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Havdalah #64: Vigil, Steve, and Meditation

15 Tevet, 5786 / January 3, 2025

Author

White Rose RI
January 03, 2026

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Hello all, and welcome to Havdalah #64 —

I hope you had a good December, New Year, and whatever holidays you choose to celebrate of those on offer. I spent the week of Christmas in the UK with family friends, and hitting the Boston cold with snow on the ground when I landed was a bit like being slapped in the face (in a good way?). I have rung in the New Year by getting to bed early, eating lots of fruit, and deciding to learn how to crochet, so hopefully I’m beginning as I mean to continue.

The world continues to be dark, in more ways than one, but we have passed the longest night of the year, and while it is certainly not getting warmer at the moment the days are, however slowly, getting longer. Fingers crossed that the rest of the world gets a bit brighter too, in the coming months, somehow.

We’ve got a fundraiser for Steve Ahlquist and his family in this newsletter, as well as a Sidebar on meditation, and a couple of events in this coming week.

SATURDAY MORNING ADDITION:

The vast majority of this newsletter was finished Friday, but the news late Friday night and Saturday morning of US military intervention in Venezuela means that we’re sending this out early to include an event we want to make sure you’re aware of:

PSL Emergency Protest: No War on Venezuela

  • When: Saturday, January 3, 3:00pm

  • Where: Federal Building, 1 Exchange Terrace, Providence RI 02903

  • Early this morning, Caracas was bombed following weeks of threats from Trump that a land invasion of Venezuela would begin soon.

  • This could be the start of yet another war, based completely on lies. Over 70% of people in the United States oppose a new war — our public funds should be used for people’s needs instead! This violence is not in our names. We must refuse another endless war for profits!

  • Join PSL and others in the streets in Providence today.

  • PSL Emergency Protest Instagram Page

This is obviously a very quickly put together protest, so stay safe and stay warm, but needs must.

Good day, and mind how you go —

Katherine (she / her)

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

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Indivisible RI Jan 6 Vigil at the Statehouse

  • When: Tuesday, January 6, 6:00pm

  • Where: Rhode Island Statehouse, 82 Smith Street, Providence RI 02903

  • In 2020, a violent insurrection with the intent to steal the presidency was fomented by Donald Trump. He has now pardoned the over 1,500 rioters convicted of crimes such as assault against law enforcement, seditious conspiracy and weapon possession.

  • On January 6th, assemble at the Rhode Island statehouse to remember the tragic assault on our democracy that occurred five years ago.

  • Stand together to remember the events on this tragic and shameful day in our nation's history and pledge to work together to protect our democratic institutions. Join Indivisible RI and many others in a vigil at 6:00 at the Statehouse.

  • Indivisible RI Event Page

Again, please do not register for a protest.

The Womxn Project Lobbying at the State House

  • When: Tuesday, January 6, 3:00pm-4:30pm

  • Where: RI State House, 82 Smith Street, Providence RI 02903

  • Join The Womxn Project Team at the RI State House each Tuesday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday from 3:00pm-4:30pm. They will meet in front of the State Room on the second floor of the building.

  • TWP Lobbying Event Page

Bearing Witness @ ICE with AMOR

  • When: Wednesday, January 7, 11:00am-1:00pm

  • Where: ICE Facility, 1000 District Avenue, Burlington, MA 01803

  • The Burlington ICE office is the regional ICE office for the New England area and is a key transfer point before individuals who are flown out of Hanscom Field Airport. The office is known for committing human rights abuses by detaining people for days without basic needs, and for verbally and physically abusing them with no consequences.

  • Bearing Witness has been holding rallies at the Burlington office for more than 34 weeks straight to express solidarity with our immigrant neighbors and to pressure ICE to stop their inhumane activities. AMOR will be joining them on January 7.

  • Bearing Witness Instagram Page

The Womxn Project Call to Actions

  • Not quite an event, but the Womxn Project has provided a couple of actions to do to respond to the health and food crisis in Rhode Island:

  • Call to Action #1: Help Your Neighbor! Let’s build food security for our community into our daily actions!

    • With the expanding food crisis, The Womxn Project, in partnership with the RI Food Bank, RI Food Policy Council, RI State Council of Churches, and Youth Pride, is issuing a statewide call to action, STAT!

    • Every nonprofit organization or for-profit business—from sports teams and scouting troops to art collectives and faith communities—is being asked to include a food collection at every one of their events.

    • In a recent interview with Rhode Island Public Radio, RI Food Bank Executive Director Melissa Cherney reported that nearly 40% of Rhode Islanders are experiencing food insecurity. “RI has many committed non-profit organizations. That means we have the reach and the power to make an enormous difference if we act together. This is how we show what community care really looks like.”  Jocelyn Foye, Executive Director of The Womxn Project.

    • As the smallest state in the nation, Rhode Island can prove it’s also the biggest in heart. This initiative—called “Big Table Rhode Island!”—urges organizations to normalize giving by encouraging attendees to bring canned or nonperishable goods to every meeting, practice, or event, creating a culture of consistent, everyday support for local pantries. Read more

    • Sign the pledge and start today!

  • Call to Action #2: Voting Transparency: The Bodily Freedom Forever Index Questionnaires are out!

    • The Womxn Project has sent the Bodily Freedom Forever Index questionnaire to every elected official in our state, from town and city school committee or town counselors, to state reps and senators on up.

    • Through civic engagement, policy advancement, and artivism, TWP takes action to secure reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ rights, and government transparency in Rhode Island. The BFFI is an ongoing initiative to record and report the stance of each elected official in RI on these issues to promote transparency in our elections.  

    • TWP defines "bodily freedom" as sole decision-making power over one's body, so long as those decisions do not infringe on another’s bodily autonomy.  When evaluating an official's stance on bodily freedom, TWP considers two (of many) issues: support for reproductive rights and support for LGBTQ+ equality.

  • Call to Action #3: Our Rhode Island "Kavanaugh" Problem: An Anti-Democratic Nominee for Judge

    • Earlier this summer the chair of the RI Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) stated TWP broke precedent for the amount of emails and oral testimony shared against one candidate seeking a district judge position.

    • Why? Michael McCaffrey is an anti-abortion, anti-marriage equality candidate with the separation of church and state being of no concern. After the JNC voted on him and others, they passed the recommendations on to the Governor who "taps" a few candidates, to then go to the RI Senate for a final vote.

    • Since the vote, 3 new district judges have retired making it so there are FOUR positions to fill. All the calls and attention to this from the summer is not lost.

    • There are a couple of candidates that are qualified and answered emphatically they are for bodily freedom for all. TWP encourages you to join them in writing or calling Governor McKee to vote for Maria Deaton or Robert Johnson, using the call scripts on this page.

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

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Ahlquist Family Fundraiser

Taken from their fundraising page:

As you may have noticed, this newsletter uses quite a lot of reporting from Steve Ahlquist [ed: our beloved] and his Substack. Sadly, a few weeks ago, his wife, Kathy, passed away. She was an absolutely incredible and loving human, and her very being was an inspiration to everyone she knew. She will be incredibly missed.

With Kathy’s passing, the daycare that she operated out of her home has closed. The daycare was a main source of income for their family and with its absence comes financial obstacles moving forward.

If you know Ayla (Steve and Kathy’s daughter) and Steve, you know how much time and energy they put towards making sure folks feel loved, cared for, and supported. The entire Ahlquist family lives by these values, and this is one of the many reasons why they’re such an inspirational and beloved group of people.

A GoFundMe has been created for their daughter and their family, and any donation is greatly appreciated to help the Ahlquists cover some costs during this difficult time.

Thank you!

"Fash Watch" in white ransom note font against a black background, with a hand wielding a burning torch on the right, with a white rose on either side

News Round-Up: Local

Pod Recs: It Could Happen Here

Arab Israeli Peace and New Visions for Gaza feat. Dana El Kurd (It Could Happen Here, December 08, 2025)

Oops All Gambling, Political Betting Joins the News (It Could Happen Here, December 09, 2025)

Natalism feat. Andrew (It Could Happen Here, December 10, 2025)

The Insurrectionist Running to Replace Nancy Mace (It Could Happen Here, December 11, 2025)

Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #45 (It Could Happen Here, December 12, 2025)

The Tech Fascist Takeout over the Media (It Could Happen Here, December 15, 2025)

Strikes, Walkouts, and Union Busting At Nestle’s Blue Bottle (It Could Happen Here, December 16, 2025)

Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #46 (It Could Happen Here, December 19, 2025)

Antisemitism in America feat. Dana El Kurd (It Could Happen Here, December 22, 2025)

The word "Sidebar" between a scroll and a courtroom, with roses on either side

Katherine (she / her)

So, I’ve gotten into meditation recently. I’m not saying it’s because I’ve gotten sucked into Star Wars EU nonsense in the last couple of months; meditation has been on my to do list for ages (but I’m not not saying that either). 

I’ve been told that it has a lot of benefits. Lower stress. Mindfulness. Something about my heart, whatever. 

But as for myself, I’m trying it for two reasons. I want to be able to turn off the little hamster wheel in my brain. To sit in church without having a constant litany of pick up milk-pull the meat out of the freezer-check the welds in the column reinforcing at work-figure out the correct seam order in my most recent sewing project to let it invert properly without having to cheat anywhere. It’s always like that and it’s annoying. I want to be able to listen to and contemplate on the prayers and the homily without having a project in my hands to burn off the extra processing power in my brain. To go on a walk and listen to the birds and the wind without having to have music in the background. To actually pay attention in a fucking work meeting (more sleep would also help this, but that’s a separate New Year’s resolution).

And second, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before at some point, I am prone to Gnosticism. Not the demiurge nonsense but the dualism and the degradation of and disgust towards the body. An irritation with the messy necessities of living. We have all these metaphors: your body is a temple (a place you inhabit, separate from yourself); food is fuel (your body is a machine that you pilot); a healthy mind in a healthy body (these are separate things). It makes it so easy to make my body not myself, a thing to endure to allow the ‘real me’ to exist in the world. 

But that’s bullshit.

I am not a ball of thoughts floating 2 ½ inches behind my eyes, I am my ankles, the left one that doesn’t fold as far as the right because I sprained it a couple years back. I am my back, its knots from my bad posture and the pain from sitting for too many hours in an office chair. I am my hands, with my crooked pinkies and I am my breath that is usually too shallow and my low blood pressure and my bad eyesight and my sinus headaches and my strong legs and my hair which mostly looks pretty good but not always and my one weird toenail and my high pain tolerance and my tattoos and the surgery scar on my stomach and my nosebleeds that mean I can’t take aspirin and my nervous system (neutral) and my reproductive and digestive systems (derogatory). 

Christianity, for all its struggles with and embrace of dualism and Gnosticism and asceticism, is an embodied religion. When we will be resurrected it will be into bodies; gloried, rarified, but bodies, the same as Jesus was. When He rose again He walked on water and His face shone but He also had scars and ate fish and neatly folded His burial clothes at the tomb. I sincerely hope that resurrection does not include migraines but I’ve worn glasses since I was eight; they are as much of my self-conception as the rest of my physical body. More than my tattoos, certainly, or scars, and I chose those. My body is me, and it always will be.

I am not a little spirit, or ghost, or radiant being piloting a living corpse made of dust and meat; I am myself. I want to get better about that; about the noise, about the breathing. 

Inhale: count 4.

Hold: count 4.

Exhale: count 4.

Hold: count 4.

Repeat. 

Needledrop: “Window” by The Album Leaf

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