Juneteenth in Portland + Only $40k Left to Raise!
The Juneteenth event in Lewiston on June 11th was a beautiful night of music, film, theater, and community. The dialogue between audience and performers cracked our hearts wide open. Big love to all of the youth speaking up in the audience! Pictured clockwise from top: Samuel James, Mojosudan, the MIO Creative Ensemble.
Tomorrow: Portland Juneteenth Performances + Community Dialogue
We can’t wait to come together again for music, story, original theater, the Portland premiere of our new short documentary film, and open community dialogue about what liberation really looks like in our communities. This is a chance for reflection and action alongside one another.
Wednesday, June 17
Mayo Street Arts
Doors at 6:30pm
Featuring:
MOJOSUDAN
Samuel James
The Broken Clock Documentary Film Premiere
The MIO Creative Ensemble
Ticket and accessibility information
Tickets at the door are first come, first served!
Please contact Mandy Huotari at Mandy@maineinsideout.org with any event accessibility questions or requests.
Juneteenth in the news:Thank you to the Portland Press Herald for sharing about these events!
A powerful moment at the Lewiston Juneteenth event:
“Freedom and love were powerful on June 19, 1865. These truths can win out now.” - Samuel James
One week til June 22, and just over $40,000 to go!
The ground we stand on is built by people like you.
MIO works across Maine - with youth and adults, inside prisons and in the community - doing the kind of culture-shift work that no policy alone can accomplish. In Lewiston, teens are telling their own stories through theater alongside community partners. Adults returning from incarceration find community through weekly drop-ins. System-impacted artists are making original theater from lived experience.
In the past two months alone, 12 Lewiston youth were arrested for violence and gun-related offenses and sent to Long Creek, Maine’s youth prison. Juvenile justice referrals here are among the highest in the state. Youth are being released without the support they need, cycling through systems built to respond to crisis, not prevent it.
MIO has faced severe cuts in government and foundation funding this past year. We’ve made a deliberate choice: to root our survival in the people who believe in this work - not the institutions pulling back. Your support carries more weight than it ever has.
If we reach $100k by June 22: Youth theater in Lewiston continues into its fifth year. Theater projects begin inside Bolduc Correctional Facility and the Southern Maine Women’s Re-entry Center this fall. Drop-ins, community gatherings, and playmaking keep going.
We support one another to have the courage this moment demands. None of it happens without you. Share this. Give what you can. There is still time - and it takes all of us!
There’s Still Time to Apply to Join MIO’s Board!
We’re looking for 2 to 4 new board members to join us in August. We especially hope to hear from people connected to the Lewiston community, those with direct experience with incarceration, and people with a background in fundraising or development. But you don't need to check all three boxes, and you don’t need prior board experience. What matters most is a connection to MIO’s mission and a readiness to show up.
Partner Spotlight:
Maine In Focus - A Free 10-Week Photography Class in Lewiston
This class is for anyone 18+ excited about taking pictures, artists looking for another medium, journalists looking to improve their skills, and activists with something to say. Classes will meet at LA Arts in Lewiston every Tuesday at 5:30pm from September 14 through November 16. Apply by July 1.
