“NEIGHBOR by NEIGHBOR: Mobilizing an Invisible Community in Lewiston, Maine”

February 6th, 2010 No Comments

PORTLAND PREMIERE

NEIGHBOR by NEIGHBOR ... in Lewiston, Maine 

“NEIGHBOR by NEIGHBOR: Mobilizing an Invisible Community in Lewiston, Maine”  

WED, March 10 @ 6pm

Reiche School Community Center

166 Brackett Street, Portland, Maine  04102

Thanks to HVJ! 

In the summer of 2004, the Mayor of Lewiston, Maine announced a plan to develop a four-lane boulevard across downtown’s low-income neighborhood. This project was called “The Heritage Initiative.” Contrary to its name, this plan was going to eliminate the downtown’s heritage by displacing 850 people from their homes as well as destroy playgrounds, vegetable gardens, and historic buildings. Moving residents out of the city and improving traffic flow was at the heart of this proposal… It was 1960’s Urban Renewal all over again.
 
As tragic as the circumstances were, the threat of a road destroying the neighborhood required residents to rise to the challenge of becoming *community organizers. Instead of allowing their neighborhood to be paved over, the residents of downtown organized themselves into a group called “The Visible Community.” They received support from non-residents alike – social service leaders, college students, and other people who recognized the Heritage Initiative as an unfair way of “cleaning up” the downtown at the expense of the people who lived there.

 

What happened next was an incredible story of people coming together to protect their homes, hold their political leaders accountable, and work towards creating a democratic planning process that honored the input of low-income people as much as any other person’s voice. 

This movie documents 5 years of development and community organizing in Lewiston, Maine. It reveals the strategies, the mistakes, the prejudices, the lessons… all of the difficult stuff that makes up the political process – the act of making decisions and setting policy TOGETHER. 

It’s an exceptional story about the people of Lewiston, but it’s also a universal story about the challenges faced by many urban neighborhoods across the United States. 

*A term rarely used by the mainstream until the 2008 Presidential Election, “community organizers” form the backbone of social change in America. They are the people who walk the streets of America’s marginalized neighborhoods, provoke dialogue, and activate people to get involved and make change happen. They incite democracy at the grassroots level so that it grows upwards to change things at the top of our political system.  

Email craig (at) roundpointmovies.org to host a screening.  

Click Here to Download Presskit. 

Public Showings

Date
Venue
Location
Time
Description
4/12/10
New Orleans, LA

5:30 – 7pm  
2/9/10
Providence, RI

8pm 
Film Showing and Discussion
2/8/10
5 Pleasant Street, 2nd Floor
Worcester, MA

6pm 
Film Showing and Discussion
2/8/10
Documentary Class
Fitchburg, MA

9:30am 
Film Showing and Discussion
2/7/10
Turners Falls, MA

1pm  
Film Showing and Discussion
2/6/10
Brattleboro, VT

6pm 
Film Showing and Discussion
2/5/10
Lewiston, ME

8pm  
Film Showing and Discussion
2/3/10
Tenants Association Meeting
East Boston

- 
Meeting, Film Showing and Discussion
2/2/10
Jamaica Plain, MA

- 
Discussion
1/18/10
Lewiston, ME

1pm  
MLK Day, Film Showing and Discussion
12/26/09
Ellsworth, ME

7pm  
Film Showing and Discussion

Email craig (at) roundpointmovies.org to host a screening.  

Click Here to Download Presskit. 

 

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LOBBY DAY – FEB 23 – Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine

February 5th, 2010 No Comments

Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine

Lobby Day

February 23

9 AM – 1 PM

Help the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine protect children, workers, and neighbors from toxic chemicals.  Lobby your elected officials, move important bills forward, and have some fun!
 
* Get the toxic Deca flame retardant out of plastic shipping pallets to keep it out of our food supply.

* Keep toxic products out of landfills and incinerators.

* Protect workers from the worst toxic chemicals used on the job.

* Protect the right of neighbors to know about aerial pesticide spraying near their homes and schools.

* Keep Maine’s Kid-Safe Products Law on track to get the worst chemicals out of everyday products.

For more information, email taryn@toxicsaction.org or call 871-1810.  

[  www.ToxicsAction.org ]

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Welcome to Portland Tenants!

February 3rd, 2010 No Comments

Welcome to Portland Tenants – the blog of the Portland Tenants Union in Portland, Maine!

Since 2001, Portland Tenants has been working for safe and affordable housing of the people, by the people, and for the people!

Although based in Portland, the PTU is happy to help any tenant in Maine – or anywhere, for that matter – to the best of its ability.

The PTU is a member of:

If you are looking for our old website, it’s at:  www.portlandtenants.org/web

QUICK LINKS   *   QUICK LINKS   *   QUICK LINKS   *   QUICK LINKS

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