“We’re all here together because we know that this is an emergency,” said Sunrise organizer Estrella Rodriguez at last Friday’s Climate Strike event in Rhode Island. “We know that this is the only planet we have and if we want to live on it, we must take bold action today. As young people, millions of us are standing all across the world, to strike for our climate, for our futures…”

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Rhode Island might be a little beat up, but we’re not beaten. The problems might be gigantic, even apocalyptic, but we can handle it. To quote Portugal. The Man “The only rule we need is never giving up.”

Welcome to The Uprising!

1a. Climate Strike

It was the largest climate event in Rhode island history, and the largest youth led political mobilization as well. Over 1000 people, students and older people as well, marched through Providence from Burnside Park to the Rhode Island State House to demand real action on Climate Change. This year’s event was four times bigger than last year’s.

The action was coordinated by members of Sunrise Providence, Climate Strike RI and Climate Action Rhode Island (CARI) and was one of thousands of such events held around the world.

At the State House, organizers demanded that Governor Gina Raimondo:

1. Sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge, and
2. Publicly commit herself to passing a Green New Deal for Rhode Island.

Organizers also dropped a banner in the State House rotunda reminding the Governor that when they mobilized two weeks earlier with their demands, the Governor left the building via a side door to avoid them:

“Her staff told us she couldn’t talk to us because she was out of state,” said Sunrise Movement organizer Yesenia Puebla. “But actually, y’all, our cameraman captured a picture of Governor Raimondo sneaking out through a back door of the State House…”

While the Climate Strike activists were in the State House for the Climate Strike, Governor Raimondo really was out of state, in Boston, speaking about the “green economy” at Horizon19 conference, a corporate greenwashing event.

1b. Chase Bank

“They’re the worst bank in the world,” said Climate Action Rhode Island‘s Brian Wilder outside the recently opened Chase Bank branch on Thayer Street in Providence. “Literally the worst bank in the world. We’re here on a regular basis and you’ll notice very few customers going in an out of this bank, because I think people are getting the message that this is a bad bank.”

“Chase Bank is the worst, the number one investor in fossil fuels,” added Climate Action Rhode Island’s Justin Boyan. “They are going to profit from oil, and gas, and drilling and destroying our water, destroying our land, destroying our air – until the last penny is sucked out of the earth for their profits…”

Wilder then led about ten people into the bank where he and two other members of Climate Action Rhode Island, Rachel and Steve, cut their Chase Bank credit cards in half, pledging to no longer do business with the bank. Workers at the bank retreated into their offices and called the police.

1c. Mary joins the Climate Strike

A small group of people stood outside the Barrington Congregational Church Friday morning holding signs and erecting an 11-foot tall puppet of Mary, holding an infant Jesus. Mary also held a sign, reading “Mom on Strike for the Future!” The event was coordinated with rush hour traffic for maximum impact.

“Here we have Mary, Jesus’ mom, the Mother of the Universe, all of our mother, and she’s on strike too,” said Pastor Brendan Curran.

“She’s our other mother,” said Andrea Bullard, who had come out this morning to hold a sign.

“There’s Mother Earth and Mother Mary,” clarified another person.

“She can be both to us all, today,” suggested Curran. “We should know that Mary’s name, in the Hebrew, means ‘rebellion.’ So Christ is the child of Rebellion and Mary is the mother of Resistance against oppression and injustice.”

1d. Meanwhile, in Washington DC…

Maybe the Federal government is content to do nothing about Climate Change, but the people of Washington DC are not being quiet. Peter Nightingale reports on how a coalition of activists groups shut down intersections through DC, to call attention to the issue.

• Activists again block key intersections in DC to demand climate action

2a. Rhode Island Political Cooperative

A group of community leaders and supporters from across the state announced the formation on Wednesday of a new statewide political initiative, the Rhode Island Political Cooperative (RIPC), dedicated to challenging the political establishment and forming a new governing majority that will make government work for the people of Rhode Island – not for corporations or the connected. The initiative will form a slate of 25 or more like-minded Democratic candidates to run for office in 2020 and provide them with the support they need to win.

• Newly formed Rhode Island Political Cooperative takes aim at political establishment

For an introduction the 15 candidates that are running under the RIPC umbrella, see here:

• Rhode Island Political Cooperative candidates so far: A brief introduction

I did an interview with the three co-chairs of the Rhode Island Political Cooperative, Jennifer Rourke, Jeanine Calkin and Matt Brown, here, at Motif Magazine:

• The RI Political Cooperative Is a New Effort to Redefine State Politics

“We want to make sure that every one of our candidates has enough resources to win,” said Calkin, a former State Senator who is running for her old seat. “As far as volunteers go, we’re running 25 races, we want to make sure that we have enough volunteers that are going to be able to help support each one of the candidates. We don’t want to have any one of our candidates struggling because they don’t have volunteers. So if you know anybody who wants to come on board and volunteer with some really great candidates, we want to know about them.”

The 15 candidates announced so far includes Melanie DuPont for Senate District 22, Jeanine Calkin for Senate District 30, Jennifer Rourke for Senate District 29, Cynthia Mendes for Senate District 18, Kendra Anderson for Senate District 31, Jennifer Douglas for Senate District 34, Maggie Kain for Senate District 37, Nicholas Delmenico for House District 27, Zach Colón Warwick City Council Ward 9, Michelle McGaw for House District 71, Tiara Mack for Senate District 6, Monica Huertas for Providence City Council Ward 10, Jonathon Acosta for Senate District 16, Alex Hoffman for Senate District 1 and Jessica Vega for Central Falls City Council Ward 5.

2b. The Candidates:

Here’s all the interviews and coverage of the RICP candidates in Uprise RI so far:

• A conversation with Alex Hoffman, running for State Senate in District 1
• Michelle McGaw announces her candidacy for State Representative For District 71
• Nicholas Delmenico announces run for Rhode Island House District 27
• Maggie Kain announces her candidacy for Rhode Island State Senate District 37
• Zachary Colón announces his candidacy for Warwick City Council Ward 9
• Tiara Mack announces her candidacy for Rhode Island Senate District 6
• Monica Huertas announces her candidacy for Providence City Council Ward 10

Keep watching Uprise RI for more…

2c. The Rhode Island Democratic Party Responds

Statement on Matt Brown’s recently launched Political Cooperative from Bill Lynch, Special Advisor to the Rhode Island Democratic Party:

“Matt Brown, who once notoriously dropped out of a U.S. Senate race after skirting federal campaign finance law, is at it again. Earlier this week, Matt announced that he has co-founded a non-profit designed to surreptitiously raise and funnel funds to candidates for public office. In this week of all weeks, Matt has even offered quid-pro-quo political favors in exchange for your donations. If you give him your money, Matt promises to only give your money to candidates who support his causes and that he will grant you special access to them. Quid-pro-quos like these have been outlawed in Rhode Island, but Matt could not care less. Matt even brags that he strategically chose not to designate the non-profit as a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) because it restricts his ‘ability to provide campaign services to candidates.’

“Most disheartening is Matt’s attempt to unseat well-established women and people of color in the General Assembly. More than half of the seats he has targeted with his political donation Ponzi scheme are currently held by women or people of color. These individuals have provided leadership on important social justice issues, including: raising the minimum wage, passing common sense gun control, and, most recently, securing a women’s right to choose.

“At a time when Democrats across our nation are crying out for transparency and diversity, the last thing our party needs is Matt and his privilege. There’s no place for Matt Brown and his antics in the Democratic Party or Rhode Island politics.”

Responding on Twitter to a tweet about the Lynch release from Providence Journal reporter Kathy Gregg, State Senator Samuel Bell (Democrat, District 6, Providence) wrote, “Bill Lynch has embarrassed the party by hurling hyperbolic and false insults at people who criticize the machine, but this is a new low. He is explicitly accusing Matt Brown of committing a felony. If this charge is wholly false, Lynch could place the party in legal jeopardy.

“If Lynch believes that this is a campaign finance violation, he should file a complaint with the Board of Elections,” continued Bell. “However, the Board does require that complaints be filed under penalty of perjury.”

3. We The People

Just over 100 people rallied at the Rhode Island State House on Saturday in solidarity with marches happening across the country and the national We the People March in Washington DC.

The national We the People March was organized by activists and author Amy Siskind, president of The New Agenda, and Karen McRae, interim and first female CEO of CBMOA. Here in Rhode Island the organizer was Lauren Pothier. Providence was the first city to announce a solidarity march.

“When I heard about the event, the We The People March, I jumped at the chance to organize a sister rally here in Rhode Island,” said Pothier. “If you are like me, living through this administration, and even before, has been hard. I found myself feeling lost and helpless reading the news, crying my eyes out from frustration, coming home from protests, and waking up in the middle of the night from nightmares. It’s hard. But we know that it is necessary work.

4. Wyatt

The Central Falls City Council will be taking up Mayor James Diossa‘s nomination of James Lombardi III to the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation board, the governing body of the Wyatt Detention Center on Monday evening. The City Council was going to take up the issue last Monday, but due to an error in announcing the meeting, consideration of the nomination was delayed.

As I write in an open letter to the Central Falls City Council,

James Lombardi III may well be a good and moral person, but his experience is in balancing books and running good meetings. Are we sure he will do all in his power to stop the use of this for-profit prison to house ICE detainees? Or will he simply execute the fiscal duties of the position as he believes they must be executed under the law? Does this include selling the Wyatt to a for profit prison corporation, ensuring that the prison stays open forever, housing ICE detainees and other undesirables for the foreseeable future?

Following the letter of the law and being fiscally responsible is not always compatible with what is morally right and good. Legality does not equal morality.

What the Wyatt needs is a Chair who will fight for what is morally right, not a number cruncher who will make the meetings run on time and satisfy the greedy needs of the for-profit prison industry and Trump’s deportation machine.

For more on the Wyatt, see here.

5. Brown Catering Services

Noa Machover and Nora Lawrence write about the unionization difficulties Brown University catering service employees are facing. They are now seeking Federal mediation to resolve their concerns.

“Rather than supporting catering workers by acknowledging the importance of flexibility and autonomy on the job, dining managers have proposed convoluted alternatives that ignore the workers’ main concerns…”

6. Minimum wage increase for Cranston city workers?

Cranston City Council Members Steve Stycos and John Donegan introduce an ordinance to raise the minimum wage for City employees to $12.75 an hour.

“It is my opinion that before we consider raises to the Mayor’s salary, or Council pay, we should address the issue of City employees who make less than a living wage,” said Donegan. “$12.75 is not quite a true living wage in the City of Cranston, but it’s an important step forward.”

The ordinance, if passed, would take effect January 1, 2021. The first hearing on the ordinance will take place on in Finance Committee on October 7.

7. Rhode Island’s own Presidential Debate

If you’d like to compare presidential candidates from a progressive perspective, a forum this coming Tuesday offers the closest thing to a presidential debate in Rhode Island. It will feature knowledgeable supporters of different candidates, such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, presenting their candidate’s views on 5 topics: war/peace, immigration, surveillance, policing, and climate.

[At 7pm Tuesday, October 1 in the Brown University Friedman Auditorium (in Metcalf Building), 190 Thayer St, Providence (Facebook)]

The event is cosponsored by the Rhode Island Anti-War Committee, Brown War Watch, East Bay Citizens for Peace, and Rhode Island Rights.

8. Woonsocket City Council

When I wrote about the Woonsocket City Council amending a resolution against white nationalism into a mockery of itself, then passing it, I had no idea that a local theater company would turn the piece into a dramatic reading. But that’s what’s happening on on Sunday, September 29th at 4pm at Theater 82, located at 82 Rolfe Square.

Recently elected Woonsocket City Council member Alex Kithes submitted the resolution, only to have five of his fellow city councilors turn his resolution into a series of personal insults against him, and then twist the resolution into a parody of itself, denying the existence of white nationalism and people of color.

Joseph B Nadeau covered the council meeting for The Woonsocket Call, ignoring the fact that much of the resolution was reworked to insult Kithes, writing:

“Newly-elected City Councilman Alex Kithes was given a swift lesson in the power of a political majority as five of his peers on the panel took him to task Monday night for filing a council resolution suggesting the city should be concerned with denouncing “white nationalism.”

“The lesson included an inquiry of sorts about his reasons for submitting the non-binding resolution denouncing white nationalism and white supremacy. Then the council reworked his submittal into a more generalized objection to the subjugation of any person by another regardless of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or any other defining characteristic.”

WPRO‘s Steve Klamkin did a much better job when he interviewed Kithes on the radio, which you can listen to here.

Lauren Clem also covered the story for The Valley Breeze here.

9. Decriminalizing Sex Work

Victoria Caruso writing for the College Hill Independent talks decriminalizing prostitution with COYOTE RI‘s Bella Robinson.

Criminalization puts sex workers in a vulnerable state where the fear of being arrested may prevent workers from reporting acts of violence.

The current laws render it almost impossible for sex workers to do their work safely and to seek help from other sex workers. For instance, according to Robinson, if sex workers work together, they risk being charged with a felony for promoting. This happened to Robinson, who, at 44, was working with another woman off Craigslist when a SWAT team kicked down her door and arrested them.

Under this system, many sex workers also refuse to share information about clients with each other for fear of getting charged with a felony.

“If sex work is decriminalized, I can say, ‘Yeah, I know Tom, he’s a nice guy’,” says Robinson. “Or I can say, ‘Uh, no, he’s on a blacklist for choking some girl out…’ and I’m supposed to go to jail for promoting prostitution because I want to help keep others safe?”

The inability to organize under criminalization also creates a lack of solidarity. According to Robinson, if sex workers try to unionize, they may be charged with criminal enterprise.

10. ACLU

• ACLU of RI Resolves First Amendment Lawsuit Over State’s Discrimination Against Non-Fiction Authors

11. The Bartholomewtown Podcast

• Linda Borg (Education Reporter, Providence Journal)
• Jeff Diehl (Executive Director and CEO, RI Infrastructure Bank)
• Alex Kithes (Woonsocket City Councilor)

12. ConvergenceRI

• New tunnel proposed by RIDOT: Is its goal to make poor people less visible? by Tom Sgouros

13. ecoRI

• Another Salvage Yard Considered for Allens Avenue

14. Providence Journal

• Seaweed collector sues over beach-access rights

15. The Womxn Project

• Elections, Legislation and Being BOLD

16. Picture of the Week:

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