Wildfires in Australia. Wildfires in California. The Amazon burned to make way for cattle grazing.  Pledges to plant a billion trees. Carbon offsetting by protecting forests. The planet’s forests have become ground zero for climate impacts and climate action. 

In honor of Earth Week 2021, The Climate Action Team and Democrats Abroad Spain are hosting “Our Forests and Our Climate: an Earth Week Guided Discussion” with Daniel James, newly elected chair of DA Spain. 

Daniel has decades of expertise in forest management and environmental policy, working on the Hill, for the US Forest service, and most recently, as Acting Deputy Under Secretary and senior advisor for Natural Resources and Environment at USDA. 

Date: April 21, 2021

Time: 6:00 PM CET/12 PM EST

This is a virtual event; RSVP for the link

We hope you will attend to learn more about the connection between forests and climate change, and the importance of protecting and preserving forests to the planet. We want you to be inspired to take action!

Here are some suggested watchings/readings to introduce you to the subject and spark some questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-nEYsyRlYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q0xUXo2zEY&feature=youtu.be

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00122-z

https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/forests-and-climate-change

Submit your questions in advance to [email protected]! Please use the subject line “Climate and Forests”.

Daniel James was recently elected chair for DA Spain. He served 34 years in public service and retired from USDA in 2019. His last role was Acting Deputy Under Secretary and senior advisor for Natural Resources and Environment. In that role Daniel led the NRE Mission area which included the US Forest Service, and for a period Natural Resource Conservation Service and Gulf Coast Restoration work. 

He was appointed Associate Chief of the Forest Service in July 2016. Prior to this appointment, Daniel, served in many leadership positions, including:

•  Regional Forester of the Rocky Mountain Region; 

• Deputy Regional Forester in the Pacific Southwest Region; Forest Supervisor of the Santa Fe National Forest; 

• District Ranger on the Salt Lake Ranger District of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest; 

• District Ranger on the South Park Ranger District of the Pike and San Isabel National Forest, Comanche, and Cimarron National Grasslands; 

• Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs of the Intermountain Region, National Press Officer in Washington, D.C.; 

• and aide to the United States Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado when he was in the US House of Representatives. 

He represented USDA on the National Advisory Council for Historic Preservation, National Wildland Fire Leadership Council and also served on the Board for the Sierra Conservancy and the National Leadership Council for the National Forest Foundation. 

Daniel earned a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and a Master’s degree from Regis University of Denver. He and his partner Aaron live in Barcelona, Spain. 

Don’t forget that The Climate Action Team has curated this list of virtual Earth Day events - there is something to fit every time zone and every age group.

Please join us for a Community Check-In to voice your thoughts and feelings about mounting violence against AAPI people in the US, in the wake of the recent Atlanta murders and rising anti-Asian hate crimes. Join us in discussion, led by Los Angeles-based Ting Qin, M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy and experienced group facilitator. Hosted by the DA France Diversity Caucus, DA France Women’s Caucus and the Global AAPI Caucus.

Professor Linda Scott will join us April 13th @ 12pm EST/6pmCET

To discuss the research behind the findings in her recently-published book:

“The Double X Economy: The Epic Potential of Empowering Women."

Internationally renowned expert on women's economic development and Emeritus DP World Professor for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Oxford.  Professor Linda Scott will join us to discuss the research behind the findings in her recently-published book: “The Double X Economy: The Epic Potential of Empowering Women.” Her analysis of international gender data shows the reality of a distinctive pattern of economic inequality which, when combined with cultural impediments, forms the shadow economy unique to women, the “Double X Economy.” To quote Melinda Gates:

“Linda Scott shines a light on women's essential and often invisible contributions to our global economy--while combining insight, analysis, and interdisciplinary data to make a compelling and actionable case for unleashing women's economic power." --Melinda Gates, author of The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

Linda gives us a powerful argument going forward: “…equal economic treatment for women would put a stop to some of the world’s costliest evils, while building prosperity for everyone.”  And she is looking to recruit everyone to the cause of women’s economic inclusion!

I'm an academic, I live in France, and I vote in Massachusetts. Back in the 70s I read Simone de Beauvoir's groundbreaking book "The Second Sex" and it changed my life. I realized, as did many, that women were not given equal status, either in their personal lives or under the law. Later in life I had the grand experience of teaching the book and I came to understand the deeply philosophical reasons why no democracy can exist without equality between men and women. And unless women are equal to men under the law, there can be no true equality. So from there began my quest for an Equal Rights Amendment. True liberation for women can only exist when they are protected under the law, and men and women can live in true "brotherhood" (Beauvoir's word) only when the Constitution guarantees them equal rights. So let's go, let's get it done. Let's add that ERA to our guarantor of equal rights, the US Constitution.

Join former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and

Support Democrats Abroad's Global Campaign to

Reach the World 

Over 9 million Americans live outside of the United States. Democrats Abroad is working to ensure that as many as possible vote in November, and that Democrats win up and down the ballot. 

We are phoning members, running social media ads, and mailing potential voters in order to win in November.

And our Get Out the Vote campaigns work. In 2016, the number of Americans abroad who voted was 50% higher than in 2012 and in 2018, the number of voters tripled compared to 2014. And the number of overseas Americans requesting ballots in 2020 is already twice the number in 2016.

We CAN make the difference, but we need YOUR help. Please make a donation today to fund our Global Get Out the Vote campaign.

Donations are made to Democrats Abroad (Democratic Party Committee Abroad) and not to any candidate for Federal Office.

Donations to Democrats Abroad are not tax-deductible.

Join Leon Panetta, Rosa DeLauro, and Ambassadors David Thorne and John Phillips (Rtd.) and help Americans in Italy vote

If you are unable to contribute online, send us a US Dollar check with this form to the following address.

Democrats Abroad
PO Box 15130
Washington DC 20003
USA

Thank you for your support!

On-line credit card contributions made to Democrats Abroad are secure, encrypted transactions made via Stripe.

Donations to Democrats Abroad are not tax-deductible.

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GWC Suffrage Centennial Campaign

Donate and support a phonebanking day in memory of the suffragettes!

Our goals are to raise at least $2,020 and make 1920 calls, encouraging U.S. overseas voters to request their ballots or register to vote before the October deadlines.  However, we really hope to have so many donors and callers that we blow by those numbers and just keep going! [Mobile device users, please scroll down to donate!]

Your donation will help us continue efforts to ensure that the right to vote, so hard won in 1920, is exercised by American women** around the world.

(** and men!)

Honor the Suffragettes and Use Your VOTE!

Donations are made to Democrats Abroad (Democratic Party Committee Abroad) and not to any candidate for Federal Office.

Donations to Democrats Abroad are not tax-deductible.

Join Susan Rice and

Support Democrats Abroad's Global Campaign to

"Reach the World" 

Over 9 million Americans live outside of the United States. Democrats Abroad is working to ensure that as many as possible vote in November, and that Democrats win up and down the ballot. 

We are phoning members, running social media ads, and mailing potential voters in order to win in November.

And our Get Out the Vote campaigns work. In 2016, the number of Americans abroad who voted was 50% higher than in 2012 and in 2018, the number of voters tripled compared to 2014.

We CAN make the difference, but we need YOUR help. Please make a donation today to fund our Global Get Out the Vote campaign.

Donations are made to Democrats Abroad (Democratic Party Committee Abroad) and not to any candidate for Federal Office.

Donations to Democrats Abroad are not tax-deductible.

Our theme was VIOLENCE, in all its forms, against women.  "Sexual violence is a global epidemic that is all around us, yet it is nowhere, precisely because it permeates every facet of our presence in the world, echoing throughout political and popular cultures, ricocheting off the cement walls that define our boundaries." - Michele Chen from  Roxane Gay's "Not That Bad." 

We need and Equal Rights Amendment to protect women against violence.  Laws alone do not solve the problem.

Salli Swartz leads the discussion about the ERA that followed the viewing of the documentary Equal Means Equal, answering the question: Why, in the year 2019 with so many opportunities for American women, do we need the Equal Rights Amendment?

Democrats Abroad went into action on Saturday evening Nov. 10 as Donald Trump arrived in France. Their candlelight vigils showed him what they think about his 'leadership.'   SUPPORTING the TRUE American values including humanitarian concern for others, the first amendment, respect for science, respect for journalists, freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation, equality for women and people of color, care for the environment and dedication to fair play and true democracy. HONORING American victims of right-wing hate crimes inspired by Trump's rhetoric. And RESPECTING our Constitution and the right to pursue investigations without hindrance.

The new Democratic National Committee  created an infrastructure to support candidates up and down the ballot and organize year-round -- leading to wins in some places that would've seemed unthinkable two years ago. Here are some of the ways Democrats gained ground across the country :

• 29 House seats flipped so far -- with a good shot at flipping at least half a dozen more once all the results come in;
• Seven governors' seats flipped;
• Six legislative chambers flipped -- bringing the total number we've flipped up to seven this cycle;
• Four Republican state legislature supermajorities broken;
• In total, Democrats flipped over 290 individual state legislative races last night -- bringing our total on the cycle up to over 330!
• Four states voted to expand voting rights, including a constitutional amendment in Florida that will restore voting rights to more than 1 million people with felony records;
• Three state Supreme Court seats flipped;
• Three red states voted to expand Medicaid;
• Two states voted to raise their minimum wages;
• One U.S. Senate seat flipped -- congrats to Jacky Rosen.

And here are some of the incredible candidates who won historic victories last night:

Democrats Abroad France organized rallies and candlelight vigils across the country with “Families Belong Together” events in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, and Toulouse to protest Trump’s pointlessly cruel “Zero Tolerance” policy towards refugee and immigrant families, and a July 4th “Vive La Resistance” apero/picnic by the Seine in Paris with coalition partners to register voters and organize for the Fall.  On June 30th we marched in the LGBTQ Gay Parade.  With just four months ahead of us, we must continue to mobilize voters to speak out and defend our Democratic Party values.

Every year, Democrats Abroad France remembers the fallen soldiers who bravely died while serving in the US Armed Forces.  Decorating graves to remember the dead is an ancient tradition that continues to this day. In America the tradition began with those who died in the Civil War.  All are invited to attend.  Since 1918 is the 100th Anniversary of WWI, the ceremonies will be grandissime.    We will be laying wreaths in ceremonies throughout France on the graves of these heroes on the following dates:

Memorial Day Ceremonies Meuse-Argonne May 27th at 11am 

Memorial Day Ceremonies May 27th at St. Mihiel 4pm 

Memorial Day Ceremonies Lafayette Escadrille May 27th at 10am

Memorial Day Ceremonies Surennes May 27th at 2.30pm

Memorial Day Ceremonies May 27th Oise-Aisne at 3pm

Memorial Day Ceremonies Epinal May 27th at 10:30am 

For more information, contact: [email protected] or [email protected]

On April 5, we honored the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. The event was held in the sanctuary of the American Church in Paris where Dr. King himself spoke in October of 1965, and the Church was full. The program was organized by co-Chair of the Diversity Caucus, Reed Kennedy, and included a welcome from church clergy, excerpts from Martin Luther King's writings. music, and speeches as well as a panel discussion on the life and legacy of the civil rights icon. A key moment featured author Jake Lamar reading the moving Letter From Birmingham City Jail from the same pulpit where Dr. King spoke.

For those of you who could not make it to the event, here are links for few pictures (photo credit: Richard Allen) as well as athe livestream video .