Local
Write a Letter to the Editor About the National Grid Strike
National Grid workers have been on strike since June 25th due to unsafe working conditions, lack of training, and inadequate pay. We’re looking for folks to write letters to the editor of various area newspapers calling attention to this issue. Please contact Marissa at marissa@solidaritylowell.com if you’re interested.
More information: http://www.wbur.org/bostonomix/2018/08/13/national-grid-lockout
Get Answers About the School Superintendent Firing
Recently, amongst questionable circumstances, the School Superintendent was fired. No reason was given and so far none of the School Committee members who voted for this have released an explanation. Please write to the City Council and ask them to investigate and explain this.
Use this form: https://www.lowellma.gov/FormCenter/Contact-the-City-Council-5/City-Council-Contact-Form-45
Stop the City Council from Limiting Free Speech
After recent disruptions in City Council chambers during meetings, a Rules Subcommittee is now looking into revising Rule 26 to create a Free Speech Zone at City Hall. While we do not condone these disruptions, creating a Free Speech Zone is a clear violation of First Amendment rights. Please write to the Rules Subcommittee (Councilors Elliott, Mercier, and Conway), City Council, and City Manager Eileen Donoghue to tell them not to infringe on the rights of Lowell residents!
Use this form: https://www.lowellma.gov/FormCenter/Contact-the-City-Council-5/City-Council-Contact-Form-45
More information: http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_31970337/national-grid-lockout-lowell-picket-enter-second-day
Southeast Asian Water Festival
Saturday, August 18th, 8am-8pm, Pawtucket Boulevard, Lowell
The Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival, Inc. is dedicated to the preservation, protection and sharing of cultural heritages of the Southeast Asian Americans in the Greater Lowell area of Massachusetts. Every third Saturday in August, more than 60,000 people from around the country and the world come to Lowell to celebrate water as it is celebrated in Southeast Asia. They come for the blessings, food, crafts, performances and (of course) the races.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/176493626358724/
Lowell Naturalization Ceremony: Help Register New Citizens
Wednesday, August 22, 9am-1:30pm, Lowell Memorial Auditorium, 50 E Merrimack Street, Lowell
Come join the League of Women Voters and help up to 1000 new American citizens register to vote. It’s a very rewarding experience! Help hand out voter registration forms before the ceremony begins at 11:30am, and then collect them from new citizens afterward. Please come, even if you can’t stay for the whole time.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/194066691290283/
Congressional Candidating
Wednesday, August 22, 6:30-8:30pm, Lowell Senior Center, 276 Broadway St, Lowell
Join us for a free, fun chance to meet your candidates for US Congress! Citizens will sit at tables, and candidates will have a few minutes to sit at each table to talk with voters, a little like “speed dating”. This offers candidates and voters the chance to chat informally and have real conversations. Lowell Votes and Lowell Democratic City Committee are co-sponsoring this event. Khmer and Spanish translation will be available, and childcare and dinner will be provided.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/2632251553467537/
Prison Strike Solidarity!
Thursday, August 23rd, 7-8pm, 125 Nashua Street, Boston
Nationwide, prisoners are going on strike from August 21-September 9, and we will rally in solidarity with them! We also choose the 23rd of this month to spotlight the 23 hours per day many prisoners spend in solitary confinement. We take this moment to build toward abolition and an end to the atrocities our people inside face. We will amplify the voices of our loved ones inside and send our love to those held captive at the Nashua St jail.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/678244485871784/
SAVE THE DATE! The 2nd Annual Solidarity Lowell Summer Barbecue
Sunday, August 26th, 2-5pm, Lynne Lupien’s House (address will be emailed the day before the event)
It’s time for the 2nd annual Solidarity Lowell Summer Barbecue! Featuring a Ranked Choice Voting Ice Cream Election, this is sure to be a fun event! We’ll also have the Awesomeness is Lowell board game, amongst others! The Coordinating Committee will provide burgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers and dogs. We will also provide the buns and rolls, with gluten-free versions of each. We hope to see you there! FYI: This event is for Solidarity Lowell members and family only. Thank you!
PLEASE SIGN UP FOR THE POTLUCK HERE: https://www.mealtrain.com/potlucks/dwy0r4
Please RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/227078811277517/
Protect Transgender Rights
Every Tuesday, 6-9pm, Christ Church United, 1 Bartlett Street, Lowell
Help us speak to voters about the need to defend transgender protections this November and recruit supporters!
RSVP here: https://www.freedommassachusetts.org/events/
Chelms-FED Up Postcarding
Every Tuesday, 9:30-11:30am, The Java Room, 14 Littleton Rd, Chelmsford
Fed up in Chelmsford? Come join us! We will write lots of postcards to voters for upcoming elections in Massachusetts and Ohio! Information, addresses, and supplies provided, but feel free to bring your own supplies and info as well. See you there!
For more information, contact Hope at hope@solidaritylowell.com
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Postcarding!
Every Thursday, 11am-1pm, Heritage Farms Ice Cream, 163 Pawtucket Blvd, Lowell
Ice cream, great company, and postcards to voters! Come join us to write postcards for some races right here in Massachusetts! Suggested text and supplies provided, but feel free to bring your own supplies as well. You may also want to bring a sweater. The AC is set a tad brisk.
For more information, contact Nancy Greene at greenenk61@gmail.com
A Rapid Response Rally if Mueller is Fired
If the firing happens before 2pm, the event will be held at 5pm the same day. If it happens after 2pm, the event will be held at noon the following day. Ladd and Whitney Memorial (the island outside City Hall), 309 Merrimack Street, Lowell
Nobody is above the law! Donald Trump is publicly considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller. This would be a constitutional crisis for our country. Our response in the minutes and hours following a power grab will dictate what happens next, which is why an immediate response is imperative.
Sign up to be notified: https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events/14830
Help with Sanctuary
Assisting our immigrant community is one of the most important things you can possibly do. If you are interested in helping out with local sanctuary efforts, either with accompaniment, food, laundry, or otherwise, please email marissa@solidaritylowell.com. Training is provided. You can also donate to the cause here: http://www.merrimackvalleyproject.org/donate-1/ (please write “sanctuary” in the “special notes” part of the donation form).
More information and to sign up for training: marissa@solidaritylowell.com
State
Remembrance Rally/Counter-Protest Fascist Hate in Boston
Saturday, August 18th, 10am, Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon St, Boston
Far right groups Resist Marxism and Boston Free Speech are planning to hold a demonstration where they intend to rally and march under the hypocritical banner of a “March Against Leftist Violence.” As we have done time and time again this past year, we have to oppose them in the streets. There is no room for their hate in our city. Join anti-racists in Boston as we commemorate those who have lost their lives to violent fascists. After a rally, we plan on counter-protesting the far right.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/220679278644598/
Jericho Walk at Burlington ICE
Tuesday, August 21st, 1pm, ICE, 1000 District Ave, Burlington
The Jericho Walk is a silent interfaith prayer and act of solidarity. The walk draws inspiration from the Battle of Jericho, in which the community marched around the city of Jericho seven times, causing the city walls to fall. The Jericho Walk of today is a silent, peaceful, and prayerful walk to bring down the walls of our unjust immigration system and is open to people of all or no faiths. Please bring signs calling for just treatment of those who are caught in our broken immigration system.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/310112606201979/
Volunteer to Help #50MilesMore
From August 22nd to the 26th, students will be marching from Worcester to Springfield, the home of Smith and Wesson, America’s 3rd largest gun manufacturer. Smith and Wesson, producer of the M&P 15 used in Parkland, Aurora, and San Bernardino, continues to deny responsibility and refuse to track where their weapons are going. Students will march to demand that Smith and Wesson recognize their role in the epidemic of gun violence. They are looking for adults who have a day or two off to help by marching with students, driving cars with supplies and setting up rest and lodging locations, or by chaperoning during nights spent at the lodging locations.
To register as a volunteer: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSciErQH8nqFZJfdqCmTozAa2t-GEOrYQVM-jVR0uCCEDVIsXg/viewform
More information: https://50milesmore.org/ma/