Rock This Democracy (RTD) is a local grassroots volunteer organization creating and supporting gatherings of all sizes to defend democracy and reject authoritarianism. The first rally RTD ever hosted was February 22 last year. Since then, the group has grown in size and involvement.

RTD organizers Alex Villamil, Jim Allen, and Reverend Matt Crebbin, pastor of Newtown Congregational Church, highlighted how it has grown as an organization and what their next steps are for RTD.

Allen first described how and why RTD came about: “A little over a year ago, we watched with great concern as events unfolded, and realized that locally, we wanted to help create space for people to assemble and voice their concerns in a way that was safe, highly visible, effective, and centered on connecting people around our common desire to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States.”

Crebbin added that a year ago, the three men were “not quite sure” what this group would look like. The three knew they wanted to bring people together to combat isolation and anxiety about the national political landscape. Crebbin said people did not have a “sense of their own power and engagement,” so the three set out on a mission to help people find that.

Villamil expanded on those thoughts: “I think we’ve managed to create some safe space for people to come together, to know that they’re not by themselves because that was the big concern back in February about a year ago … it was like ‘What do we do?’” He said that the “normal, American way of doing things” was being turned around and said that people were “freaked.”

The three organizers’ goal was to not only create space for people to congregate, but to serve as a “community hub” to connect people to resources and volunteer opportunities in the community.

“We’ve seen a lot of groups that have stepped up, a lot of people that have stepped up as far as becoming volunteers for us,” Villamil shared. He added that a local mom is starting her own organization as well. “People are feeling their power and using it,” Villamil said.

While attendance was always a guessing game for the three, they noted that several community members came out to that first rally last February. In fact, several hundred people came out from Newtown and the surrounding area. Each gathering the group has hosted since then has drawn crowds of 100-plus, which Allen said is a “barometer of how far we’ve come.”

Crebbin said the audience at the first event was an indicator that the group “was onto something” in terms of bringing community together and showing support for each other. Crebbin also noted that while there are hundreds of people at one rally, there are “all kinds of folks” involved in the demonstrations.

“We are here to express, also, that we don’t have just one set of beliefs on policies. We have a diverse group of folks who share across the political spectrum. Folks who never — many of whom tell us, ‘I’ve never been out on a street protesting in my whole life.’ We are not here to say everybody has to toe a policy line … but people share that common belief that democracy requires involvement and that all of us are concerned about the behavior of the current administration,” Crebbin said.

Crebbin added that the Constitution is “for the people,” and that the RTD organizers are committed to the ideals expressed in Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, “that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish in the face of the earth.”

Learning Curves For A New Organization

An integral part of RTD’s success over the past year is continuously exercising the American citizen’s right to assemble, or the First Amendment to the US Constitution. The three organizers pointed to Newtown’s unique New England nature in that there is no town square, town green, or town common for residents to gather at. This has proved to be a hurdle for the organizers consistently.

“We have been lucky to find solutions,” Allen said. Some of those solutions included gathering along the sidewalk on South Main Street, along Main Street and by the flagpole, and at the former police station at 3 Main Street.

Villamil admitted that the group has “learned a lot” over the past year of organizing and gathering residents.

“It’s been ridiculous, almost, that in a democratic country, we have been thrown everything to keep us from assembling, but we’ve met every single obstacle,” Villamil said, “and that’s because of our town, because of people that stood up, especially this past year with the Legislative Council allowing us to assemble. That was tremendous, a huge help, a lot of support from the people.”

The organizers have been working the balance between being visible while not impeding normal, day-to-day activity. The organizers said they are not “interested in blocking people” in terms of driving or accessing the Main Street area, but they want to be seen by people, they want to be heard, and they want to show support to passersby who may not feel comfortable gathering and expressing their opinions. The three men said they have a good “working relationship” with Newtown Police Department and businesses in the area where the group gathers.

The goal for RTD is to encourage neighbors and residents to show self-expression in its many forms in the ever-evolving political theater, both nationally and locally. Villamil said the rise in people showing up to their events is his favorite part.

“There is a commitment to this,” Villamil said, alluding to the “March to Melt ICE” rally hosted in 15-degree weather on January 31. Allen said that he has loved watching people who have never spoken in public “rise to that occasion” to share their concerns.

“There’s a fierce outrage by people,” Crebbin began, “Which I believe there should be. But the response has also been, for me, a sense of that outrage channeled towards hope, towards really a commitment and a vision of seeing our nation and all of our communities be better. That desire, right? That’s what I’ve experienced most.”

Crebbin added that he has seen a lot of people who are upset, but these people are upset because they care and are concerned about the future: both personally and for the nation.

“They’re out there because they love their community, they love this nation,” Crebbin said about the RTD volunteers.

Moving forward, RTD organizers plan to continue their “rapid response” to breaking news. This begins with their next event.

On March 15, at Newtown Community Center, 8 Simpson Street, 2-3:30 pm, RTD will be hosting a Rock This Democracy One Year Anniversary Symposium. This event will feature live music from B.A.R., a local band; speakers; and local organizations. The event will allow attendees to network with other community-oriented organizations and volunteer groups.

Allen said, “We intend to keep the volume up and, at the symposium, highlight all these issues, while creating, in the spirit of our original creation, a point of gathering.”

For more information about RTD or the next event, go to rockthisdemocracy.org.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.