Handful of Salt
Volume XLVIX, Volume 2 – Summer 2025
Included in this issue:
Director’s Reflection
Welcome New Staff
No War on Iran!
Talk About It Tuesday
Young Activist Leaders Program
2025 Fall Benefit Luncheon
Director’s Reflection:
Facing the Fascist Power Grab
by Liz Moore, Executive Director
In our PJALS community we hold a shared vision of a just and nonviolent world. Whether we are Black or white, Native or newcomer, no matter how much is in our pocket or whether we live on a city block or a country road—we believe everyday people can accomplish extraordinary things together. Right now in 2025, we are facing strategic racism, bold-faced abuse of power, and dehumanizing divide-and-conquer brutality designed to demoralize and dismantle our protections and freedoms.
We are pushing back against a hostile takeover of our government by a fascist wannabe tyrant and attacks by fascist bullies for the billionaires, using racism and misogyny to turn government power against immigrants, trans and queer people, communities of color, women, workers, and our planet. This power grab continues to worsen conditions for immigrants, people of color, and all working people. Many feel hopeless, afraid, and isolated. At the same time, it creates potential to galvanize both longtime and new activists.
In the last few weeks, we’ve seen mass mobilization in Spokane and across the country. Local organizing is critical—and we know we’re not done. On June 11, I stood with hundreds of Spokanites to say no to ICE’s racist cruelty and violations of due process. While we didn’t stop two young asylum-seekers from being taken to Geogroup’s for-profit immigration prison in Tacoma, we brought widespread attention to Joswar and Cesar and to the thuggery of our immigration system. And we know we’re not done.

Protest outside of ICE Spokane Facility on June 11, 2025
For more info on the events of June 11, visit Range Media.
Welcome Cienna & Tré!
by Liz Moore, Executive Director
I am so delighted to introduce two new members of our PJALS staff team.
Cienna Dumaoal joins us in a new position: Regional Organizer. Her primary focus is to organize with PJALS members and partners across Spokane County, outside of the city of Spokane, increasing our collective power to push back on white Christian nationalism. She’s also coordinating our Peacekeeper program and the Race-Class Education for Action program known as BOLD.
Trévis Ray joins us as Digital Organizer. If you’ve noticed our social media looking beautiful, engaging, and vibrant, you’ve seen his work! Social media and other online organizing is critical to connect new people, make complex ideas easy to grasp, and transform online connection to in-person action.
Please join me in welcoming Tré and Cienna!
Hi! I’m Cienna, and I’m so excited to introduce myself!
I was born and raised in Seattle, WA, and completed my undergraduate degrees in Theology and Communications at Whitworth University in 2023.
After spending the last two years pursuing a Master of Arts in Religion at Yale Divinity School, I’m thrilled to be back in Spokane—my chosen home—and to be working alongside PJALS in this community that means so much to me.
My academic work has focused on the Religious Right in the Pacific Northwest, especially white Christian nationalism and heteropatriarchy. It’s energizing to now be engaging in on-the-ground work to challenge these systems of oppression.
I also bring with me a background in campus organizing and LGBTQ+ advocacy, and I’m deeply committed to building justice and community power here in Spokane.
Hey, I’m Tré!
I was born and raised in Spokane, and being from here gives me a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities we face.
I’ve always been passionate about social justice and community building, and I’ve seen firsthand the impact PJALS has had in this region. That’s what makes joining this team such a meaningful step for me. As a digital and community organizer, I love using creativity and strategy to bring people together.
Whether it’s crafting content that educates, mobilizes, or inspires—my goal is to make sure our digital presence reflects the heart of our organizing work. And of course, add my own bit of flare. I’m especially excited to connect with folks across all parts of our community, from long-time members to those just finding PJALS for the first time.
In this role, I’ll be focused on expanding our reach, building engagement, and helping translate online energy into real-world action. I’m here to listen, collaborate, and grow with you all!
NO WAR ON IRAN!
Statement on the US Bombings of Iran
by PJALS Staff
Our Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane community clearly cries:
“No War on Iran.”
The Iranian people are not our enemy, and we refuse to be manipulated and made afraid. We reject racism and Islamophobia. It’s a clear pattern: Trump casts blame for the suffering of our people on immigrants, and this week, he’s at it again: same playbook, new target. Those who benefit from war and militarism at home and abroad are a tiny number of rich and powerful people who are already on top and who are quickly advancing their agenda to the detriment of everyday people. We must unequivocally direct blame where it belongs: on the billionaires and politicians who are enriched and empowered by global war.
War on Iran would cause death, destruction, and suffering of ordinary people across the Middle East. The strikes on Iran are an extension of the alliance between the U.S. and Israel, whose authoritarian regime has carried out a genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza for 624 days. The U.S. has funded the murders of at least 55,000 people and enabled the starvation of nearly 2,000,000 Gazans. We must act now to stop U.S. funded genocides and war–before tens of thousands if not millions of more lives are claimed. War on Iran would also serve to further consolidate the Trump administration’s authoritarian power, further undermine our civil liberties and our movements, and rapidly expand the power of the carceral state, including ICE. After 9/11, we saw an unprecedented increase of state surveillance of Muslim and Arab communities that has now become standard operating procedure.
We’ve seen this playbook before…
Talk About It Tuesday:
Political Education for Collective Action
by Shantell Jackson, Community Organizer
This year, Talk About It Tuesday has continued to serve as a vital space for community members to come together, learn, and organize around the systems impacting our lives. Each session offers not just information, but transformation. In May, we launched the series with a powerful workshop from the 2025 PJALS Conference: “What is Fascism Then & Now: Strategies for Communal Resistance.” Participants explored the historical roots of fascism, drew parallels to modern-day Trumpism, and reflected on how past resistance movements can inform our organizing today.
It was a timely and energizing start to our series. In June, we were joined by Spokane-based organizer Michaela Brown for a session on Race-Class Analysis, a framework for building cross-race, cross-class solidarity. Michaela guided us through tools for understanding how race and class are used to divide us, sharpening our strategic messaging, and moving toward real policy wins. Whether new to organizing or deeply involved, attendees left feeling more grounded and ready to act.
Coming Up!
Recent mass immigration raids, detention and deportation under the Trump Administration have raised awareness of corporate involvement and profits resulting from such federal actions. For activists to be effective in combating the mass state violence against BIPOC immigrants, we need to understand the interlocking power structures that support it. In this workshop, we will go over the evolution of the immigration-industrial-complex and the criminalization of immigration over the last few decades and brainstorm what actions we can take to dismantle this system of oppression.
July 22 from 6:00–7:30 PM (via Zoom)
Young Activist Leaders Program
We had a total of THIRTY-SIX GRADUATES this spring!! Congratulations to these wonderful activists and a big thank you to all of you supporting YALP.
YALP SAYS:
“Money for People, Not For War!”
by Nicolai Jagger, Youth Organizer
This spring, we wrapped up a very powerful YALP session. After spending 10 weeks with 46 participants, we finished with a bang: a tax-day action rally.
On April 19th, hundreds gathered round B.A. Clark Park to protest the current administration’s federal budget. The event was titled Your Tax, Your Impact; Money for People, Not for War. Urgent and impactful speeches were delivered by four guest speakers from local organizations, as well as four YALP graduates! Youth of today are paying attention – and we aren’t happy.
“All around us essential life saving services are being cut. Entire departments of people are being fired and then rehired, because the people in charge are incompetent. They are playing around with healthcare, education, food stamps, literally playing with people’s lives.”
– Jack Curry
“If time is money, and you’re volunteering at a soup kitchen every Friday, or you donate your money to pet shelters, that shows what you care about, what you think is important. Where is the heart of America? You pay your taxes, every year. This is our home, this is your government, it should be working for you. Of course it should! You pay for this whole shabang, we all know the corporations aren’t paying their taxes. It’s all you. So, where is the heart of America? According to the federal budget, the military. In 2021, 46% of discretionary spending, seven-hundred-and fifty billion dollars, was for the military and the Pentagon. The next highest percentage, Education, is not even 9.5%.”
– Fenrir Jorgenson
“How is it okay to let children stay on the streets, send their parents into debt trying to pay childcare costs, and lay off program employees while we pay billions of dollars for other countries to rain bombs on innocent people? I’m not okay with this, are you okay with this? These budget cuts are acts of violence.”
– Lina
Making a public stance like this is a big thing for a young person. Big for anyone, of course, but in today’s world of those in power making decisions they will never feel- it’s even bigger. I’m unbelievably grateful for the chance to uplift these voices. Not only was a point made, but we provided a padded platform for these young people to soar off with their newly-acquired organizing skills! PJALS believes in education through action, and we witnessed that in broad daylight on April 29th. A big thanks and CONGRATULATIONS is in order for every YALP participant who made this event possible!
Still We Rise:
50 Years of Resistance & Resilience
Coming Up!
PJALS 10th Annual Benefit Luncheon—
—Wednesday, October 15th
—12pm-1pm
Mark your calendars and watch for more information to join us for this no cost ticketed event. This year’s event will be held on our 50th anniversary and we will be celebrating 50 years of our work together to build a just and nonviolent world.