Greetings!As we celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday, people across the country and across the world will be fighting for their basic rights. How can you celebrate in a way that honors them?
Our long time Office Manager Wendy Coe is retiring in January, so we are looking for a new Office Manager to join the team! Job components include: Financial and database management, general operations, allied group support, human resources, and more. Visit our website for more information and to apply.
Community Voices for Immigrant Rights (CVIR) is gearing up for its 12th open community meeting on Monday, December 9 at Rights & Democracyin Burlington.
Since July, CVIR has harnessed the power of local support for the immigrant community by holding teach-ins, rapid response trainings, and large-scale demonstrations. Grassroots organizers connected through these open community meetings have been working diligently to support Migrant Justice campaigns such as No Mas Polimigra in Burlington, which aims to strengthen the state’s “Fair and Impartial Policing” policy by encouraging local police departments to go beyond state requirements and create a firewall between local officers and federal deportation agents.
We are excited to support Migrant Justice’s annual phone-banking party to raise critically needed operational funds. To signup for a shift, follow this link. CVIR will be “hosting” on December 2, but there are additional opportunities on the Dec. 3, 4, and 5 from 5-9PM.
Every CVIR meeting offers free childcare. Contact vermont@womensmarch.com if you would like to attend but need childcare. We always start our meetings off with a delicious meal generously donated by the People’s Kitchen of the Vermont Workers’ Center and lively casual conversation.
With winter distractions and impeachment malaise, it is critical that we continue to show up and assert our commitment to our most impacted communities. CVIR meetings are a great outlet for both new and seasoned organizers, introverts and extroverts, to get involved and build community with an overarching common goal.
As holidays from various cultures approach, we in one way or another are preparing for the coming together of family, both biological and chosen. The tradition here in the United States is to celebrate the holiday known as “Thanksgiving” which is a false narrative of the Pilgrim and Native interactions in the 16th and 17th centuries. I’m sure you were taught the stories and were made to choose who you would end up representing in the reenactment of the first “thanksgiving dinner.” If you were like me, then you were automatically looked at to be the “chief” unless there was a male in the room who “looked more Indian.” Of course, it was supposed to be received as a “great honor.” This is coded racism -- a reminder that my people should be thankful for the genocide we were made to endure.
I am a young biracial woman who is proud to practice in my Indigenous Lakota ways. I grew up attending predominantly white schools where I was taught that same history of Thanksgiving. All while hearing my grandmother’s oral history of our people. I remember being confused, thinking to myself, “Why does no one understand the pain that swells in my heart when we talk about this holiday?” I remember the lessons I have been taught all my life and all through the year about the importance of family, community, and what a gift it is to be of service to the ones we love and who choose to love us in return.
For people interested in resisting large corporations, the many sins of Amazon are discussed so often that it has almost become cliché. However, due to its unusually broad influence on the marketplace and our lifestyle, a constant reminder of the real human cost that comes with supporting Amazon is perhaps necessary. From horrifying labor abuse, a shocking factory workplace culture, and a long-standing record of environmental degradation and resource extraction, Amazon has done more than its fair share to contribute to our current planetary crisis. All of this further enriches Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos who is already far and away the richest person on the planet.
One area of abuse that has received less attention until quite recently is Amazon’s relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and their profiteering off the mistreatment and abuse of immigrant families. In our current moment of increased attention to the struggles faced by immigrants and the fight for migrant justice, it is imperative that we cast our gaze at the way that Amazon is again contributing to the problem. We should rethink our financial relationship with Amazon and focus on supporting fair trade and local producers.
6-8pm, RAD Organizing Team Meeting. 423 Main St, Bennington
6-8pm, Sister Cities: Peace in Our Times, Citizen Diplomacy and the Creation of a Municipal Foreign Policy. ONE Community Center, 3rd floor, 20 Allen St, Burlington
Toxic Whiteness Discussion GroupMonday, December 16, 5:30-6:30pm, PJC. A space for white people to process how white supremacy culture is toxic to them. We hope by joining this space, they'll let the emotional needs of POC take priority in multiracial spaces. FREE
Community Voices for Immigrant Rights, Monday, December 9, 5:30-7:30pm, 241 N Winooski Ave.Join us as we work to amplify local organizing efforts in support of immigrant rights with an emphasis on No Mas Polimigra and educational events. This is a perfect opportunity for new and seasoned organizers alike to join in community in defense of human rights. Free dinner from 5:30-6. Free child care available upon request, please email Women's March VT. Location is wheelchair accessible.FREE
Talking with Kids About Racism Wednesdays January 15, 22, and 29, 5:30-7:30pm Talking With Kids About Racism at The Schoolhouse, South Burlington. Talking about race and racism can be difficult -- especially with children. But that does not mean we shouldn't have these conversations. This three-part program is for all who are concerned about the impact of racism and/or white privilege on our children. Learn tools to discuss these issues with children in a meaningful and age-appropriate way through resources, discussion, and role playing. Co-Sponsored by The Schoolhouse. More information and registration coming soon.
Looking for a chance to get involved in social justice work while receiving class credit and a one of a kind experience? Then join our intern team! Our newly restructured internship program allows for fluidity between our focus areas, so you can be involved in more of our work!Visit our website for more info and to apply!
Voices for Palestine: Meanwhile, In Gaza...
-Mark Hage, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine
A 2018 report by the World Health Organization found that “there was an unprecedented number of attacks on healthcare in the Gaza Strip in the context of the Great March of Return.”
Over the course of last year, there were 369 attacks against healthcare workers and service providers in Gaza, resulting in the killing of three health workers and 570 injuries; 41 of the injuries resulted from live ammunition.
Today, Rana Hussein, a nurse in Gaza City, “says that more than 60 cancer drugs are unavailable in Gaza. Treatments for diabetes and some kidney complaints are hard to find, too.” There are also “250 patients with thalassemia [a blood disorder] who lack medication.”
Do you have noise concerns related to the F-35s? Call the Vermont Air National Guard and let them know: (802) 338-3000 x3.
Flynn Vouchers
Pick up a voucher for these shows at PJC and pay $2 cash at the box office. For current PJC
members and volunteers. For information on membership click here. Limited supply!
Mayhem Poets
Student matinee Grades 4-12: December 2, 9:30am & 12pm.
Engaging, funny, and powerfully in tune with the real issues that students face each day, the Mayhem Poets impart a hip and positive message that inspires future generations of young people to study and write poetry in classical and contemporary forms, while embracing diversity, non-violence, and a strong sense of self.
DBR
Student matinee Grades 4-12: December 12, 10am
Over the course of ten months, Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) visits Vermont for five week-long residencies designed to connect our community, celebrate both our individuality and commonality, and present a view of a world made richer through diversity. DBR was chosen as the first Community Artist-in- Residence for the breadth of his genre-bending work and, as the son of a Haitian immigrant, his ability to facilitate cultural exchange in our community.
VT Abenaki Artist Association
Student matinee Grades 4-12: December 18, 9:30am
Performance by Abenaki singer-songwriter Bryan Blanchette. With Nikwôbi, the Abenaki word for “now,” Bryan introduces students to Abenaki culture with a performance of traditional and modern Abenaki songs, using contemporary and traditional instruments of the Abenaki people.
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Hours are subject to change. Call (802) 863-2345 x2 to confirm.
Location
60 Lake Street, Suite 1C
Burlington's Waterfront.
(Next to Skinny Pancake)
Action Alerts:
Protect Apache and Palestinian Land
The San Carlos Apache Tribe is battling Resolution Copper mining company, who plans to build a copper mine at Oak Flat in Arizona. Resolution Copper's plan would create a crater below Oak Flat two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep, destroying the tribes sacred site.
The act of taking Indigenous People's land has been happening since Europeans first arrived here. With Thanksgiving a few days away, we must ask ourselves if we're okay with the continued exploitation of Indigenous People and their land. The answer should be no.
Click below to sign a petition to voice your support of keeping Oak Flat safe from destruction.
On Monday, November 18, 2019, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reversed 40 years of US policy and crossed international law by falsely stating that Israeli settlements do not violate international law.
His statement goes against the State Department legal opinion that stated that civilian settlements in the occupied territories are “inconsistent with international law.” The U.S. must stop harming Palestinians through such statements and policies and insist that Israel immediately halt all construction of settlements and related infrastructure.
Add your name to letter condemning Pompeo’s statement.
