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Where are you from in the United States?
I’m from the great state of Maine, near the rocky Atlantic coast.
How did you end up in China and what do you do here now?
I followed my heart to China. Back in my junior year of college I met the man I would marry one day: he studied Chinese literature and language, and I followed him to Texas, Taiwan, Minnesota, Beijing, and now to the swelling metropolis of Shenzhen. I’ve written and edited magazine articles out here, but right now I’m mostly a house husband.
How did you first hear about Democrats Abroad?
I learned about Democrats Abroad after talking progressive politics with a friend. There was a drive to register expats to vote in the 2018 midterms and I joined up to see how I could help.
Had you volunteered with or been involved in politics beforehand?
I worked and volunteered a lot more in the US, especially around LGBT causes. The highlight was the 2012 Minnesota campaign to defeat an amendment that would bar us from marrying. I worked on campus logistics, among other roles, and we succeeded in turning out more votes among college students than Obama’s historic 2000 campaign. In China it’s obviously a very different environment, but in Beijing I was able to volunteer with some community groups to help with their fundraising and overall organizing.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing America coming up ahead?
All the existential challenges of the 21 century — staggering wealth inequality, cataclysmic climate change, aging and vulnerable infrastructure, drug-resistant pandemic pathogens, and a fragmented electorate that no longer shares a sense of common reality, much less common humanity — are all linked together. We fix them all together, or we fix none and face the consequences.
Why do you think it's important to get involved with Democrats Abroad now?
The 2020 elections demonstrated powerfully that voting matters — mail-in ballots matter and overseas ballots count. In a time when the stakes are so high, this is a moment when every American should feel like there’s a place for them to help organize for the future they want to see. We simply don’t have the luxury to wait for someone else to fix these problems.
If you were President, what would you concentrate on in the first 100 days?
I’m not sure I could suggest anything better than the raft of executive actions and major legislation that Biden’s team is planning. Big, bold action is needed — especially to quickly reverse rule changes that Trump’s cronies pushed through the various agencies — and we need to “build back stronger” by giving all Americans the physical safety and economic security they need for the massive course correction it will take to survive.
We are always on the lookout for more volunteers to help Americans in China organize around getting out the vote and issues dear to our Women's, LGBTQ+, Black, AAPI & Progressive Caucuses. Join us and message us to see how you can get involved!
Upcoming Events
Sunday, April 18, 2021 at 04:00 PM Beijing Time · 1 rsvp
Zoom Meeting in beijing, ChinaDA China Elections Info Session
Democrats Abroad China will be holding elections for the Leadership Board at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Sunday, May 23, 2021.
Interested in running for a position on the Democrats Leadership Board? Come learn more at the April 18 DACN elections information session. The meeting will take place virtually via Zoom -- RSVP below for the link.
The Leadership Board consists of 11 members, of which six are officers on the Executive Committee (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Legal Counsel, Communications Director), whose term of office will be from 2021-2023.
This meeting is optional and informational, to help candidates and interested members of Democrats Abroad China to learn more. It is not required to attend in order to nominate someone, or to be nominated. The nominations period will open on April 13 and close on April 27 for all 11 positions.
For more information including full position descriptions, please refer to DA China's Bylaws under Articles IV-XI. Go to the China's Country Committee Page on the Democrats Abroad Wiki here:
Legal & Parliamentary Library - Democrats Abroad China - DemsAbroad Wiki (atlassian.net)Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 07:30 PM Beijing Time · 18 rsvps
Zoom Meeting in Guangzhou, ChinaOpportunities for Environmental & Climate Justice in the Biden Era: A Panel Discussion
Earth Week 2021 should be a time for celebration, but also a time to take stock of the challenges ahead. By focusing on environmental justice, we hope to broaden the scope of interest and action, and in particular, garner timely support for the ambitious Democratic agenda on climate encapsulated in the infrastructure plan proposed by the Biden Administration.
Co-hosted by the Progressive Caucus & the Global Black Caucus
JOIN THE ZOOM MEETING
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81528029631?pwd=RmloeGFwMFZtcCswdFVxNGgrYUlqUT09
Meeting ID: 815 2802 9631
Passcode: 174537
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbWHdt6wvVTHE PANEL
Michelle Deatrick, Founder and Chair of the first-ever DNC Environment and Climate Crisis Council, is a policy analyst, editor and internationally honored poet. She is a member of UAW Local 2320 and the National Writers Union, and serves as a delegate to her regional labor federation as well as being on the Climate Power’s National Advisory Board and the Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy’s Board of Directors. A recent county commissioner who flipped a rural three-term red seat to blue, and a former Peace Corps Volunteer, Michelle is the Chair of Women’s March Ann Arbor. She lives on her family’s 80 acre farm.
Dr. Michael K. Dorsey is a limited partner in the Spanish solar concern IberSun, s.l. and a JV partner in the Indian based solar panel manufacturer Pahal Solar. Dr. Dorsey is also a “Full member” of the Club of Rome. As a recognized expert on global energy, environment, and sustainability matters, in 2013 the US National Journal named Dorsey one of 200 US “energy and environment expert insiders.” He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Yale University, and the Johns Hopkins University. Dorsey sits on the board the Sunrise Movement Education Fund, the 501(c)3 arm of Sunrise, an entity he and two former students co-founded in 2017. In fall 2020, Dr. Dorsey was the inaugural Macmillan Scholar in Residence at the University of Vermont.
Professor N. Bruce Duthu is the Samson Occom Professor and Chair of Native American Studies at Dartmouth College. An internationally recognized scholar of Native American law and policy, Professor Duthu joined the faculty of Arts & Sciences at Dartmouth in 2008. He served as Dartmouth’s Associate Dean of the Faculty for International Studies & Interdisciplinary Programs. Duthu earned his BA degree in religion and Native American Studies from Dartmouth College and his JD degree from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans. Prior to joining the Dartmouth faculty, Duthu was Professor of Law at Vermont Law School where he also served as inaugural director of the VLS-Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China) Partnership in Environmental Law. He is the author of Shadow Nations: Tribal Sovereignty and the Limits of Legal Pluralism (Oxford University Press 2013) and American Indians and the Law (Viking/Penguin Press 2008) and much more. He is an enrolled tribal member of the United Houma Nation of Louisiana.
MODERATOR
Alexander Lee, former DA China general counsel, taught Environmental Justice at Middlebury College in 1996, a year after he founded Project Laundry List, an organization that he led till 2010. He has worked for the NH PUC as Assistant to the Commissioners and was NARUC ERE Committee Staff Co-Chair during that time. He currently teaches Environmental Science and is the head of the social studies department at a school in Guangzhou.