Grieving Gaza In The Company Of The Ones Who Also See

Fifty people from all over the state converged on Waterville, Maine yesterday to grieve together. We came together to demand the U.S. government stop funding Israel, and stop arming genocide. It was remarkable to me how many of the fifty I did not know. This is a good thing!

A few who joined us were just passing by, saw our signs and banners, and joined in. Many who passed by honked in support.

Some had come from as far away as Calais up near the Canadian border.

Some had heard about the event from the men's coffee circle at their UU Church.

Some had heard about it from email, or social media, or word of mouth.

Some were on their second event of the day, having started at the annual Lenten vigil at General Dynamics' warship factory in Maine, while some had never protested before.

One person I've stood with many times in Bath spoke words like these: When I see a bomb, I rage. When I see a severed limb, I cry.

One told my husband they have lost a host of former friends who turned out to be Zionists. Yet another heartbreak.

Some were Veterans for Peace. Some were professors. Some were teachers. Some were caretakers, artists, carpenters, organizers, and students.

My husband's sign is hard to read here but it says "Resistance against occupation is a human right." Behind him, the banner reads in full, "No war with Russia." Because we are against that imperial project of death-dealing, too.

It nourished us being together and also knowing that some who could not be with us in person were nonetheless with us in spirit.

We will continue our resistance to genocide in our time, with our taxes. We will escalate our resistance this week, again. We will not stop if the U.S. imposes a temporary ceasefire so that Palestinians can be forced across the border at Rafah into a concentration camp in Egypt.

We will not be done until Palestine is free.

No Substitute For Respect - White Supremacists Infesting Maine, As Usual #mepolitics

 Elizabeth Ann Mitchell, Penobscot, On Why She Interrupted Janet Mills With Some Truth

Central Mainers often claim, We're not racist because there are no people of color around to be racist to. It's not true and never has been, but it's a pitch perfect example of why racism is not about the hatefulness of any individual. Racism is a systemic problem that affects and harms every single person living under it, no matter whether they are deemed by their appearance to be one of the "superior" group or one of the targeted groups.

Native people have maintained their culture, including language, while being sytematically robbed of their territory and persecuted for their beliefs in Maine. 

The Penobscot and Passamoquoddy are sovereign nations, and if anyone should leave so that a homogenous group of people can live in paradise, it certainly isn't Natives who should go. Skowhegan Area High School in central Maine continues to cling to its racist mascot the "Indian" despite the sobering testimony of Natives explaining how damaging this is to their children. 

Now lots of immigrants from around the globe have settled in Maine and are subject to racist harrassment and microaggressions daily. Check out this substitute teacher addressing a high school student with Lebanese ancestry. Brody Elahmar recorded her threatening him with deportation (though it's doubtful she knows such a big word) and ordering him to "speak her language." 

His comeback is priceless: "How many languages do you speak? I speak three."


Posted to YouTube by Brody Elahmar with the comment: "My teacher was harassing me because of my color !"

On the heels of this abuse of power by a public employee came news that the town manager of far north town Jackman is an avid white segragationist who invented a flag for an all-white New England devoted to Anglo culture that he imagines. With the ironic name Kawczynski, he is now trying to raise funds on a site called Hatreon (I can't make this shit up) that lacks guidelines banning hate speech like other crowdfunding sites have.

The town's selectmen may not have known about his desire to build an all-white "Albion" when they hired him, but he's been really active on social media since last November. Currently, they are conferring with their lawyer and I suspect he, like the substitute teacher, will be fired. 

The Chamber of Commerce in Jackman has already come out publicly in favor of firing him. 

(Too bad the Skowhegan Chamber of Commerce has not done the same; instead, it concocts racist promotions to "help" local businesses.) Jackman relies heavily on tourism for revenue, and a boycott would hit them where it hurts.

Here is the letter I sent to them via the contact listed on the town's website, Administrative Secretary Heidi.Dionne@Jackmanme.net:

Dear Jackman selectmen,

Your recently hired town manager, Tom Kawczynski, is making quite a splash as the public face of racism and religious bigotry in northern Maine. I am going to assume that you knew nothing of this when you hired him. Of course he is entitled to his views and to express them under the 1st amendment. But, in his capacity as town manager, encouraging those who share his hate to move to Jackman is problematic.

As a resident of central Maine along Route 201 I am concerned that a nearby town's manager is an active white supremacist. I hope the hateful crowds who descended on Charlottesville, Virginia last year do not feel welcome to congregate near my little town on the Kennebec.

As a teacher I will continue providing opportunities for children to learn what we all have in common: our humanity, our compassion, and our critical thinking abilities. As a history major I have a keen appreciation of what happens to societies who descend into hateful beliefs and practices. It is not a happy outcome for any group, however much they consider themselves "superior" to other people.

Sincerely,

Lisa Savage

Solon

I think such groups and individuals are afraid of competition. Who wants to be outdone by a teenager that speaks more languages than you do? 

Would it surprise you to learn that the KKK was active in Maine in the 1920's marching against Francophone immigrants who were taking "our" jobs?

The KKK in Maine is having a resurgence in these troubled times.

It is time for those quietly watching the rise of white supremacists in office to stand up and be counted.

Will Maine's Senator Susan Collins Sell Out Her Constituents To Enrich The Wealthy? She's Saying Yes, She Will

I wish I could say I was shocked to hear that Maine's Senator Susan Collins, often viewed as a moderate Republican swing vote, is going over to the dark side on tax reform.

That is "reform" that would saddle teachers like me with even more federal taxes than the 30% I already pay, and would eliminate most low and middle income tax shelters e.g. the mortgage deduction. Also tax student financial aid as if it were income.

Oh, and personhood for fetuses -- which is not a tax issue. But blocking access to legal, safe abortion is a signature of the nasty corporate party currently at the helm of the sinking ship of state. (You can view their whole stinking 429 page bill here.)

If I were wealthy enough (and creepy enough) to own a private jet, I would get a hefty write-off under the new law.


The bill already passed the House and was rushed along through the Senate's Budget Committee yesterday, before the requisite analysis by the Congressional Budget Office could be completed.

Now, a mere week before the Senate is likely to hold their vote, the analysis is out. Here's how it will affect taxpayers at all income levels:

Susan Collins had been sucking up to her corporate sponsors for years while trying to maintain a facade of moderation as she allegedly represents voters in a chronically poor state.


She's obviously ambitious and she knows which side her bread is buttered on. Here are just a few corporations that she has accepted $$$$ from in the last few years:

Anyone who cares to let Collins hear from them can use these numbers. But hurry, because they are rushing this legislation through Congress like Scrooge himself on the eve of Christmas:

Augusta:         (207) 622-8414

Bangor:         (207) 945-0417

Biddeford:         (207) 283-1101

Caribou:         (207) 493-7873

Lewiston:         (207) 784-6969

Portland:         (207) 780-3575

Washington, DC     (202) 224-2523

Troll Bait Hashtag #HereToStay Builds Solidarity On Twitter

I'm a sporadic twitter user mostly because lack of time doing my day job, plus not being glued to my phone which barely works at home in the woods. But I love twitter and it's my best news feed for sure; I joined it after experiencing the floodgates of facebook friending. 

Why did people who hated what I stood for in high school suddenly want to see my facebook posts? We're old enough now that apoplexy increases the risk of stroke, doesn't it?

Unitingwith undocumented immigrants & refugees in Lewiston . #heretostay #mepolitics pic.twitter.com/6LAowA8ukH

— Lisa Savage (@NaturalGuard) January 14, 2017

So with more careful following I built a more international and, yes, intellectual list of twitter users who bring me news I would never get from corporate sources (which I mostly ignore anyway).

But if I'm at a live event that seems to have broad significance, and I wasn't an organizer of the event so I can mingle and flirt with babies and take things in, I often tweet about it. Yesterday's attendance in Lewiston, Maine at one of the many January 14 immigration support rallies was such an opportunity for me.

The event poster and a twitter user I sat next to advised me that #heretostay was the hashtag du jour. Boy, did that turn out to be troll bait!

Many fine young poets from Maine's extensive Somali immigrant population took to the stage and I tweeted a few clips from their heartfelt words about growing up black and Muslim and, in the case of the women, covered in the whitest state in the U.S. 

One of many fine banners on display in Lewiston courtesy of ARRT!

Rakiya Mohamed, a student at nearby Bates College, read a message from her 21 year old self to her "fresh off the boat" childhood self. She also gave an interview to a WCSH reporter on the scene where she described a 10 year old girl being harassed and spit on at a 4th of July fireworks display.

It was often tough to catch the speakers' names or spell them correctly as there was no printed program. This poem entitled "Lazy Boy" spoke poignantly about the struggle to be a high school student and eldest brother of a family of first generation immigrants.

#HeretoStay in Lewiston #Maine pic.twitter.com/iUmSpTCJVt

— Lisa Savage (@NaturalGuard) January 14, 2017

One poet I could identify correctly was Tufts student Muna Mohamed whom I remembered from her days at Lewiston High School. She made the news there as part of a group that put up a Black Lives Matter educational poster only to have the principal take it down. And then, bowing to public pressure, put it back up again. Her poem about being mis-identified by others was one of the best.

Lewiston High School grad now at Tufts Muna Mohamed sharing her poem on being mis-identified #heretostay 💞#mepolitics pic.twitter.com/r0hN7R1wV8

— Lisa Savage (@NaturalGuard) January 14, 2017

Portland's first African-born Muslim city councilor, the recently elected Pious Ali, who hails originally from Ghana, spoke well. He asked for a show of hands about who among us were immigrants, the children of immigrants, or the grand and great grandchildren of immigrants. And who had a neighbor or friend or co-worker from a family of immigrants. Everybody, right?

About 500 people were in attendance at the (mercifully) indoor venue. We finished off by singing Neil Young's updated version of the classic Woodie Guthrie tune "This Land Is Your Land" together which was a beautiful experience.

Grand finale to Lewiston #Maine #heretostay" rally today👏🏻 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/yZBFFohbUO

— Lisa Savage (@NaturalGuard) January 14, 2017

This is the tweet that most seemed to anger those who dwell under the social media bridge. An avalanche of nasty replies -- the likes of which my twitter feed seldom sees -- awaited me this morning. I guess I struck a nerve, or maybe it's just that someone paid folks to troll for the #heretostay hashtag and churn out some vitriol in response.

Are they angry because their beautiful daughters can't afford to go to Tufts? Or because they imagine that refugees who work in nursing homes in Maine are taking jobs away from white people -- who don't want to work in nursing homes?

Not sure, but I do appreciate the traffic on my twitter feed.

I got many new followers, retweets and likes from being a citizen journalist at yesterday's rally. 

I'll end with my sign of the times, the one I carry in my vehicle and use to show that, as an ACLU lawyer observed, "Before the government can come after any individual in this room they'll have to come through all of us." Amen to that, sister.

In Lewiston #Maine with immigrants & refugees today. Glad y'all are #heretostay. @mainepeople 💞#mepolitics pic.twitter.com/itv8ayartq

— Lisa Savage (@NaturalGuard) January 14, 2017