Biden-Harris Progress Report #8: Taking Care of Unfinished Business!

In July of 2020, presidential nominee, Joe Biden, and Senator Bernie Sanders announced their Unity Task Force recommendations for a Democratic presidency. Their bold plans to address the pressing needs of working-class families, combat climate change, and much more helped us win the presidency and Senate majority, as well as hold the House majority. We entered 2021 with high expectations!

As we begin 2022, many of our expectations remain unfulfilled. The scope of the Build Back Better Act has narrowed dramatically, remaining two votes short of passage. Existing filibuster rules stand in the way of passing the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Delivering victories for all three of these and more is crucial to millions of us and for Democratic electoral success in the midterms.

Join members of proDA to learn about and discuss the negotiations for all three bills, the prospects for their passage, and the consequences of further delay. We will advocate for action, urging all of us to intensify our efforts. Time is very short and so, too, is the patience of those whose needs are not being met!

WHEN: Saturday, January 22nd, at 9-10:30am ET, 3-4:30pm Berlin time, 7:30-9:00 New Delhi time, 10-11:30pm Beijing time

WHERE: Zoom–Please RSVP for the link.

CO-SPONSORS: DA Austria, DA Canada, DA Guadalajara, proDA Austria, proDA Germany, and proDAUK

Double your impact! A generous donor in Asia Pacific will match donations to DA through proDA’s donate page, up to a total of $2500. Donate to help inform and mobilize members around the world to support our unfinished business. The Fight for (at least) $15. Meaningful Medicare expansion. Tuition-free community college. Student debt relief. Reparative justice. Truly ambitious climate change mitigation. Federal Voting Rights legislation. And more.  Will you donate today to help America build back even better? Please donate here. Thank you!

You’re invited to DA Germany’s 2022 Annual General Meeting! Our meeting will take place online on Saturday, March 5. We will gather to discuss our planned activities for the coming year. Our meeting will focus on DAG’s goals for 2022 and how we can increase overseas voter participation in Germany and be successful in the 2022 midterm elections. To attend, please RSVP below.

In addition to these discussions, we will also be voting on changes to our bylaws. We are now accepting proposed amendments to the bylaws. If you would like to propose an amendment, please send your proposal to [email protected] by January 31, 2022 with the following information:

• Changes you would like to make, listing Article and Section number where the changes should be applied. Please include either a direct mark-up of the text or describe your proposed change(s).
• What is the goal of making this proposal?
• How does this proposal achieve that goal?

You can find a copy of the current DAG bylaws here to help you formulate proposed changes. 

Registration is now open! In order to register, please RSVP. Suggested donations to attend the event are €20.22. All donations will go towards helping us get out the vote in 2022, which includes sending postal mailers to our members and running ads on social media.

As an additional part of our fundraising efforts, there will be an AGM prize draw and silent auction. There will be a wonderful variety of exciting items you can win! Tickets for the prize draw are as follows: 5€ for 1 ticket or 20€ for 5 tickets. More information about prizes to come. 

Please send in donations for the meeting and for prize draw tickets using the bank information below:

Account name: Democrats Abroad Germany
IBAN: DE04 5405 0220 0140 2702 99
BIC: MALADE51KLK
Note/Verwendungszweck: AGM 2022 + Your Name OR AGM 2022 Prize Draw Tickets + Your Name

Want to meet up with your fellow DAG members before the AGM? Join the Münster-Osnabrück-Bielefeld Chapter on Friday, March 4 from 7:30-10pm as they host a social cocktail hour and trivia night. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Democrats Abroad new Environment and Climate Crisis Council (ECCC) cordially invites you to our inaugural event on Sunday, January 23, 2022, at 9:00 AM US Eastern Time / 3:00 PM Central European Time.

Climate change, environmental degradation, and diversity loss are currently existential problems facing the US and every nation on this fragile planet. The Democratic Party and Democrats Abroad are harnessing efforts to shape and advocate for policies and solutions to meet these challenges, with a focus on environmental justice. 

We are honored to have the Chair and founder of the Democratic National Committee’s Environment and Climate Crisis Council, Michelle Delgado Deatrick, to speak at this first event and help shepherd us on our journey.

Additionally, we will discuss the structure of the organization and how we are moving forward. Everyone will have the opportunity to go into breakout rooms for a discussion. The ECCC advocates for bold climate and environmental policies and solutions within the global Democratic community. We would like to engage each of you in volunteering to augment our collective power.

RSVP today for the official launch of our council and the opportunity to learn more about what we do and how YOU can help!

To submit questions in advance, please email: [email protected] 

Please support our fledgling council and efforts to get out a green Democratic vote by donating.

About Our Guest Speaker:

Michelle Deatrick is a progressive activist, policy analyst, organizer, and writer, with a strong background in electoral campaigns, community organizing, coalition building, and volunteer recruitment and capacity building. She is an outspoken advocate for the environment and economic, racial, and gender justice--and their intersection. 

Ms. Deatrick has taught at the middle through college levels and is an elected leader, who flipped a 3-term rural red seat to blue (Vice-Chair of the Washtenaw County Commission). She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya and a delegate to the regional labor federation. While serving as County Commissioner, Deatrick led measures resulting in the County being the first in the Midwest to sign on to the County Climate Coalition. She also wrote and succeeded in passing a resolution founding the County's first environmental council, with the mission of achieving net carbon neutrality for the county. Michelle is also an internationally honored and published poet and fiction writer. She was Chair of the Ann Arbor Women's March and is a farmer.

GAME OUT THE VOTE AND WIN THE DAY!!

Join Democrats Abroad Germany as we stage a friendly competition among our 14 chapters to GET OUT THE VOTE and WIN BIG in 2022!

We will be kicking things off on January 6 with our online BINGO game! Get the game card and instructions by RSVPing. The main competition also begins on January 6 and continues until March 3, 2022.

All DA members are welcome to play along. Points are awarded to individuals, but always on behalf of chapters – so you must pick a team! Here are our contenders:

• Berlin

• Cologne-Bonn

• Düsseldorf-Ruhr

• Frankfurt and Greater Hessen

• Göttingen-Hannover

• Hamburg and Northern Germany

• Heidelberg-Rhine-Neckar

• Kaiserslautern-Saarland

• Münster-Osnabrück-Bielefeld

• Munich and Southern Germany

• North and Central Bavaria

• Saxony

• Stuttgart and Southwest Germany

• Wiesbaden-Mainz

For more information about rules for bingo and the competition, click here.

The DAG Champion will be announced at our Annual General Meeting on March 4, 2022. May the best team win!

On January 25th, at 7:30pm CET, the Wiesbaden/Mainz group will hold our Annual General Chapter Meeting for 2022. We'll be discussing the 2022 action plan for Democrats Abroad Germany and Get out the Vote, but we'll also spend time saying hello to one another and getting to know new members. It's important to know what we can do to help the Democratic Party succeed in the midterm elections; it's also important to know you're part of a welcoming community here in Wiesbaden/Mainz chapter of DA Germany!

So please join us for this once-a-year event and help us start this critical year on the Left foot! ;)

Any and all are welcome to join! Hope to see you there!

RSVP for the Zoom link, which will be emailed to all RSVPs the day before the event.

Stay healthy and safe!

ATTENTION: EVENT DATE AND TIME CHANGE. EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE ON Wednesday, Jan 26 1:30pm EST/ 7:30 PM CET.

Books Abroad, The Global Women’s Caucus Feminist reading group, is excited to kick off the new year with an unforgettable read about the roots of misogyny, written by world renowned classicist Mary Beard.

You might wonder what a learned Cambridge don, professor of classics, scholar of Ancient Roman and Greek civilizations, and Britain’s best-known classicist can tell our modern “me-too” world about feminism, but the answer is, “a lot.”

Beard is an indomitable feminist, and her new best-selling book Women and Power, is an engaging and educated search back into antiquity to find the roots of misogyny.  To quote The Guardian, “[r]eading it in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, it seems utterly, dreadfully convincing. Mute women; brutal men; shame as a mechanism for control; androgyny and avoidance as a strategy for survival.”  But Beard doesn’t keep us in the past.  What she uncovers for us in the classics has bearing on our leaders today and sensitizes us to the world around us. And she even offers remedies.  It’s a slim volume (115 pages), but what Mary Beard writes is powerful and complex.

A manifesto that is erudite, powerful and complex… and more importantly, for non-classicists, delightfully readable.

Join us Tuesday Jan 26 at 1:30 PM ET, 7:30pm CET on Zoom.

RSVP for the Zoom meeting information.

JOIN the OHIO TEAM 
for
‘Beautiful Ohio’

Saturday, January 29, 2022
4 p.m. CET, 5 p.m. EET 
(10 a.m. ET in DC)
On WebEx

Meet Ohio Leaders 

Ohio Association of Election Officials
National Democratic Redistricting Committee
Dems Abroad global GOTV

Meet activists from the Buckeye State

Trivia – Music - And more!

Share your thoughts and questions
Show Your Colors!
Wear YOUR Ohio Swag

The Trust Mantra
Posted by James Lockett · October 31, 2021 11:41 PM · 1 reaction

A Half a Tale
Posted by James Lockett · October 25, 2021 4:03 AM · 1 reaction

Ain’t it a Crime Story?
Posted by Leedonal Moore · September 21, 2021 4:17 AM · 1 reaction

Our nation was conceived in the minds of men, who felt that tyranny was the greatest threat to liberty. But the self-evident truth of equality they wrote about did not include all.

And thus, was born a divided and unequal nation.

A nation bathed in the blood of Indigenous people, built on the backs of black posterity, and sustained by women seen only as the lesser sex.

So, they marched.

They marched a tear-stained trail to a desolate and now seemingly forgotten refuge. They marched through showers of bullets, bombs, and cannons. They marched against the wills of people who were undermining their worth.

This nation owes a debt.

It owes of the promise of freedom for our bravery. It owes citizens the protection each amendment provides. It owes all of us the opportunity to forge any path we want.

So we vote!

We vote to ensure that our history is included and thus not repeated. We vote to create a system that works for us instead of against us. We vote to guarantee our voice is always there.

We vote to be heard.

We vote to be seen.

We vote to be equal.

Because this land is our land, too. And we will never stop fighting for our right to be a part of it.

"Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year; it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

      ~John Lewis

At the 2021 DPCA Annual Global Meeting in May, Democrats Abroad adopted Resolution #1 -  Rename the Historic Edmund Pettus Bridge for Congressman John R. Lewis. From this resolution, the Democrats Abroad John Lewis Global Voting Rights Day action committee was formed. Together we have planned a series of events and actions in July to celebrate the life and work of the late Georgia Congressman and Civil Rights leader, John Lewis. Often described as the conscience of the Congress, he was a friend to Democrats Abroad. July 17th marks the first anniversary of his passing and the first annual John Lewis Global Voting Rights Day.

Below are three scripts to call or write your senators. Please feel free to personalize these scripts to better make your point. Whether you call or write your Senator, you will need to have your voting address handy.

Calling Script Sample 1:

Hi, my name is name is __________ and I’m a constituent from _______ [CITY, ZIP].

I'm calling to recommend [SEN NAME] support abolishing the Senate filibuster so Congress can break free from obstruction and gridlock and enact important legislation needed to secure our democracy.

Calling Script Sample 2:

 My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. 

For far too long the Senate filibuster has been used to block essential legislation and civil rights laws that serve and protect We the People. I urge you to eliminate the filibuster entirely. If that proves politically impossible, then at a minimum you must prevent the filibuster from being used to block emergency pandemic economic relief, healthcare expansion, climate catastrophe, racial equity, and voting-rights legislation. And also prevent it from being used to block statehood for the District of Columbia. If the filibuster has to be retained for some matters, its operation must be returned to the original requirement that filibustering senators have to hold the floor in a public display of their obstruction so that their sabotage is no longer done in the darkness of a Senate backroom. 

Calling Script Sample 3, if your Senator has indicated support for reforming the filibuster:

Hi, my name is name is __________ and I’m a constituent from _______ [CITY, ZIP]. “The Senator has indicated that they’d be open to reforming the filibuster in the past, and I’m calling today to ask: Is the Senator planning to support eliminating the filibuster to pass the For the People Act?”

[If they say YES!] That’s great! Please let them know I’m glad they’re supporting HR1 & eliminating the filibuster, and I hope they can encourage their colleagues to do the same.

Writing Script:

I'm writing to urge you to eliminate or reform the filibuster and protect the future of our democracy and our right to vote.

The crisis facing our democracy couldn’t be more real and addressing it couldn’t be more urgent. Legislation is being passed all over the country to prevent people from voting. Nothing could be more undemocratic or dangerous to the ideals of this country.

Our ability to fight back against this voter suppression is restricted by the filibuster, an outdated Senate tool that gives veto power to Republican senators who represent 41 million fewer people than Senate Democrats. Whatever value we may have seen in the filibuster in the past, Sen. McConnell is using it and will continue to use it to allow a partisan minority to block overwhelmingly popular legislation and to advance his partisan and ideological interests.

As your constituent, I urge you to protect the future of our democracy not a procedural relic from the past. Eliminate or reform the filibuster.

Please let me know how you intend to address this issue.

Tools and tips to contact your Senators

• You can call 1.888.453.3211 to get connected to your U.S. Senator.
• Look up your Senators' phone numbers and contact forms here.
• If you contact your senators by webform, use your US voting address in the contact address field.
• If the phone number field in the webform* is sensitive, try adding 011 at the start of your abroad number.

• You can use this too from Vote Save Americal to make calls: https://votesaveamerica.com/calltool/

• Or you can call Congress for free from France at +33 7 555 3 6446 - this connects callers automatically to the US Capitol Switchboard, where you follow the prompts to be connected to your House Rep or Senators.

• IF LEAVING VOICEMAIL: Please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied.

Write Your Senators using Resistbot:

Resistbot is the fastest and easiest way to contact your representatives, get ready to vote, and be civically engaged. https://votesaveamerica.com/calltool/

You can access Resistbot from their website, on Facebook,  iMessage, or Telegram. To start, just text or message the word “resist” to Resistbot. Then type your message or the script above into your message.

Resistbot will turn your texts into a letter and deliver it to the elected officials you choose: from your mayor to the President. There are dozens of other keywords for contacting other officials, voting, finding vaccines, and much more.

Here is a quick video explanation of how to use Resist.bot https://youtu.be/4xGZQ3v9Y28

No matter how you do it, the most important thing is to contact your Senator and make “Good Trouble” and Save Our Democracy!

On the morning of May 30, 1921, a young black man named Dick Rowland was riding in the elevator in the Drexel Building at Third and Main with a white woman named Sarah Page. The details of what followed vary from person to person. Accounts of an incident circulated among the city’s white community during the day and became more exaggerated with each telling.

Tulsa police arrested Rowland the following day and began an investigation. An inflammatory report in the May 31 edition of the Tulsa Tribune spurred a confrontation between black and white-armed mobs around the courthouse where the sheriff and his men had barricaded the top floor to protect Rowland. Shots were fired and the outnumbered African Americans began retreating to the Greenwood District.

In the early morning hours of June 1, 1921, Greenwood was looted and burned by white rioters. Governor Robertson declared martial law, and National Guard troops arrived in Tulsa. Guardsmen assisted firemen in putting out fires, took African Americans out of the hands of vigilantes, and imprisoned all black Tulsans not already interned. Over 6,000 people were held at the Convention Hall and the Fairgrounds, some for as long as eight days.

Twenty-four hours after the violence erupted, it ceased. In the wake of the violence, 35 city blocks lay in charred ruins, more than 800 people were treated for injuries and contemporary reports of deaths began at 36. Historians now believe as many as 300 people may have died.

Watch our event commemorating the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Download the slides from the presentation

Listed below are some resources you can use to learn more about this tragedy and make sure nothing like this happens again.

2021 Global Annual Meeting

Democrats Abroad Global Meetings are only possible thanks to participant donations. Our meetings are not sponsored by donations from corporations, PACs, other organizations within the Democratic party, etc. Suggested Donation for participating in our 2021 virtual global meeting is only $46 USD.

Got extra cash from your travel savings by attending this year's meeting "virtually"? – Use some of those savings to add to your donation and Click on the box with the amount you wish to donate or enter a different amount under "Other $" –  and hit that donate button.

Thank YOU for your generous support!!!

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.

National elections were held online during the 2021 DA Germany Annual General Meeting on March 20, 2021. 

2021-2023 Executive Committee

Chair: Kenton Barnes

Vice-Chair: Emily Lines

Secretary: Jennifer von Estorff

Treasurer: Powen Shiah

Chapter Development Coordinator: Matt LeMieux

Communications Coordinator: Kaitlyn Kennedy

Events & Fundraising Coord: Courtney Newman

GOTV Coordinator: Teresa Ritterhoff

Membership/IT Coordinator: Shari Temple

Press Coordinator: Anya Leonhard

DPCA Voting Reps Delegation:

Candice Kerestan

Shari Temple

Aileen Dinin

Anya Leonhard

Matt LeMieux

Powen Shiah

Quaide Williams

Antar Rashiq Keith

Vincienzo Cabrera

Robert Scott

Angela Fobbs

Diego Rivas

Pat Klipp

I live in Germany, but I spent most of my life in the country of my birth, the United States of America. In Germany, I have equal rights, and it has improved the quality of my life. It's taken too long for women in America to have equal rights, and it's unfair. When I was a girl, people told me I could be anything I wanted, but it's not true.

Employers can pay women less than men for the same job. The first time I realized I wasn't getting paid as much as a recently hired man, I immediately went to my boss. My boss told me the man had a family and need to make more. My family's needs were the same as his family's. Why is this okay? It is acceptable because women don't have equal rights under the Constitution, so we don't have equal protection under the law. Having women in Congress, as the Vice-President, and in other positions of "power" is a hollow victory if the average woman faces legal discrimination in so many areas of her life.

My mother, my sisters, and I have been waiting all our lives for equality under the law. There is no reason for us to keep us waiting. Equality must be enshrined in our Constitution.

Eighty-four percent of countries, including Afghanistan, Japan, and Tunisia, explicitly guarantee equality in their Constitution. It's about time American women also have equal rights.

Angela Fobbs, Florida voter, living in Germany

Global Black Caucus For The Win

Help Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus fight for our democracy in 2021 and beyond.

Donations of any size will help us "Get Out the Vote" and support the Biden/Harris Administration in the mid-term elections.

#BlackLivesMatter

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

Thanks to everyone who participated in DA's Black History Month.

Elections were held for both of Georgia’s US Senate seats on November 3, 2020. Both of these races are going to Runoff elections, to be held on January 5, 2021, as no candidate received at least 50% of the vote. Democrats need to win both of these seats to have a majority in the Senate so we can have progress in America and the world.

The two races are:

• US Senate: Jon Ossoff (Democrat) versus David Perdue (Republican)

• US Senate Special: Raphael Warnock (Democrat) versus Kelly Loeffler (Republican)

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help with our Get Out The Vote efforts and beyond. I know we made a difference in this election. 🥂

There are 13 days until election day.

🗳️ If you haven't requested an absentee ballot yet, there is still time. Go to https://www.votefromabroad.org/ today.

🆘 Have a question or issue with requesting a ballot or sending it back? Visit our online 1-on-1 help on Zoom. It's available Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 12-4 pm EDT/6-10 pm CEST, Saturday 2-10 am EDT/8am-4 pm CEST, and ALL DAY on Sunday EDT. Access help at this link: http://qrco.de/bbh0zg

📱 Have you requested a ballot and not received it? Please contact your local election office. You can find the contact information here: https://www.votefromabroad.org/states.

📧 Have you contacted your local election office and received no response? Please email [email protected] and tell them what's going on. They can help you.

🚨 If you haven't received your ballot, you can VOTE NOW using the Backup Ballot–the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB)–specifically for overseas voters! Information on how to vote with a FWAB here: https://www.votefromabroad.org/fwab/  Watch a video on how to fill out a FWAB here.

✈️ Need to send your ballot back to the states by postal mail? At this point, consider using a courier service. FedEx Express is offering Americans abroad a discount to send ballots home reliably. US voters living in 10 European countries can now take advantage of a special rate for overnight return of their absentee ballot. From now through November, FedEx International Priority service for envelopes up to 500g sent to the USA costs just €25 from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Denmark (kr.186), Poland (112 zł), Sweden (260 kr), and the United Kingdom (£23). This special is only bookable online — discounts will not be given if booking at a FedEx store or on the phone. Feel free to privately tell your friends and family, but please do not post about this on social media. Download a step-by-step guide on how to book the FedEx deal HERE.

🛑 Do NOT use the diplomatic pouch at U.S. embassies and consulates to return your ballot at this point. It is too late.

📠 Voters in AK, CA, FL, LA, OK, and WY can fax their ballots back. Don't have access to a fax machine? You can use an online email to fax services like Hello Fax or FAX.PLUS.

🎃 Voters in AL, AZ, CO, DC, DE, HI, IN< IA, KS, MA, ME, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, NV, OR, RI, SC, UT, WA, WV, and WY can return your ballots by email or online. Need help scanning? Watch this video on how to scan using your smartphone: Watch this video.If you don't have a scanning app on your phone, you can use Adobe Scan mobile app for iPhone & Android.

🧑🏽‍🤝‍🧑🏿 Suppose you have already voted and returned your ballot. Have you reminded your family and friends abroad or in the states to register and vote? People in the USA can go to https://iwillvote.com/ to find a voting or drop-off location, verify their registration, vote by mail and register to vote.