Havdalah #55: Community Art, Calling Out for Justice, and Cranberry Thanksgiving

Hello all, and welcome to Havdalah #55 —

How’s your week been? Mine’s been a lot, for both political and personal (and personnel, ugh, work) reasons. I was inspired by Robert Redford’s passing, however, to finally getting around to watching All the President’s Men, a movie’s that’s been on my watch list for ages. It was interesting watching — it is, of course, a great film, if one very different from most of the fare in theaters right now. But it was also a good stretching of my perspective; while the scale and brazenness of Trump is perhaps a new high (or low), this isn’t the first time we’ve had terrible people in power, and people were working to expose them then, too.

We’ve got a good collection of fall events here, from the Tomaquag Museum and JVP-RI (and Seven Stars has pumpkin bread coming in soon!) so I hope you enjoy the weather, check some of them out, and —

Goodnight, and mind how you go —

Katherine (she / her)

PS: We’d like to hear from you! Let us know how we’re doing!

JVP-RI: Calling Out for Justice

• When: Sunday, September 28, 2025, 1:00pm

• Where: Providence Pedestrian Bridge, at Bridge St, Providence, RI 02903

• Join Havurat HaYam (Ocean State Havurah) and Jewish Voice for Peace RI at the Providence Pedestrian Bridge for Tashlich.

• Bring a handful of pebbles and an open heart.

• Tashlich is a Jewish ritual practiced between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to reflect on the ways we've strayed from our true path in the past year. We cast off these mistakes and wrongdoings through tossing bread, pebbles, or other natural materials into water to be carried away as we commit to returning to our soul's right path. We will be gathering for a communal Tashlich that gives us a space to hold grief, reflect on collective responsibility, and recommit to collective action to stop the genocide in Palestine. This season of return, the Israeli government is intensifying its horrific genocidal bombing and blockades in Gaza, armed and funded by the U.S.

• Everyone will gather at the Providence River to account for the horrors of this past year: reflecting on each of our responsibility to resist in honor of the thousands of Palestinian martyrs killed in this 77th year of Nakba.

Cranberry Thanksgiving with Tomaquag Museum

• When: Saturday, October 4, 2025, 12:00pm-4:00pm

• Where: Saint James Chapel, 2079 Mantunuck School House Road, Charlestown, RI 02813

• Join the Tomaquag Team in honoring the season of the Harvest Moon — also known as the time of sassamineash tabutamtomooank (cranberry thanksgiving) — a time to give thanks, gather in community, and celebrate the gifts of the land.

• There will be an art market, performances and more!

Banned Books Week Event: 1984 and How We Protect Our Freedoms

• When: Monday, October 6, 2025, 6:00pm-7:15pm

• Where: Cranston Central Public Library, James T. Giles Community Room, 140 Sockanosset Cross Road, Cranston, RI 02920

• Join the ACLU for a discussion of 1984 and a short presentation about how the themes connect to present-day threats to our rights.

• In collaboration with the Rhode Island Library Association.

• Event is free but spots are limited; registration is required.

• This event is not endorsed by or affiliated with the Cranston Public Library.

• You'll leave with a packet of resources, Know Your Rights materials, and some tools to take action.

• You don't have to read the book to attend as short excerpts will be read out loud during the event. Nonetheless, you are encouraged to get a copy from your local library or bookstore, listen to an audiobook recording, or watch a film adaptation to celebrate Banned Books Week!

• RSVP Link for Banned Books Week Event

The Art of Autonomy: An Exhibition Exploring Community and Art Activism

• When: September 13 - October 11

• Where: TWP Annex Gallery: Ritual Spaces, 719 Westminster Street, Providence, RI 02903

• Through a combination of two community collaboration projects, The Womxn Project Education Fund is being hosted at Ritual Spaces to explore bodily freedom and one's own interaction with art, civic participation and democracy that intersect with our organizational focus — past, present, and future.

• Schedule of events:

  • 9/13: Opening installation “Looking Back, Learning Forward: Launching the Project, Sharing Our Memories” by Jordan Banick

  • 9/21, 12:00pm-4:00pm: Community Mural Project Build with artist Abby Wright and Jonathan Izzard helping lead

  • 9/28, 12:00pm-4:00pm: Community Mural Project Build with artist Jonathan Izzard

  • 10/10, 4:00pm-7:00pm: Closing Reception Party and Talk. Explore and add to the final outcomes of the Community Mural Project and Oral History Report with a small speaking program about the oral history project by TWP co-founder, Jordan Banick at 6:00pm

• The Art of Autonomy Information

Workers and Renters: Providence General Assembly

• When: Saturday, October 4, 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]

• Providence General Assembly

• Workers and Renters Website

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.

• ACLU Rights Explainers

Sun Day Webinar: Join the Call: What Comes Next?

• When: Tuesday, September 30, 2025, 8:00pm

• Where: Online

• You are invited to join a special Sun Day follow-up webinar to celebrate what was accomplished together and learn about concrete ways you can plug into the growing movement for clean energy.

• Whether you hosted a Sun Day event, attended one in your community, participated online, or are just getting started with clean energy advocacy, this webinar will help you find your next steps in the movement.

• The energy that was created on September 21st was just the beginning. Solar and wind power are ready to transform our communities, create good jobs, and build a more resilient future — but we need sustained action to make it happen everywhere.

• Sun Day Webinar Registration Link

The Deportation Defense Line of Rhode Island

Anchored by PSL, AMOR, and ONA, and supported by the work of over 200 volunteers across dozens of Providence area neighborhoods, the Deportation Defense Line responds to ICE sightings and mobilizes our community whenever ICE is spotted in the neighborhood. They have successfully driven ICE away multiple times and stopped deportations. 

Their work continues to grow because of a wide network of community members doing outreach and spreading the word about the defense line. To get the defense line phone number into people's hands, they print thousands of sheets every week to distribute to our community.

Your donation will help to purchase a printer, supplies, and ink, as well as to launch new and creative initiatives to spread the word so every Rhode Islander knows about the defense line, and whenever ICE shows up, they'll be there!

This fundraiser is hosted by the Providence Liberation Center, the home of PSL Rhode Island. 100% of your donation goes directly to the Deportation Defense Coalition.

Deportation Defense Line of Rhode Island Donation Link

News Round-Up: Local

Mayor Smiley reaffirms policy of not working with ICE through executive order (Steve Ahlquist in SteveAhlquist.news, September 22, 2025)

New England labor unions sign first-in-the-nation labor peace agreement with Southcoast Wind (Steve Ahlquist in SteveAhlquist.news, September 24, 2025)

Attorney General Neronha, coalition file motion for preliminary injunction to block defunding of Planned Parenthood and other health centers (Press Release from Attorney General Peter Neronha in SteveAhlquist.news, September 25, 2025)

Op-Eds

Jeremy Langill on Charlie Kirk: Our actions, and the things we say, should reflect our actual commitment to God (Jeremy Langill in SteveAhlquist.news, September 25, 2025)

Pod Recs: It Could Happen Here and Throughline

Autism and RFK Jr.’s War on Pregnant People (It Could Happen Here, September 14, 2025)

The Anti-Vaccine Movement (Throughline, September 25, 2025)

Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #35 (It Could Happen Here, September 26, 2025)