Activism – Page 4

July 22, 2016July 22, 2016

PVD Black Lives Matter Day of Action calls for passage of Community Safety Act

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The Providence City Hall Council Chamber was packed over capacity. The crowd was so raucous and loud it was hard to hear the speakers on their microphones.

“I Sabina Matos, would like to pass the Community Safety Act.”

“Seconded.”

Voice after voice pledged their support for the Community Safety Act.

“I, Seth Yurdin, would like to pass the Community Safety Act.”

“I, Sam Zurier, would like to pass the Community Safety Act.”

The Community Safety Act (CSA) passed unanimously. Not a single voice spoke against it. The City Council Chamber erupted in cheers and applause.

It was a brilliant moment.

But the Providence City Council never actually voted. Minutes before the City Council was to begin their meeting, their last meeting before taking a break for vacation, hundreds of protesters in support of Black Lives Matter had crossed the street from Kennedy Plaza and entered the chamber en masse. They took the seats of city councillors and acted out what passing the CSA might look like.

The CSA never passed. It has only recently been scheduled for consideration, when the City Council comes back in September.

As the crowd filed out of the chamber, Nick Katkevich of the FANG Collective asked a just arriving City Councillor Seth Yurdin if he would really support the CSA when the time came.

“I don’t support the CSA,” said Yurdin.

Neither does Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza or Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré.

Fifteen minutes earlier crowds gathered at Kennedy Plaza, across the street from City Hall. The Movement for Black Lives had called a nationwide, July 21 Collective Action for Freedom, in response to the recent slew of high profile police killings. In Providence, the action was organized by the Step Up Coalition to Pass the Community Safety Act and the White Noise Collective RI around the idea of supporting the CSA.

2016-07-21 Pass the CSA 034 — Vanessa Flores-Maldonado

The proposed Providence ordinance has 12 key points pertaining to police interactions with community members, including providing interpretation, documenting traffic stops in a standardized manner, and limiting police collaboration with other law enforcement agencies such as ICE. The CSA would also reestablish the Providence External Review Authority (PERA) with the power to recommend that Public Safety and Police Department budgets be reapportioned to youth recreation and job training programs.

“We don’t want to compromise on the safety of our community. When you have women dying in jail because they didn’t use a turn signal or youth being shot in cold blood for having toy guns in an open carry state, we can’t compromise,” said Community Safety Act Campaign Coordinator, Vanessa Flores-Maldonado. “We need police accountability now because no one feels safe in our community.”

The campaign recently scored a win when organizers secured a public hearing for the CSA at the beginning of September. The “mock hearing” was organized to put additional pressure on the City Council to pass the CSA.

At the mock hearing, Flores -Maldonado spoke directly to the city council members present, including Council President Luis Aponte, saying that the city council should listen to what the people had to say.

The protest left city hall and marched up Washington St towards the Providence Public Safety Complex, where people gave a series of speeches in support of the CSA, hiring more teachers of color, community defense, and abolishing the police. Here the speeches were in turn thoughtful and emotional. I would recommend them to those seeking a better understanding of these issues.

After leaving the public safety complex the march continued on to Cathedral Square, where there was some last words before the march disbanded.

July 21, 2016July 21, 2016

The Toxic Tour of South Providence

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South Providence, at the port, is one of the heaviest concentrations of toxic chemical storage in New England, and not coincidentally, those who live in the area suffer the highest rates of asthma. Sherrie Anne Andre of the FANG Collective and Julian Rodríguez-Drix of the Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island lead a tour of over 60 people, including Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, along Allens Avenue, pointing out some of the worst polluters in our state.

The Rhode Island Recycled Metals facility was the first stop. In 2015 the US Coast Guard revealed that the site was operating without proper permits. As a result the facility was not in compliance with laws regarding oil spillage and storm water run-off. In general, recycling is a good and positive thing. But when done without concern for the health and safety of residents and the environment, the losses can outweigh the gains.

2016-07-21 Toxic Tour 015 — The tour passes through Motiva

Motiva Enterprises LLC occupies both sides of Allens Avenue. Chemical piping actually runs underneath the road. Motiva is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Shell Oil. Here in Providence the facility is the largest of many fuel terminals in the port and a major importer of petroleum products. It receives regular shipments via tanker ship and exports via truck. The Port of Providence is the entry point for the majority of fuels that power southern New England. In 2014 Motiva managed 34,425 pounds of toxic waste products. Over 1000 pounds of toxic waste was emitted into the air, making Motiva the largest air emitter in the City of Providence.

Ethanol trains come through the port every week. Known as “bomb trains” elsewhere in the United States, similar trains were banned in Boston because of safety and toxic concerns. The ethanol is mixed at the Motiva facility and transported out.

2016-07-21 Toxic Tour 008 — Rhode Island Recycled Metals

Univar is the largest facility in the area. It is a wholesale chemical distributor and chlorine manufacturer. As far as is known, though Univar produces chemicals used in fracking, they are not manufactured or stored in Rhode Island. There are 3.3 million pounds of toxic chemicals stored at the Univar facility. It is the most dangerous facility in all of Rhode Island, with a 14 mile hazard radius. Stored here are 1.4 million pounds of chlorine gas, 1.2 million pounds of anhydrous ammonia, 626,400 pounds of ammonium and 35,000 pounds of formaldehyde. each one requires a chemical risk assessment plan from the Environmental Protection Agency.

National Grid wants to upgrade its facilities at the Port of Providence by installing a liquefaction plant on the premises. This would allow the company to supercool LNG so that it becomes more compact, allowing the company to store much more LNG on the premises. Note that LNG is fracked methane, imported through pipelines to the facility. These pipelines, owned by Spectra Energy, run through Burrillville, through Cumberland, and across the bay from East Providence.

The existing storage tank is filled by truck. It takes about 2600 trucks to fill the 24.2 million gallon tank, said Andre.

The proposed LNG liquefaction facility will cost $180 million. These costs will most likely be passed on to consumers. The facility will be located between National Grid’s existing storage tank and the Univar facility. The energy required to power the liquefaction is equivalent to half of the energy generated by Deepwater Wind, the first offshore wind farm in the United States, presently under construction off the coast of Rhode Island.

One more concern: National Grid is located on the former site of a manufactured gas plant. The soil in the area is soaked with chemicals from when a company squeezed gas from coal, a toxic process that permanently contaminated the land. The RI Department of Environmental Management has records of dozens of other leaking, underground tanks in this area. “The soil we are walking on is known to be toxic,” said Rodríguez-Drix.

On the National Grid site, some of the chemical contaminants have been capped with the intention of keeping the contamination from further spreading, but this capping will be disturbed when construction begins, allowing the wind to carry the toxins into the air and into the bay for the two years of construction.

Below is video of the tour:

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein attended the Toxic Tour, and talked about the Green New Deal.

Raymond Two-Hawks spoke about the aboriginal response to the continued denigration of his ancestral lands.

Laura Perez is running for House District 11 against incumbent state Representative Grace Diaz.

Sheila Calderone is a resident of South providence and a member of the Environmental Justice League who suspects that illnesses she has suffered are a result of the pollutants she has been exposed to while growing up in the area.

2016-07-21 Toxic Tour 018 — Julian Rodríguez-Drix

2016-07-21 Toxic Tour 021 — Raymond Two-Hawks

2016-07-21 Toxic Tour 022 — Sheila Calderone

July 19, 2016July 24, 2016

Visiting Burrillville’s MTBE contamination site

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During the three day march from Providence to Burrillville, ahead of Governor Raimondo’s meeting with residents, the people protesting Invenergy‘s planned $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant made one small detour to the site of the 2001 MTBE disaster that affected and even destroyed so many lives in Pascoag. On the site of a long dead ExxonMobil Gas Station, overgrown with weeds and bushes, where only rubble and dirt remain, the marchers gathered to refresh themselves and listen to the stories of an environmental disaster.

Pascoag resident Thomas Sylvester laid out the scene for everyone. The gas station is on a hill. The contaminated water wells are about a quarter mile down the road. “Under where we are standing there is shell ledge and bedrock that is permeated with gasoline,” said Sylvester, “we speak about MTBE but really what we’re talking about is a gas spill.”

The wells that were contaminated were new. It took only months to reveal that they were contaminated. “What this means is that this gas station was leaking for a long time before those wells ever went in,” said Sylvester, “MTBE is a tracer, it’s the first contaminant to come out.” This means that the rest of the gasoline, and all the “really nasty stuff” that makes it up, is right behind the MTBE. In truth, the MTBE is only a small part of the problem, and a sign of bigger problems ahead.

Opening the well down the hill won’t remediate the area, says Sylvester. If someone were truly interested in remediating the water, the would put a well “almost where we are standing.” Using the well down the hill will only draw more contaminants down the hill, the “really nasty stuff” that right now is contained beneath the long dead Mobil station. The plan currently under consideration by Invenergy will draw more contaminants into the aquifer says Sylvester. Residents with their own wells might find their water becoming contaminated years from now.

There were a thousand homes and 4000 residents affected by the MTBE contamination. It took years for the state to be involved. People hired their own water safety experts, hired their own lawyers. There was no Energy Facilities Siting Board to hear their worries.

Sylvester first noticed the contamination when his wife was nursing their son, and the baby’s face became red and irritated where it came in contact with his wife’s skin. She had recently taken a shower, and the MTBE was hurting her baby. The sweet smell of the contamination filled the house. Sylvester began putting saran wrap over the toilets. He used bottled water in his house’s steam heating to minimize exposure to the well water. He and his family bathed and did laundry at their relative’s homes. They went without water, except for toilets, for 248 days.

Terri Lacey told the story of her niece and nephew, who “lived right around the corner.” They had a little girl at the time. Lacey’s niece developed thyroid cancer and her nephew developed Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Her nephew was given last rites four times before a treatment finally sent his cancer into remission.

“I remember being in the shower and feeling something, I couldn’t even describe it. The water didn’t feel right on my skin and there was a smell….”

Invenergy “is not remediating [the well] for us, they’re opening a monster for us.”

2016-07-19 Burrillville MTBE Site Visit 006 — The marchers arrive in Burrillville

2016-07-19 Burrillville MTBE Site Visit 010 — Arriving at the MTBE site

2016-07-19 Burrillville MTBE Site Visit 019 — Where the Mobil station stood

July 16, 2016

FANG Collective begins their long march to Burrillville ahead of Governor’s visit

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The FANG Collective began their three day march to Burrillville Saturday morning, leaving from the State House in Providence just before 10am. The march is a protest against the Invenergy‘s planned $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant, currently supported by Governor Gina Raimondo and opposed by the vast majority of Burrillville residents. The march also serves as a greeting of sorts to the Governor, as Raimondo is scheduled to meet with Burrillvillians and hear their concerns at the Burrillville High School on Monday night at 6pm.

Ahead of the march members of the FANG Collective and others distributed signs, spoke to reporters and provided instructions to participants about staying healthy during the long march, as temperatures were expected to be in the 90’s throughout the weekend. The importance of sunscreen, staying hydrated and being aware of any physical problems was stressed.

The marchers hope to cover about six to eight miles a day. They expect to arrive at the Greenville Public Library by 1pm. On Sunday, they will begin their march at 3pm at the Greenville Public Library to Village Bean Cafe and hope to arrive in Gloceter RI by 7pm.

The final leg of their trip, on Monday, begins at 12:30pm at the Village Bean Cafe and then to 24 North Main Street in Pascoag, the site of the MTBE spill that poisoned the water supply in Burrillville 15 years ago. It is this well water that Invenergy hopes to use to cool their power plant, under the promise that the water will be purified. After a short ceremony at the site of the MTBE spill, the marchers will continue to the Burrillville High School, in time to greet the governor.

The march is expected to grow by the day, with people participating as their schedule and ability allows. On Monday, many more Burrillville residents will be joining the march.

July 16, 2016July 16, 2016

Bernie Sanders and our revolution going forward

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If you watch the video on YouTube entitled “The Struggle Continues,” where Bernie Sanders gives a speech in Santa Monica, California on the day of the California primary, there’s a moment around the 9:30 mark where the crowd starts chanting “Ber-NIE! Ber-NIE!” And if you pay close attention to his reaction, he doesn’t smile. He doesn’t raise a fist. In fact, he looks somewhat annoyed, which is a trademark Bernie look for when he needs to make a point. And instead of relishing the moment, as many of us would if thousands of people chanted our names, he raises his hands to quiet the crowd, and he says, “But you all know it is more than Bernie. It is all of us together.”

And the crowd roared because, with that statement, he empowered them. And empowerment is contagious.

I discovered this moment the other night, while watching Bernie’s speeches and ads from his campaign, some of which brought a tear to my eye by their sheer inspirational power. Yet, the speech in Santa Monica is one of the most telling moments about what will happen with The Political Revolution going forward.

Now, it’s not about Bernie Sanders as a candidate. It’s about Bernie Sanders as the leader of our revolution, and it’s about all of us working together to achieve common progressive goals at the national, state, and local levels. And for those of you who feel betrayed or abandoned by Bernie, don’t. He didn’t betray anyone, and he kept his promises to both the party (which he aims to transform) and to his supporters. Now is the time to keep believing, and keep trusting that he knows the right path forward.

Now is the time to commit to causes like Brand New Congress, which is a national organization formed by former Sanders staffers that are committed to electing new congressional candidates across the nation. Now is the time to sign up for Our Revolution, which is Bernie’s non-profit organization that will continue to fight for the goals established by his campaign. Now is the time to support progressive candidates for the Rhode Island legislature, like Jeanine Calkin, and to support your local candidates running for town and city councils and school boards, like Jeremy Rix. And now is the time to consider running for office yourself to directly implement the policies that you wish to see in government.

Forget Bernie’s endorsement. It was a smart political move by an astute politician, and it deserves no further criticism. Instead, get involved. Engage with your representatives. Ask questions. Be aware of policy and legislative actions. Sign up to help with campaigns. And act to make sure that we, the people, are justly represented.

Like Bernie has always said, change doesn’t come from the top on down. It comes from the bottom up–from us.

July 15, 2016July 18, 2016

What Governor Raimondo should expect in Burrillville

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With the opposition to Invenergy‘s proposed $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant intensifying every day, Governor Gina Raimondo might be worrying about the reception she’s likely to receive when she visits Burrillville Monday evening. Having visited Burrillville many times myself, and having met and chatted with dozens of residents there, I can safely say that the Governor can expect a strong rebuttal to her support for the plant, but also a courteous and respectful reception.

This may be a career defining moment for Governor Raimondo. Does she listen to the concerns of her constituents, or does she cave to the desires of foreign billionaires? She says that the ultimate decision as to whether the plant gets built is in the hands of the Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB), but if she drops her support, that will go a long way towards stopping the plant.

Residents are looking forward to her visit. It’s not often that the state’s leaders get to Burrillville, especially on an issue of such grave concern. Residents are rolling out the red carpet for her visit. She can expect to be well treated.

The residents of Burrillville have been polite to a fault when dealing with Governor Raimondo. Her invitation, by Kathy Martley from Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion (BASE) was accompanied by a flower and a home made card. When protesters hold signs at her events, they don’t attempt to disrupt the event, they simply remind the governor of the public’s concern.

This is not to say that Governor Raimondo can expect to charm Burrillvillians into accepting the power plant. The residents there have done their research, and they know that Invenergy has not been honest about the proposed plant’s environmental impact or about the need for the plant in the first place. She should expect to be confronted by the recent RIDEM data requests, which accuses Invenergy of submitting an application that contains, “several confusing and conflicting assertions about the purpose and need for the project.” She should expect to hear about the research that’s been done, the environmental tragedies Burrillville residents have already endured, and a case for saving the world from the ravages of the fossil fuel industry.

But though the meeting is bound to be emotional and the arguments will be made with passion, Burrillville is a town of good people.

July 15, 2016

Locking arms for peace in Pawtucket

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“There have been 6 or 7 shootings in and around the Pence Park area in Pawtucket,” said Melissa Darosa, a streetworker for the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, “and that’s just what’s been reported.”

Melissa and fellow streetworker Tara were joined by #300Women representatives from Providence and local community members at the corner of Jefferson and West Avenues in Pawtucket, across the street from two convenience stores and almost across from the Oaklawn Community Center, to lock arms for peace and to take a stand against violence in the community. The area has become a hangout for kids.

“These are good kids, they aren’t bad kids,” said Melissa, “they just need guidance. They just need more tender loving care.”

As the small group gathered around, Pawtucket Police cruisers drove past slowly. They did not interfere.

Some people who live in the neighborhood joined in, calling the kids from across the street at the stores to join them in locking arms and calling for peace. All of the kids demurred. “I can’t lock arms with him,” said one boy, about 14 years old. He didn’t want to appear in any way to be less manly. Women offered to let the boy between them but he answered, “Nah.”

Pawtucket has been plagued by a string of shootings in this area. So far, no one has been killed. Mary Gray, a Pawtucket City Councillor, was on hand. This is her district, and she’s been working to get Mayor Grebien more involved. Part of the solution is the Midnight Basketball League.

Diana Garlington, of #300Women, explained that the League gets kids off the streets, but also gets them to a place where they can hear better messages.

“The Midnight League is not about guys playing basketball,” said Melissa, “It’s a way to capture everybody’s ear that we can do better.”

The league had a game scheduled for the park that evening, but due to rain it was being moved indoors.

People looking to help end the violence should contact the Institute, or contact Anchor Recovery. People are looking for jobs and job training opportunities. If you can’t offer jobs, money could help.

Meanwhile, the effort to save our kids from violence continues. “We need to come together and save them,” said Melissa DaRosa, “before we end up having a grieving family and have to bury somebody else.”

2016-07-14 Lock Arms for Peace Pawtucket 016 — Melissa

2016-07-14 Lock Arms for Peace Pawtucket 015 — Tara

2016-07-14 Lock Arms for Peace Pawtucket 011 — Diana Garlington

2016-07-14 Lock Arms for Peace Pawtucket 007 — Melissa, Jane Jellison

2016-07-14 Lock Arms for Peace Pawtucket 006 — Mary Gray, Melissa

July 14, 2016

Protesting environmental racism in South Providence

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Protests against environmental racism and the expansion of fracked gas infrastructure in Rhode Island continued yesterday as members of the FANG Collective and the Environmental Justice League of RI, along with area residents and other community and environmental organizations, held signs and delivered flyers to drivers at the corner of Eddy St and Thurbers Ave.

National Grid is trying to build a $180 million fracked gas production facility in South Providence, and organizers call this is a clear example of environmental racism as all 11 of the EPA’s identified toxic polluters in Providence are already in this zip code, which is predominantly made up of low-income people of color. The impact and dangers of this project are enormous and have been outlined by the EJ League in detail.

Among those attending the protest was Kate Aubin, who is running for Cranston City Council. The section of Edgewood, where she lives, would potentially be affected by a disaster occurring in any one of several chemical and toxic storage facilities in South Providence.

2016-07-13 NoLNGinPVD 011 — Handing out flyers to motorists in English or Spanish

2016-07-13 NoLNGinPVD 004 — Laura Perez, House district 11 candidate

2016-07-13 NoLNGinPVD 001 — Mary Pendergast

July 13, 2016July 15, 2016

Police remove Burrillville residents from zoning board meeting

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The Burrillville Zoning Board meeting on Tuesday night became tense when Burrillville resident John Anthony Scott, an outspoken opponent of Invenergy’s proposed $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant, attempted to play some video of the noise made by the Spectra Energy compressor station.

One of the many issues regarding the proposed power plant is the noise generated by the build up of fracked gas infrastructure in the area.

“Can we have the security stop this?” asked zoning board chair Raymond Cloutier, at which point four or five police officers descended and peacefully removed Scott from the podium, before escorting him out of the auditorium.

“So you’re surpresssing our first amendment rights,” said Scott, “I’m going to make sure I tell the news channels that. I’ll post it all over social media.”

According to Sally Mendzela, who attended the meeting,

“John Anthony Scott and Nicholas Cook set up huge speakers on the stage. The meeting started with regular business and then went on to public comment. Every speaker had to be sworn in. At some point, Burrillville Town Council attorney Oleg Nikolyszyn or Ray Cloutier, the zoning board chair, asked who had put the speakers up there. Nicholas and John were fetched and then all hell broke loose. They wanted to play a video John’s wife had of the pressure release from the compressor station.

“Oleg got all fired up about the difference between decibels and megahertz and said he would not allow Cook and Scott to play the video or audio recording.

“Cloutier had the five cops present come down front, all with the audience screaming and whatnot. John and Nicholas picked up the speakers and headed out with the cops.”

Edit: John Scott issued a statement in which he points out that “I have & always had a great relationship with the Burrillville Police… After the video… Nick & I left freely to go put equipment away in his car then returned to watch the rest of the meeting listening & supporting our family & friends residents & community!”

Some time after Scott and Cook were escorted out, Burrillville resident and power plant opponent Jeremy Bailey spoke to the board. He took the opportunity to hum to the board, to approximate the sound they might have heard if they had listened to the video and audio.

Both Bailey and John Scott have announced that they are running for positions on the Burrillville Town Council.

During a blow off, which happens several times a year, large quantities of methane and other chemicals are released directly into the atmosphere. The sound approximates a commercial jet airliner taking off.

July 11, 2016July 12, 2016

Protesters march from PVD to Burrillville ahead of Governor’s visit

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From July 16th to 18th local activists and residents will be marching from the Statehouse to the Burrillville High School to protest the 1000 MW fossil fuel power plant proposed for the town. The three day, 23 mile march, will coincide with Governor Gina Raimondo’s July 18th open meeting in Burrillville where she will discuss Invenergy’s proposed power plant with residents. Hundreds of people are expected to attend the meeting which begins at 6pm.

Temperatures are expected to reach into the 90’s through the weekend, but the marchers are undeterred. “We want the Governor to know that people from across the State support the residents of Burrillville and their fight against Invenergy’s toxic power plant. This is the Governor’s climate and environmental legacy moment, and the whole State is watching.” Sherrie Anne Andre, of The FANG Collective, the group organizing the march.

The march will head west on Route 44 and then head north on Route 100. The march will make a stop at the site of a chemical spill in Pascoag before continuing on to the Burrillville High School in time for the event with the Governor.

In 2001, a spill at a gas station in Pascoag led to MTBE, a now banned gasoline additive, contaminating one of Burrillville’s main water supplies. The contaminated water wells were capped by a Superior Court order after MTBE levels in local drinking water soared above the federal legal limit. Invenergy, the Chicago based company who has proposed the power plant, plans to uncap the MTBE wells and use up to 900,000 gallons of the water a day at the plant, drawing the ire of local residents.

“There are many health and environmental concerns with the proposed power plant. But the fact that Invenergy wants to use the MTBE water at the plant, and the lack of any thorough study on the potential impacts of this, is shocking and deeply concerning”. Kathy Martley of Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion (BASE), who lives a quarter mile from the site of the proposed plant.

Opposition has been steadily growing to the proposed power plant with hundreds of residents attending recent public hearings on the project. Last month, legislation that would have given Burrillville residents the ability to vote on any tax agreement reached between Invenergy and the town council stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Governor agreed to meet with Burrillville residents after months of protests and actions led by FANG and BASE.

“We are excited that the Governor has agreed to come to Burrillville and meet with those that would be most impacted by Invenergy’s power plant. But beyond just listening to the concerns of residents, we need the Governor to use the visit to revoke her support of the toxic Invenergy project once and for all,” said Nick Katkevich, of Providence, RI from the FANG Collective.

You can join the Facebook event here.

Here’s the schedule for the March:

July 16th: 9am-1pm – RI State House to Greenville Public Library

July 17th: 3-7pm – Greenville Public Library to Village Bean Cafe in Gloucester RI

July 18th: Noon – 430pm – Village Bean Cafe to Burrillville High School
– Noon-230pm Village Bean Cafe to 24 North Main Street in Pascoag (site of the MTBE spill)
– 230-3pm Ceremony at the site of the MTBE spill
– 3-430pm March from 24 North Main Street to the Burrillville High School

July 10, 2016July 10, 2016

Providence honors Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

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Hundreds gathered in Providence last night to celebrate the lives of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two men killed last week by police. The celebration was organized by a myriad of people representing many groups, and was modeled on a New Orleans-style second line funeral procession. Organizers provided the following explanation:

The Second line funeral march is an African American tradition most associated with New Orleans, it has in its roots a deep and unmistakable connection to African funeral tradition. In America the 2nd line was a way to mark the passage of Black life and demand recognition of our basic humanity. In the 2nd line the tears are mixed with joyous songs and expressions of Black kinship. In the 2nd line it was traditional to carry a decorated umbrella symbolic of protecting one from a storm as a shield, but also as an expression of beauty facing the heavens, shining in the rain. It is also traditional to carry a handkerchief for our tears but also as a flag of defiance and a part of our dance.

“The 2nd line can be seen as just a parade but it is a deeply powerful and solemn expression of homecoming and love. This invitation is offered in that spirit. Come mourn, come weep and wail, come to love, come to share and build power, come to witness, come to sing.”

Alton Sterling was a 37-year old black man killed by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Philando Castile was a 32-year old black man killed by a police officer during a routine traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Castile’s girlfriend and her 4-year old daughter were in the car.

The march ended on the water at India Point Park, where there were performances, remembrances and a final act of throwing flowers into the water.

Below find photos and video of the event. Much of the video was recorded by RI Future contributor Andrew Stewart.

July 9, 2016July 9, 2016

Rhode Island’s response to Dallas defines our priorities

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At a meeting to plan a Rhode Island response to the killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, the moderator, a black man, made the point that many in his community feel these deaths – of people they don’t know who live far away – as personally and intensely as they feel the death of a cousin or a friend.

“White people,” he said, “don’t understand that.”

This is true. None of us truly understands the day to day prejudice experienced by people of color in our country absent actually experiencing it. This solidarity of experience escapes most, if not all white people in this country. The bond created across time and distance by systemic oppression is intense, and personal.

I can feel some of this. When Trayvon Martin was murdered, he was about my son’s age. They both wore hoodies and both liked Mountain Dew and Skittles. I felt Trayvon Martin’s death acutely, but my reaction was blunted by my privilege. I didn’t then and don’t now fear for my son’s life the way parents of black children do. My son is white. I have the luxury of keeping my parental fear levels at the lowest setting.

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 015 — Steven Paré

“A part of us died last night,” said Providence Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Paré at a press conference Friday afternoon, “when five colleagues in Dallas, were shot and killed.”

Paré can acutely feel the deaths of police officers far away. He sees the police officers killed in Dallas as colleagues, and can certainly imagine the nightmare of losing five officers in Providence.

But the analogy ends there.

When police officers were murdered in Dallas, Governor Gina Raimondo called a press conference of police and community leaders well within 24 hours. Two United States senators offered words of calm and condolence. Flags were ordered to fly at half mast by government order.

No press conferences were planned for Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. It took the death of police officers to do that. That alone signals our priorities as a culture.

Police can call for back up. They can get the National Guard and the full power of the United States military flown in if necessary. Police can attach bombs to robots and kill by remote control if necessary.

The unlimited force and power of the United States can be brought to bear against those who kill police officers, but when it comes to the extra-judicial murders of people of color by police…

… there is no back-up.

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 001 — Janelle organized a small protest in Kennedy Plaza Friday morning.

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 002 — Thirty feet from the protest PVD Police were arresting a black man.

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 007 — This woman berated the protesters. “All lives matter,” she said, “not just black lives.”

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 010 — Senator Sheldon Whitehouse was at Governor Gina Raimondo’s press conference.

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 011 — Reverends Eugene Dyszlewski and Donald Anderson

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 012 — Moira Walsh and son

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 013 — Governor Raimondo reiterated her call for the passage of justice reform and gun control legislation.

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 014 — Jim Vincent, Kobi Dennis, Jack Reed

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 016 — Steven O’Donnell

2016-07-08 PVD BLM Dallas 017 — Kobi Dennis

Here’s the full video from the press conference:

July 7, 2016July 7, 2016

Anti-cluster bomb Textron protests spread to Massachusetts

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The protests against Textron cluster bombs are spreading from Rhode Island to Massachusetts. On Wednesday, Massachusetts Peace Action held a protest at Textron Systems, a subsidiary of Providence-based Textron in Wilmington, Mass., that was attended by more than 40 people.

“This was inspired by the Providence protests,” said Cole Harrison, executive director of Mass Peace Action, as activists lined the street outside the division of Textron that makes the controversial cluster bombs the Providence-based conglomerate sells to Saudi Arabia and other nations through the US military.

Textron’s cluster bombs became a cause celebre earlier this year after Human Rights Watch produced evidence that Saudi Arabia used cluster bombs in civilian areas of Yemen. Mass Peace Action planned its action to coincide with recent attempts by Democrats in Congress to ban cluster bombs sales to Saudi Arabia.

“We realized it was an activist issue in Congress,” Harrison said. “We hope to help turn the tide on this. We don’t think it’s an issue that people understand very well.”

This was the first action Mass Peace Action has held at Textron Systems. But it won’t be the last, said Paul Shannon of Summerville, Mass. “Our plan is to come back,” he said. “What we might do is start in town and hand out leaflets to people and then have a march. This is really important to get something off the ground here.”

The action attracted older activists, such as Shannon and Harrison, but also millennials like Matthew Hahm, a Boston College student originally from Seattle.

“I don’t agree with what Textron is doing, selling weapons and profiteering off of that,” he said. “They are complicit in Saudi Arabia war crimes, essentially. It’s pretty terrible stuff. Not enough young people care about peace because it seems far off and removed, but if more young people begin to care…”

While this was the first Textron protest for Mass. Peace Action, there have been a different kind of action every month outside Textron Systems for years. John Bach, a Quaker chaplain from Cambridge, has held “silent meeting for worship” once a month there for six and a half years.

“It’s not a politicization of our spirituality,” he said. “It’s bringing our spirituality to a place that is very dark and needs light.”

He said there are between 12 to 18 people who attend. “We circle up right around the sign and we worship in silence,” he said. “It’s called a gathered meeting. The actual worship is creating the time and the space for what we call the spirit, the small still voice, the divine light, the spark of life – whatever it is – to be spoken through us.”

Bach, who spent two years in prison for refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam war, called cluster bombs “particularly gruesome, they are loathsome, they are uncivilized and according to any just conduct of war, which I do not subscribe to because I am a pacifist, you do not do something that kills as many civilians [as enemy combatants].”

Quoting what he called a popular saying from the 1960’s, Bach said, “When they come for the innocent without having to cross over your body then cursed be your religion and your life.”

He added, “The kids in Yemen are the innocent, clearly.”

July 7, 2016July 7, 2016

What can we do about police violence against black people?

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#AltonSterling and #PhilandoCastile are the latest trending hashtags, representing people of color killed by the police on video. If you’re like me, the outpouring of emotion on social media is both cathartic and frustrating. I clicked the “Sad” reaction on Facebook over and over, and then compiled this list for what else to do:

1. Learn the issue.

This is an emotional issue all around. But don’t be that guy who says “cooperate with cops and it’ll be fine,” or “for every suspect killed by police, there’s a police officer killed in the line of duty.” I saw that comment recently, and: NO, wrong! Check on which jobs in the USA are the most deadly, and police officer isn’t even in the top ten. (This is why “Blue Lives Matter” is nonsense.)

Check what the evidence shows, on MappingPoliceViolence.org and more: implicit bias leads police to kill black Americans disproportionately, and they’re only charged with a crime 3 percent of the time. (This disproportionality is why “Black Lives Matter” makes more sense than “All Lives Matter.”)

2. Learn allyship.

This one is mainly for my fellow white people! “Privilege” and “ally” are suddenly trendy buzzwords that I have mixed feelings about. There is a ton to read online, but here’s a handy reminder from Kayla Reed on twitter:

A- Always center the impacted
L- Listen & learn from those who live in the oppression
L- Leverage your privilege
Y- Yield the floor

One little way to Leverage white privilege is to speak up about race to fellow white people, like I’m doing with this blog post.

3. Join SURJ / White Noise Collective.

In addition to your conversations, learn how can white privilege be leveraged collectively. The people of Showing Up For Racial Justice have ideas! The SURJ chapter here in RI is coordinated by the White Noise Collective. Sign up to stay posted on local opportunities for involvement, and maybe I’ll see you at the next demonstration.

4. Join DARE

No, not D.A.R.E. that educates kids about drugs. Rhode Island is the proud home of DARE as in Direct Action for Rights & Equality, which includes a committee on policing and incarceration. If you’re an Eastsider like me, going to DARE might feel a bit odd, but do it anyway. DARE has a track record of real victories for RI social justice.

5. Back the Community Safety Act

First, consider this list of 15 Things Your City Can Do to End Police Brutality. It looks great, but even harder to accomplish than the average “Things You Can Do to Burn Fat” online list. The good news for Rhode Islanders is the pending Community Safety Act for Providence. DARE is part of the coalition promoting this bill. Learn about it so that you can mention it to your City Councilor when you see each other. Speaking of which: do you know who your elected officials are? (Level two: do your elected officials know who you are?) Electoral and legislative work has its limits, but it is absolutely worth paying attention to.

Some people want to be on campaigns and in hearings; some people want to be marching in the streets; both have their place and support each other. You can do some of each, or just find your lane and stay in it. There are lots of ways to do something. Don’t do nothing.

July 5, 2016July 6, 2016

Community supports Benny’s and redemption amid GoLocalProv ‘controversy’

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Last week, GoLocalProvidence published an article provocatively entitled: “New Benny’s Ad Features Convicted Murderer”. A more appropriate title would have been “New Benny’s Ad Features Criminal Justice Success Story”. Or “New Benny’s Ad Illustrates the Potential of Nonviolence”.

The controversy about the ad centered on the presence of Sal Montiero Jr., one of a dozen or so Rhode Islanders in the video. Montiero did a relatively long bid at the state prison for second degree murder. Many have objected to his appearance in the ad because of that record.

I teach college courses at the state prison, and I have students like Sal who spend their time while incarcerated getting an education, improving their self-understanding, and trying to equip themselves to be more effective and compassionate human beings once they are released into society. They are there because they have made mistakes, but almost without exception, the students that I have taught in the prison work very hard to become better versions of themselves.

This is no small task, even for those of us who are not incarcerated. It takes courage to face and atone for our mistakes, especially very serious ones that deeply affect the lives of others. Self-improvement is challenging, and getting an education is a long road.

Montiero, by all accounts, is an example of how we want our justice system to work, and an example of someone stepping into his full potential when given a second chance. He was released from prison, is holding down a job, and importantly, that job is teaching nonviolence through the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence. He is trying to help others avoid making the mistake that he made, and teaching a practice that will benefit everyone. This is important work that our community needs desperately. He took the consequences mandated by the legal system, took advantages of the opportunities for self-improvement within the prison, and has been participating positively in the world since his release.

If our goal is to ultimately have safer, healthier communities that benefit everyone, then we would do well to celebrate, rather than shame, the success stories. Congratulations, Sal. Benny’s, I applaud your inclusivity. You have my business.

July 5, 2016July 5, 2016

Power plant opposition dominates Ancients & Horribles Parade

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Opposition to Invenergy‘s proposed $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant, planned for Burrillville, dominated the 90th annual Ancients & Horribles Parade in neighboring Glocester on the 4th of July. First and second prize for best in show went to floats opposing the power plant.

The prize for “Most Politically Incorrect” float went to a truck emblazoned with a “Trump” campaign sign that displayed a series of posters of State House leadership that cited a series of political scandals and unpopular decisions. This was followed by two trucks full of Trump supporters, with one man waving a large Confederate Flag in support of the putative Republican presidential nominee. The presence of racist Confederate Flags in the parade was disturbing. I counted at least four.

Governor Gina Raimondo, perhaps sensing that her presence would not be appreciated, did not march in the parade. Her presence was felt, however, in every float that expressed dissatisfaction with her close association with corporations like Invenergy and Goldman-Sachs. Tracey Potvin Keegan rode a bike dressed as the governor, with bags of Goldman-Sachs money hanging like saddlebags and a $700 price tag on her head.

Marching in the parade were Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed and Representative James Langevin. Whitehouse did not escape criticism for his early support of Invenergy’s power plant. A woman marching with the power plant protesters held a sign with a quote from Whitehouse that said, “If I look back 20 years from now and I can’t say I did everything possible, I’ll never be able to live with myself.”

After first supporting the power plant, Whitehouse later back tracked, saying that weighing in on the issue would be inappropriate. Many in Burrillville and the surrounding areas feel betrayed by Whitehouse’s position, feeling that his reputation as the Senate’s strongest environmentalist is mere political posturing.

Almost as unpopular as the governor are the gypsy moths, who have infested the area and strip entire trees bare of foliage. One group of marchers came dressed as a gypsy moth caterpillar, with the words, “It’s raining poop” on it’s tail end.

The parade featured an appearance by Tony Lepore, the Dancing Cop. Lepore sported his new uniform, emblazoned with a special “Dancing Cop” patch, instead of his former Providence Police Officer uniform. Lepore’s career has been in free fall since he interjected himself into the incident late last year when a Dunkin Donuts employee wrote “Black Lives Matter” on a police officer’s cup. As a consequence of his words and actions Lepore lost his annual gig directing traffic downtown and lost out on a replacement gig directing traffic in East Providence.

Governor Raimondo is due to meet with Burrillville residents on July 18.

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 002 — Whaitehouse, Langevin and Reed

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 003 — First “No New Power Plant” sign in the parade

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 007 — Tony Lepore

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 010 — The first anti-Invenergy float came from BASE and the Fang Collective

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 024 — BASE and the Fang Collective won second place.

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 041 — Most politically Incorrect

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 048 — This was by far the most disturbing thing in the parade

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 049 — First place for best in show…

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 051 — Burrillville State Rep Cale Keable

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 052 — “Governor Gina Raimondo”

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 067 — Nice play on Trump’s campaign slogan

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 068 — The specter of death haunts America?

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 069 — Another Confederate Flag.

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 070 — Here are close-ups of the “Most Politically Incorrect” float

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 076 — “Best in Parade”

2016-07-04 Ancients and Horrbles Parade 086 — “Second Best in Show”

July 1, 2016

Moms Demand Action founder calls out Mattiello on guns

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“Speaker [Nicholas] Mattiello has been the person that has been standing in the way” of bills that would disarm domestic abusers, said Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts during her recent trip to Providence on Wednesday. Watts was speaking as part of a panel discussion following the showing of the Katie Couric documentary Under the Gun at Brown University.

Earlier in the day, Watts, who founded Moms Demand Action in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, was in Providence to join Representative David Cicilline as he lead a sit-in style event at the Providence Public Safety Complex. That event was to be strictly about national efforts at gun control, but Watts went off script and talked about Speaker Mattiello’s failure to lead on guns in the Rhode Island General Assembly.

“I know here, in your own State House,” said Watts, “you have a speaker, Speaker Mattiello, who has not acted in the wake of gun violence in this country and in fact there have been some domestic violence bills that could have and should have been passed and we hope that he will do the right thing.”

“Thoughts and prayers are not enough,” continued Watts, “Thoughts and prayers without action are empty and they are meaningless.” In June, members of the RI state chapter of Moms Demand Action dramatically left the House Chamber when Mattiello called for prayers and a moment of silence in the wake of the Orlando shootings.

“We are asking Speaker Mattiello to act in the wake of human destruction by gun violence,” said Watts.

You can watch the Under the Gun panel discussion here:

You watch the Cicilline sit-in at the Providence Public Safety Complex here:

And here’s the trailer for Under the Gun:

June 26, 2016June 26, 2016

PawSox are still looking for money and one fan is not happy

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He’s a lifelong unionized worker, has gone to PawSox games for the last four decades, and knows cities intimately as a former telephone worker. Dan Murphy also went to every Listening Tour stop last summer when owner Larry Lucchino was trying to get a new stadium built by the taxpayers in Providence as one of the leaders of the grassroots resistance, vociferous in his rejection of the proposed deal then and now still opposed to public funding for renovations of private buildings, be it McCoy Stadium or the Superman building in downtown Providence.

Recently the pre-bid press conference was held at McCoy Stadium for “proposals from qualified firms to prepare a master plan study (the “Study”) of the McCoy Stadium facility and surrounding area located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The intent of the Study is to develop a master plan for significant repairs, upgrades, system replacements and/or improvements to McCoy Stadium and the surrounding area. The State of Rhode Island has regularly financed capital improvements to McCoy Stadium.” This comes more than a year after the late Jim Skeffington and Lucchino told the public a study had already been done and found that renovations for McCoy were too costly.

At a moment when bankruptcy is being floated in regards to the capital city, school buildings are in abject shambles, the birthing unit of a Pawtucket hospital is due to be closed, and unemployment and under-employment still high, Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien and state leaders are seriously considering this in two different instances. Murphy has read through the bid solicitation document for the PawSox and remains unimpressed.

“You can’t buy it with capitalism and pay for it with socialism, it doesn’t work that way,” he said. “If the state owns a piece of it and it looks like a good deal, then it’s worth considering. Other than that, no. To make rich people richer? No way! Neither one of those facilities is life-essential, like a hospital or a police-fire station combination or something to that effect. This is just a stadium and its just a building and they’re not going to make anyone any richer except for the people who own them.”

Click the Player Below to Listen to More of This Interview!

Is there any indication that Lucchino has any interest in keeping the team in Pawtucket for at least the next 25 years? “Oh God no. They’re shopping around, they’re holding their cards close to the vest. I think this whole song and dance they’re doing now with they’re supposedly rebuilding the trust and all that crap? They’re not looking to do that. They’re looking at the fans that go to a certain amount of games every year, and you can count on them like clockwork, they’re not bothering with them, just like they didn’t bother with us last year. They assume we’ll keep coming and if we don’t we’ll be replaced with the new hipster-type fans.”

Murphy’s years of going to the PawSox games have helped him learn about the neighborhood surrounding McCoy intimately. “I think their only investment in the community surrounding McCoy Stadium would be to level it and to build it into something that they want. That’s about it. If you recall when we were putting up with those dog-and-pony shows last summer, [team president Charles] Steinberg never really had anything good to say about the neighborhood around McCoy, he saw that as a negative, almost like it was a ghetto or a slum or something. It’s a lot of three-decker houses that were very well-kept and that’s a very clean neighborhood. Walk around it sometime! It’s a very clean neighborhood. But that whole neighborhood is going to get the kiss of death if Lucchino and his boys get their way.”

What is Lucchino like in comparison to late owner Ben Mondor? “Ben Mondor brought almost like a warmth, a trust, a friendship, a guy that you would sit down with and have a beer, even though his social and financial stature is way different than your own. He was a good guy. That’s the way he was looked at and people supported what he wanted to do because he never wanted to bring that stadium above the people who went there. He wanted to keep the team in Pawtucket, he wanted to keep the games being played there, he wanted to stay in that stadium if at all possible. He was your typical Rhode Islander, even though I believe he was from Canada originally,” he says.

“Lucchino, his history has been just build a stadium and flip it or rebuild a stadium and flip it. He’s not a baseball man, he’s a businessman and the same thing with his whole crew with him, his yes-men.”

“I don’t think they are above moving [the team] right when [construction] is starting to happen. It’s strictly business.”

If you like my reporting, please consider contributing to my Patreon!

June 24, 2016

Locking arms for peace in South Providence

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Dozens of residents came out for peace in South Providence, near the intersection of Broad Street and Elmwood Avenue, locking arms and chanting against violence in the community. “Lock Arms for Peace” was organized by Diana Garlington, a resident of South Providence, mother and peace activist. This effort, said Garlington, is to raise awareness “about peace and unity, no matter your culture or background.”

Garlington sees the violence on the streets as “a state issue, not just here in Providence.

“We’re not sitting around waiting for our police department or our mayor or someone else to stand up,” said Garlington to the crowd, “We need to stand up. These are our children. These are all of our children.”

Dozens attended the action, and many passersby joined in as they saw what was happening.

June 24, 2016June 23, 2016

#NoLNGinPVD taking on National Grid

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A second demonstration to bring attention to the $100 million fracked, liquefied natural gas compressor station National Grid is trying to build in South Providence was held outside the company’s location at the corner of Allens Ave and Terminal Rd Wednesday afternoon. The demonstration was the effort of the Environmental Justice League of RI (EJLRI), area residents and other community and environmental organizations.

This demonstration garnered none of the police attention of the first.

This area of South Providence is the city’s sacrifice zone for toxic chemical storage and fracked gas storage, a prime example of environmental racism.

Consider joining the #NoLNGinPVD effort.

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