Newsletter #15: Our Resolve and What’s To Come
Website Bluesky Facebook Donate
The Audacity Newsletter #15: Our Resolve and What's to Come
Our next whole-group meeting of The Audacity is May 3, 10-11:30 AM, at the Universalist Church of Rockland (345 Broadway). Come to help shape who we are... then get to Chapman Park at Noon!
Newsletter #15: April 30, 2025
Contents:
1. Well Done! Many Successes
2. Our Resolve: What's Coming and Why We Must Prepare
3. Choosing your Actions to Fit your Visibility
4. What's to Come: Actions, Events and Meetings
1. Well Done! Many Successes
So much good work is being done, with ongoing planning by various working groups and actions and events unfolding. Among The Audacity's successes, last night's fundraiser at Flatbread in Rockport, organized by Will Neils, Gabe Zacchai, and Celena Zacchai, brought in more than $500 for the Penobscot Nation Food Pantry on Indian Island. Also, last Saturday we started collecting food and hygiene items for the AIO food pantry. We gathered 86 pounds of food and 38 pounds of hygiene products that dropped off at AIO Monday morning. Thank you to all who participated! If you’d like to join in this effort, please drop by our Saturday noon gathering in Rockland’s Chapman Park, at the corner of Park & Main -- we will keep.
140 people turned out in a driving rain, and our YouTube short videos with two dozen people explaining their perseverance are getting a lot of views. There was a first rehearsal of a street band. There was a first gathering of a political art journaling group.
There are more successes that The Audacity has under its belt, and we are accelerating thanks to your dedication -- I'd like to celebrate your work in upcoming newsletters; tell me all about it by emailing contact@audacitycat.com.
2. Our Resolve: What's Coming and Why We Must Prepare
A year ago, I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would ever say what I'm about to say. Stick with me here, though, and read the resources to which I've linked.
If you only follow the largest corporate-owned news media, you may have missed an important, deeply disturbing new executive order. Only second-tier, lower-circulation media such as The Nation, The New Republic, Rolling Stone, and AlterNet appear to be fully covering the provisions of the executive order.
The full text of the Executive Order of April 28 is available for you to read here, but I'd like to draw your attention to two sections.
Section 4 authorizes the domestic deployment of the military within the next 88 days from today, April 30:
Sec. 4. Using National Security Assets for Law and Order. (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the heads of agencies as appropriate, shall increase the provision of excess military and national security assets in local jurisdictions to assist State and local law enforcement.
(b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall determine how military and national security assets, training, non-lethal capabilities, and personnel can most effectively be utilized to prevent crime.
And Section 2 says that "pro bono" (free) legal work by private lawyers will be deployed to defend officers who are accused of breaking the law in these activities:
Sec. 2. Legal Defense of Law Enforcement Officers. The Attorney General shall take all appropriate action to create a mechanism to provide legal resources and indemnification to law enforcement officers who unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken during the performance of their official duties to enforce the law. This mechanism shall include the use of private-sector pro bono assistance for such law enforcement officers.
These are the private-sector law firms that succumbed to pressure from the Trump administration to stop representing people hurt by the government and to give away hundreds of millions of dollars of free legal work for causes supported by Trump in order to avoid the loss of government contracts and loss of access to government buildings such as courthouses. Many have wondered why the Trump administration would bully corporate law firms into agreeing to pursue pro bono work, and now we know.
As for the domestic deployment of the military for "law enforcement," this is forbidden by the Posse Comitatus Act, unless the Insurrection Act is invoked. Yes, the same Insurrection Act that Donald Trump directed the Attorney General to research and return recommendations on by April 20, a date which recently passed.
What does this all mean, put together? Donald Trump almost always tells us what he's going to do, and once he says he's going to do something, he always tries.
This is my reading of the tea leaves:
Under the guise of protecting us from "dangerous" immigrants (who actually commit crime at a lower rate than people born in the United States), before the end of July we will see deployment of the military across the country, at first to deport immigrants.
Any attempt to challenge this action in the courts will be countered by a massive deployment of lawyers by the nation's wealthiest law firms.
People will protest this outrageous action -- and we already know that Donald Trump has labeled dissenters as "criminals."
In a move that will shock the mainstream media but should not surprise you, Donald Trump will declare that protesters are criminals and start to use the military to suppress acts of public dissent by immigrants and natural-born citizens alike.
It may be that my reading of this pattern is wrong, but consider that Donald Trump has been talking about going after protesters for a long, long time. Consider also that this exact progression has occurred many times in history in many nations. This scenario is within the realm of possibility, and we need to begin to prepare for it as a group.
This is one reason why you need to turn out for our Mass Meeting of The Audacity in Rockland this Saturday, May from 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM at the First Universalist Church of Rockland (345 Broadway). It's time for us to plan our community responses to this encroaching authoritarianism. If we wait until a crackdown starts, it will be too late.
3. Choosing your Actions to Fit your Visibility
Since its inception, The Audacity has been organized around the idea that we will have very broad boundaries:
nonviolence
opposition to authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption
support of democracy, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Within those boundaries, different groups will come together based on mutual interest to make creative events and art happen with different points of view and using different methods. Within our boundaries, we're going to agree that we won't always like what others in the group do or how they do it, but we'll take that in stride.
With that in mind, it's important for us to take a moment to talk about one particular issue: our Saturday at Noon events as public demonstrations, and what that means for visibility.
The Saturday at Noon weekly demonstrations are just one part of what The Audacity does. But for those weekly demonstrations, we are making ourselves visible not just to hearten one another but to show the public who we are. This includes members of the public who are there, members of the public who see photos taken by the news media, and members of the public who see photos and videos shared via social media.
The public demonstration actions of The Audacity, like those every week on Saturday, are explicitly to be shared. We hope that people will take photos and videos and share it, which is not only legal when someone is in public but is the whole idea of the enterprise: to spread the word of visible public resistance. News media take these public photos all the time and don’t ask permission. If you participate in those actions, therefore, we won't collect privacy waivers or ask everyone permission to have their images captured. To do so is not an invasion of privacy laws, and indeed the ACLU reaffirms that “taking photographs and video of things that are plainly visible in public is a constitutional right.”
What does that mean if you'd rather not have your picture taken? All people who are concerned at the prospect of having their photo taken should know that The Audacity has other events, and if you have some in mind an action that might have more tight privacy practices, all you have to do is come by our Saturday meeting (10 AM, 345 Broadway) and declare your intention to start work on one and ask for help from fellow members. Also, there are other resistance groups they might want to join that are more voluntarily private. That’s why it’s good to have lots of groups. Check out Activate Maine online for a list of groups: Wellkeepers in Belfast and Midcoast Solidarity in Waldoboro are two of them.
What this all boils down to is that our public events are very much to be documented as much as possible, because that is desperately needed in these times -- but that if you aren't comfortable with your image being captured, there are many other ways you can get involved.
4. What's to Come: Actions, Events and Meetings
Here is a list of upcoming meetings and actions:
Movie: The Singing Revolution
Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 5:45 PM - 8:00 PM
Abbott Room of the Belfast Free Library.
Watch a film about how one nation used creativity to subvert an empire.
May Day Bridge Rally in Damariscotta
Thursday, May 1, 2025, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Damariscotta-Newcastle Bridge, Newcastle, ME.
Lincoln County Indivisible is holding this rally as part of a national day of action, demanding justice, equality, and dignity for all working people.
Cooperation Among Cooperatives Conference
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Edward Little High School, 77 Harris Street, Auburn, ME.
The 11th Annual Principle Six Conference will feature a keynote by Esteban Kelly, a panel discussion, and skill-building workshops on cooperatives. Register at www.maine.coop/events.
Mass Meeting of The Audacity in Rockland
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
First Universalist Church, 345 Broadway, Rockland, ME.
A mass meeting to plan community responses to encroaching authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. All those who support democracy are invited.
Patriots, Show Yourselves! Demonstration to Defend Democracy
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Chapman Park (Park & Main Streets), Rockland, ME.
Sing together, pick up a free buttons, connect with neighbors, and make a public demonstration of your nonviolent indignation and resolve.
Panel: Guardrails for Our Democracy
Friday, May 9, 2025, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Watts Hall, downtown Thomaston.
Hosted by the Knox County Democratic Committee. Panelists include Shenna Bellows, Aaron Frey, Garrett Martin, and Anna Kellar, discussing threats posed by budget cuts, program cuts, and executive orders.
Midcoast Women Event on Active Participation in Democracy
Saturday, May 10, 2025, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
The First Universalist Church, 345 Broadway, Rockland.
A free, public event providing ways to foster the democratic process, with segments on mental health through local engagement, engaging legislators, activist groups, and a panel of young leaders.
Rockland Rally to Protect Democracy
Saturday, May 10, 2025, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Chapman Park (Park & Main Streets), Rockland, ME. Note: The address 294 Main Street is also listed but the description specifies Chapman Park.
Sing together, pick up a free buttons, connect with neighbors, and make a public demonstration of your nonviolent indignation and resolve.
Rally for Voting Rights
Saturday, May 10, 2025, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Courtyard between the Maine State House and the Cross Office Building.
Join the Save Maine Absentee Voting coalition to kick off their campaign, learn about a referendum, and protect Maine's voting laws. Co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Maine.
Belfast Resistance Faire
Saturday, May 10, 2025, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM. Note: The time is listed as 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM initially but the description says 1-5 PM.
Belfast Unitarian Universalist Church, 37 Miller Street, Belfast ME.
A free event organized from the grassroots. The purpose: a gathering for people and organizations from across the Midcoast region to connect, form coalitions, and share ways to advance justice. There will be tabling space, workshops, and musical gatherings.
If you haven't been to an action yet, please turn out if you can. The only way we can prevent the sure doom of a looming authoritarian state is to take on some limited risk now, while we can. This takes courage... a word that derives from the French word for "heart." If I have seen anything in the last three months of activism in the Midcoast, it is that we are full of heart. Let it shine!
- James Cook, Facilitator, The Audacity
