PAD Newsletter, June 18, 2021

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Newsletter, June 18, 2021

Plymouth Area Democrats Monthly Meeting, June 23rd at 5:30 P.M. Rotary Amphitheater at Riverside Park

It has been over one year since we were in-person and we are excited to gather together once again! Note the earlier time and new location. This month's meeting is a waste-free and bring your own food event.

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PAD June Meeting Guest Speaker:

John Gage of Citizen's Climate Lobby

John Gage has a B.S. in Biology from Boston College. He worked at Sun Microsystems and Oracle for thirty years helping roll out the internet. In other words, he’s an ordinary person, just like you. Seven years ago he started researching climate science, and shortly after, solutions. Now he volunteers with the nonpartisan, grassroots organization Citizen’s Climate Lobby to help address the climate pollution problem. CCL has 200,000 members around the world and chapters in over 60 countries. CCL’s mission is to create the political will to enable governments to pass effective and equitable climate legislation by helping individuals exercise their personal and political powers. The CCL methodology is based on data and science, respect, gratitude, integrity, and relationships.

Chair's Chair

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

It’s time to get back outside!

After a year and a half, I am so excited for this summer. I (as I hope you all are) am vaccinated and ready to start getting back to a new normal. When the Pandemic started, many of us adopted the moto “trust the scientists and the science.” I know I was wiping down every grocery bag and every grocery item that came into my house for the first month plus. Then the science became clear that COVID did not spread on surfaces. We learned that masks and social distancing was central to staying safe. Sometime last fall/winter the science became clear that spreading COVID in Outdoor settings, when distanced was not much of a risk. Now we have a vaccine and the CDC and the MANY scientists, experts and doctors have said that once we are vaccinated, we can start returning to normal.

I know many people are nervous. I know readjusting to naked faces is not easy. I say, if you want to wear a mask, wear one. Self-care is so important as we get back to normal.

That said, as a Party and PAD as an organization needs to get back in front of the world. We need to start showing up again. The science is clear, those of us that are vaccinated (and that should be everyone who wants to be vaccinated) can get back to public events.

Let’s do this!

First up, our June 23^rd meeting will be in person at the Plymouth Amphitheater (same parking lot as the Senior Center, just walk toward the river).

We also want to start doing visibility ASAP.

After his amazing work doing visibility during the election, Gunnar Baldwin has joined our Board and is stretched thin with our Technology needs. We are looking for a Visibility Team to replace him. Anne Hunnewell has volunteered to be part of that team, but won’t do it alone. She needs a true TEAM to work with. Anyone willing to help, please email Gunnar at: Gunnar@plymouthareademocrats.org. This won’t be a huge time commitment. But will be critical in getting PAD back in front of voters.

We also know that some of the events that did not happen last year, like Old Home Days, are back on. We are asking for your help to get those back on our calendar!

You can submit them on our website: https://plymouthareademocrats.org/

There is now a Blue Button on the top right of the homepage. You can also email me mike@plymouthareademocrats.org if you think there is an event we should attend. We can’t do them all, but we want to know about them all! And we hope to build a visibility team capable of representing PAD in as many places as possible.

Excited to see everyone IN PERSON at our June Meeting!

Love,

Mike

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Community Voice

'Making Legislative Change'

Trysten McClain, Founder of Black Lives Matter North Country, Member of Black Lives Matter, Nashua, NH, Co-Founder New Hampshire Unites, Board of Advisors, PAD

“Hello, my name is Trysten McClain, and I currently reside in Plymouth, NH. I am calling in to this hearing today” is how most of my days off begin. I will not lie that maintaining a full time job, participating in full time capacity in activism, fighting to maintain a sustainable mental health situation, and being present in normal life situations is difficult. And by difficult, it means sit downs with numerous people telling you to sit down and enjoy the beautiful spring we’re having without obsessing over the next tragedy of a house session or current agenda politically and remain aloof as obscene bills pass through your state house.

Life recently has meant addressing burn out while maintaining a presence in speaking out against one of the most aggressive legislative bodies in the country. Everyday it feels like Republicans are passing more severe laws to punish the public of New Hampshire, and quite frankly, I have to applaud those who can maintain 24/7 vigilance to addressing a legislative body that seems to wake up and choose violence physically, mentally and emotionally daily.

Currently, the reduction of the DHHS’s budget does nothing to serve the disabled, physically and mentally ill, and the underserved communities in our state who already have to deal with lack of access to healthcare due to lack of staffing, funding or facilities, especially in rural areas (such as our beloved Grafton county) that is partly attributed to the resulting need of services and assistance from the poverty wages that are due in part to NH not adopting a livable minimum wage, and the people’s burdens of attempting to manage functioning and fulfilling lives on top of their respective ailments. Addressing the most pressing of issues in the current recommendations for the State’s budget, line 16 and 76 should be removed from HB 2.

New Hampshire has a long history of racism, from being the home of the first documented sundown town as evidenced by the NH General Court’s “An Act to Prevent Disorders in the Night,” in 1714, and later reaffirmed in publications by NH Gazette as late as 1764 and 1771, the burning of Noyes Academy (NH’s first interracial academy in Enfield in the mid 1800’s), the lack of documentation and tariff evasion regarding slave trade from our ports to assist the southern part of our nation in our past), our lack of documentation of Black veterans from wars such as the Civil War as discussed by Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire (and numerous other sources), and the lingering effects of discrimination and prejudice stemming from our state’s and national history and the resulting current social climate. Racism’s presence is still felt and is evidenced locally by the Justice Information Bureau’s Uniform Crime Reporting unit’s release of data showing inequity in arrests in the Black and Hispanic populations by the New Hampshire State Police, the lack of access to health care as evidenced by data released last year from NH DHHS and the distribution data of COVID-19 vaccines in the BIPOC population the entirety of the pandemic until recently, the failure and underminement of these conversation by the failure to pass the LEACT commission’s recommendations in lieu of passing in the form of a hollow amendment to address the recommendations, the lack of urgency regarding the release of the Laurie list, with the fight for the list to be released in New Hampshire stemming back as far as the ACLU’s respective 2018 lawsuit, even despite constitutional obligation under Brady v. Maryland and State v. Laurie. The proverbial cherry on the top is the lack of a single demand being met from Black Lives Matter Manchester and Nashua’s demands list, despite the simplicity and readily understandable need for their implementations of above stated demands.

These listed reasons, among so many more I lack the time to discuss, highlight the need for the removal of the HB544esque language that is completely inappropriate to be included in our state’s budget, which only serves to chill the necessary discourse regarding these “divisive concepts” pandered by the rhetoric of Critical Race Theory of NH Republicans by weaponizing fear mongered disinformation of CRT’s definition, and would only serve to bring another black eye to our home state on both the New England regional and national level of our ideals and beliefs. This will result in wasted tax payer’s dollars regarding enforcing the “divisive concepts” language’s consequences and numerous lawsuits. I would also like the language surrounding SB130 be removed, as it serves to further exacerbate the gap in education in NH by supporting and funding the minority of students who attend private school versus the majority of your constituent’s children attending schools in the public school sector.

This would serve to press us further behind in education as the 50th state in the country in reference to state public education funding. Lastly, speaking on the removal of line 16 from HB 2, the only conversation anybody should have about a women’s choice of abortion and reproductive services is the location and time of their appointments. The state has no business of rescinding funding regarding a women’s choice. I strongly urge that all representatives and senators vote to ITL these bills due to these pressing moral and political trespasses spoken about during HB1 and 2’s session , and bring into question the moral integrity and intelligence of those who introduced the bills in their current forms.

Discourse around our current session has been difficult to speak to without feeling that all of the energy surrounding Concord lately is quite frankly disturbing to engage on, and my biggest gripe lately is the lack of support surrounding encouraging our officials to address these issues with bravado, pride, and passion as living this life in a melanin filled body has become an absolute travesty. Maintaining this level of energy while dealing with the personal attachments of what ensues this line of work is difficult while people watch this session like a Patriots game, passively watching while our most vulnerable populations suffer.

We can do better. We have the resources, the skill sets among our collective, and voice to annihilate the opposition, but it is hard not to acknowledge that even my BIPOC peers in the greater Plymouth region, hell, even Grafton county, choose to pursue the easy way out versus the fight that the major batters from organizations like Rights and Democracy, New Hampshire Youth Movement, and American Friends Service Committee pursue religiously daily to improve our lives.

While I’ll strongly advocate preserving your energies and enjoying life in our bountiful spring season, today is the day to speak out. It’d be a lie to say that New Hampshire has become nothing short of unbearable for anyone with melanin. The resources are available, but lately it’s felt as if people are enjoying our mountains and waters versus the fight at hand. The doors are open, the seats are empty, so turn the doorknob and join the collective of people who strive for our betterment. We’ll be waiting.

Plymouth Area Democrats

info@plymouthareademocrats.org