LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
We don’t have to rerun the numbers - we broke records. But we do need to remember the feeling, and remind ourselves of the comfort of standing in solidarity with millions of people around the world. It felt exultant to reclaim our flag and our values - unironically and, as someone wrote, pushing beyond the cringe factor. In Paris, we sang the American National Anthem and went viral. We protested, wrapped in the American Flag. We wore our patriotism proudly, as part of the Resistance. We recaptured that feeling of joy after more than a year of dread.
It’s easy to feel defeated when we see juvenile AI videos of the President flying a jet or the heart-wrenching photos of the destruction of the East Wing. I invite you to scroll past them. Instead, hold onto the feelings of joy, solidarity and empowerment that we created together on October 18 and carry those forward to November 4 when we have our next opportunity to vote.
I live in Portugal where the end of fascist rule, the so-called “Carnation Revolution,” is commemorated every year as a national holiday. The people reclaimed their power and overthrew Europe’s longest lasting dictatorship after more than 40 years.
Our Democracy is under threat, but there is hope. We must organize, and right now, we must vote. There is still time in most states to both request your ballot and to return it. Check your state’s rules here. Make sure your friends and family vote too because Democracy is a muscle. We must use it to ensure we don’t lose it.
Hope. Conviction. Freedom. Joy.
Outshine them with your brilliance. Oust them with your vote.
In solidarity,
Sally DeSipio
Chair, GWC
Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down - Kris Kristofferson
VOTE
If you’re a voter in one of the below states, please follow the corresponding hyperlink for info on your important race.
California - Prop 50 - Will give Governor Newsom the ability to redraw the maps five years early. This is a critical play in combatting the Republicans’ play to hold onto the House.
Pennsylvania - Critical race to hold onto four Democratic seats in the State Supreme Court.
Virginia - Governor and State House seats. We need to elect Abigail Spanberger. It’s too late to vote as an overseas voter, but make sure your friends and family in VA vote! The race is close.
New Jersey - There’s still time to vote for Mikie Sherrill from abroad.
Maine - is a referendum around voter suppression.
New York - The Zohran Mamdani mayoral election. Lucky you.
VOLUNTEER: Join us.
Join our team of amazing women around the world who have seen enough and are ready to fight back. We organize because we can and we must. If we don’t, we make it easy for Big Donors to set the agenda. If you are breathing, you have skills that we can put to work. Our biggest needs?
Graphic designers - help us create assets for our social media and events
Event organizers - if you’re organized, have good ideas about events, love story-telling, please join our events team.
IT experience - just simple tech experience required!
Project Manager - help us organize ourselves.
UNMUTED: Voices without Borders
We want to hear from you - unfiltered and raw. Contribute to our blog with your anger, hopes, fears. It’s our collective personal diary. Don’t think too hard - the point isn’t perfection; the goal is solidarity. Please share your voice with us at [email protected]. And check out Our Voices.
EVENTS
November has several notable events, and you’re invited!
November 16th: Books Abroad: Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Please join us for a robust discussion on a novel about family, faith, power and culture.
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November 19th: Dr. Carrie Baker on Free Speech and Reproductive Justice Professor Baker, who has been targeted by a conservative “watch list” for outspoken faculty, will share her personal experience with censorship and attacks on academic freedom.
NEWS READS & LISTENS
Yael Eisenstat - Dear Facebook: this is how you’re breaking democracy
We Should all Be feminists: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Unmasking MAGA: Exploring the GOP’s War on Women - A treatise from Indivisible on a long-standing assault on women from last March’s Women’s History Month.
Mother Jones: Trad Wives are Thriving in the Post-Dobbs Era
The Guardian: the rise of pro-natalism: the possible propaganda origins of the Trad Wife.
Cannonball: Wesley Morris and Nikole Hannah Jones on Trump and the Power of Dissent: This is a must listen. Hear from Historian and creator of project 1619 about how things are going (hint: not so well).
SOCIAL MEDIA
We are all addicted to something - put it to good use. Please follow us on your platform of choice - and feel free to comment. They can’t suppress us if we overwhelm the algorithm!
