Activism Builds Community—What Indivisible in Brookline is Doing Right

Continuing our series on activist afternoons/evenings, Marjorie Siegel explains that such gatherings can be much more than a drop-in. She sees them as the starting point for leadership development.

By Paul Lehrman

"We came together in 2019. People were panicked, and for good reason," says Marjorie Siegel of Activist Evenings Indivisible in Brookline. "Sandy Wixted and I independently went to a meeting in Cambridge and came to the conclusion that we could organize a similar gathering for activists on this side of the river.  At United Parish we started in a small room that held 50, but very quickly needed a much bigger room." We told people how to find us, “United Parish, the one with the chairs!”

During covid, the group shifted to virtual organizing. "There were five of us that were working nearly full-time, and we had a big volunteer base. We sent over 200,000 postcards to the Black community in Georgia encouraging registration and voting,” recalled Siegel. 

"2024 came and though in a way I'm really angry, but I have to do something about the election again. Yet from the response to our invitation, we are meeting a need. There's a lot of hunger to be doing something to protect the country from autocracy.

"We bring in both experienced and relatively new and low-engaged activists. One of the many important things we're planning to do is training and leadership development to get people involved at different levels. Beyond sending letters to voters, our movement to strengthen democracy needs volunteers who write letters to the editor, encourage friends and neighbors to do more than vote, run a phone bank on zoom, and canvass in person. As Joan Baez says, 'Action is the antidote to despair.' I am never happier than when I am organizing, taking care of the country and our community. We're bringing people together for the networking, learning, inspiration, and support. It's a great community builder. 

"My fantasy is that our group can have a spin-off group on the Cape this summer. There are so many people there with time and resources who want to do something. And after the summer maybe it could continue."

---

Paul D. Lehrman is a senior lecturer in music at Tufts University and is a former contributing editor for Mix magazine, Studio Sound, MacUser, and the Boston Phoenix.

Marjorie Siegel, along with Sandy Wixted, Barbara Weiffenbach, Laura Walters, and Suzette Abbott, co-founded Activist Evenings Indivisible in Brookline, They welcome others to join twice a month. They can be reached at DemocracyNowMA@gmail.com.