Blackstone quoted in PPH article about donation surge
University of Maine sociologist Amy Blackstone was cited in a Portland Press Herald story about progressive nonprofits in Maine and across the country experiencing a surge in donations since the election. “They have a legitimate concern about the impact the incoming administration could have on any number of issues: on people of color, LGBT, women (and) the environment,” said Blackstone in the article. “It does feel different this time.” Donations to the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, a Portland-based nonprofit that provides free legal services to immigrants with low incomes, spiked from $1,800 last November to about $35,000 this November, an increase of nearly 2,000 percent, according to the article. Giving also is a way to be proactive, particularly for people who were energized during the campaign and lost, Blackstone said. “It’s a way of feeling like you have a voice,” she said. “A way of reclaiming your voice after feeling you haven’t been heard.”