Monday, July 14
Paris, France
Resistance Reading Room
The Resistance is now. Join us twice-monthly as we share and discuss relevant readings for our moment in US politics, and what we can do from Paris — with eyes on helping Democrats taking back House and Senate in 2026. Brought to you by the Veterans and Military Families Caucus, the Diversity Caucus, and the Paris Chapter of DA France.
This is not homework, even if Resistance is work -- we will always feature a core text, an article, and a work of poetry or short fiction selected to guide our discussion but please read what you can, as you can. And if you can't get to it please join us anyway for a drink and good discussion. Hope to see you there!
This event is free and open to DA members. New members always welcome. To join Democrats Abroad go here: www.democratsabroad.org/join (Membership is free and open to US citizens 18 years of age or older and living abroad.)
Not based in Paris Centre, but interested in hosting a Reading Room near you? Please get in touch with Ada [email protected] for details.
Pick a text you have time for. Readings are suggested, not required. A core text, an article, a piece of short fiction or poetry are selected for each time we meet, and we will meet at least twice per set of readings. Read what you can or just join us, whether you had time to read or not. This is NOT homework, even if Resistance is work — we look forward to seeing you there.
Our 90-minute format will always include discussion of the texts, we will always take a concrete action; and we will always have open discussion on what is happening and what we can do about it. See you there!
Theme: The Fierce Urgency of Hope. With these selections, we highlight both the urgent need for immediate moral action and the strategic patience required to sustain meaningful, long-term resistance. We will not hold RRR in August (happy summer!) but will keep these same readings for September.
📜 Poem: “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” by Emily Dickensen, 1891.
🎥 Video: Poem "The Hill We Climb" by Amanda Gorman, 2020. Written for the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Watch Gorman's reading of her poem for here. If purchasing her works, please check out local booksellers Red Wheelbarrow and Shakespeare & Company.
"For there is always light,
If only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it."
📖 Text: “Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities” by Rebecca Solnit, 2004. Full text: Viewable for free with login at Internet Archive, here. Read an excerpt from KCRW, here. If purchasing the book, please check out local booksellers Red Wheelbarrow and Shakespeare & Company.
“…Hope is not like a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. I say this because hope is an ax you break down doors with in an emergency; because hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth's treasures and the grinding down of the poor and marginal. Hope just means another world might be possible, not promised, not guaranteed. Hope calls for action; action is impossible without hope.”
📖 Text: Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. 1963. Read at the Atlantic.
"...I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."
[...]
"The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?"
WHEN
Monday, July 14, 2025 at 06:00 PM Paris Time
WHERE
Location available with RSVP
Paris 75006
France
Google map and directions