George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight by a Minneapolis police officer one week ago today. In the week that’s followed, we’ve seen peaceful protesters mourning this loss of life met with even more violence from police, including in our own city. It’s horrific, it’s enraging, and it’s tragically unsurprising.

These heinous acts join the countless brutalities inflicted on black and brown people in every corner of our country by a criminal justice system that violently upholds white supremacy by design. This centuries-long culture of violence must end.

The Portland Democrats stand in solidarity with the protesters across the country who are on the front lines in the struggle for justice. As the Portland Police Department demonstrated last night when they sprayed mace and shot pepper bullets at those pleading for an end to police brutality, the scourge of racialized violence lives in all of our communities. It’s up to all of us to stand against it.

We also recognize that the systematic racism that informs America’s policing tactics infects all of us, and we commit to doing more to elevate black and brown voices and center racial justice in our work. As stated in our mission, “We believe in truly inclusive, participatory, transparent, and democratic governance based in the equality of all citizens, and strive to model these values in our organization and community.” We’re developing a plan to ensure that as a committee we’re actively working to dismantle racism, and we encourage input from committee members on this process. We ask our white members to take this moment to ask yourselves what more you can be doing to deconstruct systemic racism in your country, in your community, and in yourselves.

Systems change when disenfranchised people vote. Please join us in our work of literally enfranchising people and growing the vote, building the power to take the Presidency from Trump, the Senate from Republicans, and the Senate seat from Collins. Portland turnout will be key this year and you’ll find voting turnout links on our Facebook page and website.

If you have the means to do so, please contribute to an organization that is fighting for racial justice. There are so many incredible organizations doing this important work, but here is a small sample of some of the groups you might consider supporting:

• Black Lives Matter Portland
• Maine Youth Justice
• Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center
• Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition
• Maine NAACP
• Equal Justice Initiative
• Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
• The Bail Project
• Color of Change
• ACLU of Maine
• RAICES
• Dream Defenders
• United We Dream

In addition, the City’s Police Citizen Review Subcommittee will be meeting next Wednesday, June 10 at 6:00 PM and we call on City leaders to ensure that the meeting is transparent and accessible. Information about the meeting can be found here.

To all of our members, we cannot stay silent right now. We can do better, and we must.

Sign up to volunteer with the Portland Democrats here!

The Portland Democrats have 3 exciting events coming up in the next two weeks – make sure to RSVP today!

First, we are excited to announce that Secretary of State Matt Dunlap will be joining us at our next general meeting, on Thursday, June 11 at 6:30 PM. This event will be happening virtually via Zoom and there will be a call-in option. Join us to learn about COVID’s impact on our upcoming elections, and ask Secretary Dunlap any questions you have about voting and protecting our democracy. You can RSVP for the meeting and submit questions here.

Second, the Portland Dems are midway through our series of town halls with Democratic candidates running in competitive legislative primaries this July. Tuesday, June 2 at 6pm, we will be hearing from the Democrats running in HD-41, which includes Deering Center, Deering Highlands, Woodfords, Oakdale, and Rosemont neighborhoods. The candidates in this race are Laurie Davis, Ben Grant, and Sam Zager, and the town hall will be moderated by Rep. Erik Jorgensen. RSVP here.

Next Wednesday, June 10, at 6pm, we will be hearing from the Democrats running in HD-38, which includes the West End and St. John Valley. The candidates in this race are Michael Flaherty, Charles Skold, and Barb Wood, and the town hall will be moderated by Katie Walsh.  RSVP here.

If you missed either of our last two forums, for House Districts 37 and 43, you can watch them on our Facebook page here. If you’re unsure of your House District, you can always look it up here. 

Questions? Reach out to us at chair@portlanddems.org. See you soon!

The Portland Democrats are hosting virtual candidate town halls for all of the contested primary races in Portland this July. These town halls will be happening live via Zoom and will stream to both Facebook (at our fan page here) and to local access channel 1303 (live here). Join us for one of our upcoming town halls to learn about the candidates on the ballot this July! RSVP and submit questions here.

These are the upcoming forums:

• House District 37 (all or parts of Libbytown, Nasons Corner, Rosemont, and Stroudwater): Thursday, May 21 at 6pm – re-watch the event here!
• House District 43 (North Deering and part of Falmouth): Wednesday, May 27 at 6pm
• House District 41 (all or parts of Deering Center, Deering Highlands, Oakdale, Rosemont, and Woodfords): Tuesday, June 2 at 6pm
• House District 38 (West End and St. John Valley): Wednesday, June 10 at 6pm

RSVP here!