“Educating for Justice: Palestine Education Panel”
forums in Orono (Friday, November 7, 6:30-8 PM, TBA) and
Bangor (Saturday, November 8, 3-4:30 PM Public Library).
The Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine and U/Maine Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) proudly sponsor "Standing in Solidarity: Educating for Justice in Palestine," two community events to raise awareness of the Israeli occupation, apartheid policies, and the Gaza genocide, claiming over 67,000 lives since October 2023. Through expert speakers, testimonies, and discussion/Q&A, we'll counter misinformation and build empathy for Palestinian human rights. We will also analyze the proposed US-backed “peace plan”.
The events are free and open to the public.
Peace and Ceasefire in Gaza
We hold a weekly vigil on Wednesdays in Bangor, for peace and ceasefire from 12-12:30pm on near the crosswalk & the 6 State St. Building
We also coordinate with likeminded individuals and organizations who are demonstrating peacefully for an end to conflict.
June 1st “Singing Truth & Power: Community in Song”
On Sunday, June 1st, from 2 pm to 4 pm, Food and Medicine and the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine will present a community musical event with the band For Peace (Leslie and Larry Latour, Art Bottie, Dave Meeks, and Judd Esty Kendall) at the Food and Medicine building at 20 Ivers Street in Brewer. All are welcome! Come and sing, listen, and participate. Indoors or outdoors as weather permits. Free to the public but donations are encouraged to the sponsoring organizations.
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Community Forum Series Continued on March 18th
Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine held our seventh community forum on March 18th, "Reweaving the Social Fabric" brought us together to share, empathize and strategize our responses to the new Administration’s attacks on liberty and human rights. This series began shortly after the election and has been a touchstone for many community members and groups to share and present information.
“Social Change happens at the Speed of Relationships, and relationships happen at the speed of trust”
We are continuing our Social Listening and Public Storytelling project this year.
In this moment when policy & society must grapple with the inadequate provision of housing (& wages to support those housing costs), the narratives of people for whom the system has not worked must be acknowledged and understood. While each individual circumstance may be different, as a society being familiar with the myriad ways a person can be denied housing would inform how better to provision resources at the state & local level to address that problem.
Systemically we know that when people are unable to identify with or relate to the life struggles of a marginalized group, policy & social attitudes towards that group tend to be counterproductive, ineffective or even harmful. Building a cohesive community that includes unhoused people and works to repair the systems which have excluded them from housing and other assistance begins with someone taking time to listen. We as staff and volunteers will be having conversations with unhoused individuals (and compensating them) and presenting the findings in the upcoming months.