Stuttgart and Southwestern Germany Chapter
March 2022 Newsletter
“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” -Howard Zinn
When Russia invaded and took over the Krim eight years ago, there were sanctions and protests, but Putin’s behaviour went largely unchecked. Instead of focusing on his own country and trying to improve the lives of his people by raising the median income, improving the dilapidated infrastructure and health system and removing heavy restrictions on ordinary citizens, journalists, political opponents and anyone daring to contradict or run against him, Putin chose to do what he assessed as an easy attack that would pivot the focus of his misdeeds and failures onto an imaginary enemy: Ukraine, a neighboring country with a young, aspiring democracy.
On Thursday, February 24, 2022, we awoke to the nightmarish pictures on TV of houses in flames, people seeking safety in subway stations and endless lines of cars heading west. In the past days this onslaught of Russian invasion, by land and massive airstrikes, has continued. Something Putin had not added into his calculation, however, was the heroism of the Ukrainian people and the massive support from around the world. While Russia stands ostracised for its barbaric behavior, the attack on Ukraine has bonded all peace-wanting nations into one voice.
If you would like to support Ukranians, here are some ways to do so:
1. Moabit hilft e.V in Berlin, for donating items or vouchers (for drugstores or grocery stores, for example) needed by Ukrainians that have arrived in Germany. [email protected]
2. UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe (www.uno-fluechtlingshilfe.de/ukraine)
3. Sister Margret and Father Wruszczak of the Catholic Church are collecting items needed in Ukraine at the St. Ulrich Kindergarten, Dolpweg 12, in Stuttgart-Fasanenhof. If you would like to support their cause, please bring the items you would like to donate on Tuesdays or Fridays between 6.30-8:30 pm or on Sundays between 10:30-12.30 in the morning. Here are some items that are direly needed:
• Dressing bandages, tape, large bandaids, etc. for wounds • Pain medicine
• Disinfectant sprays for wounds
• Hand disinfectant fluid
• Bottled drinking water
• Baby formula, baby food
• Candles, matches
• Flashlights with extra batteries (taped on so they don’t get lost) • Sleeping bags
• Non-perishable foods
March has been designated to honour women’s contributions in history. One of the biggest feminist organisations in Europe, the Ukrainian Women’s Union, was founded in western Ukraine in the 1920’s. During the Soviet-era feminism was classified as anti-Soviet, making civil society and feminism nearly nonexistent during the Soviet times. After Ukrainian independence in 1991, a feminist movement began emerging again.
Several American women who attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840 were not given seats due to their gender. This gave two attendees of that convention the idea to hold their own convention to address the treatment of women. An estimated 300 people attended the Seneca Falls Convention, held in 1848, where the Declaration of Sentiments was signed by 68 women and 32 men. In this written statement grievances were listed, such as the laws denying married women to have their own money and own property. Other topics addressed were a lack of access to education and a low status in most churches. Another important point made in this declaration was that women should have the right to vote.
In 1866, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Lady Stanton formed the American Equal Rights association, with black and white men and women dedicated to a common goal of suffrage for all.
In 1869 Wyoming became the first territory or state in the US to grant women suffrage. In 1870 the first woman voted in the general election in Laramie, Wyoming. In other states women were unsuccessful, many being turned away from voting polls or even arrested for attempting to vote.
Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to run for president in 1872, although she herself could not even vote. She was nominated to run by the Equal Rights Party and had a vision of a future where people had 8 hr. work days, benefitted from social welfare programs, profit sharing and gradual income tax.
Women were not always united in their goals, with the fight for women’s suffrage having different components and different voices for these different views. But in 1920 the 19th Amendment became part of the Constitution and women finally achieved the right to vote. Many outstanding women, such as Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells and Alice Paul, helped pave the path to women being able to vote in the US.
Nowadays we are faced with new ‘old’ discussions concerning reproductive rights, education in our schools and voting rights. There is no time to sit on the laurels of the great visionaries of our past. The path forward remains stony, but we shall persevere to assure that we give our children a broad assortment of literature in school libraries, which do not only represent a tunnel view of conservatism; that history is taught as it really was, and not white-washed to appease certain people that would like to glorify the past; and that we as a country call out voices and behavior that is anti-democratic and reproachable, like the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
DAG Events:
Tomorrow, March 5, is DA Germany’s 2022 Annual General Meeting! You’re invited to join us online, from 10am-6pm. Please RSVP to receive the log-in.
The DA Germany AGM Prize Draw will be held tomorrow, directly after our AGM. Several DAG chapters have put together prize baskets that lucky participants can win. Tickets cost $5.
Phonebanking Training: Sunday, March 6 at 10 am
The 2022 Midterms are quickly approaching and calling our members is one of the best ways to reach out to make sure they vote!
Training Tuesdays: Tools for GOTV with DA Germany: Tuesday, March 8 at 7:30 pm
The Stuttgart and Southwestern Germany Chapter:
We have a few voter information tables lined up this spring! The first one was on Saturday, February 12, 2022 where we had the opportunity to reach out to fellow Americans and help with any voter-related questions.
Our next VFA voter information table will be on Saturday, March 12, from 1:30-3:30 at the Schlossplatz in Stuttgart. Would you like to volunteer and help us reach US citizens in our area? Contact us at [email protected]
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” —Maya Angelou
Wishing all the determination to make a difference.
Democratically yours,
Sasha Arrington
Stuttgart and Southwestern Germany Chair Democrats Abroad Germany