MUTUAL AID & ORGANIZING

MUTUAL AID RESOURCES GATHERED BY ROSC:

https://tinyurl.com/MutualAidForCootie-19

During this time of global crisis, ROSC has been hard at work gathering up resources and tools that can be used by organizers and others to create safety and support through community-based, mutual aid projects. Additionally, we’ve been researching campaigns and tools being used by people who are trying to create cultural shifts that will push us toward a more equitable world through means of direct action and other types of community organizing. At the link above you will find a non-exhaustive list of these resources, which we invite you to add to!

There are a lot of ways to create change, and there are a lot of great organizations that are currently working to push our elected leaders to do the right thing. Where we see ROSC fitting into this conversation is through offering resources that build collective power through community resilience and people power. While we do believe that pushing structural change through exerting political pressure is an essential task of the day, we also believe it is equally important that we organize with one another to create alternatives to the top-down approach of our current systems. The crisis we are facing today is not just a crisis of health, it is also equally, if not even more so, a crisis of system. If we had the mechanisms in place already to care for each other and to honor approaches like housing as a human right, healthcare as a human right, paid sick leave as an essential right of workers, land and food justice that connected us to place and gave us autonomy in procuring the nourishment we need, we would likely be seeing a totally different scenario than the crisis we are currently witnessing and experiencing in many cases.

Please see the link above for resources you can use to create safety and security for yourself and your community, and to organize around ways to honor our needs as human beings.

**Note: This curation is a work in progress, so check back for additional resources frequently as we will continue to add to this list as often as possible.

FMI: sass.rosc@gmail.com; 207-607-2571

ROSC’s Bedtime Reading for Change:

 Parable of the Sower

“That’s all anybody can do right now. Live. Hold out. Survive. I don’t know whether good times are coming back again. But I know that won’t matter if we don’t survive these times.”

― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower

Wednesday Nights, 9PM-10PM

(Social “Hour” starts at 8:45 PM, Post Reading Discussion until 10:10 PM)

Zoom info below!

Youtube Channel for those who can’t join in real time:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNiAF9KNFCojtcrZ99AB2LKYoRLrx83m2

As the world at large continues to grapple with a global pandemic while simultaneously demanding justice and accountability for the violence and inequities faced by people and planet, ROSC remains steadfast in wanting to not only support those who are pushing for change through resistance, we also want to help to build connections and offer respite for those who feel tired in the struggle and need a place to connect with others. With all that’s going on in the world, we are aiming to respond in ways that will help build capacity for important work like the many mutual aid projects we’ve seen springing up locally and around the globe, and we also want to help create a culture of care through social change by human connection and appreciation for the art that reflects our truths.

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**POSTPONED: DATE TBA**

20th Annual

Youth Activism Gathering (YAG)

Saturday, April 18 – Monday, April 20, 2020

Pine Tree Camp, Rome, Maine

What is the YAG?

*A three day, youth-centered, youth organized, youth-led event held every year, including workshops, music, great food, and more

*A safe environment for people of all races, ages, genders, sexes, classes, etc. to come together to explore important issues and take action on them

*A fun way to meet new people & learn new  things!

The Youth Activism Gathering includes an ever changing roster of fun activities and events. Past YAGs have featured:

– Group Icebreakers

– Creative Bake-Offs

– Dance Parties

– Punk Shows

– Workshops

– And more

Examples of past workshops:

– Ice Breakers and Team Building

– Grassroots Media Making

– Safe Binding and Know Your Rights for Transgender Youth

– Consent 101

– Anti-Oppression and Intersectionality

– Climate Justice

– Earth First!

– Direct Action 101

– Nature Tracking

– Herbal First Aid

…and many more… everyone is encouraged to bring their own ideas for workshops or discussions!

For more info: email sass.rosc@gmail.com and visit the YAG website: www.maineyag.org

The ROSC Action Library aims to offer direct action items to small, low-budget grassroots groups and nonprofit organizations who wish to engage in nonviolent direct action and/or civil disobedience. We offer these items on a first-come, first-serve basis for intervals of up to two weeks at a time. If items are needed for longer than 2 weeks, we ask that you check in to see about “renewing” the loan. This will help us keep track of items, and will help us keep them in hand to loan out as often as possible. This project is modeled on a sharing economy, so there is no charge for borrowing, though if you feel compelled to support our work with a donation, that’s totally cool with us! 🙂 The items we currently have in stock for loaning out include:

• 1 Bullhorn (battery-powered)
• 75 ft of Bright Yellow Braided Rope
• 20 Walkie Talkies w/batteries
• 15 Orange Street Cones
• 10 florescent Crowd Marshal Vests
• 4 Flashlights
• 2 Lock boxes (for civil disobedience)
• 1 Mic & 1 Small Amp (require electricity)
• 1 DELL projector (you provide the dongles/USB chords)
• 1 Clip Board
• 1 First Aid Kit
• 1 Roll of Bright Orange Street Tape
• 1 Roll of Bright Pink Street Tape
• Various signs (i.e. parking/info/restrooms, etc)

To request to borrow any of these items, or to facilitate the donation of items or funds earmarked for this project, please email Sass Linneken at sass.rosc@gmail.com, using the subject heading: Action Library. For training materials on nonviolent direct action see our Publications page, and scroll down to the section that says: NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION TRAINING MATERIALS.

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www.AbilityMaine.org

We are happy to announce that our Ability Maine project is opening up a new community blog  and we want to publish you! We’ll begin accepting submissions from Maine residents for two blog tracks per month, one for writers who want to submit articles that track and explore current legislative issues or legal policies impacting people with disabilities who are living in Maine, and the other will be open for people with physical or mental health disabilities or those who love them to explore the triumphs, frustrations, and overall personal experiences of navigating Maine with these identities.

We want this blog to become a community project that gives unfiltered voice to those on the receiving end of living in a state that won’t expand Medicaid, and we want to hear what you think about legislative proposals that will impact you for the good or not. We also want to hear the more intimate stories about living with disabilities in Maine, for instance, what it’s like to seek support from a woefully underfunded Crisis & Counseling while experiencing a mental health crisis, or what it’s like as a parent to help your child navigate the juvenile justice system if they also live with disabilities. We are particularly interested in stories that explore the experience of intersecting identities, like being a person with disabilities who is also homeless or a part of the LGBTQ+ community. Share your stories and give voice the disability community in Maine!

To submit your work please send it to abilitymaine.blog@gmail.com with the subject heading: Submit.

If you’d like to submit something but you’re not sure if it’s the right fit, send it along and we’ll let you know! For creative writing like literary prose, poetry, spoken word, etc., you can still submit your work to our attached literary journal, Breath & Shadow at breathandshadow@gmail.com.

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Changing Maine Directory

www.ChangingMaine.org

Maine’s grassroots resource for non-profits and change agents

Visit the Changing Maine Directory (CMD) to see an extensive list of non-profit organizations and grassroots groups working to make Maine a healthier, more just, more peaceful place. Each listing includes detailed descriptions and the most up-to-date contact information for over 1,500 non-profit, grassroots, progressive, social change and social service organizations throughout Maine. Previously called the Maine Alternative Yellow & Green Pages, since 1986 ROSC has continuously worked to keep this directory’s entries current, accurate and relevant to help empower folx looking to create positive, meaningful social change.

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Down to Earth Storytelling Project

  ROSC is a proud fiscal sponsor of Andy Burt’s Down to Earth Storytelling Project, which is capturing stories on film that can connect people everywhere to the growing climate justice movement. The film will be the centerpiece of a larger project meant to inspire, motivate, and move people to act on climate in their own communities. Some of the plans of this project include:

• The creation of a journaling workbook that draws from the filmed stories and may guide people into deeper personal and community commitment to climate and social justice activism
• A four-week experience that includes four workshops featuring the film, invited guest activists, visioning exercises, and time for sharing workshop participants’ own stories arising out of daily journaling in the workbook guide.
• A virtual workshop experience similar to the one described above.
• A two-hour workshop including the film and time for reflection on filmed stories that spoke to audience members.
• A handout with opportunities for further reflection and action steps and resources. 

To help contribute to the project, please click here.