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com. You can also directly contact one of the organizers, Doug Dunbar at: dougdunbar@yahoo.com.

Freedom & Captivity: Art on Abolition

Needlepoint Sanctuary

Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

Donate Now!

Peace & Justice Center 3/2/21 Peace & Justice Center 3/2/21

March 2021

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View this email in your browser

March 2021 E-Newsletter

We hope you all are safe and have access to critical resources and healthcare during these trying times.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Women's History Month

Photo Credit: Wikipedia page for the 2017 Women's March

March is National Women's History Month, making it an excellent time to reflect on the progress of women in the U.S. The tradition of celebrating women's history began in 1982 when the first "Women's History Week" was recognized by the president, and by 1987 the people petitioned it be the entire month. This month is meant to be a time to celebrate the accomplishments of the women's rights movement, and often the focus falls on spotlighting extraordinary individuals that changed history. However, we should also take this time to examine the movement critically and acknowledge the battles still to come.

The history of the modern women's movement often gets broken up into the "three waves of feminism." Each wave has their own set of amazing accomplishments and pitfalls, which can give us insight on why we are where we're at today. Let's take a brief glance at each, and for further readings on the waves check out this article here by Vox.

The first wave of feminism is estimated to have been from 1848 to 1920 when the famous suffragette movement began, with the Seneca Falls convention being the first major event. This era was marked by the battle for equal rights for women, especially the right to vote. Names like Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and Maria Stewart pop up during this time. However, the first wave is also known for its suppression of black women from the movement despite their immense efforts to push the movement forward; Susan B. Anthony herself declared it a movement for exclusively white women. It is history such as this that led to splintering in the feminist movement, made more apparent during the second wave.

Photo Credit: Vox's article, "The waves of feminism, and why people keep fighting over them, explained"
Women protest on issues of women's liberation at Washington DC in 1970.

1963 to the 1980's welcomed the second wave of feminism, with women such as Betty Friedan, Andrea Dworkin, Shirley Chisholm, and Gloria Steinem. This era was marked by numerous famous texts like The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir and landmark political movements such as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and Roe v. Wade. Much of feminist values began to shift to more personal topics, focusing on freedom in relationships, sex, domestic life, and labor. Talk of the "pay gap" and reproductive freedom became essential points. This movement did better than the first to include other marginalized groups, but oftentimes their struggles were treated as secondary. Thus, many of these groups started their own; black women created their own movement under the name of "womanism," and other movements like gay liberation gained footing. The second wave also was known for being blind to privileges of class, race, ability, sexuality, and gender as it pertains to the transgender community.

The third wave of feminism is often recognized as beginning in the early 1990's, but it is unclear when and if it has truly ended yet. This wave kicked off with the writing of Gender Trouble by Judith Butler, the Anita Hill testimony, and riot grrl groups. This wave focused on intersectionality, wishing to expand on who feminism fights for beyond cis, straight, middle-upper class white women. They also continued the fight for reproductive rights, called out violence against women, and redefined the sexual liberation movement. Feminists did so through the creation of the "Slut Walk" and the Vagina Monologues among other things, reclaiming the language used around their bodies and amplifying the stories of those hurt by misogynistic violence. Unfortunately this wave gets criticized often for its lack of cohesion and focus. This may be due to the efforts of some feminists trying to make the movement more universal and palatable to others, and this is an issue we may be seeing in the fourth wave. With the growth of the internet grew the idea that "anyone can be a feminist," all it takes is believing women deserve to be equal. This ideology reduces a century-long movement of activism and fighting for civil liberties to a simplistic school of thought with no action behind it. Thankfully though many activists now are also questioning this thought process and pushing for a more nuanced understanding of the movement that keeps its integrity while making room for more people to join.

Art Credit: Sam Bullard
This was a design Sam made for Mabel Wadsworth Center to show appreciation for their feminist healthcare providers.

The feminist movement has its flaws, but its core values through the years has certainly led to great progress. The fight for equality is far from over, but by reflecting on our pitfalls and accomplishments, we can work together to build a better future. This Women's History Month, let's remember to be critical of our past while still appreciating the progress it made.

-Sam Bullard

Community Food Effort

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
An example of the food boxes provided to us by the Ecumenical Food Cupboard.

We are still taking nominations for our community food effort! We are looking to sponsor 10-20 local families in need to deliver food weekly to, and we hope to do so for at least half the year. You can anonymously nominate a family (including your own) here on our Google Form here.

Our deliveries are now in full swing as we provide weekly boxes to ten families. Thanks to the efforts of many, we have been able to consistently provide these families with food all month. The Ecumenical Food Cupboard has been doing the box arrangements and will continue doing so for us in the coming months.

We have also been using some of our food pantry to feed our homeless community in Bangor every Saturday at the Greater Bangor Housing Coalition meetings. This is an effort many of us are passionate about, and we are happy to be serving our community in this way.

Fundraising Committee

We are in search of some wonderful volunteers to join our team! Our Fundraising Committee could use some creative minds like yours to get the ball rolling on some fun projects, grants, and appeals.

We are looking for volunteers with a passion for community work and a love for our organization. As part of the Fundraising Committee, you will get the opportunity to bring our community together in innovative ways to uplift our work at the center, and build lasting connections with our amazing members. Whether you are an experienced organizer or a fresh face to the world of activism, we welcome your perspective on our committee.

Our Fundraising Committee plays an essential role in the functionality of the Peace & Justice Center. We couldn't do all this amazing community work with help from people like you, and we would love to have you as a part of our organization. If you are interested, contact Desiree at desiree.vargas@maine.edu or email us at peacectr@gmail.com.

Education Committee

Photo Credit: National Endowment for the Arts

This February, the Education Committee celebrated one of the many beautiful figures and stories of Black excellence with Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. The Education Committee led the meetings via Zoom, and the second reading even featured special guest Lucy Hurston, Zora's niece.

All three sessions went well and were both interesting and informative. During the second session Lucy Hurston's lively presence was both heartwarming and humorous. She answered any all questions asked of her. Her presence was thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by all the attendees.

The committee meets next on March 14th at 6PM via Zoom. If you wish to get involved with the Education Committee reach out to Doug Poulin at dugbug45@gmail.com.

Greater Bangor Housing Coalition

Photo Credit: Sedum Jackson
A still from one of GBHC's first meetings.

The Greater Bangor Housing Coalition (GBHC) is a collection of local activist organizations and community members that have come together to reach out to Bangor’s houseless community and work collaboratively to address their issues. This group was established in late October 2020 as a support group, which then transformed into a coalition focused on addressing “systemic problems contributing to houselessness in the Greater Bangor area, creating demands for change, and building community power.” Needlepoint Sanctuary Bangor, Mindful Queer Collective, Poor People’s Campaign Maine, Racial Equity And Justice, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, and The People ~ Streetlight Outreach Mission are the current supporting organizations.

Since establishing this group, GBHC has taken on a few different issues and networked with various groups and people to help support the houseless community. They have met with the majority of Bangor’s City Councilors and used this time to uplift the voices of the houseless and their demands to the city. Some of the group’s major demands include accessible public bathrooms, safe needle deposits, more warming centers, and inclusive housing. The group also focuses on providing food and other resources like clothes, hygiene supplies, and more.

Although GBHC is only a few months old, the group certainly has its hands tied with time-sensitive needs and direct community demands. There are a lot of plans in progress. Some include regular meetings between houseless community members and city officials, converting abandoned spaces into housing, collecting a community fund for bail and down payments, and expanding public transport vouchers and operating hours. The group is also looking to focus and contribute towards local and state legislation that center on issues of houselessness, such as SMARTER NOT HARDER policing.

The group meets every Saturday at 1PM in Pickering Square, with a warming center at the Unitarian Universalist Church connected via Zoom. If you want to be part of this vital work you are welcome to join us at either location or virtually. Email us at peacectr@gmail.com if you want the link, and follow the group’s progress on their Facebook group page.

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

The group continues to meet virtually every few weeks to address a variety of problems in the criminal legal system. They seek solutions to problems, so fewer people face incarceration, and those who end up in jail are treated much better. These meetings are open to all who believe the criminal legal system needs reform. They happily welcome newcomers.

Their next meeting is Sunday, March 14th, at 4PM through this Zoom link.

For more information check out their Facebook page, website, or email them at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com. You can also directly contact one of the organizers, Doug Dunbar at: dougdunbar@yahoo.com.

Freedom & Captivity: Art on Abolition

For those of you with a creative mind, you may be excited to hear about this opportunity to share your art! The Freedom & Captivity Coalition and other orgs are in search of visual artists, writers, and musicians for their upcoming show, "Freedom & Captivity: Art on Abolition." This exhibit focuses on the theme of abolition and a reimagining of the world through this lens.

This group understands abolition as the "tearing down of racist systems of policing, detention, captivity, and monitoring" and replacing it with "community-led systems of caring for people and harm reduction." This exhibit is an open call that especially welcomes those who are incarcerated or have been incarcerated to participate, as well as anyone in the community that cares about this issue. The exhibit launches on August 2nd, with new proposals due March 15th and existing work submissions due June 1st.

For more information on this exhibit and how to apply, check out this flyer as well as this website here. We hope to see some of your work there!

Maine Multicultural Center

Next week on Wednesday, March 10th at 6PM, the Maine Multicultural Center will be hosting a virtual forum. This will be presented by Dennis Chinoy and will focus on the deep roots of white supremacy in our society. If you wish to attend the talk you can can join via Zoom here or watch it on Facebook Live here that day. Contact mmccbangor@gmail.com for additional information.

Needlepoint Sanctuary

Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

Donate Now!

Peace & Justice Center 2/3/21 Peace & Justice Center 2/3/21

February 2021

*|MC:SUBJECT|*

View this email in your browser

February 2021 E-Newsletter

We hope you all are safe and have access to critical resources and healthcare during these trying times.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Black History Month

This February, we will be celebrating one of the many beautiful figures and stories of Black excellence. We are hosting a virtual discussion on the classic American novel: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. We invite you to join in and experience the incredible world created through Hurston's storytelling. Our book discussions will be held through Zoom and streamed to our Facebook page.

All sessions will start at @ 6:00PM EST on:

February 14th (Chapters 1-4)
February 21st (Chapters 5-10)

February 28th (Chapters 11 to finish)

On February 21st we will be lucky enough to have Lucy Hurston, the niece of Zora, to help us deep dive into the subtleties and little known background of the author and book.

We are so excited to have you join us in reading and feeling this incredible piece of work. Please register below for the zoom link and updates on the program. Click here for some free audio versions of the book.

Food Pantry

Photo Credit: Sam Bullard
Our first set of food boxes came in from the Ecumenical Food Cupboard and they looked fantastic!

We are still taking nominations for our food pantry! We are looking to sponsor 10-20 local families in need to deliver food weekly to, and we hope to do so for at least half the year. You can anonymously nominate a family (including your own) here on our Google Form here.

We started deliveries this month and have six families we are currently supporting. Thanks to the efforts of many, we were able to provide these beautiful boxes to the families. The Ecumenical Food Cupboard has been doing the box arrangements and will continue doing so for us in the coming months.

Racial Equity & Justice was kind enough to contribute some fresh produce towards our community food efforts. The large donation of veggies came from Greenlaw Gardens, a farm in Maine. With their help, we were able to distribute some of this food to the families we have sponsored so far.

We have also been using some of our food pantry to feed our homeless community in Bangor every Saturday at the Greater Bangor Housing Coalition meetings. This is an effort many of us are passionate about, and we are happy to be serving our community in this way.

We also put out a flyer for volunteer drivers and got some amazing responses. Please let us know if you want to volunteer with us on our food pantry efforts too!

Thanks for your support, and please be sure to share our form so we can help out our community!

Open Committee Positions

We are still in search of some wonderful volunteers to join our team! We are hoping to fill out our Fundraising & Membership Team, Education Committee, and "Peacekeeping" Team, our general group of volunteers.

Each of these teams play an essential role in the functionality of the Peace & Justice Center. We couldn't do all this amazing community work with help from people like you, and we would love to have you as a part of our organization. See the flyer above for who to contact about each position. We look forward to meeting you!

Greater Bangor Housing Coalition

Photo Credit: Sedum Jackson
A still from one of GBHC's first meetings.

Although GBHC is only a couple of months old, the group certainly has its hands tied with time-sensitive needs and direct community demands. There are a lot of plans in progress. Some include regular meetings between houseless community members and city officials, converting abandoned spaces into housing, collecting a community fund for bail and down payments, and expanding public transport vouchers and operating hours. The group is also looking to focus and contribute towards local and state legislation that center on issues of houselessness, such as SMARTER NOT HARDER policing.

The group meets every Saturday at 1PM in Pickering Square, with a warming center at the Unitarian Universalist Church connected via Zoom. If you want to be part of this vital work you are welcome to join us at either location or virtually. Email us at peacectr@gmail.com if you want the link, and follow the group’s progress on their Facebook group page.

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

The No Penobscot County Jail Expansion has embarked on a storytelling project to gather the stories of community members who have spent time in Penobscot County Jail from 2018 to the present. Each participant also has the opportunity to have their portrait painted by a Maine artist. The group will be sharing these stories and portraits in a variety of ways to help create change inside the Penobscot County Jail and in the community.

Their next meeting is Sunday, February 14th, at 4PM via Zoom. For more information check out their Facebook page, website, or email them at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com. You can also directly contact one of the organizers, Doug Dunbar at: dougdunbar@yahoo.com.

Needlepoint Sanctuary

Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM

Find Us on Social Media

We will be sharing more of our ongoings on our website and all of our media platforms. Follow us here on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information, email us at: peacectr@gmail.com.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

Donate Now!

Peace & Justice Center 1/18/21 Peace & Justice Center 1/18/21

January 2021

*|MC:SUBJECT|*

View this email in your browser

January 2021 E-Newsletter

We hope you all are safe and have access to critical resources and healthcare during these trying times.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below:

BANGOR COVID-19 RESOURCES
MAINE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Virtual General Assembly

Photo Credit: Firefly's Facebook Page.
Firefly performs for the Peace & Justice Center's General Assembly. A hyper creative, Firefly’s artistry involves powerful vocals, eye popping visuals and cutting edge costumes created by his team.

On Saturday, December 12th from 10AM-12PM we hosted our Virtual General Assembly. This assembly was broadcasted on Facebook Live and Zoom, and about 16 people participated in the Zoom call.

We kicked off the meeting with a beautiful performance by Firefly, a musician from the Penobscot Tribe who is deeply influenced by the traditions of his people. You can watch his performance here.

The agenda that was used for the General Assembly.

After the performance the Zoom audience, committee members, and new staff introduced themselves. Co-Program Directors Anthony Jackson and Sam Bullard gave an update on the center's ongoings and their goals for our organization in the coming year. Some of their main focuses include but aren't limited to: mobilizing our food pantry, supporting initiatives to help the homeless community in the Greater Bangor area, and continuing to prioritize equity, inclusion, racial justice, and diversity in our organization. The committees also talked briefly of their activities, and the newest members of the Steering Committee were ratified.

During the discussion of boundaries and expectations, the Co-Program Directors emphasized the importance of good, consistent communication between the committees and staff. It was also suggested that the committees write their own mission statements. Sam and Anthony gave a description of their responsibilities, and a summary of this can be found on our website here.

Finally in our open discussion, we talked about the future of the food pantry and our initiatives focused on the homeless community. We also briefly discussed there being many open positions on all committees, and welcomed any volunteers who were interested in getting involved. If you want to join a committee or volunteer, reach out to us at peacectr@gmail.com.

If you happened to miss the General Assembly but want to know more, you're in luck! We have the meeting recorded here on Zoom and here on Facebook Live. Thank you to all of you who attended, and we look forward to hearing from more of you in the future. Working as a community is the heart of our Peace & Justice Center, and we appreciate all of you.

Food Pantry

We are officially taking nominations for our food pantry! We are looking to sponsor ~20 local families in need to deliver food weekly to, and we hope to do so for at least half the year. You can anonymously nominate a family (including your own) here on our Google Form here.

We are also accepting food donations and monetary donations to go to our efforts for this food pantry. For food donations, contact us at peacectr@gmail.com to arrange a drop-off time. Please be sure the food isn't expired and is nonperishable. You can also donate to us by writing a check or giving to our Donorbox.

Photo Credit: Desiree Vargas and Sam Bullard.
Steering Member Desiree Vargas and Co-Program Director Sam Bullard spent some time food prepping and organizing our most recent food donations.

As shown above, Desiree and Sam recently did some food prepping with our recent donation of fresh produce. We have been using some of our food pantry to feed our homeless community in Bangor every Saturday at the Greater Bangor Housing Coalition meetings. This is an effort many of us are passionate about, and we are happy to be serving our community in this way. We also acquired a freezer with our grant funds to help preserve food donations that aren't shelf stable.

We will be sharing more information about this project on our website and all of our media platforms. For more information or to find out how you can support our community food pantry, you can email us at: peacectr@gmail.com

Thanks for your support, and please be sure to share our form so we can help out our community!

Open Committee Positions

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

The No Penobscot County Jail Expansion group continues to meet virtually every few weeks to address a variety of problems in the criminal legal system. These meetings are open to all who believe the criminal legal system needs reform, and they happily welcome newcomers.

Their next meeting is Sunday, January 10th, at 4PM via Zoom. For more information check out their Facebook page, website, or email them at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com.

Food AND Medicine

Food AND Medicine is hosting their annual meeting Saturday, January 23rd from 9-11AM. Come learn more about their organization and even consider joining as a member in 2021.

Needlepoint Sanctuary

Basic Income Security

One of our members, Michael Howard, has been working with the Maine Legislature's Committee to Study the Feasibility of Creating Basic Income Security to push Maine towards accepting basic income for all. If you want to read about his work and learn more about the idea of basic income, check out this short PDF he wrote here. You can find a report of their committee here.

Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Donate Now!

Peace & Justice Center 12/31/20 Peace & Justice Center 12/31/20

December 2020

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December E-Newsletter

We hope you all are safe and have access to critical resources and healthcare during these trying times.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below.

MAINE_COVID-19 RESOURCES
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1adYdqIA_VXgyYW07nfmLZKAN3KZHBGrI-SyFVN8Mecw/edit

BANGOR_COVID-19 RESOURCES
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FODdM4dftblke5NxkaH1bUa7IIJF3O3gWW3gLCs31bA/edit

During the General Assembly we will look at challenges we’ve overcome, problems that still exist, issues that may arise, and how we plan to tackle them. We will take a look at board operations and open positions, as well as introduce new staff members. We will use this also as an opportunity to have an open discussion about our collective vision. We hope to see you Saturday, December 12th, and we will send out the Zoom link, via email Monday, December 7th. Please email us any questions you have at: peacectr@gmail.com

Native American Heritage Month

Photo Credit: Sunlight Media Collective's Facebook page.

November was "Native American Heritage Month," but at the Peace & Justice Center we believe in recognizing and respecting the history, rights, and culture of Indigenous people year round. There are many conversations we should be having about decolonizing our minds and our systems, and what better place to start than discussing ideas of sovereignty, stewardship, and solidarity.

"Sovereignty," or being a self-governed state, is a critical part of respecting and recognizing Indigenous people. America was built on stolen land, and its government continues their push even now to take more territory and rights away from the people who lived here long before them. Native Tribes deserve to be here, and it is through #LandBack measures and respecting existing territories that people can respect their sovereignty.

The Wabanaki people believe in the concept of “stewardship” (i.e. being caretakers of the land) as opposed to the colonialist idea of ownership. Since the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980, Maine’s Indigenous people have been fighting for their position as stewards of the land and the Penobscot waters, and they continue to fight in the courts to this day. Currently they are facing an En Banc Review of their case, Penobscot Nation vs. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, (A.K.A. Penobscot Nation v Mills) in the U.S. Court of Appeals. Should the courts rule in favor of the Penobscot Nation, their traditional role as stewards of the River will be respected. This would remove barriers to environmental protection put in place by the state in order to protect industrial polluters such as the Juniper Ridge Landfill and the Nine Dragons Paper Mill. When Indigenous people defend their Relatives, the land and water, they are doing so for us all, and for the next seven generations.

"Solidarity" is another important topic we can't ignore when discussing issues of Indigenous people. By learning how to leverage one's privileges to amplify the voices of targeted groups, allies can help these folks dismantle oppressive structures built into society and pave the way for human rights. This can be done by showing up in support of important legislation, sharing and uplifting Indigenous voices in the community, and pushing for better representation of the Wabanaki people. Just showing that these tribes are still alive today can combat the deliberate erasure of their culture by the American education system.

Thanks for taking the time with us to reflect on the ideas of stewardship, solidarity, and sovereignty in relation to Indigenous people. To educate yourself further, these books have been recommended: "Custer Died for Your Sins" by Vine Deloria, Jr., "Sacred Instructions" by Sherri Mitchell, and "An Indigenous People's History of the U.S." by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.

Food and Medicine

This year Food and Medicine conducted their 18th Solidarity Harvest. The harvest began in 2003 as a way to support laid-off union workers in Maine. This year the group gathered enough donations to send out 1,400 baskets!

Each basket costs $40 and can feed a family of about 8-10 people. They are filled with food from local farms and food producers, and contain nine different produces and more. After being prepped by Food and Medicine, unions, faith-based organizations, and non-profits find families in need and deliver the baskets directly to them.

With the pandemic being a concern this year, Food and Medicine decided to take further precautions to keep the harvest safe. They extended their sort week to ten days, organized everything outdoors, limited the number of people on site, required masks, and provided an abundance of hand sanitizer. It was a challenging task, but with the hard work of many they got it done. Another successful year!

Wabanaki Land & Water Rights

Photo Credit: Sunlight Media Collective's video.

Just this past month the Elliotsville Foundation restored 735 acres of land to the Penobscot Nation. The land is located in Williamsburg Township, Piscataquis County, Maine between two other Penobscot territories. This piece of land is known for its connection to a large river ecosystem populated by a critical Atlantic Salmon habitat, as well as being a link between the Penobscot River and Katahdin. The Elliotsville Foundation gave this land to the Wabanaki people in the spirit of respecting stewardship and in hopes of inspiring others to participate in land restoration efforts.

During the Landback Ceremony, Chief Kirk Francis and the Executive Director Lucas St. Clair exchanged gifts, as seen above. St. Clair gave a beautiful spoon that he carved himself, and Chief Francis gave a birchbark moose call, made by 80 year-old Penobscot Elder, Butch Phillips. To learn more about this land restoration, click here to watch.

Needlepoint Sanctuary

World AIDS Day

December 1st is World AIDS Day, which began in 1988 as the first international day for world health. This year, the theme is "Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Resilience and Impact.”

In times like these, we cannot forget those who fought to bring attention and action to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and those who we lost in the process. Public health is a universal concern, and we need to address it with our most marginalized communities, who are often the most affected, kept in mind. It is with this and the continual fight for human rights that we can confront pandemics like HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.

There will be a candlelight vigil to honor all who live with HIV/AIDS, and to remember loved ones who have died of this disease. The group will gather at 5 pm on Tuesday, December 1, at the Post Office Square in Belfast, ME. If attending, be sure to maintain physical distancing and wear a mask. This annual vigil is sponsored by Camp Chrysalis, a camp in Mid-Coast Maine for children and their families who are affected by HIV/AIDS. Bring candles and your kind hearts. For more information, contact Meredith Bruskin at 338-5089.

Food insecurity is a major issue that affects all communities. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 13.6% of Maine households are considered "food insecure," a number that is significantly higher than the national average. The Peace & Justice Center wants to help change that. Through our partnerships with local organizations we will be able to provide vital resources in an accessible way.

Updates:

The pantry will provide a much needed service by delivering food directly to those in need. This allows for safer practices of social distancing, better coordination, and greater access to available resources.

We will be concentrating on providing consistent food resources for families. One way we will approach this is by supporting 10-20 families with their food needs.

The pantry has also taken initiative to support some of the water needs for the Passamaquoddy people, and we are looking to further this contribution as well.

Food donations can be delivered to the center at a coordinated time. We do ask that donated items are nonperishable or are not close to expiration. For those interested in donating financially to the food pantry program, please list the food pantry as the program you wish to support.

We will be sharing more information about this project on our website and all of our media platforms. For more information or to find out how you can support our community food pantry, you can email us at: peacectr@gmail.com

Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM

Looking to get involved again in a safe, socially distanced way? Kevin continues to meet every Tuesday at 12:00 noon with other activists for the weekly Peace Vigil. The group meets across the street from the P&JC on the corner of Harlow and Central Street. We hope to see you there masked up and ready to demonstrate!

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Donate Now!

Peace & Justice Center 11/1/20 Peace & Justice Center 11/1/20

November 2020

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November E-Newsletter

We hope you all are safe and have access to critical resources and healthcare during these trying times.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below.

P&JC's Food Pantry

Updates:

The pantry will provide a much needed service by delivering food directly to those in need. This allows for safer practices of social distancing, better coordination, and greater access to available resources.

We will be concentrating on providing consistent food resources for families. One way we will approach this is by supporting 10-20 families with their food needs.

The pantry has also taken initiative to support some of the water needs for the Passamaquoddy people, and we are looking to further this contribution as well.

Wabanaki Water Rights

To celebrate Indigenous People’s day, members of the Penobscot Nation led an inter-tribal Water Ceremony at the Verona Island Boat Landing near Bucksport for the health of the Penobscot River. This beautiful display of solidarity is a reminder to us all that our relationship to water is sacred. For far too long the colonial mindset has desecrated and polluted vital parts of ourselves and the world we live in. There is an attack on the Penobscot Nation, and us all, to steal territory and further the pollution of our water. To view the ceremony click here.

The Wabanaki people believe in the concept of “stewardship” (i.e. being caretakers of the land) as opposed to the colonialist idea of ownership. Since the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980, Maine’s indigenous people have been fighting for their position as stewards of the land and the Penobscot waters, and they continue to fight in the courts to this day. Currently they are facing an En Banc Review of their case, Penobscot Nation vs. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, (A.K.A. Penobscot Nation v Mills) in the U.S. Court of Appeals. Should the courts rule in favor of the Penobscot Nation, they will be granted stewardship of the land again. This would allow them to stand up more effectively against the rampant pollution of the river by the Juniper Ridge Landfill and the mill in Old Town, as well as other threats against the integrity of the land.

With this review now underway, it is more important than ever we stay informed and stand up for the rights of Maine’s indigenous people. To learn more about the state sanctioned theft and pollution check out these links:

Penobscots Speak on Historic River Case Review by Court of Appeals

Juniper Ridge Landfill Megadump Pt 1

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion

We continue to fight Penobscot County Jail's expansion, and held a successful caravan demonstration outside the jail in downtown Bangor on October 3rd. We hope to do another later this year. We are also compiling stories of inmates' experiences and how a criminal “justice” system can provide real justice and public safety to our community. We need more Peace and Justice Center supporters to join us and bring more justice and less crime to Eastern Maine.

Although we are committed to keeping the jail no larger than it is now, we are also very concerned about a lack of testing of Penobscot County Jail inmates and staff for the virus, policing methods that continue to arrest too many people, inadequate health care for inmates, and a lack of public awareness about alternatives to incarceration. We may change our name soon to reflect our broader vision.

The "No Penobscot County Jail Expansion" group continues to meet. We will meet again on November 14 at 3 PM, and all are invited to join via Zoom. Contact the group at the following email to receive the zoom link: nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com.

Needlepoint Sanctuary

Our New Co-Program Directors

Peace Vigils
Tuesdays at 12:00PM

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Donate Now!

Peace & Justice Center 8/1/20 Peace & Justice Center 8/1/20

August 2020

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MAY NEWSLETTER

A Message From Our Staff

We hope you all continue to be safe and continue to have access to critical resources and healthcare at this time.

Steering committee members have continued to meet via video chat and continue to develop ideas and programs to be implemented in the near future.

We will continue to monitor the State of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and use them to inform our decisions on meetings, gatherings, and any and all safety matters or measures that pertain to the reopening of the Peace & Justice Center.

For more information regarding community and statewide resources, please visit the links below.

August is one of the few months in our calendar that does not specifically celebrate a national cultural heritage. However, this month, The Peace & Justice Center is working diligently to provide fresh produce and nonperishable goods to those in our community.

Through projects like the UMA Bangor Community Labyrinth Garden and The Peace & Justice Center Food Pantry, our goal is to reduce the impact of food insecurity in our community.

Earlier in the summer we shared information about our intentions to begin a Food Pantry Project. At this time, we are pleased to announce that this project is almost fully completed and we have begun distributing and delivering food to community members in need.

Food donations can be delivered to the center. However, we do ask that donated items are nonperishable or are not close to expiration. For those interested in donating financially directly to the food pantry program, please list the food pantry as the program you wish to support directly.

We will be sharing more information about this project on our website and all of our media platforms. For more information or to find out how you can support our community food pantry you can also email us peacectr@gmail.com

UMA Bangor Community Labyrinth Garden
Update

UMA Bangor’s Food and Art Labyrinth Garden has continued to flourish throughout the summer months. This work has been continued by newly weds Andrea Simoneau & Andrew Williams. After each harvest, the garden team delivers food to community members in need, Most recently the team harvested dry beans and finish planting late summer crops.

To continue to learn more about the UMA Bangor Community Labyrinth Garden or find out how to get involved. Please visit https://www.facebook.com/UMABangorGarden/ on Facebook or email peacectr@gmail.com

To sign up to volunteer at the garden, visit the link below.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xcKo81p0DjndFg3hJVtUPinV2u1GUVp5iPWlfBvuX2w/htmlview

Garden Gallery

TUESDAY PEACE VIGILS
WEEKLY AT 12:00 NOON

For members looking to get involved again. For a safe socially distance way to demonstrate, Kevin continues to meet every Tuesday at 12:00 noon for the weekly Peace Vigil. The group meets across the street from the P&JC on the corner of Harlow and Central Street

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Donate Now!

Peace & Justice Center 7/1/20 Peace & Justice Center 7/1/20

July 2020

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July 2020 E-News
Happy Summer!

Please be on the lookout for our upcoming fundraising appeal. Due to the concerns of COVID-19, we will not be gathering this year for our Annual General Assembly. The center has been very active throughout the pandemic helping the most vulnerable of those in our community. We understand this may not be the best time to request financial support. However, we believe that the work we do to support marginalized communities, the environment, and social justice is never-ending and deserves your support even during the most unsteady times.

Upcoming Event:
A free interactive nine week course via zoom, sign up asap!!
August 3- October 5
Mondays 5:30-6:30pm Eastern Time

No Penobscot County Jail Expansion Update—Larry Dansinger

First: The good news that Penobscot County has informally decided (no official vote but agreement by all three county commissioners) not to do a bond issue for a new, larger jail on the November ballot. A proposed new jail got pushback from Bangor residents, city councilors, and, of course, our group. Then, the pandemic hit, the population in the jail has been reduced, finances are uncertain, and so the existing jail, which is not in good shape, will have to do for now. A proposal for a new jail, or perhaps more likely a renovation to and expansion of the existing jail, may come up in 2021. We can support a small new or renovated jail but not the larger one that commissioners proposed.

More good news: The population of the jail and numbers boarded out has gone down noticeably, from a total of about 225-235 in February to 145-155 in early June. If the county can continue to arrest fewer, lock up fewer, and focus on reducing the jail population on a permanent basis, there will clearly be no need for a larger jail. Public pressure (all of us), urging the county sheriff and local police to maintain arrest and jail policies to minimize the jail population, will benefit our communities in the long run.

We hope to be working with other groups in the area around police accountability and ways for all people to feel safer and secure in Eastern Maine. Recent rallies protesting racism and police violence have demonstrated (again!) the need for change.

No one at Penobscot County Jail has not yet been tested for the virus but both inmates and staff need to as the best way to prevent an outbreak. Our group continues to press county commissioners and the sheriff to initiate testing. Many changes are taking place in the criminal legal system that are encouraging, perhaps even revolutionary. Join us! For more information, see our web site, https://www.nopenobscotcountyjailexpansion.com or contact Larry Dansinger, (207) 262-3706 or larryd@myfairpoint.net.

The Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine strives for a better world of peace, human rights, economic justice, and sustainable environment.

Please visit https://www.peacectr.org to see what groups are meeting at the Center, what we have been up to, and email us any inquiries on how to get involved.

A GROW Grant has been approved to PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER OF EASTERN MAINE ($2,200 of Grant Funds”) for the purpose of growing vegetables specifically for the purpose of supplying local food pantries, homeless shelters, and food security programs. We are excited for the UMA garden to be continued. Andrew Williams is leading our side of the garden project that is in collaboration with UMA community garde.

The Peace and Justice Center's Program Directors, Desiree Vargas and David Patrick, also co-founded local organization, Racial Equity and Justice (REJ). The Black Lives Matter Rally in Bangor, Maine last month was organized by Racial Equity and Justice.

"We have heard from reporters that there must have been over 1,000 people there. The speakers included, Angela Okafor, Clare Davitt, David Patrick, and Desiree Vargas. After the speakers were heard, hundreds marched for Black Lives and in honor and grief for George Floyd in addition to many other Black lives taken from Police murder and hate crimes. People marched to the park across from the Bangor police station where people had a vigil, and listened to local acapella singers and poets. The work doesn’t stop though just because the rally stopped. REJ's objective was to raise awareness for the work needed to be done after the rally. In a recent interview with Maine Public Radio I explained the services we offer which is in our website, some of our affiliated organizations, in addition to current projects we have going which include: expert consultation for professional spaces, certified racial equity & diversity trainings, redistribution of resources into BIPOC (Black, Brown Indigenous, People of Color) & marginalized communities, racial advocacy, event planning, content writing & key note speaking, and offering support & healing modalities to BIPOC individuals (Maine is 95% white demographically & one of the oldest states and it’s so complex living here for BIPOC). We have been partnering with other organizations like The Peace and Justice Center for mutual aid to address food insecurity and covid 19 responses, jail issues, racial issues, and more. If you would like to support the work we are doing please check out our website and hit the donate button We have some huge projects happening behind the scenes. Currently some of those projects include having a seat on the table with our official leaders from different departments, private, and public sectors discussing how to best tackle racial inequity and racial biases."
- Desiree Vargas

Please check out REJ's website: http://www.racialequityandjustice.org

Many thanks for the following donations in memory or honor of loved ones:

In honor of Silas Brogunier, from Michele Brogunier

The work of the Peace & Justice Center is supported by donors like you! To contribute by mail, make a check out to Peace & Justice Center (or, if you wish your contribution to be tax deductible, make it out to ROSC) and mail to: 96 Harlow St, Suite 100, Bangor, ME 04401.

Donate Now!

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February 2020

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February 2020

Support the P&J Center - Donate Now!

Speaking up against racism to Penobscot County commissioners

"To Peace and Justice Center supporters,

About ten people from various local groups spoke to Penobscot County Commissioners today to urge them to pro-actively offer a statement of welcome to potential refugees who might want to move to the Bangor area. Another did not speak but did offer support to the speakers. Previously, commissioners had stated they were waiting for a court ruling on whether any governments had an option of refusing to invite refugees into their communities.

The commissioners did vote unanimously for a statement of welcome. The exact wording will be published in future minutes of their January 28 meeting.

A small victory, but one we can celebrate. Thanks to all who came today."
-Larry Dansinger

Please contact Larry if you want to get involved or support the group's important work!
(207) 262-3706 or larryd@myfairpoint.net

Program directors of The Peace and Justice Center are also cofounders of a local Bangor organization, Racial Equity and Justice. R.E.J provides resources and services for individuals, communities, & organizations while empowering Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities through different avenues of advocacy. One of many services they provide is state certified continuing education unit diversity and inclusion trainings.

The Peace and Justice Center has hyper focused on diversity and inclusion within the Center through trainings and diversity plan implementation while centering the voices of people with diverse identities on the decision making table and community organizing. We are excited to continue this work that supports multiculturalism within activist and other community spaces.

The Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine strives for a better world of peace, human rights, economic justice, and sustainable environment.

Please visit https://www.peacectr.org to see what groups are meeting at the Center, what we have been up to, and email us any inquiries on how to get involved.

The Peace and Justice Center has welcomed three new members to our Steering Committee:

Emma Cowing, John Bapst student, local activst, and youth organizer.

Lokotah Sanborn, community organizer, artist, musician, Indigenous rights advocate of Penobscot Nation.

Larry Dansinger, community organizer, NGO founder, social and economic justice advocate/activist, prison reformation and advocate

Education Event

Presentation by Vietnam veteran and peace activist Dud Hendrick, "The American Military -- Scourge of the Planet?" at 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16, at the Center

Bangor Bus Hub Stays In Pickering Square!

If you want to be more involved with issues like this please join Transportation For All

Who: Transportation for All is a group of bus riders, drivers and community members, supported by a coalition of local organizations: Food AND Medicine, Faith Linking in Action, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 714, Power in Community Alliances and Eastern Maine Labor Council

Why: Public transit is key to creating access to jobs and services, making sure all residents of our region can participate fully in public life, attracting people and businesses to our region and slowing the effects of climate change through reducing car travel. Transportation for All’s report shows the importance of evening bus service and other system improvements to make our region even more vibrant, equitable and sustainable.

transportationforall@foodandmedicine.org

Many thanks for the following donations in memory or honor of loved ones:

In honor of Silas Brogunier, from Michele Brogunier

Donate Now!

Peace & Justice Center 1/18/20 Peace & Justice Center 1/18/20

January 2020

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January is Human Trafficking Awareness & Prevention Month.

NAACP Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Annual Breakfast will be held at Monday Jan. 20th at 8am in the Well Center at U-Maine (Reservations needed).

Many people from our P&J community and abroad gathered together at Peirce Park and at REP. Golden's office for Trump Impeachment Rally a few weeks ago.

(This photo was taken by WABI)

We are so thankful to our members who have graciously donated after recieving the fall appeal letter. We still need everyone's help to reach our goal. We have been implementing important changes within the Center and we hope these changes will create monumental transformation for our greater community. Stay tuned! We are always looking for volunteers as well. Please shoot us an email if you have any questions or feedback concerning the fall appeal letter or volunteer inquiries. We appreacite you, and we look forward to every interaction with you!

We are excited to announce that our website has been updated. Please check the link below to view our new site!

https://www.peacectr.org/?fbclid=IwAR2K1p0ztZvUQjdf0HoF0s6lAl5PlPAUwND2kdIGXzsVjnWiaoMjR4ww6yw

Mass Incarceration Has Failed the People of Maine and the Nation.

Bigger Jails Don’t Solve Problems or Make Us Safer: A Call to Action

At this moment, more than 3 times as many people (per 100,000 residents) are incarcerated in Maine as in Canada. Five times more than in Norway. If Maine was a country, it would rank in the Top 10 of the world’s 195 nations with the most people incarcerated per 100,000 resident—in the company of Cuba, Rwanda and the Russian Federation. That’s the disturbing reality and it should be alarming to everyone.

In this New Year, those of us who care about Peace and Justice in Maine will have an opportunity to speak up for criminal justice reform and work to oppose a dramatic expansion of the Penobscot County Jail. As proposed, a bond issue of at least $65 million will be on the June ballot. It would enable the County to construct an enormous new facility adding cells and metal bunks for nearly 100 additional inmates.

The “No Penobscot County Jail Expansion” group has been formed by Mainers who believe we must address the problems that lead to incarceration--not simply expand capacity to hold more people. Mass incarceration has failed us in many ways. The waste in human potential and public resources has been substantial.

There’s a better way forward. Our group recognizes the need for a better, modern jail is Bangor, but not one that provides more space to cage people—the majority of whom are in “pretrial” status, meaning they’ve been convicted of nothing and are awaiting their day in court. Too many of these individuals can’t go home to keep their lives together and prepare an adequate defense, because they’re too poor or ill.

Your help is needed to make sure Peace and Justice are the priorities in 2020 when it comes to the criminal legal system in Maine. Whether you reside in Penobscot County or not, your voice and activism will be necessary to ensure the case is vigorously made for a just and hopeful vision of the future.

Please connect with us on Facebook, visit our website
www.nopenobscotcountyjailexpansion.com or write to us at nopenobscotjailexpansion@gmail.com. Together, we can make a difference!

A large brick was thrown through the windows at 96 Harlow Street which is the location of the Peace And Justice Center. All members of the center and bystanders were unharmed and are safe.The brick traveled through both the outside panes of glass on the street and through an additional window pane in the front of the Peace And Justice Center. At this time, there are several events scheduled for the upcoming week. If all cleanup and security measures are complete, we’d like to encourage those planning to hold events at the center to please continue to do so. During these times, it’s important for us to continue to walk in solidarity and to not lose sight of both our organization’s mission but also our commitment to peace & Justice in the community.

https://bangordailynews.com/2020/01/06/news/bangor/man-allegedly-throws-brick-through-windows-of-a-downtown-bangor-advocacy-group/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0Co3I9OXCFSWparH4s0Dwk2uWiYNrmrd6OiSxE-fnw9pGL-W24TV8bQgc#Echobox=1578345823

No War! More Peace!

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Peace & Justice Center 12/19/19 Peace & Justice Center 12/19/19

December 2019

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Although December has not been designated a special heritage month, it does contain celebratory days that are recognized internationally. On December 10 in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The document set forth the basic civil standard of economic, political, and social rights that should be guaranteed to every person. Each December, the commitment to this universal document of rights is renewed and celebrated. In addition, the United Nations has established December 3 as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This international observance was established to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights, and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also aims to foster awareness of the importance of integrating persons with disabilities into every aspect of life.

Maine Gun Safety Coalition

Legislative action to prevent gun violence appears to have paused, but the violence has not. Determined members of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition continue to press forward. Mary Ann Royal, Dave Witham, Charlotte Holbrook and Kevin Holmes of the Bangor chapter have worked throughout the month to continue much needed emphasis and action on Gun Control & Gun Violence. If you are interested in learning how you can help support this group in their work on such a critical issue of peace & justice, please email Christina Diebold at cpdiebold@gmail.com. Thank you again to all those who have worked to continually raise awareness and educate our community.

SPECIAL THANK YOU
THE PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER EDUCATION COMMITTEE

We are sad to announce the resignation of both Mary Ellen Quinn and Katherine Carter. Both members have served on the steering committee and contributed to the Center for years. Although they are retiring, they are not stepping back from the Center entirely. Kay will continue to be involved in groups like the Education Committee and Fundraising Team. In addition, Kay has also graciously volunteered to be a contact for both steering committee and members and she sites her extensive history/long term perspective as critical to the transition process of the Center.

Mary Ellen Quinn has also graciously volunteered to act as a consultant for the Center. Mary Ellen's leadership and insights have been a guiding light for the Center in recent years. Her selfless commitment to engaging and supporting new members while continuing the legacy of the Center has been a critical cornerstone to our current and future success.

We wish these two and their families nothing but the best. We are eternally grateful for their years of dedication and service to our environment, community peace initiatives, marginalized and underrepresented communities, as well as their desire to instill a culture of peace, justice, and accountability in all areas of their own lives.

Thank You to all those who helped make the
30th Annual Harvest Supper & Hands of Peace Awards a success

Congratulations again to Emma Cowing of Lincoln Maine. Emma is a John Bapst student who commutes to school everyday and recently began drives from Lincoln to participate in all Peace & Justice Center Events.

This year’s supper was attended by passionate and committed members of the center. We are thankful to all those who have supported us over the years and we look forward to your support in the future.

Peace & Justice Center
Consultants & Staff

Peace & Justice Center really appreciates Dawn Neptune Adams. We have had the privilege to work with Dawn in many spaces which Dawn brings so much value and passionate energy to. Dawn’s resiliency, wisdom, dedication to her relatives, and strength in water protecting are attributes we respect and honor. We look forward to future collaborative work with Dawn and continuing to seek her guidance and knowledge as a consultant.

(left); Desiree Vargass & Dawn Neptune Adams
(right); David Patrick & Dawn Neptune Adams

David Patrick, Program Coordinator of P&JC and Co-founder of Racial Equity and Justice, spoke at a conference with a panel addressing Land Justice: Acknowledging Our Past, Changing Our Futures. This panel brought together leaders across in Maine that are part of communities who have experienced land displacement and social marginalization. Land security & resource access are important conversations we need to be consistently having in addition to taking action on issues regarding farmland protection and land sovereignty.
Photos By Sunlight Media Collective

Desiree Vargas was asked to speak on a panel, Decolonizing Your Mind: With Indigenous Feminist Leadership along with Sherri Mitchell. This was a awesome panel with a great turnout. Intersectional Feminist Resource Center and UMaine Multi Cultural Center organized this panel for the for a lunch and learn.
Photos by Dawn Neptune Adams from Sunlight Media Collective

"There was an Indigenous Leadership Panel hosted by UMaine Multucultural Center and Wabanaki Center in honor of Native American Heritage Month in November. Everyone on the panel offered various valuable perspectives on the questions that were asked. Most of the questions asked by MJ Smith was surrounding the work we do combating white supremacy and how do we stay motivated and resilient. Something to think about. What motivates you to uplift your community and stand up against racism?"
-Desiree V

Here is a statement from Desiree whom gave a land acknowledgment and spoke at the U-Maine climate strike organized by Maine Climate Action Group.
"THE MISSING MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN, GIRLS, AND TWO SPIRIT EPIDEMIC IS DIRECTLY LINKED TO ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION AND CANNOT BE LEFT OUT OF CLIMATE CHANGE CONVERSATIONS, POLICIES, AND ACTIONS.
Indigenous communities everywhere are leading resistances against liberalism and capitalism as one of many ways to combat human caused climate change from increasing harm. From the Amazon jungles, to Africa, to the land of Puerto Rico, from the Mauna Kea in Hawaii, and to Penobscot River in Penobscot territory, Indigenous people are defending our non human relatives from desecration, toxicity, and exploitation.
We arena’t just activists defending & protecting the land, the water, and the plants...we are protecting and defending our relatives. We are protecting and defending ourselves."
-Desiree Vargas, P&J Program Coordinator, Racial Equity & Justice Co-founder, Higuayagua: Taino of the Caribbean, University of Maine Student, community organizer and activist.

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December 2022

Wednesday Peace Vigils Weekly at 12:00 Noon

Stay safe, warm, and in community.

Let Peace and Justice ring out this new year!

October 2022

Stop Killing Us Rally

Penobscot County Cares

Upcoming Event

Peace and Justice Center

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December 2021

November 2021

October 2021

September 2021

July 2021

June 2021

May 2021

April 2021

March 2021

February 2021

January 2021

December 2020

November 2020

August 2020

July 2020

February 2020

The Peace and Justice Center has welcomed three new members to our Steering Committee:

January 2020

December 2019

Maine Gun Safety Coalition

Location

Contact Us

Social Media

Wednesday Peace Vigils Weekly at 12:00 Noon

Stay safe, warm, and in community.Let Peace and Justice ring out this new year!

Stop Killing Us Rally

Penobscot County Cares

Upcoming Event

Peace and Justice Center

Find Us on Social Media

The Peace and Justice Center has welcomed three new members to our Steering Committee:

Maine Gun Safety Coalition

Location

Contact Us

Social Media

Stay safe, warm, and in community.

Let Peace and Justice ring out this new year!