On the podcast this week, organizing luminary George Goehl sits down to talk with Ben Chin about Fundamentals of Community Organizing, his new treatise, website and podcast on how to bring people together and win structural change. Ask a question or leave a comment for a future show at (207) 619-3182. Subscribe to the podcast…
Last November, I found myself crouched on the tile floor of my bathroom. Its coolness grounded me, helped remind me I’m still breathing. On the counter above sat a pregnancy test with two pink lines — positive. I knew I would terminate the pregnancy, but despite my certainty, I was terrified, because we live in…
Over the past six months, the Trelawny Tenants Union in Portland has recovered over $23,000 from landlords who were illegally overcharging their tenants. Those overcharges (“overcharges” = a nice way of saying “stolen”) occurred because landlords increased the rent more than the law allows, claimed exemptions they weren’t entitled to, tried to tack on illegal…
This week on the Beacon Podcast, Ben and Cate are joined by Jodi Hayashida with Multifaith Justice Maine. They talk about Gov. Janet Mill’s State of the State address and the moral questions around her decision to put another $100 million away rather than using it to fund programs to help Mainers in need. They…
Dozens of protesters, among them faith leaders and people who have experienced homelessness, formed a human chain to stop police from clearing a large encampment near the Casco Bay Bridge on Tuesday morning. They said city officials are criminalizing homelessness by enforcing a city-wide camping ban. “No one wants to be living outside in Portland…
Spencer Jacob wants to form a tenants union at Redbank Village, a neighborhood of modest duplexes built as workforce housing in the 1940s in South Portland. But other Redbank renters, many of whom are living on the edge of eviction and unable to afford higher rent elsewhere, are fearful. “I guess some neighbors are kind…
Lado Lodoka, the South Sudanese man killed in a home explosion in New Gloucester on Saturday, will be remembered as a beloved friend and mentor to many in Maine’s close-knit immigrant community. According to those who knew and worked closely with him, Lodoka, 44, was also a tireless political organizer and thinker who educated many…
This week on the Beacon podcast, two interviews highlight the range and depth of organizing. Ben Chin interviews Analilia Mejia, co-director of the Center for Popular Democracy and former political director for Bernie Sanders, among many other roles, while Esther Pew sits down with two Maine activists, Scott Harriman and Gracia Bintu, after they had…
Last week, the Maine Labor Relations Board certified a new union that will represent the 1,000 graduate workers across all campuses of the University of Maine System who make up a large percentage of the overall teaching and research workforce. The university administration voluntarily recognized the union, which is now a member of the United…
In 2022, Amazon Labor Union president Chris Smalls led Staten Island warehouse workers to win the first union election at an Amazon facility in the US. Amazon is still refusing to bargain with the union. The Beacon podcast team talked with Smalls about the creativity and resiliency workers need to stand up against, and ultimately…