| To submit an item for inclusion in next week’s newsletter, write contact@audacitycat.com |
| Thursday, January 15 @ 5:30-7:30 PM, No ICE for ME Organizing Call (Virtual): REGISTER HERE Join the call to discuss what support is needed for immigrant communities, current conditions with ICE, and strategies and tactics to move forward with our goal to remove ICE from our state. In light of the latest escalations by ICE, this initial call will focus on aligning our efforts, sharing information about ongoing campaigns, and identifying concrete ways to move together toward large-scale mobilization. Participants will hear brief reports on current work and upcoming actions, including efforts related to ICE Watch, the Solidarity Fund, and the Cumberland County Commissioners, before transitioning to a broader discussion about coalition-building across the state. No ICE for ME is a grassroots organization working to end ICE activity in Maine. |
| Friday, January 16 @ 10:30AM: Audacity Office Hours, Villager Cafe, Camden Owners of the Midcoast Villager, the sole remaining newspaper for Knox County, invite groups to use its Villager Cafe restaurant in Camden as a gathering space where community members can meet, discuss issues of the day, and hatch plans to improve life around Maine. Attendees at The Audacity’s December 2025 group meeting voted unanimously to hold weekly office hours there on Fridays at 10:30 AM. Grab a coffee or a sticky bun, come find our table, and sit a spell with fellow Audacitizens! We’ll catch up, gear up, and hatch plans to act up. Who’s welcome? Everyone! (Villager Cafe, 25 Mechanic Street, Camden) |
| US Rep Chellie Pingree joined us at last week’s Saturday noon demonstration (January 10), with 350 people strong. Watch the video below to hear her stirring remarks. There ain’t no power like the power of the people ‘cuz the power of the people don’t stop! |
| Saturday, January 17 @ Noon: Stand Out and Sing Out in Rockland’s Chapman Park Every Saturday from Noon to 1 PM, we sing, hold signs, have conversations, collect food and hygiene donations for the local food bank, give away free political buttons and postcards. We demonstrate the perseverance of local opposition at the corner of Park & Main Streets. Bring food and hygiene items to donate. Bring a sign (we have signs you can borrow too), your voice and your heart. Make a friend. Bring a friend! Now that it’s winter, dress warmly and know your own limits. We’ll have hot water for cocoa or tea. Please bring your own mug. We are a diverse group. Together, we choose democracy. |
| Call to Action: 3 things you can do today! |
| Action 1: The Trump administration is now accepting public comments on two proposed rules that would severely restrict access to gender affirming care for young Americans. Advocates for the trans community are asking we make as many comments as possible to help support legal challenges aimed at blocking the new rules. The Human Rights Campaign has made it easy to submit such a comment using this form. Please do! |
| Action 2: The executive regime has begun an invasion of Venezuela. Call your congressional delegation to tell them to stop the invasion of foreign nations, escalating military confrontations, and using the military as domestic police. All these acts are illegal. Your representatives work for you! Flood their phone lines!You can use the website/app 5 calls to get the phone numbers of your congressional representatives and suggested talking points. https://5calls.org/issue/trump-venezuela-extrajudicial-murde… Action 3: The Trump administration is attacking immigrant communities across the country with aggressive ICE raids, abusive and inhumane detention facilities, and targeted attacks on cities and minority groups to create fear and silence opposition.Be informed about ICE in Minneapolis: “I.C.E. is ‘filling quotas’, they’re disappearing law-abiding U.S. citizens off the streets of Minneapolis.” Read the reporting from Minneapolis. (From The Real Corn Pop – Substack) https://5calls.org/issue/ice-raids-abuse-detention/ |
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| Signs of Fascism Two SoF (Signs of Fascism) sets are available for loan. Contact Ellen Koches: ripko55@gmail.com; 207-462-4241 to reserve a set for a demonstration in your town. Spread the word about this critical message. Offer our creation to church groups, civic and school groups, activists and political groups. Let’s get them circulating! Ellen has written instructions/suggestions for a display and has a list of willing participants.Take advantage of this meaningful proclamation! |
 Sunday, January 18 @ 1-4PM: Visual Arts Group, Warren We’ll work on a third set of signs for the Signs of Fascism protests. We’ve got Gator board, slogans, a projector, and space heaters. Park all the way into the driveway – not on the road or side street – there’s space for 10. |
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| Sunday, January 18 @ 2PM: Film at Rockland Strand The Strand presents Coexistence My Ass! with the Camden Conference and Points North: an award-winning documentary following Israeli peace activist and comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi. Director Amber Fares will join for a post-screening discussion.Raised in Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam (“Oasis of Peace”), an Israeli-Palestinian community, Shuster Eliassi uses stand-up comedy to challenge audiences with uncomfortable truths about occupation and peace prospects. The documentary, shot between 2019 and 2024, captures her evolution from UN diplomat to comedian as regional violence escalated. Visit the COEXISTENCE MY ASS! Website for more information. (USA / France | 2025 | 1h 35m) TICKETS: $8 (Senior / Matinee / Under 12); $7 (Strand Member) |
 Tuesday, January 20 @ 2PM sharp: Signs of Fascism, Rockland Ferry Terminal This time and day coincides with the Women’s March Nationwide Walkout. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early to park, choose a sign and get organized. 2 hour Parking is available on Granite St. The plan is to start at the terminal, stand along the sidewalk, and form a line heading north. Signs of Fascism Action Plan for participants, please review |
 Participate in regular “standouts” with Maine Voices For Palestinian Rights:Camden, on the Village Green, every Friday at 5 PM. Rockland, at Chapman Park on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month at 3 PM — next standout is 1/22/26. |
 Sunday, January 25 @ 1-4PM: “Resistance Lab” Watch PartyJoin us for a collaborative viewing of the “Resistance Lab” virtual training. This session focuses on deploying creative resources for non-violent resistance and meaningful community mobilization like we already are, at scale.The Plan: We will gather 30 minutes prior to the broadcast for refreshments and strategic brainstorming.The Goal: To learn, organize, and mobilize together.Please refer to the above graphic for full training details and instructions on how to RSVP. We have secured a venue that can handle about 12 total people. We can explore further locations depending on the level of interest. Location will be shared to those who sign up. |
| Friday, January 30 @ 10:30AM: Midcoast Villager Meetup This meeting is between Audacity members (and others who wish to speak) and the editors of The Villager at 10:30 at the Villager Cafe in Camden. Please think about questions, specifically what you’d like to see in the paper, and any examples of coverage you appreciated. If unable to attend, email dora_lievow@yahoo.com if you’d like us to include your thoughts. A recent Midcoast Villager article about peaceful gatherings in Rockland last Friday: Through the Lens; and one about No Kings Day 2 from October: PROTEST. |
 Lawn signs, art supplies… it all takes resources, but together, we can!Pick up a Clynk bag at a Saturday demonstration, fill it with returnables to support Audacity CAT… Clynk drop off locations |
| When and if fascism comes to America, it will not be labeled ‘made in Germany’; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course, ‘Americanism’. – Rev. Halford Luccock, 1938 |
| === The Audacity (audacitycat.com) is grassroots, local, and self-funded, a coalition with broad boundaries: We are nonviolent and creative. We oppose authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. We support inclusive, diverse, and equitable democracy. Within those boundaries, we act and speak in many different ways that not everyone agrees to. We fit them all under our umbrella, because that is what democracy and human creativity look like. |