Solidarity Lowell Events and Actions

Solidarity Lowell Summer Barbecue THIS SUNDAY! RSVP Today!

Sunday, July 23, 2-7pm
In-person

It’s time for the 6th annual Solidarity Lowell Summer Barbecue! Join us at Marissa Dupont’s house to celebrate our accomplishments, have some food, and maybe play a game or two.

Please bring lawn chairs if you have them. The Coordinating Committee will provide burgers, hot dogs, vegetarian burgers and hot dogs, and rolls. Please note that this is for Solidarity Lowell members only. We hope to see you there!

RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/584255546949665/

Tabling at Lowell Folk Fest

Saturday July 29 and Sunday July 30, 12pm-6pm

Solidarity Lowell will be tabling at Lowell Folk Fest Saturday 7/29 and Sunday 7/30, 12 noon to 6 pm both days. If you’re able to take a 1 or 2 hr shift, please contact chris@solidaritylowell.com.

Support Needed for Asylum-Seekers

Emergency Assistance Requested! We just received word that Lillian, an asylum-seeker from the Dominican Republic, and her baby will be evicted from her new apartment on August 1st. Donations can be sent to Marissa Dupont, who will pass them along to Lillian. CashApp: $gollygee17 Venmo: @owlnerd

For checks, cash donations, or gift cards, email marissa @ solidaritylowell.com to coordinate drop-off.

Marius, an asylum-seeker from Togo who we assisted since 2018, also is in need of assistance. Donations can be made to him here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/47gvz-marius

Thank you!!!

New Unpacking Whiteness Dialogue Group Forming

Individuals committed to exploring their own racial biases are invited to participate in the Unpacking Whiteness Dialogue Group. Engage in supportive, structured dialogues to explore whiteness in contemporary society, especially to better understand the legacy and impact of white supremacy, white privilege, explicit and implicit bias, systemic racism, and microaggressions.

Dialogue group is five sessions, capped at 10 people.

After attending the Dialogue Group, attendees are invited to join the ongoing group.

The ongoing group meets once a month, alternating between discussing a book or watching a film.

If you have questions, email Marissa Dupont: marissa@solidaritylowell.com.

Lowell Events & Actions

Next City Council Meeting

No City Council meeting this week

An Opportunity To Share your Thoughts on Lowell’s Housing Needs

We’re all keenly aware of the housing crisis in Lowell. Don’t miss this opportunity to suggest some solutions. This comes to us from the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG):

The City of Lowell is undertaking its first ever Housing Production Plan, a sister document to the Lowell Forward Comprehensive Master Plan. To inform this plan, we’ve created a community survey to ask residents about the city’s housing needs. Our goal is to have over 500 responses to the Homes, Housing, and Community Survey that will guide this plan—and if everyone we email responds to this survey and asks at least 5 others, we’ll be there! Your answers will guide the goals of these two documents, which will work together to advise City staff, elected officials, partner nonprofits, and others in changing policy, zoning, investments, and more.

Would you please consider responding to the link below and sharing via Western Avenue Lofts and also with your Lowell friends, constituents, and networks:
Lowell Housing, Homes, and Community Survey (Or type bit.ly/lowellhomes into your browser’s search bar)

After you complete the survey, remember to share it with 5 friends.

This survey will close Friday, August 18, 2023, so please take it today! If you have questions about this survey or have difficulty taking it, please contact Chris Hayes, Housing and Economic Development Planner, at chayes @ nmcog.org

Support for our unhoused siblings

Life Connection Center is calling for donations to help our unhoused siblings cope with the weather.

Needs:

Bottled water
Ponchos
Umbrellas
Gently Used or New Towels for Shower Service
Undergarments
Outreach Snacks

Items may be dropped off Monday through Friday 8am-6pm and Sunday through Thursday 7pm-10pm at 192 Appleton Street.

You may also contribute through their Amazon wish list at https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/ARW4F37SG12T?ref_=wl_share

Local mutual aid group LLAMA is also collecting to help assist the displaced folks:

Thank you all for the donations we have received so far on our Venmo (@Lowell-LLAMA) and CashApp ($LowellLLAMA).

Reminder: We are in direct contact with those who were displaced and we are generating a list of items they need replaced, and all funds you send us that are labeled as for the displaced will be used for this purpose. We are a volunteer group of people building solidarity together (not a nonprofit) with no paid staff.

Lowell Litter Krewe

LLK continues with their regular cleanups.

To connect with them: https://linktr.ee/lowelllitterkrewe
Sign up to volunteer, check out their schedule and more.

Next events
Saturday, July 22, 9am-12pm: Pre Folk Fest w/ Canalwaters & LNHP
Meet at Lucy Larcom Park

Saturday, July 29-30, ALL DAY: Folk Fest Compost & Recycling Team
Sign up at ttps://linktr.ee/lowelllitterkrewe

Lowell African Festival This Saturday!

Saturday July 22, 11am-6pm
Lowell Heritage State Park, Sampas Pavilion, 160 Pawtucket Blvd
https://lowellafricanfestival.org/

Lowell Fall Election

City Election Calendar

https://www.lowellma.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=739

Solidarity Lowell’s Election Subcommittee gearing up

If you are interested in helping to elect/re-elect progressive candidates for Lowell City Council and School Committee, please email Lisa Arnold (likarnold @ gmail.com) or Dee Halzack (dee.halz @ ix.netcom.com) (delete spaces when using emails cited)
We will be drawing up a survey to vet candidates for possible endorsement by Solidarity Lowell.

At some point after July 18, when the slate of candidates is finalized, Solidarity Lowell will follow their process for endorsing candidates. Among other things, we will be drawing up a list of questions we want prospective endorsees to answer. Once we have selected endorsees, we will begin organizing canvassing events for our endorsees. Want to be a part of that? Contact Lisa or Dee as noted above.

If there is a preliminary election (there must be at least 3 candidates for a district, or 7 at large), which we’ll know on July 19, early voting begins August 23. That’s a little over a month to work for our progressive candidates, so we need to be ready to hit the ground running by July 19.

Campaigns have started up

Tuesday, June 6 was the first day nominating papers could be pulled. Some candidates have already announced and have even collected enough signatures to be certified as candidates.. Deadline to submit papers is Tuesday, July 18, 5pm. The final list will be announced on July 19.

Campaign events have been announced. Here are the latest we know about:

Wayne Jenness fundraiser at Warp & Weft | Thursday July 20, 5:30-7:30pm | cash bar and free apps

Would you like to help compile a Scorecard on incumbent City Councilors? If you are interested in helping to go through minutes and recordings of past City Council meetings and record councilor’s stances on issues important to progressives, including diversity/inclusion/equity, affordable housing, environment, and more, please contact lisa @ solidaritylowell.com or dee.halz @ ix.netcom.com

Other Events

Tuition Equity Bill Hearing ( H1281/S836)

Tuesday, July 18, 1pm
State House Rm A-1 & Virtual

Video link will appear on https://malegislature.gov/Events page under committee (Joint Committee on Higher Education)

Community Immunity Bill Hearing (H2151/S1458)

Wednesday, July 19, 9am
State House Gardner Auditorium & Virtual

Video link will appear on https://malegislature.gov/Events page under committee (Joint Committee on Public Health)
Submit testimony: email JointCommittee.PublicHealth@malegislature.gov with the subject line “Public Health Committee Testimony, [H.2151/S.1458” in the subject line of the email.

More info about the bill: https://www.beccarauschma.com/community-immunity-act.

Zero Carbon Renovation Fund Bill Hearing (H3232)

Wednesday, July 19, 10am
State House Rm A2 & Virtual

Video link will appear on https://malegislature.gov/Events page under committee (Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy)

Send testimony on a Zero-Carbon Renovation Fund to the House: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/zcrf-house — (And Find a toolkit here)
Send testimony on a Zero-Carbon Renovation Fund to the Senate: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/zcrf-senate

GAI Bi-Weekly Postcard Action Hour At Panera

Wednesday, July 19, 6pm-7:30pm
Panera, 58 Peters St, North Andover
Sponsor: Greater Andover Indivisible

Activist Afternoons

Sunday, July 23, 3:30-5:00pm
Sponsor: Progressive Massachusetts
RSVP: https://www.mobilize.us/progressivemassachusetts/event/566422/

Focus will be on transfer fee bill.

Turning Crisis to Hope: Responding to the Arrival of Thousands of Haitians in Massachusetts

Wednesday, July 26, 5pm
Sponsor: International Institute of New England
RSVP: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R9XX-7fOSea222dJj6jbLA#/registration

Local Innovations In Addressing Homelessness

Friday, July 28, 1pm
Sponsor: Bipartisan Policy Center
RSVP: eventbrite.com/e/local-innovations-in-addressing-homelessness-tickets-677554582997?aff=oddtdtcreator&_cldee=lxDruGY_RssfBQ2nUFaT3NgbtCGDhC-9UA6xRGaxrwugz-Q___y05Xyyql92V62V&recipientid=contact-a1b1f8da20cdeb11869c00155d3b3c69-1f332a19c3e74361a51c130f52bdf062

As the issue of homelessness continues to gain national attention, it is crucial to draw upon the lessons learned from places that have effectively reduced homelessness. This webinar aims to highlight organizations and public officials successfully tackling homelessness at the local level, offering policymakers at all levels of government the opportunity to learn from effective strategies to promote housing stability for unhoused people.

Join us as local leaders come together to showcase innovative approaches for meeting the needs of unhoused people, share valuable insights on how to scale up promising interventions, and discuss how the federal government can support successful programs.

NAACP National Convention Call for Volunteers

July 29-August 1
Boston Convention & Exhibition Center

The NAACP’s national convention is taking place in Boston. They need lots of volunteers. Here’s a generic sign-up form https://support.naacp.org/a/2023-naacp-national-convention-volunteer-sign-form, which will be followed by another form where we can sign up for some days and not others, some types of tasks, etc. Volunteer shifts will be 3 hours long. Attending workshops requires registering for the convention, but we were told there are lots of things that don’t require registering.

State Level Actions

Submit Public Comment for the Healthy Youth Act

24 years after the last time our sex ed curriculum was updated, and 11 years since the Healthy Youth Act, a commonsense bill that would require sex ed to be medically accurate, consent-based, and LGBTQ+ inclusive was introduced, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) has introduced a new draft sex ed curriculum that is largely in line with its provisions. BESE has now opened up a 60-day public comment period, which means we have until Monday, August 28th to submit comments for improvements to the draft and advocate for approval of the new framework.

Submit public comments here: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6646350/Comprehensive-Health-and-Physical-Education-Framework-Public-Comment

Tell your electeds to cosponsor the Sunlight Agenda

From: Act on Mass

The Sunlight Agenda is Act on Mass’s legislative agenda to restore democratic integrity on Beacon Hill. We have compiled a package of four bills put forward this session that would address our democracy crisis and improve transparency, accountability, and fairness in the State House.

Read more about and tell your electeds to cosponsor the four bills of the Sunlight Agenda: https://actonmass.org/sunlight-agenda

Urge your legislators to support the Prison Moratorium

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/prison-moratorium-2023

Formerly incarcerated women and families of currently incarcerated women have been fighting plans to build a big new women’s prison as well as advocating for other changes in our correctional system. We know that every time bigger prisons are built, there is a drive to fill them with more people. Many feel that a different approach to corrections is needed. One group that has been leading the way is Families for Justice as Healing – https://www.justiceashealing.org/

To Contact the Governor

Governor’s Office of Constituent Services (617) 725-4005
Call between 9am and 5pm and leave a message.

Or email the governor, using this form: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/email-the-governors-office#email-the-governor-using-this-form-

Our State Legislators’ Info

Speaker Ronald Mariano Ronald.Mariano@mahouse.gov | 617-722-2500 | Rm 356
Senate President Karen Spilka Karen.Spilka@masenate.gov | 617-722-1500 | Rm 332
Rep. Rodney Elliott Rodney.Elliott@ma.house.gov | 617-722-2000 x7313 | Rm B1
Rep. Vanna Howard Vanna.Howard@mahouse.gov | 617-722-2060 | Rm 33
Local office: 25 Central Street, ground floor, Lowell
Rep. Rady Mom Rady.Mom@mahouse.gov | 617-722-2637 | Rm 544
Rep. Colleen Garry Colleen.Garry@mahouse.gov | 617-722-2380 | Rm 238
Senator Edward Kennedy edward.kennedy@masenate.gov | 617-722-1630 | Rm 109-E
Senator Michael Barrett Mike.Barrett@masenate.gov | 617-722-1572 | Rm 109-D
Senator Jamie Eldridge James.Eldridge@masenate.gov | 617-722-1120 | Rm 511-C
Senator Barry Finegold Barry.Finegold@masenate.gov | 617-722-1612 | Rm 511A
(… or find yours here: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator)

Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02133

National Actions

How to Contact the White House

https://www.whitehouse.gov/get-involved/write-or-call/
(Includes a link to send email.)

Our Federal Legislators’ Info

Representative Lori Trahan
https://trahan.house.gov/contact/write-your-rep.htm
2439 Rayburn HOB | Washington, DC 20515 | 202-225-3411
126 John Street | Lowell, MA 01852 | 978-459-0101

Representative Seth Moulton
https://moulton.house.gov/contact
202-225-8020 | 978-531-1669

Solidarity Lowell Summer Barbecue Sunday! RSVP Today.