Brunswick Area Indivisible Newsletter #29
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We are a grassroots organization of concerned residents of Brunswick, Topsham and Harpswell Newsletter for July 26, 2026 Brunswick Area Indivisible Action Calendar: BAI Monthly Community Meeting Recurring Events (Brunswick) Tuesdays, 5:30 pm Brunswick Maine Street Route 1 Overpass Rally - Bring your signs and flags. Wednesdays, 12:30 pm Brunswick Town Mall Cosplay protest. Meet at the Gazebo- costumes optional Saturdays, 11:00 am to 12:00 Brunswick, Maine St. on Rt 1 Overpass. Bring banners, signs. Mark your calendar: BAI Book Group Discussion Wednesday, October 21, 2026 from 4 to 5:15pm. Topsham Public Library. For More actions and events, visit Activate Maine and Mobilize Rally Report: Good Trouble Lives On - Teach, Reach, PreachLast Saturday BAI co-sponsored the second John Lewis Rally with our own Catherine Whitaker as emcee. The BAI Action Group was instrumental in organizing the rally, along with co-hosts Indivisible Sagadahoc, Greater Freeport Indivisible and Harpswell Indivisible. The enthusiastic crowd on the Brunswick Mall was estimated at about 300 folks. Many in attendance noted the much improved sound system thanks to the efforts of Chris Mills from the BAI Action Group. ‘The Huddled Masses’ brass band provided warm up music. Maine Artist Lee Chisholm read John Lewis’s last Letter to America and led a call and response chant. Learn about Lee at https://www.rwsartstudios.com/team/lee-chisholm Jeff Selinger, Bowdoin College Associate Professor of Government, provided context on the current state of our democracy. Rafael Macias, Topsham’s representative to the Maine House, followed with remarks about restoring faith in America. The keynote speaker was Shay Stewart-Bouley , writer and podcaster of 'Black Girl in Maine'. Ms. Stewart-Bouley reflected on John Lewis’s legacy and how it inspires us to continue to "make good trouble” both here in Maine and across the country. Julia Haven rounded out the event singing a rousing rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Julia, a finalist in American Idol Season 22, grew up in Cumberland, Maine and is now a touring and recording musician. An edited video of the entire event was put together by Martha Spiess of Freeport. BAI Petition to Maine’s Senators and House RepresentativesIn the wake of the murder of Johan Sebastian Guerrero, the Maine Delegation wrote a letter to the Inspector General of Homeland Security asking for complete information regarding the shooting. The BAI Coordinating Council is calling on our representatives in Congress to provide a detailed legislative agenda to curb the flagrant, systemic abuses of immigrants in Maine as well as around the country. Please read and sign the petition here. ICE Out Maine laws in effect July 29Laws restricting federal immigration cooperation, access to public places and housing information passed in the last Maine Legislative session finally go into effect this week. Maine ACLU has a good explanation of 'ICE Out of Policing', 'ICE Out of Schools and State Healthcare', and 'ICE Out of Our Homes' laws. However, they warn that these protective measures are only as good as the local governments that enforce them. Maine ACLU is promoting a petition to urge municipalities to follow the laws. A handful of communities have adopted ordinances that define how local law enforcement and city employees must interact with federal immigration enforcement personnel. Our towns may need similar measures to clarify procedures and protect residents and city employees. Election ProtectionTrump has declared his intention to interfere with the midterm elections in November. This week the House has passed a bill with restrictions on voting by mail. To defend our right to vote, Indivisible National has launched a program: The League of Women Voters welcomes volunteers to train in voter registration, poll observing, and more. What's the Plan Podcast NewsThe July 23rd podcast - ‘What’s the Plan’ with Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg of National Indivisible was chock-full of good information we can use to take up action against this criminal regime. The crypto industry under the guise of the Clarity Act is trying to buy politicians and pass legislation that would ease restrictions on crypto and enable more grift by Trump and family. Ezra implores us to call our senators, Democratic or Republican, and tell them to vote ‘no’ on the Clarity Act. Ezra and Leah spoke with Justin Pearson, the State Rep from Memphis,Tennessee who is running for congress. He is a lifelong organizer and has emerged as a national leader in the fight for voting rights and the fight against gerrymandering. Pearson has a connection with Brunswick, he attended Bowdoin. His campaign needs volunteers to phone bank and donations. When ICE surges in your community do you know what to do? The second session of Immigrant Justice Summer Training will be July 29 @ 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm The first session can be viewed online, go to Indivisible's Dismantling Detention campaign. Indivisible members are urged to attend these trainings and be prepared. What are we going to do as this administration attacks voting rights? The first Election Protection Training for election security will be July 30 @ 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm. You can sign up here. Early voting is a key part of the ANTI election sabotage plan. Everyone should vote early beginning October 5th. For more information, Ballotpedia and the Maine State Elections page provide nonpartisan information. A Social Media RecommendationWith all the available news sources it can become at times overwhelming to find a site that reports quickly on fast moving news events. Often you have to wait for a news broadcast or website to find out more information. Even then it may be just headlines with minimal information. What to do? 'Public Notice' is a Substack based newsletter launched by journalist Aaron Rupar in October 2021. The newsletter's content emphasizes incisive analysis of political events, including breakdowns of media coverage, shortcomings and detailed commentary on key clips from public figures and press interactions. Rupar developed a rapid-response coverage of events with unedited clips in real time to allow the viewer to witness the particular event. The viewer bypasses news sites to view the actual event and reach their own conclusions. If you're not already following Aaron on social media, look him up on Substack, Bluesky, or YouTube to name a few. Selecting a New Democrat Candidate for US Senateby Catherine Whitaker After Graham Platner stepped aside, with no time to lose the Maine Dems came up with a fair method to choose another candidate. I followed the developing process carefully. The information shared was often confusing, especially for those of us who had never participated in nominating a candidate before. I applied to be a delegate, having not yet decided on the best candidate to beat Susan Collins. I also promised to consider the interests of the many Independent voters who voted for Platner in the Democratic Primary. Their votes will be crucial to beat Collins. I received a number of texts and phone calls asking for commitment to various candidates. After my initial text of this sort, I thought this was odd and possibly unethical. Little did I know that this is how the process works, by design! Delegates get more votes if others know which candidate they will choose. Aha! The selection of delegates on July 18th was open to ALL registered Democrats in Maine. I don’t think that most Maine democrats understood that this was their one chance to help choose our new candidate. In Cumberland County, 7,929 voters had been verified to participate in the delegate selection, compared to the almost 59,000 (Dems and Independents) who participated in the Primary . In the end, over 17,000 Maine Democrats participated in the process. or Cumberland County, there were about 1,500 prospective delegates for 149 positions and 30 alternates. That was about 8 candidates for every available delegate position. I didn’t understand this process fully until after votes had been counted. I almost decided not to participate. To select these candidates from the massive list was a daunting task. I voted for other open-minded delegates, of which there were many. Meanwhile, the nominees for the Maine Democratic Senate candidate had created voting lists. Each candidate sent their lists to supporters who had completed the verification steps and were qualified to vote for delegates. For example, Troy Jackson’s supporters got a list of 179 names, in alphabetical order, to vote for on their ballot. More than one person asked why Bellows and Shah so quickly stepped out of the nomination process. It’s because the delegates selected for the nomination were overwhelmingly for Troy Jackson, to the tune of 478 of 500 elected delegates! Here's how many delegates Jackson won in each county, as reported by the Maine Morningstar. I found the process to be very labored, but also clarifying. As it turned out, not a single person I voted for was chosen as a delegate. In Cumberland County, every last elected delegate was committed to Troy Jackson. At the nominating convention on July 25th, 566 of 571 delegates chose Troy Jackson. I am so pleased that this monumental shared task coalesced into such a strong voice for him (even if he wasn’t my first choice). I find the result to be entirely freeing; more than any vote I have ever participated in. I am filled with hope for Maine and the nation after seeing this result. There can be no question that Maine Democrats want Troy Jackson to represent us in the US Senate. Now we have a job to do. We must put all of our energy into defeating Susan Collins with our Democrat Senate candidate! We must figure out how to get the message out to all Maine voters before election day in November. Let’s do this, Maine! Working Group News- EducationThe popular book group returns in October with 'You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train' by Howard Zinn. The publisher describes the book: Howard Zinn...was a participant in and chronicler of some of the landmark struggles for racial and economic justice in U.S. history. In this memoir, Zinn reflects on more than thirty years of fighting for social change, from his teenage years as a laborer in Brooklyn to teaching at Spelman College, where he emerged in the civil rights movement as a powerful voice for justice... Throughout his life, Zinn was unwavering in his belief that 'small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.’ Monthly Meetings will resume in September. Watch for details. - MembershipMembership had two tabling events at the Friday Farmer's Markets and one at the John Lewis Good Trouble Rally last Saturday. Great discussions were had! We signed up over 20 new BAI members with several folks interested in volunteering. One person with expertise in technology attended the Communications meeting and is considering joining that group. Our next Membership Group meeting is August 10th. Onward and together! Wendy -Brunswick Area Indivisible As always, if you have an upcoming action, article, legislative issue or story that you want to go out on the Brunswick Area Indivisible email list, send it to communications.bai.me@gmail.com Have you missed a newsletter, want to look back, or want to share a past issue? The most recent newsletters can be found on the BAI Posts page. Want to support BAI? We welcome your time and talents. Contact communications.bai.me@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities. Donations are welcome at our meetings and online through ACT BLUE.
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