Jurgen Dopatka
In every community, democracy is practiced not only in crowded protests, but also in quieter, meaningful and often overlooked ways. In Madison, one of those ways takes shape through longtime local activist Pat Calchina’s monthly Re-Imagining Resistance meetups at Linden Cohousing — gatherings that Calchina describes as a “springboard for building a resistance community” in response to “what’s happening in the world, in the country, right now.”
Re-Imagining Resistance invites people to engage with advocacy through the arts. Each month, Calchina arranges for local poets, speakers and musicians to attend and perform. Past speakers have represented Voces de la Frontera, Worker Justice Wisconsin and Solace Friends. At September’s meetup, Lynette Margulies, a well-known Madison jazz musician, performed. Poets have included Angela Trudell Vasquez, a former Madison poet laureate, and Guy Thorvaldsen, a former English teacher at Madison College and Isthmus essayist.
“It’s about feeling,” she says. “We feel one way when we hear music and it’s inspiring, and another way when we hear poetry because it touches us in a different place.”
Calchina says that by inviting advocates from around Madison to speak about their work or organization, the group learns what other activism circles are addressing.
“It’s fabulous hearing individual organizers talk about what they’re doing,” she says. “It’s a way of letting this community of people learn about all the things going on [in Madison], all the people organizing in different ways.”
After the performances, groups of six to 10 break off for round-table discussions. Calchina provides talking points, including questions such as “What scares you?” “What inspires you?” and “Where do you get your information?” She says it’s during these discussions that people open up and connect over shared social, political and economic concerns.
“I’m not a therapist, but I believe in the strength of talking,” Calchina says. “The table discussion is a way for people to get away from sitting by themselves and being afraid.”
Calchina has spent more than five decades raising her voice to advocate for her beliefs. From marching against the Vietnam War in Berkeley, Calif., in 1968 to protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers’ killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the Wisconsin Capitol building on Jan. 25, Calchina has never shied away from publicly demonstrating. She says it’s in her spirit.
In fact, if you have ever attended a liberally aligned protest in Madison any time after 1987 — the year Calchina moved to Madison — she was most likely there. But at 83, she has noticed in recent years, the same cannot be said for other people her age.
“I’m old,” she says with a laugh. “And I have friends who are very dear people [who] have been activists their whole lives, but they haven’t been as lucky as me with their health. They have issues that make it hard to stand on the side of the road with a sign or attend a crowded rally downtown.”
Courtesy Pat Calchina
Pat Calchina holding a large protest sign than says Keep abortion safe and legal with a woman's symbol.
Calchina has a long history in activism, shown here in the early 1980s in Spokane, Washington.
So when Calchina launched Re-imagining Resistance in June of last year, it was inspired in part by her aging friends.
The first few gatherings were held at Java Cat Coffee House. About 15 people showed up, most of them people she knew, Calchina says. As she continued to spread the word about the meetups through flyers and word of mouth, attendance steadily grew. In December, the group had outgrown Java Cat and began meeting at Linden Cohousing on Winnebago Street. For the January gathering, Calchina estimates 50 people showed up.
She estimates the average age of Re-Imagining Resistance attendees is 60, but she encourages people of any age to join.
“I’m very interested in the young radicals, and we had a few young people show up recently,” she says. “I would love to have a panel of young organizers at an upcoming meeting.”
What has kept her advocating and organizing all these years? Calchina’s answer is simple and confident: “Because I care and because I still can.”
The next Re-Imagining Resistance event will be held on April 12 from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. at Linden Cohousing, 2082 Winnebago St. Calchina has yet to announce the performers.
