I am coming into this month of June, with a profound sense of hope and possibility.

Over the past few weeks, I have been in a number of powerful in-person gatherings: the Maine Philanthropy Center Conference, the Resident Community Builder Program at Maine State Prison, a First Light gathering, the GEO Learning Conference, the Peter Alfond Foundation Grantee Convening, and more. 

There were two common themes to all of these disparate events. The first was ACTION: people coming together to make change happen in their spaces and communities. The second was LOVE: Love for each other. Love for community. And love for a future that has not fully come into being. Yet. 

And this fills me with hope. The challenges we face are serious. Discord. Inequity. Division. Hate. But we have love on our side. And everyday we have a choice to lean into that love and do powerful and necessary and transformative things for and with each other. Let’s get to it.

See below for some of the things we are up to this month. 

And as we do, I want to say: Happy PRIDE! I am deeply grateful for the vision and commitment of love and justice that is embodied in this month-long celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. 

The movement for LGBTQ+ liberation embodies intersectional organizing: transecting race, class, gender, ability, and more. It shows us what a movement can look like if we truly believe that “none of us are free until all of us are free.” 

It shows us how, if we all play our parts in community and in solidarity, we can achieve individual and collective liberation and, in the process, radically transform the world around us.  We have seen it happen. We have no excuse to doubt.

At the same time, we know that progress is not inevitable. We know that forces of opposition are marshaling resources and power to undo the hard-fought progress of LGBTQ+ liberation. We will not go back. So, in addition to celebrating the joy of PRIDE, let us re-dedicate and recommit ourselves to supporting the work of LGBTQ+ organizing and activism. Today and always.

Peace and love,

Phil