Creating positive change
The board of Faith Linking In Action, a faith-based organization fighting the root causes of poverty, stands in solidarity with our African American community to condemn the murder of George Floyd. This act of blatant racism reflects a deep-rooted problem in our society on all levels. It is tragic, inhumane, and disgraceful. The African American community has struggled for decades with institutional and systemic racism resulting in marginalization, poverty, and lack of access to adequate education, healthcare, and employment. The movement formed in reaction to the police brutality is an outcry to achieve justice not only for George Floyd but for all of the people his murder represents.
The Faith Linking In Action board supports the call for action presented at the peaceful protest on June 1 in front of Bangor Public Library. We not only condemn the murder, but we also vow to address these injustices through educating our faith communities about implicit biases and the ways to address the issues of equity, diversity, and racism.
We believe every human being deserves to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of their color, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, religion, race, ethnicity, or background. We commit to creating a positive change in our community to reflect our values of equality, diversity, and justice.
Dina Yacoubagha
Co-chair
Board of directors
Faith Linking in Action
Bangor
Census helps shape the future
The 2020 Census is here and is counting everyone living in the United States as of April 1, 2020. If you live here, you are counted!
Achieving a complete count for every community in Maine requires each household to respond. The accuracy of this count affects how billions of dollars in federal spending are allocated. Education, roads, health care and emergency services all around Maine and in our towns are dependent on an accurate count of each person living there.
You haven’t received a 2020 Census form? No problem. You can still respond right now. Log on at www.2020census.gov to fill out the form online. Do you prefer to call? The number to complete the census is 844-330-2020.
I have completed the 2020 census and challenge each of you to do the same because the results shape our future.
Mercie Normand
Orrs Island
Collins needed in Washington
In times of such great uncertainty, Mainers deserve legislators who are willing to fight for them in Washington, which is exactly what Sen. Susan Collins has done throughout this pandemic.
During this crisis, Collins has proven her dedication to showing up for the people of Maine, both in Washington and at home, every single day. Thanks to her willingness to do whatever it takes to get things done, she successfully worked across party lines to coauthor the Paycheck Protection Program, which provided a gleaming beacon of hope for Maine’s small businesses and their employees.
But while Collins was building a lifeline for Maine’s workers, Sara Gideon was busy playing politics, rather than doing her job as Speaker in the Maine House of Representatives. In a time of such hardship, Gideon has done little more than spend large amounts of money on TV ads, exposing how desperately out of touch she is with the state she wants to represent considering that she has not called the Maine Legislature back into session for roughly three months.
Mainers need someone willing to work across the aisle to get things done. Collins is an independent thinker who works across party lines every day to do what is right, not what is politically convenient. She keeps her promises, shows up for her state and delivers proven results for Maine.
I have known Collins and her family for many years. I consider her one of the most honest, hardworking and decent people that I have had the privilege to know. I am proud of her bipartisan outlook. I believe she is extremely effective in her job and always votes for what is best for Maine and the country, not what is best for the party. We need more of that in Washington.
Jim Robbins Sr.
Searsmont
Take down confederate statues
All statues and monuments dedicated to the forces of the Confederacy should be removed from publicly owned spaces.
They place in a position of exaltation and celebration men who fought and killed their fellow countrymen to preserve the system of slavery and the oppression of black peoples. By definition they were traitors to the country of the United States. The monuments were often funded by organizations bent on preserving systemic dominance of white Americans over black Americans, and they were embraced by those state systems; they were granted prominent placement within their cities.
Removing these statues and monuments is not erasing history, but it is reclaiming a true history muddied by southern revisionism of the late 1800s.
There is a documentary series on PBS called Reconstruction, which I strongly recommend. It is not for the faint of heart.
Take them down. Put them in a museum. In a context befitting a more fair and equitable national conscience.
Greg Kornelis
Orono
Curry for Senate District 11
I am supporting Chip Curry for the state Senate from District 11 in Waldo County. Curry has a proven track record of working for Mainers and for Maine school children specifically, through his work on the Maine Legislative Taskforce for Quality Afterschool Programming and with the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet. He looks out for Mainers and chairs the Maine Community Foundation’s Waldo County Fund, which provides grants to programs that have the greatest potential for positive impact on the quality of life in Waldo County.
I have been impressed over the last few months seeing Curry’s involvement in finding and getting the resources our friends and neighbors need to navigate through these trying times. He has been a champion of the Waldo County Woodshed, Waldo County Community Action Partners and Aging Well in Waldo County, and has been instrumental in guiding people to these valuable resources.
Chip Curry will work hard for our community because it’s his community too, and has been for twenty-five years. Vote Curry for state senate from District 11!
Seth A. Thayer Jr.
Lincolnville