November is Trans Awareness Month, and the Transgender Day of Remembrance comes on Monday, November 18. Central Square Church in Bridgewater (71 Central Square) will host a candlelight vigil at 5 pm to which all are invited. The Day of Remembrance was started in 1999 by advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a way to honor Rita Hester, a trans woman who was tragically killed in 1998. It has since become a powerful tradition to commemorate all trans people lost to violence.
1.The Trevor Project, which supports LBGTQ+ youth, reports that they experienced an increase of nearly 700% in crisis service conversations on November 6. 2.The Boston Globe and New York Times report that the FBI is investigating a nationwide rash of email messages to Black people, including students, instructing them to report at the nearest plantation to pick cotton, and similar messages, some very specific as to when, where, and in what vehicle to look for the “slavery executive.” The messages state the recipient’s full name and , in many cases , threaten violence. They have been received by students at
The Cash in the Plate for November will be donated to the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe Fund (non-profit) to acquire 38 acres of their ancestral land on Triangle Pond in Plymouth. https://www.herringpondtribe.org/
Thanks to Bill and Suzi Howe for creating some beautiful new signs. Sandy Smiley suggests people consider whether they could commit to a half hour a month (Saturday 11:30-12:00). If a few more people could do that, we would always have enough folks to make a good showing.
Kudos to Lois Aldrich who organized this effort, and to the many members and friends of the congregation who participated. The messages were non-partisan and went to registered voters in Pennsylvania and Florida who had a sketchy record of actually voting. (Whether you vote is public record. How you vote is private.)
Last week we brought you information on Project 2025 (900 pages). This week we bring you the official platforms of the two major parties.
Democratic Party Platform (49 pages):
https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FINAL-MASTER-PLATFORM.pdf
Republican Party Platform (3 pages):
https://gop.com/press-release/icymi-rnc-platform-committee-adopts-2024-republican-party-platform/
This display of large posters was created for Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, 2024, and is on loan from Bridgewater State University. It will be in the Parish Hall from Sunday, October 13, (Yom Kippur) through Sunday, October 20. We chose posters that best illustrate the warning signs of fascistic thinking. Thank you, Lauren Haugh, for arranging for this display.
Massachusetts Trans Political Coalition (MTPC) writes that 30 schools in Massachusetts have been included in a lawsuit filed by Moms for Liberty seeking to erase the rights and existence of transgender and nonbinary youth in schools. The lawsuit has halted implementation of new Title IX rules that would protect trans, nonbinary, and LGBQ youth and were supposed to go into effect in August 2024.
Project 2025, or Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, is a 900 page detailed policy statement, spearheaded by The Heritage Foundation, designed to prepare for a conservative presidential administration in 2025. It is overwhelming to read and chilling to contemplate. But this is no time to put your head in the sand. You need to know what is in Project 2025. No matter whether every individual detail in it would or even could be implemented, taken as a whole it leaves no doubt about overall intent.
Wednesdays: October 9,16, 23, 30 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Get Out The Vote (GOTV) Stand-out in Bridgewater Center, on the sidewalk in front of Walgreens, with BCCR (Bridgewater Communities for Civil RIghts). No signs for candidates please. (Issues are fine.) BCCR will probably have some extra signs with a generic GOTV message.