Solidarity, Mutuality and Activism with BRIDGE

Dear BRIDGE community,

“This moment is where even through our actions, material or not we can truly prove to ourselves power belongs in our own hands.”
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- Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

We are in times we have never seen before and at BRIDGE we are grateful for our community. We are grateful for the practice we have built together to tackle barriers and build resilient connections. Those connections are holding strong and true over the last few weeks whether it be over Zoom or a conference call.
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We have been busy within our network of mutual aid, ie. cooperation for the sake of the common good, among our donors, activists, constituents, stakeholders and employees. Our focus has been preparedness and lifting up our community while supporting each other in mobilizing within and among ourselves. We of course are reaching to those institutions locally, statewide, and federally that can support but/AND we know our strength is in the care shown for your neighbors and family and then trust in that ripple effect.

“Mutual Aid is a way we can build networks in our backyard or our community to give aid and receive it if we need it. We can choose to share instead of hoard. We can choose to help instead of hurt.”
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​- Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

In the work:

Here at BRIDGE, we haven't missed a step! Our programs have been running. We have increased our touchpoints with our program participants over the last weeks and will continue to do so. Our staff have worked hard to pivot to working differently and making our BRIDGE programs successful. Thereby BRIDGE commits to our collective humanity again and over and over.

looking back:

• March Recap: We were delighted to co-host a County-wide convening, What a Difference a DA Makes, with the ACLU & BRIDGE Race Task Force over Zoom. Folks from MCLA, NAACP, BCC, BRIDGE Race Task Force and many more met with the ACLU and discussed the progress we have made with our new DA and her team. We discussed what we would like to see in measurable outcomes since our change in leadership the last couple of years and also we discussed how we can support the efforts of the DA office moving forward. Stay tuned for more information.
  
  
• Also in March:  We have continued to work remotely, over Zoom, and maintained office coverage 9-3. We also have been engaged in food & supply distribution thanks to generous support from Berkshire United Way and our sustaining BRIDGE donors.
  
  
• Last Wednesday we gathered to attend the Webinar Also Under the Black Light with Kimberle Crenshaw for an intersectional analysis of our current US systems and its historical context in the context of COVID-19.
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April meetings:

• On April 1, we will have a bilingual (Spanish) presentation from Jeff Lowenstein of BCAC on the resources available for immigrants at our Women to Women special meeting at 5:30.
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• ​Later on April 1st at 8 PM Under the Black Light, part two of a resonating intersectional analysis of the structural oppression that COVID-19 is amplifying at 8 PM. (Every Wednesday there is an optional gathering with BRIDGE community during COVID-19.)
  
  

• ​At TRJ- South on April 2nd we will have our regularly timed session over Zoom. We will be called to center ourselves in our shared race equity analysis and also begin the first night of a 3-week series watching an all-time BRIDGE favorite, Race the Power of an Illusion followed by a facilitated dialogue connecting the film to our time of COVID-19. I have been aware that in this time of challenge and stress we go back to our first learned behaviors and unfortunately that often is rooted in white supremacist (white superiority - not hate), classist or extractive patriarchal norms and structures. We have been experiencing an increase in racialized incidents and tensions as we struggle our way through this pandemic and we are called as a BRIDGE community to take care of our community and disrupt by calling in! Please join us over zoom on Thursday at 6:30 PM. We will have two more Real Talk on Race Zoom Dialogues on April 8th and 15th at 8 PM based on parts 2 and 3 of Race: the Power of an Illusion. Please join us for a refresher and to support a strategy to combat racism during this time of COVID-19.
  
  
• On Monday at the Race Task Force Meeting, where many organizations gather to discuss how racism and especially structural racism persists in our community. We have guests from the Department Of Justice United States Attorney Office AUSA Torey Cummings joining for a presentation on Education for our Task Force to persist in advocating for the students of Berkshire County.
  
  
• Please don’t forget Pipeline is showing in Boston digitally until April 5th. Please support Central Square and our extended family in the Pipeline cast by watching or maybe even hosting a watch party! 
  

Connect with BRIDGE on Instagram!
Tune in with BRIDGE! We have storytime with JV providing a BRIDGE message for youngsters at noontime during the Week on Instagram. Check these out and tell a friend! JV will be reading some original books and some tried and true authors we love at BRIDGE!

*PROGRAM POSTPONED: Please note (due to COVID-19) we have just received notice today that the Hilton Garden Inn, our host for recording, will be closed ‘til June and also have been asked by participants to postpone the IDEA Institute: Cultural Competence Foundations weekend retreat (tentatively) to May 2020 for our alternative Zoom presentation. We will have some sample programming but the full program will launch in May and the IDEA Institute: Train-the-Trainer will happen at a later date in the Spring. More information to current registrants will be shared shortly! Stay tuned for more digital options over the next month. 

All inquiries and RSVPs are welcome at [email protected]. 
Thanks for reading our updates and being a part of our community! Thank you to the donors who are supporting us and thank you to the volunteers working alongside us every day! And please send love and appreciation to our staff for their work. 

Onward in community,
Gwendolyn

P.s. Please support our efforts by making a contribution today, join Amazon smile or post a Facebook fundraiser in your network!

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Member Spotlight: Berkshire Bank

Diversity & Inclusion
Corporate Responsibility

​Thank you to the Berkshire Bank team for the support and collaboration! The online trainings and chats have been a nice & fun addition to our repertoire and making our essential work even more accessible!