Newsletter #7: Use The First Amendment… or Lose It
The Audacity: Creative Action Together | AudacityCAT.com
Newsletter #7, March 13 2025
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Contents:
IMMEDIATE CALL: HELP ANGUS KING MAKE HIS "TOUGH CHOICE"
THE AUDACITY IS ACTIVE: RECENT WORK
THE TOWN HALL PETITION IS GETTING CLOSE: SIGN AND SHARE!
UPCOMING ACTIONS AND MEETINGS
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO SUCCEED? Help us with a Wish List!
CALLING AGAIN FOR PERSONAL TESTIMONY
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1. IMMEDIATE CALL FOR ACTION: CALL ANGUS KING TO HELP HIM MAKE HIS "TOUGH CHOICE!"
Sometimes leaders forget how to lead with moral courage, and then it's up to the people to lead them. Sen. Angus King said in a story that “It’s a tough choice” whether to vote down the House spending bill that undermines democracy and devastates federal agencies.
Please call Sen. King's offices TODAY to tell him NO on the Republican spending bill and NO on cloture. Senator Angus King can be contacted in Augusta at 207-622-8292 and in Washington DC at 202-224-5344.
2. The Audacity is Active: Recent Work
The Audacity's working groups are really hitting their stride, with important work being done. The singing group hit the 100-person mark again last Saturday, with lots of good spirit despite a nasty, cold wind. There's a lot of positive response to the singing efforts, which will continue every Saturday at Noon in Chapman Park (Park & Main Streets) in Rockland.
More than ten members of the Visual Art group met along with the Button group last week in the Hope Town Hall meeting space and made a load of posters and original, one-of-a-kind buttons to distribute.
The Audacity's theater group responded rapidly to prepare inspiring testimony with a heart-rending accompanying visual as they spoke before the Rockland City Council on Monday evening. Watch Abi Morrison's highly effective testimony, supported by Annegien Zuidema, Peter Yaz, Marjorie Strauss, and other members of the theater working group on our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xptvXcxylhk
The action received a write-up in the Midcoast Villager at https://www.midcoastvillager.com/news/publicsafety/rockland-council-oks-resolve-backing-pd/article_c97d5b2e-fe85-11ef-a293-27d1e76ffa85.html , magnifying the message about mistreatment of immigrants in Trump's America and also magnifying the message that folks in the Midcoast are not taking this lying down. Share the article and the video via social media!
The fundraising group has been meeting and is developing literature describing The Audacity and its needs, to print and distribute to folks who might be able to support our efforts. We're also getting an application prepared to win access to online fundraising tools -- check upcoming newsletters for an update on this important work. Thanks, Treasurer Jessie Davis!
3. The Town Hall Petition is Getting Close: Sign and Share!
We're building solid support for a Town Hall nearby. As part of that effort, we are collecting signatures. We call on all Mainers of conscience to TAKE ACTION and SIGN OUR PETITION FOR A PUBLIC TOWN HALL in Knox County with our members of Congress, Representative Chellie Pingree, Senator Angus King, and Senator Susan Collins. When we reach 1,000 signatures, we will deliver our petition to each of our representatives for a prompt response.
Here's the petition link: https://audacityspace.org/petition-for-an-open-public-town-hall-in-knox-county-maine-with-our-congressional-representatives/
It looks like we're on track to surpass 1,000 signatures within the next week, which would put us on schedule to call for town halls during the two-week April congressional break, but the sooner we get past 1,000 signatures the better; it gives us more negotiating time, publicity time, and planning time. Please sign that petition if you haven't already. Also, please SHARE that petition link everywhere you can.
4. Upcoming Actions and Meetings
There's quite a bit of social movement activity coming up, with meetings and readings and viewings and singing protest all around:
Friday, March 14 at Noon at the Maine State House in Augusta: A Veterans March in Augusta has obtained a permit, which means it will be protected by the Capitol Police. The organizers ask that folks focus their signs on support for veterans as the Trump administration yanks away that support.
Friday, March 14, 6:30 PM: Watch the documentary The Singing Revolution at The Neighborhood UCC in Bath, then join in group protest singing afterward
Saturday, March 15, NOON: Public Square Sing-Out in Rockland (Park & Main). Bring your signs, bring your voices, bring your drums, and bring three friends!
Sunday, March 16, NOON-3 PM: Visual Arts and Buttons groups meet at the Hope Library in the Hope Town Office, 441 Camden Road ( Rt. 105). You should be able to find it using GPS, or just coming out of Camden on Washington St., which becomes Rt 105. The group will be working on posters, buttons, scarves, and whatever else they come up with. Bring supplies if you can; we will have some there.
Wednesday, March 19, 6:00 PM: A Night of Poetry for International Women's Day at the Belfast Free Library will be held. This contemplative event has the potential to inspire many to action.
Saturday, March 3/22, 1:15 pm: the Theater group meets at the Universalist Church of Rockland, 345 Broadway. What will the theater group come up with next? Find out, and make sure your dreams are included. Be there!
To find more details on these events, visit The Audacity's events page at https://www.audacitycat.com/events . We also have the month's upcoming events regularly updated in calendar format at our Resistance Links page: https://www.audacitycat.com/maine-resistance-links .
Do you have or know of a public social movement meeting or event that's coming up around these parts but that isn't on this list? Let us know by sending an e-mail message to contact@audacitycat.com and we'll add it to both the list and the calendar.
5. What Do You Need To Succeed? Help us Draw Up a Wish List
The fundraising group has been meeting and is developing literature describing The Audacity and its needs, to print and distribute to folks who might be able to support our efforts. In order to develop a strong wish list for what might meet funding needs, we need to know what you wish for! So please write contact@audacitycat.com to describe what resource you wish you had access to for activist work, what you could do with it, and how much it costs. Thanks.
6. Calling Again for Personal Testimony!
Activism is storytelling. On our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@TheAudacityCAT we're telling the story of ourselves through videos, mostly with song so far. But there is one member interview (thanks, Beedy Parker!) and it's relatively popular; see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qmweFZl2og on YouTube. The more we can connect our individual experiences to the struggle of the nation, the better we'll do in bringing people on board. If you'd like to have a video interview for The Audacity's YouTube channel, send an email to contact@audacitycat.com and we'll find a time.
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Feeling daunted? Natural. Feeling scared? Understandable. But as long as vulnerable people are being hurt, we need to keep putting one foot in front of the other. As we sing on the street corner on Saturdays, we must act, and when we do, we lead with love. Many stones can form an arch, singly none, singly none.
Best,
James Cook
Facilitator, The Audacity
