This webinar, “WEP and Americans Abroad”, focuses on an issue which impacts on many Americans living abroad. Democrats Abroad has been working on the elimination of WEP since the early 2000s. We know in the last Congress that HR 82 Social Security Fairness Act of 2022 which would have repealed WEP did not pass. In the current Congress, HR 82 Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 was introduced in the House on January 9th 2023 by Representative Gareth Graves (Republican, Louisiana District 6). Again, we have a bill that eliminates WEP.

The DA Seniors Caucus is currently working on WEP elimination and this webinar stems from this activity. What is WEP? Will it affect me when I retire abroad? How do I prepare for it? What if as a retired person I receive a pension from abroad as well as Social Security – how will WEP affect me?  Please attend this webinar to have answers to these important questions.

Our guest speaker is Nancy Altman from Social Security Works and she will speak to us about WEP and answer our questions about WEP.

About our Speaker:

Nancy J. Altman has a forty-five year background in the areas of Social Security and private pensions. She is president of Social Security Works and chair of the Strengthen Social Security coalition.
Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi appointed Ms. Altman to a six-year term, starting October 1, 2017, on the Social Security Advisory Board. The seven-person Board is a bipartisan, independent federal government agency established in 1994 to advise the President, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security.
Ms. Altman is the author of The Battle for Social Security: From FDR’s Vision to Bush’s Gamble (John Wiley & Sons, 2005) and The Truth About Social Security: The Founders’ Words Refute Revisionist History, Zombie Lies, and Common Misunderstandings (Strong Arm Press, 2018). She is also co-author of Social Security Works! Why Social Security Isn’t Going Broke and How Expanding It Will Help Us All (The New Press, 2015). She has shared her Social Security expertise on numerous television and radio shows, including PBS NewsHour, MSNBC, and FOX News. She has published op-eds in dozens of newspapers including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
From 1983 to 1989, Ms. Altman was on the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and taught courses on private pensions and Social Security at the Harvard Law School. In 1982, she was Alan Greenspan’s assistant in his position as chairman of the bipartisan commission that developed the 1983 Social Security amendments.
From 1977 to 1981, she was a legislative assistant to Senator John C. Danforth (R-Mo) and advised the Senator with respect to Social Security issues. From 1974 to 1977, she was a tax lawyer with Covington & Burling, where she handled a variety of private pension matters.
Ms. Altman chairs the Board of Directors of the Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of beneficiary rights. She is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Alliance for Retired Americans Educational Fund, the Economic Opportunity Institute, Latinos for the Secure Retirement, and the Institute for America’s Future. In the mid-1980’s, she was on the organizing committee and the first board of directors of the National Academy of Social Insurance.

How can we tackle wealth inequality effectively in the United States? Providing opportunity and security from cradle to rocking chair is our progressive answer. Join our guest speakers to learn more about proposed legislation for Baby Bonds and Social Security Expansion.  Take action to make them reality.

Confirmed speakers:

• AYANNA PRESSLEY, U.S. Rep. Massachusetts CD-7 
• ALEX LAWSON, Social Security Works Executive Director 

Here are resources to prepare for the event:

• American Opportunity Accounts Act (Baby Bonds) https://pressley.house.gov/2023/02/15/pressley-booker-re-introduce-bicameral-baby-bonds-legislation-to-tackle-wealth-inequality/
• Social Security Expansion Act: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Social-Security-Expansion-Act-one-pager-Final.pdf
  

All are welcome to attend! Please RSVP to receive the Zoom link.

Thanks to our co-sponsors: Global Seniors Caucus, proDA Austria, proDA Germany, Global Youth Caucus

RSVP below for the Zoom link!

While there is no donation required to attend, the suggested donation for this event is $10. Click here to donate. Help Democrats Abroad volunteers mobilize voters around the world. Help us fight for progressive policy changes in the new Congress!

Did You Know.....?

Women's History Month 2023 Trivia

(provided by the Global Women's Caucus)

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Banks could refuse women a credit card until the Equal Opportunity Act of 1974 was signed into law.

Banks could deny a credit card to an unmarried woman, and if a woman was married her husband was required to cosign.

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Women could be fired for getting pregnant until the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 prohibited sexual discrimination on the basis of

pregnancy.

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Women could not serve on juries in all 50 states until 1975 when the Supreme Court finally decided they could not be excluded.

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Workplace sexual harassment was not considered sex discrimination until 1980 when the Equal

Employment Opportunity Commission determined it was. It took the Supreme Court until 1986 to make the first ruling on the matter.

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Women were banned from front-line combat until the pentagon rescinded that rule in 2013. Women have always been a part of US military service but were not allowed on the front lines.

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All 50 states did not have laws regarding spousal rape until 1993. In fact, by 1996, only 16 states had repealed all of their exemptions to marital rape, and only 33 states had partially repealed exemptions.

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Women still pay more than men for health insurance and sex discrimination was not outlawed in insurance until 2010 when the Affordable Care Act started to address the discrepancy.

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Unmarried women could not obtain birth control until 1972. Although the FDA approved the pill in the 1960s it was only available via prescription in limited places to married women for "family planning".

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#DidYouKnow #WomensHistoryMonth #GlobalWomensCaucus #DemsAbroad #GlobalBlackCaucus #VoteFromAbroad #Vote #MyBodyMyChoice #WomensRights 

Town Hall on Democrats Abroad's Delegate Selection Plan!

Join us on April 02 at 03:00 AM US Eastern

(AP friendly time)

Across the US and world, all 57 Democratic state parties are at work planning the 2024 presidential primary contest, specifically by developing a Delegate Selection Plan unique to their state party. In a nutshell, the DSP is a binding document that defines how each state party will run their 2024 presidential primary and select delegates to send to the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Each state party must submit a final delegate selection plan to the Democratic National Committee by May 3, 2023. Prior to that, there must be a 30-day public comment period, launched on March 6.

Please join this Town Hall to give feedback, learn more, and ask questions about the 2024 Delegate Selection Plan.

The final draft DSP must then be approved by Democrats Abroad's elected leaders (vote scheduled for April 22 DPCA Meeting) prior to submission on May 3, 2023.

You can review a copy of our draft 2024 Delegate Selction Plan which was posted for public comment on our website on March 6, 2023. Public comments on the draft are to be submitted on the form here through April 5, 2023.

(Please include the page and line number your feedback refers to in your email. Thank you!)

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Convert to local time here: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/.

Town Hall on Democrats Abroad's Delegate Selection Plan!

Join us on March 27 at 10:00 AM US Eastern

(AMERICAS friendly time)

Across the US and world, all 57 Democratic state parties are at work planning the 2024 presidential primary contest, specifically by developing a Delegate Selection Plan unique to their state party. In a nutshell, the DSP is a binding document that defines how each state party will run their 2024 presidential primary and select delegates to send to the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Each state party must submit a final delegate selection plan to the Democratic National Committee by May 3, 2023. Prior to that, there must be a 30-day public comment period, launched on March 6.

Please join this Town Hall to give feedback, learn more, and ask questions about the 2024 Delegate Selection Plan.

The final draft DSP must then be approved by Democrats Abroad's elected leaders (vote scheduled for April 22 DPCA Meeting) prior to submission on May 3, 2023.

You can review a copy of our draft 2024 Delegate Selction Plan which was posted for public comment on our website on March 6, 2023. Public comments on the draft are to be submitted on the form here through April 5, 2023.

(Please include the page and line number your feedback refers to in your email. Thank you!)

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Convert to local time here: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/.

Just a quick reminder: LOVE IS LOVE! 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

It could be easy to think that LGBTIQ+ people are continuing to move toward acceptance and equality, but in fact, the opposite is true. 

All around the United States, anti-LGBTIQ+ forces want nothing less than to eliminate openly LGBTIQ+ people from the fabric of society. They are launching fast, furious, and coordinated attacks that are astonishing in their breadth, cruelty, and flagrant disregard for personal freedoms.

There are several different ways in which anti-LGBTIQ+ activists are attacking LGBTIQ+ people and their right to exist. The goal of these activists is to eliminate LGBTQ people from society by:

👎🏾 Erasing LGBTQ people from schools and public life.

👎🏾 Criminalizing and banning transition so transgender people can’t be themselves. 

👎🏾 Enshrining inequality. 

👎🏾 Erecting systemic and structural barriers to make change harder. 

👎🏾 Silencing supporters.

These harmful narratives seek to push LGBTIQ+ people to the corners of society and have them fear for their lives.

#LoveIsLove #DemsAbroad #GlobalBlackCaucus #LGBTIQ #EqualRights #BlackLivesMatter #BlackTransLivesMatter #Vote #VoteFromAbroad

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin (August 31, 1842 – March 13, 1924) was editor of the Woman's Era, the first national newspaper published by African American women with an intended African American audience in mind.

She was an active abolitionist and, with her husband, recruited black soldiers for the Union Army. Working in many women’s organizations with both black and white women, Ruffin formed the American Women’s Suffrage Association in Boston with Julia Ward Howe and Lucy Stone and and led “The First National Conference of the Colored Women of America.”

#WomensHistoryMonth #DemsAbroad #GlobalWomensCaucus #GlobalBlackCaucus #TogetherWeStand #MyBodyMyChoice #Vote #VoteFromAbroad

Democrats Abroad Switzerland was fortunate enough in the final global membership count this year to be awarded an additional Democratic Party Committee Abroad representative position. The DPCA representatives attend general meetings of the Party and represent the interests of Democrats living in Switzerland to the Democratic Party globally. While having an additional representative is wonderful news for our members, it also means that we need to elect that individual.

We will be holding an Extraordinary General Meeting on April 13th. At this meeting, we will:

• elect our new DPCA representative
• elect alternate DPCA representatives
• elect a new Vice Chair

If you are interested in running for either DPCA representative or Vice Chair, please inform the Nominations Committee via email before the deadline of March 9th. Include your name, address, telephone number, email address, and a brief statement of intention to run.

By March 19th we will distribute candidate names, short bios, and voting procedures to all members by email. You can follow this link to see excepts from the DACH Bylaws that describe the positions available.

Add to your Google Calendar.

Calling All DPCA Officers... to Vote On 2024 Delegate Selection Plan

Connection details will be emailed to all Democrats Abroad member RSVP's closer to the meeting date.

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Every four years, the Democratic Party begins designing the Delegate Selection Rules and a resulting nominating process for the next presidential election.

While the Rules drafting process begins anew after each Presidential election, many norms and traditions carry over, including a rule that lets some states hold their nominating contest early, which in 2024 will be South Carolina, Nevada & New Hampshire, Michigan, and Georgia.

Democrats Abroad has worked hard at crafting our Delegate Selection Plan, which is the guiding document as we play our part in nominating our Party's 2024 nominees for President and Vice President of the United States.

You can review a copy of our draft 2024 Delegate Selction Plan which was posted for public comment on our website on March 6, 2023, and submit your by writing to [email protected] through April 5, 2023.

(Please include the page and line number your feedback refers to in your email. Thank you!)

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NOTICE: This meeting will be recorded, including audio, video, and any materials exchanged or viewed during the session.

MARCH IS WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

This March, we are joining the Democrats Abroad Global Women's Caucus as we celebrate Women’s History Month.

Congress first declared March as Women’s History month in 1987. Since then, every year there’s a Presidential Proclamation to announce the month and to honor women who have made a notable impact in history.

According to the National Women’s History Alliance, “In February 1980, President Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8th 1980 as National Women’s History Week. In the same year, Representative Barbara Mikulski, who at the time was in the House of Representatives, and Senator Orrin Hatch co-sponsored a Congressional Resolution for National Women’s History Week 1981. This co-sponsorship demonstrated the wide-ranging political support for recognizing, honoring, and celebrating the achievements of American women.

WHY ARE WE CELEBRATING WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH 2023?

During March, Women’s History Month celebrates the vital role of women in history and acknowledges women’s contributions to culture and society.

But historically, the contributions of Black women, some of who have been behind several of the world’s impactful social movements, lacks wide recognition or are entirely erased from public historical narratives. Yet, the very fabric of society would be different without the contributions from Black women who contributed and helped shape our world, as well as the committed Black women who have continued the exceptional work set by their forerunners.

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2023?

International Women's Day is celebrated annually on 8 March to recognise women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements, raise awareness of discrimination and bias, and inspire and empower us to take action for equality.

Black women and girls exist at the intersection of racism and misogyny, they are marginalised and discriminated against for being Black and being women – we live in both identities at all times.

In seeking gender equality, the mainstream women’s movement lacks real inclusion in celebrating Black women’s achievements and raising issues that affect the intersecting identities, not because of their lack of participation in eradicating gender oppression. But the result of anti-Blackness, lack of real allyship and solidarity. Black women’s challenges are generally ignored or not raised at all.

#DemsAbroad #VoteFromAbroad #GlobalBlackCaucus #GlobalWomensCaucus #WomensHistoryMonth #InternationalWomensDay #ERA #MyBodyMyChoice

Our Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus Chair met with the empowering DNC Chair Jaime Harrison during an insightful retrospective conversation about the 2022 Midterm Elections and the perspective of winning the 2024 Presidential Election.

Thank you DA France for hosting this great event. 

#JaimeHarrison #DemsAbroad#GlobalBlackCaucus#BlackVotesMatter#BlackLivesMatter

Black History Is Everyday....

Dear brothers, Sisters, and allies worldwide,

Black History Month 2023 has come to a close. And as we now enter Women’s History Month - let’s not forget that: 

Black History is Women’s History

Black History is LGBTIQ+ History 

Black History is Native American History

Black History is Senior’s History 

Black History is Veterans and Military Families’ History

Black history is Asian American Pacific Islander History 

Black History is Youth History

Black History is Environmental & Climate History

Black History is Persons with Disabilities History

Black History is Hispanic History

Black History is a Progressive History

Black History is the History of You and Me

Black History is EVERYDAY of the year!!

Please Watch:

Black History Month 2023 - Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus 

#DemsAbroad #GlobalBlackCaucus #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackVotesMatter #BlackLivesMatter #VoteFromAbroad

John Lewis

John Lewis, in full John Robert Lewis, (born February 21, 1940, near Troy, Alabama, U.S.—died July 17, 2020, Atlanta, Georgia), American civil rights leader and politician best known for his chairmanship of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and for leading the march that was halted by police violence on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, a landmark event in the history of the civil rights movement that became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

In addition to numerous other honors he received, Lewis was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize in 1975, the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2001, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) Spingarn Medal in 2002. In 2011 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

#JohnLewis #RepresentationMatters #CivilRights #JohnLewisAct #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackResistance #BlackLivesMatter #BlackVotesMatter #VoteFromAbroad #DemsAbroad #GlobalBlackCaucus #Reparations

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Message from the Chair

Dear Brothers, Sisters, Allies, and Friends, 

Happy Presidents Day! 

This song from the musical Hamilton is one of my faves – especially the vocals on the lyric of “you and I”. It finishes with a very special, poignant, and gut-wrenching cameo from my favorite President – especially given the moment that it represented in our history.

This song really brings home one of the roots of our Democracy – that it’s not about a person but about a nation. 

It also pulls out of Washington’s speech a unique and special keystone of our nation: we have the freedom to learn and grow from our failures – in pursuit of a more perfect union.

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ACTIONS: 

• Flip the Wisconsin State Supreme Court: On April 4^th, there is an election for one WI State Supreme Court seat that, if we win, will flip the court to be Dem-aligned and have a profound effect on not just Wisconsin, but the whole nation! 
• Please consider making a donation to the Global Black Caucus 

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Why Flipping the Wisconsin Supreme Court matters:

• The CNN article linked above re: gerrymandering provides a great lens on why the political alignment of State Supreme Courts matter. Add to that the recent decisions by State Supreme Courts regarding state constitutional provisions on bodily autonomy and you have two of MANY examples of why these courts are critical for our rights and our democracy.
• Wisconsin is one of the most gerrymandered states in the Union and, with the very unbalanced Republican state legislature, unlikely to change via electoral efforts to the legislative branch. The Conservative-leaning court has upheld the maps that the gerrymandered legislature has been putting forward.
• However, if we win this April 4^th seat, it flips the court to become a Democratic-leaning court. They can then bring the case back that challenges the current map and, ideally, overturn it and require a new map with fair districts.
• With a new map, 2024 elections could be on new maps and, given that more than a majority of Wisconsinites vote Democrat, flip a lot of state and federal legislative seats!
• As Wisconsin goes, so goes the country!

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Quick thoughts on Republican Presidential candidates: “Will Donald Trump will be their candidate?”

• Short answer – I believe so.
• Longer answer – the structural conditions that led to Donald Trump winning the nomination with about 35% of the primary votes are still in place. While some states do proportional distribution of delegates, many are still winner takes all for Republicans. Thus, the more Republicans run for office, the more likely they are to split the vote and not get enough delegates to get nominated. Trump, however, has a dedicated base within the Republican party who will vote for him come Hell or High Water. Given the egos in the GOP, I can’t imagine them finding a way to elevate one candidate over the others in order to negate the Trump 1/3^rd effect.
• Whether I’m right or wrong, we MUST prepare for a brutal and very close election again. Whoever wins the nomination – Trump, DeSantis, Haley, Pence, Hogan, etc… - will be devastating for our nation and our Democracy. The best way to ensure we win the White House in 2024 so is to, right now, fund and fuel the foundation and infrastructure of the Democratic party so that we continue to improve our organizing efforts, ensure the tech backbone is strong and effective, and that we’re doing everything possible to protect voter’s right. 

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Help Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus fight for our democracy in 2024 and beyond and donate today!

Donations of any size will help us "Get Out the Vote" 

We MADE the difference in 2020! And in Georgia in 2021 and notably during the 2022 Midterms.  Help us to continue to fight for Democratic victories and for issues that our members care about!

WE CAN’T WIN WITHOUT YOU!

#BlackLivesMatter

#BlackVotesMatter

Donate here if you want to help keep these efforts rolling smoothly into the 2023/24 cycle.

THANK YOU!

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If you have any questions or ideas you would like us to include, please feel free to contact us at: [email protected]

Love and Light,

Leedonal 'Jazz' Moore

• Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus
• Democrats Abroad Interim Int. Secretary
• DPCA Voting Rep. DACH

Jennifer McClellan Wins in Virginia and

Will Be State’s First Black Woman in Congress

Jennifer McClellan, a veteran Democratic state senator, won a special election for Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, making her the first Black woman to represent the state in Congress.

Ms. McClellan centered her campaign on legislation she spearheaded as a state senator — issues she championed, like voting rights, environmental protection, and abortion access, often dovetailed with the national Democratic platform.

“I passed legislation to protect our right to vote and our right to a clean environment. I led the fight for our reproductive freedom,” Ms. McClellan said in a television ad. “I’ll take that same fight with me to Congress.”

#JenniferMcClellan #Virginia #VirginiaDems #FirstBlackWoman #DemsABroad #GlobalBlackCaucus #VoteFromAbroad #BlackVotesMatter #BlackLivesMatter #BlackRepresentaionMatters #SpecialElections

Sidney Poitier

Born February 20, 1927, Sidney Poitier's pioneering career has had a tremendous impact on American culture. In the early '50s, he was the top and virtually sole African-American film star—the first black actor to become a hero to both black and white audiences.

Poitier was also the first black actor to win a prestigious international film award. With his unique career, Sidney Poitier helped change many stubborn racial attitudes that had persisted in this country for centuries. He has built the bridges and opened the doors for countless artists in succeeding generations. He is an actor who stood for hope, for excellence, and who has given happiness to millions of people around the world. Paying tribute to Sidney Poitier in 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "He is a man of great depth, a man of great social concern, a man who is dedicated to human rights and freedom."

#SidneyPoitier #Actor #CivilRights #Activist #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackResistance #BlackLivesMatter #BlackVotesMatter #VoteFromAbroad #DemsAbroad #GlobalBlackCaucus #Reparations

As the women wolves gather 

 
Amidst the midnight gloom
Seeking along the dank shores
Peevishly stalking lonesome paths
While fending wounds inflicted
Upon the body’s bruised frame
The smell of decay assailing
 Throbbing, hobbling joints
Instincts long subdued awakening
Inciting despair, disgust, indignation,
Until their downtrodden outcry
Ascends with outraged reproach
Signifying a requisite, an urgency
An essential compulsion
For insurgency
 
Camille Elaine Thomas
November 25, 2022

#PoetLaureate #ElaineThomas #VirginiaWoolf, #GlobalBlackCaucus #DemsAbroad #BlackHistoryMonth #Poem #Women #Wolves