Writers, artists rally for freedom of speech as the Trump era nears

Words of MLK, Lennon cited at library gathering in New London

New London — Words, if you ask Gian Lombardo, matter.

The Niantic writer and professor helped other local artists bring together a crowd of people Sunday ready to speak out for freedom of speech and defend those who need defending.

“For us, freedom of speech is tantamount,” he said in an introduction in the Public Library of New London’s community room, surrounded by writers, poets, musicians and artists.

The gathering was New London’s answer to Writers Resist, a national network founded by poet Erin Belieu as a way to bring writers together to mark the inauguration of Donald Trump and show support for freedom of speech in the face of comments the president-elect has made in opposition to it.

First Amendment support

Lombardo and two other area writers, Charlie Chase and Steve Ostrokwski, brought together artists from all over Connecticut Sunday to reaffirm their support for the First Amendment by reading their words and the words of powerful writers and poets from history.

The words of John Lennon, Martin Luther King Jr. and Connecticut suffragist Elsie Hill filled the room alongside poems by people from New London, New Britain and Norwich.

Jose Gonzales read a poem by Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton that included the line “I believe the world is beautiful, and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone.”

He was followed by Frederick Knowles, who was born in New London and grew up in Norwich and spoke about being the only black family on his street across from Three Rivers Community College.

Poet Charles Fort talked about his father, who worked in New Britain in the 1960s as a barber, a factory worker and a landlord, all at the same time.

“They don’t make them like that anymore,” he said.

Joanie DiMartino, a Mystic resident and poet, read speeches by local suffragists who pushed for women’s right to vote even as they were mocked.

Rhonda Ward, of New London, said she had not been able to write recently. In place of her own words, she read excerpts from King’s “Letters from a Birmingham Jail.”

“We live in a broken country,” she said. “The names have changed, the players have changed. But the problems in this country remain. We need to have a conversation.”

Ward said she has hope, though, in writers and the arts.

“There’s been so much angst and worry and stress over what our future will be,” she said. “We have each other and faith to hold on to.”

TIM MARTIN/THE DAY Author Charles Fort of New Britain, a retired professor at Southern Connecticut State University, reads excerpts from several of his books as members of the Writers Resist of Southeast Connecticut and local writers gather in the Community Room of the...