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- Havdalah #42: Postcards, Intermission, & a Fistful of Bills
Havdalah #42: Postcards, Intermission, & a Fistful of Bills
15 Nissan, 5785 / April 12, 2025
White Rose RI
April 12, 2025
Hello all, and welcome to Havdalah #42 —
The majority of White Rose is traveling this week, so it’s a bit of a stripped down newsletter. Sidebar is an intermission from our ongoing series on Julius Caesar, with a bit of poetry to tide us over. It’s a little quieter on the protest front, but some of us were at the Hands Off rally last Saturday, and the turnout was fantastic - thank you all!
Check out our bills, and our mutual aid, and hopefully the sun will come out (again) soon.
Goodnight, and mind how you go —
Katherine (she / her)
PS: We’d like to hear from you! Let us know how we’re doing!
Workers and Renters: Providence General Assembly
When: Saturday, April 12, 12:00pm and every other Saturday
Where: 134 Mathewson Street, Providence, RI 02903
From their Instagram:
Worried about Trump?
Want to defend our communities?
Want a world that works for everyone?
Come to the Providence General Assembly!
Spanish, ASL interpretation and childcare available upon email request
Masking requested and masks will be provided
Direct questions to [email protected]
ACLU: Postcards & Desserts
When: Tuesday, April 15, 6:00pm
Where: Cumberland Public Library, 1464 Diamond Hill Road #1, Cumberland, RI 02864
If you want to help start putting pressure on for RI’s Legislative Session, join the ACLU and write postcards to your legislators.
This will be an all-in-one event: they'll give you the run-down of a few bills that are currently being considered, help you find your legislators' information, and give you time and supplies to write several postcards. Plus, there will be sweet treats provided.
Event is free, but registration is required.
Target Fast: Boycott over Retreat from DEI Initiatives
When: now through April 17 (end of Lent)
Where: everywhere
There is a call to boycott Target, which pledged to spend over $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by the end of 2025, only to then stop the program at the start of the year. Black people spend over $12 million a day at Target.
The four demands of Target
Honor the 2 billion dollar pledge to the black business community through products, services, and black media buys
Deposit 250 million dollars amongst any of the 23 black banks
Complete restoring the franchise commitment to DEI
Pipeline community centers at 10 HBCU to teach retail business at every level
ACLU Rights Explainers
When: Up now
Where: Online
The ACLU just released two updated versions of their explainers about your rights when interacting with immigration agents (ICE) or the police. They have them available in 10 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Cape Verdean, Haitian Creole, French, Swahili, Dari, Pashto, and Khmer.
Read and save this material – regardless of your own immigration status – and send to friends and family! Click the link below and scroll to the bottom of the page to download PDFs that you can print, plus the ACLU posted on all their social media platforms (@riaclu) if you want to save and share online.
If you have a specific way to distribute larger numbers of the paper copies, please email the RI ACLU at [email protected] or call them at 401-831-7171. They have a limited supply printed, but will provide as many as they are able.
Trump Administration Play-by-Play Tool for Public Education
When: Up now
Where: Online
The Partnership for the Future of Learning is making an online tool available which aims to demystify the Administration’s plans for the coming months. During his presidential campaign, Trump was open about his plans for dismantling public schools. Even as the campaign backed away from Project 2025, he embraced its proposals to roll back civil rights protections and defund and privatize public schools. Following the election, organizations across the progressive education policy space developed important resources on what these plans will mean for schools and communities. The Play-by-Play includes and complements many of these resources with information on how Administration policies are likely to be enacted, and the steps state and local organizations can take in response.
The Womxn Project’s Bodily Freedom Forever Index
When: Up now, updated every Tuesday
Where: Online
The Womxn Project has put together an index of politicians in RI, showing how candidates did in the 2024 election compared to their stance on bodily freedom. TWP will post weekly reports on Tuesdays, highlighting some of their findings from the BFFI.
They’re also welcoming people to come join them as they organize in each district, creating small hubs. With volunteers, they will keep building a more transparent political landscape with data-informed action and strategy. Check them out if you want to get involved!
Weekly Kaddish
When: Every Sunday, 1:00pm-1:30pm
Where: Michael Van Leesten Pedestrian Bridge, Providence, RI 02903
Jewish Voice for Peace RI and allies will be hosting a weekly gathering on Sundays to recite the Mourners Kaddish and communally grieve the Palestinians murdered by the Israeli military. You need not be Jewish to attend; all are welcome to participate.
When: Thursday, April 24, 4:00pm
Where: Willett Free Library, 45 Ferry Road, Saunderstown, RI 02874
Join the Willett Free Library for two discussions in honor of April’s Holocaust and Genocide Awareness Month.
April 24, Bearing Witness
As the son of Holocaust Survivors, Len Newman feels a keen responsibility to bear witness to the lives of the six million Jewish men, women and children who were killed in the Holocaust. For the past 25 years, he has been telling his parents’ stories in schools and libraries throughout the United States and abroad. He tells their stories to encourage people to stand for social justice. Len has been a Commissioner on the Rhode Island Holocaust and Genocide Education Commission since its inception. His work on the Commission has been keenly focused on developing ways to support educators in teaching this area of study. He will discuss the work of the Commission and its history as part of his presentation.
Registration is requested
RI Food Bank
The Rhode Island Food Bank distributed 16.2 million pounds of food this past year, and with the SNAP benefits partially cut in March, it was sorely needed. While it feels good to drop cans or cereal in collection boxes at your work place or apartment complex, the money goes farther and feeds more people if you give it to RI Food Bank directly (they can buy wholesale! And buy fresh veggies!).
Reoccurring donations, even if they’re a smaller amount than a one off, are often more useful because they mean the organization has a better understanding of its budget.
All information given below are accurate as of the writing of this newsletter, but the RI Legislature is prone to changing things with little notice. If you want to double check information for a bill, go to this Bill Lookup Page to double check the bill status and meeting information before you go. Put the bill number (no H, no S) in the Bills input field and hit Enter for the most up to date information.
Be aware that written testimony submitted to any committee is considered public and will be posted to and accessible on the General Assembly website.
“Tax the Rich” Bill
Bill Number: S0329
Summary: S0329 creates an additional tax rate of 3% on taxable income over $625,000. Applies to tax years 2026 and thereafter but not retroactively. This legislation would raise taxes on the wealthiest Rhode Islanders to fund necessary government initiatives.
Our Position: FOR / IN SUPPORT OF
Current Status: Referred to Senate Finance Committee
How to Support this bill:
Write a short statement for each bill, 1-3 paragraphs, explaining why you support the bill.
Include your name, the bill number (S0329), and your viewpoint (FOR)
Email written testimony to your state senator, especially if they are on the Finance Committee
Look up your state senator here
Health and Safety Bill
Bill Number: H5171 Sub A as Amended
Summary: H5171 Sub A as Amended would extend the sunset provision of the four (4) year pilot program to prevent drug overdoses through the establishment of harm reduction centers for two (2) years to March 1, 2028.
Our Position: FOR / IN SUPPORT OF
Current Status: House passed Sub A as Amended on April 1, 2025, and needs to be passed by the Senate.
How to Submit Written Testimony:
Write a short statement for each bill, 1-3 paragraphs, explaining why you support the bill.
Include your name, the bill number (H5171), and your viewpoint (FOR)
Email written testimony to your state senator
Look up your state senator here
Immigration Reform Bills
Summary:
H5225 limits the ability for any federal immigration authority to investigate, detain, apprehend or arrest any individuals for potential violations of federal immigration laws without a judicial warrant within certain protected locations.
H5724 prohibits any state or municipality from entering into or renewing contracts to detain individuals for civil immigration violations, and if such contract exists, it must end by July 1, 2026 and prohibits using public resources to detain those individuals.
Our Position: FOR / IN SUPPORT OF
Current Status:
H5225 has been postponed at request of sponsor (4/10/2025)
Committee has recommended H5724 to be held for further study
How to Submit Written Testimony:
Write a short statement for each bill, 1-3 paragraphs, explaining why you support the bill.
Include your name, the bill number (H5225 and H5724), and your viewpoint (FOR)
Email written testimony to your state representative
Look up your state representative here
Employee Rights Bill
Bill Number: S0162 Sub A
Summary: S0162 Sub A protects employees’ free speech regarding matters of politics, assembly and religion, as well as attendance at employer-sponsored meetings regarding political or religious matters. Employees so aggrieved by discipline or discharge by the employer would have the right to bring a civil action against the employer seeking appropriate relief including reinstatement, back pay and attorneys' fees and costs.
Our Position: FOR / IN SUPPORT OF
Current Status: The Senate passed S0162 Sub A on April 10, 2025, and the bill has been referred to the House Labor Committee
How to Support this bill:
Write a short statement for each bill, 1-3 paragraphs, explaining why you support the bill.
Include your name, the bill number (S0162 Sub A), and your viewpoint (FOR)
Email written testimony to your state representative, especially if they are on the Labor Committee
Look up your state representative here
Criminal Justice Reform Bill
Bill Number: H5502
Summary: H5502 further delineates the definitions of felony, misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor. The bill would define a felony as any criminal offense which at any given time may be punished by imprisonment for a term of more than one year, a misdemeanor as any criminal offense which may be punishable by imprisonment for a term of more than six months and not exceeding three hundred sixty-four (364) days, or solely by a fine of more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both, and a petty misdemeanor as any criminal offense which may be punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding six (6) months or solely by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or both.
Our Position: FOR / IN SUPPORT OF
Current Status: The House Judiciary Committee held this for further study
How to Support this bill:
Write a short statement for each bill, 1-3 paragraphs, explaining why you support the bill.
Include your name, the bill number (H5502), and your viewpoint (FOR)
Email written testimony to your state representative, especially if they are on the House Judiciary Committee
Look up your state representative here
Education/Privacy Rights Bill
Bill Number: H5176 Sub A
Summary: H5176 Sub A prohibits an educational institution or school district from accessing or using location data for tracking a student's institutional or personal device, except in limited circumstances.
Our Position: FOR / IN SUPPORT OF
Current Status: House has passed this bill and referred it to Senate Education Committee
How to Support this bill:
Write a short statement for each bill, 1-3 paragraphs, explaining why you support the bill.
Include your name, the bill number (H5502), and your viewpoint (FOR)
Email written testimony to your state representative, especially if they are on the Senate EducationCommittee
Look up your state representative here
Katherine (she / her)
Beggars in Spain
What do we owe to beggars in Spain?
We owe them everything.
Their existence is a condemnation of our society.
The fact that people live on the streets
While others are richer than nations
Is an obscenity.
An obscenity like cancer.
Like having to choose between rent and food.
Like bread cut with sawdust.
Like lead in the drinking water.
Like rivers and tap water that catch fire.
Like factory girls jumping from windows.
Like black men killed by cops’ bullets.
Like adopting your partner to be with him as he dies.
Like being abandoned in a hurricane.
Like making breakfast for your rapist.
Like acceptable civilian damage.
Like children dead of an attack on a church.
Like children dead at the border.
Like children dead of school shooters.
Like children, dead.
We are all beggars, every single one of us.
And if you think you aren’t —
It’s only because someone begged for you.
Needle Drop: “Man Kunto Maula”, Orchestral Qawwali, Rushil, Abi Sampa
News Round-Up: Local
RIDE sends an email to the Foster-Glocester School Committee reminding them of the laws protecting transgender, gender diverse, and transitioning students (Steve Ahlquist in RIFuture.news, April 01, 2025)
The Johnston Town Council has to re-vote on taking land intended for affordable housing by eminent domain (Steve Ahlquist in RIFuture.news, April 01, 2025)
What’s going on in the Foster-Glocester Regional School District around transgender student policies and Title IX? (Steve Ahlquist in RIFuture.news, April 02, 2025)
Providence City Council passes ordinance preventing the fining of unhoused people camping on public property (Steve Ahlquist in RIFuture.news, April 04, 2025)
News Round-Up: Inter/National
Bodies of missing aid workers found in Gaza ‘mass grave’ following Israeli attacks (CNN, April 02, 2025)
Deep Dives & Op-Eds
SCOOP: ICE Revoking Students’ Immigration Statuses Without Their or the University's Knowledge (Prem Thakker in Zeteo, March 29, 2025)
Finding Your Stride in the Struggle (Kelly Hayes in Organizing My Thoughts, April 01, 2025)
