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- Havdalah #68: Winding Down White Rose RI; Thank you, neighbors!
Havdalah #68: Winding Down White Rose RI; Thank you, neighbors!
14 Shevat, 5786 / January 31, 2026
White Rose RI
January 31, 2026
Shavua Tov, neighbors.
After over two years, White Rose RI has decided to wind down our newsletter. The rapidly changing world — and our rapidly changing lives — have pulled us in competing directions… also we keep moving out of state, which is sort of a logistical nightmare. With capacities of what has always been a skeleton crew waning (or in my case, imploding), we decided we wanted to end the newsletter on our own terms instead of slowly fading or flickering out. We put a lot of love into Havdalah, a lot of time, a lot of work. So thank you all for reading! I hope, if nothing else, we have helped point you in the direction of your neighbors who are doing the good work. There’s enough of us out there, all you have to do is find us.
Bella Ciao,
James
Hello all, and welcome to the last Havdalah —
It’s been a long and exhausting two years, but one of the bright spots has been making this newsletter and knowing it’s helping some people know what’s happening and how to help, even just a little bit, even just a few people. It’s not been an easy decision to wind this down but it is, we think, the right one. There are so many people doing such good work in this world; yesterday was a national general strike.
To that end, this week, for our final issue, instead of what’s happening in the next week and news roundups, we’re putting the power back in your hands: we’ve made a list of the different places we’ve gotten our events and news from, with descriptions and links included. Check them out, they’d love to have you.
Goodnight, and mind how you go —
Katherine
You haven’t heard from me in a while, but I’m here to join the team in saying goodbye from the White Rose RI newsletter. I’ve been grateful for the chance to connect with you over these past years and share reflections, grief, celebrations, and opportunities. Hopefully you know by this point that there are many different ways to get involved and care for our community. If we’ve helped you find some ways that are a good fit for you, great! If not, don’t give up—you will find the projects where your abilities are just what’s needed and the collaborators who you can teach and learn from. There are so many folks working to make things better for each other. The way we get through is together.
In solidarity,
Lee
The events we’ve included in this newsletter came from a variety of sources, ranging from national and international organizations to local non-profits and personal friends. Some of the best and most frequent contributors have been:
AMOR — Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance
Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance (AMOR) is a nonprofit in Rhode Island that organizes to interrupt state violence and supports people impacted by the inhumane immigration system. They do this through community organizing, advocacy and by creating safe, healing, accessible, and empowering community spaces.
White Rose RI has been working in solidarity with AMOR since we were called Never Again RI, and they do fantastic work — check them out here:
PrYSM— Providence Youth Student Movement
PrYSM organizes at the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation by centering youth, female, queer, and people of color leadership in their campaigns, organization, and communities. PrYSM mobilizes queer Southeast Asian youth, families, and allies to build grassroots power and organize collectively for social justice. Check them out here:
JVP RI — Jewish Voice for Peace, RI
Jewish Voice for Peace is the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world. They’re organizing a grassroots, multiracial, cross-class, intergenerational movement of U.S. Jews into solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle, guided by a vision of justice, equality, and dignity for all people. Check them out here:
CARI — Climate Action RI
Climate Action Rhode Island (CARI) is a volunteer-led community organization committed to building awareness and inspiring action on climate change. Their members come from every corner of Rhode Island, united by a shared goal: protecting our planet and our communities for generations to come. Check them out here:
The Womxn Project
TWP advocates to preserve access to safe and legal abortion within our state. By building a movement rooted in creativity, courage, and connection, and they have passed several influential bills to protect Bodily Freedom for Rhode Island's residents. The organization will continue their efforts into 2026 by defending laws passed thus far and continuing to push for civil rights, with a focus on reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ protections. Check them out here:
Tomaquag Museum
The Tomaquag Museum is Rhode Island’s only Indigenous Museum, and it is Rhode Island’s only museum entirely dedicated to telling the story of the Indigenous peoples of this land. The Museum has a unique collection of thousands of cultural belongings, along with hundreds of thousands of pieces of archival materials focusing on the Indigenous peoples of southern New England, highlighting the federally recognized Narragansett Tribe. Check them out here:
DARE — Direct Action for Rights and Equality
DARE’s mission is to organize low-income families living in communities of color for social, economic, and political justice. Check them out here:
Providence General Assembly
Providence General Assembly is an open, democratic movement space that meets regularly, where all antifascist and truly progressive forces can coordinate and strategize a way to fight back, a way to build a better world. They collectively decide how to coordinate with anyone willing to help defend immigrants or LGBTQ people from attack, to find ways to help bolster solidarity efforts with Palestine, to organize with workers and tenants, or to coordinate with mutual aid and emergency preparation. Check them out here:
ACLU of RI
The ACLU of Rhode Island is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to upholding and protecting the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The ACLU of RI is part of the American Civil Liberties Union, a federated organization of roughly 1,500,000 members and more than fifty affiliates and chapters nationwide. They do this work through litigation, legislation and public education. Check them out here:
Indivisible RI
Indivisible RI is part of the nationwide Indivisible network. Brought together by a practical guide to resist the Trump agenda, Indivisible is a movement of thousands of group leaders and more than a million members, committed to taking regular and increasingly bold nonviolent actions to resist the GOP’s agenda, elect local champions, and fight for democratic policies that benefit everyday people instead of the super-rich. Check them out here:
Deportation Defense Network
Deportation Defense Line is a bilingual line that connects community members to AMOR’s network of services, including case management, legal support, court accompaniment, community support, transportation, and interpretation. The Defense Line number is 401-675-1414, and you can learn more at their website and social media: www.amorri.org & @amornetwork
The Deportation Defense Network answers calls from 5AM-9PM and dispatches trained volunteers from the community to verify, document, alert and mobilize the neighborhood based on your reports.
We’ve pulled our news sources and articles from a ton of different places and innumerable great journalists, but here are some of the most common:
Steve Ahlquist [ed: our beloved] at SteveAhlquist.news, who does local reporting for Providence and Rhode Island.
Steve’s colleague and frequent collaborator Philip Eil is a photo/journalist in his own right, and the Readers’ Voices Editor for The Providence Eye, itself a valuable font of local journalism. They are also bilingual, publishing in Spanish!
Rhode Island Current, a local affiliate of States Newsroom.
NPR, especially it’s podcast Throughline and the local RI affiliate Ocean State Media.
Al Jazeera, particularly its reporting on the war in Gaza.
Mondoweiss, another publication with good reporting on Palestine.
The Guardian, a UK magazine with US coverage.
The It Could Happen Here podcast — a chronicle of collapse as it happens, and an exploration of how we might build a better future.
404 Media, which is an independent media company founded by technology journalists Jason Koebler, Emanuel Maiberg, Samantha Cole, and Joseph Cox.
WIRED, which is a news organization focused on how technology is changing every aspect of our lives—from business and politics to culture and science.
truthout, which is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social justice issues.
The Boston Globe, a Boston newspaper that also does reporting on Rhode Island.
WBUR, the Public Radio affiliate for Boston that has been covering the local ICE occupation and kidnappings
EastBayRI.com, which is a website for East Bay Media Group, which publishes the Barrington Times, Warren Times-Gazette, Bristol Phoenix, East Providence Post, Sakonnet Times, Portsmouth Times, and Westport Shorelines.
ProPublica, which has the mission to expose abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust by government, business, and other institutions, using the moral force of investigative journalism to spur reform through the sustained spotlighting of wrongdoing.
Type Investigations, another outlet for independent investigative journalists
Bellingcat, an investigative news outlet with a focus on open source journalism. They offer resources and training workshops for anyone who wants to learn the skills required to practice open source investigation.
Organizing My Thoughts, the official newsletter of writer and organizer Kelly Hayes.
Prism, which has the mission of reflecting the lived experiences of people most impacted by injustice through in-depth and thought-provoking journalism. As an independent and nonprofit newsroom led by journalists of color, they tell stories from the ground up to disrupt harmful narratives and to inform movements for justice.
Birds Before the Storm, weekly updates from Margaret Killjoy, writing about preparedness, history, and what she know about living as full of a life as we can.
Letters from An American, a daily newsletter from American history professor Heather Cox Richardson. It is a chronicle of today’s political landscape, with context from America’s Constitution, laws, economy, and social customs. This newsletter explores what it means, and what it has meant, to be an American.
Additionally, here are some other newsletters and resources with actions that you might want to check out:
5 Calls
5 Calls is a website (and app) that makes it easy for you to reach your members of Congress and make your voice heard. They research issues, write scripts that clearly articulate a progressive position, figure out the most influential decision-makers, and collect phone numbers for their offices.
We (The People) Dissent Newsletter
We (the People) Dissent is a bulletin board and newsletter. It is a collection of information and announcements on upcoming protests, boycotts, call campaigns, and strikes.
My Civic Workout
My Civic Workout is a weekly newsletter with three actions based around current issues and news; one is 5 minutes long, one is 10 minutes, and one is 30 minutes. Their mission is to help those feeling overwhelmed, daunted, and disheartened to engage in meaningful civic activism. They know that activism can be hard, but it gets easier with practice, and they are here to help you get started.
National Lawyers Guild
If you have interest in training to be a Legal Observer, reach out at [email protected].
Katherine (she / her)
Next Year in Jerusalem
originally drafted 4/14/20
Next year in Jerusalem we’ll all be safe
Next year we’ll all be healthy
Next year we’ll hug and sing and walk arm in arm.
Next year in Jerusalem we’ll go to protests and weddings and funerals
Next year we’ll go to churches and mosques and synagogues
Next year we’ll come together anywhere but Zoom.
Next year in Jerusalem there’ll be peace in our time
Next year our boys’ll be home by Christmas
Next year the world will be safe for democracy
(whatever that means).
Next year in Jerusalem there’ll be no more apartheid
Next year there’ll be no more intifada
Next year the only sorrows will be on the Via Dolorosa.
Next year in Jerusalem we’ll beat our swords into plowshares
Next year the lion will lie down with the lamb
Next year there will be time to plant, and to heal, and to dance, and to build.
Next year in Jerusalem we’ll be kind, and loving, and gentle, and wise.
Next year in Jerusalem, save me a seat.
With any luck I’ll be seeing you there.
Needledrop: “This Year” by Shearwater
