In This Issue —
New Year’s Greeting
Events:
- Americans Abroad and the $600 Economic Impact Payment
- DA Global Black Caucus: MLK Film Night
- DA Austria Biden/Harris Inauguration Watch Party
- DA Global Women's Caucus: Inauguration Celebration
- Solidarity Sundays: Americans Divided
- DA Austria Annual General Meeting
Issues & Actions:
- Looking Forward
- Save the Date! Annual General Meeting & Elections
- Open Volunteer Positions
- Fixing Democracy Project by Solidarity Sundays
Reviews:
- Punching for Democracy
Our Executive Committee meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month. Our next meeting will be held online on: Wednesday, January 13, 2020, at 7 p.m. Members are welcome to join us at the meetings. Please contact Jennifer at [email protected] to join.
DAA is making a strong effort to include in our monthly newsletter all the information you need to stay up to date in order to avoid the flood of emails that occurs in an election year. By sending you fewer emails, we hope you will read those you receive. Thanks for reading!
New Year’s Greeting —
You did it!
Going into 2020, none of us could have imagined the pandemic that lay around the corner and just how challenging it would be to help people vote in 2020.
But, with the two Georgia Senate seats going blue on 5 November, we did it — together!
Whether online, on the phone, with postcards, at voter help tables, or ads in Metropole Magazine — thanks to you, your countless volunteer hours, your generous donations, and, most importantly, your vote, DA Austria pulled off record-breaking voter returns. Toi toi!
After last week’s seditious attack on the US Capitol building and an attempt to overturn a free and fair election, it is all too clear that the challenges that lay ahead have not diminished and will require all of our continued efforts. As Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said in her acceptance speech on November 7, “Now is when the real work begins. The hard work. The necessary work. The good work.” Four democracy-threatening years are just a few days from being behind us. Now, we’ll not only need to address the critical issues before us but also repair the gaping holes in our democracy and civil society.
This new year, I’m looking forward to brighter days when the Experienced Dems will once again meet for wine and the Progressive Dems for pizza; Solidarity Sundays will be working to fix our democracy, and we’ll all be able to celebrate Thanksgiving again—together. In the meantime, I hope you will join us online on Tuesday, January 20 as we watch the 46th President of the United States and a history making Vice President be sworn into office.
Until we can meet again in person and in the name of the entire Executive Committee, DA Austria wishes you health and happiness in 2021!
Democratically Yours,
Jennifer Rakow-Stepper, DA Austria Chair
Events:
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January 13, 7:00 PM (CET) – Online |
January 17, 6:00 PM (CET) - Online |
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January 20, 5:00-7:30 PM (CET) - Online |
Global Women's Caucus Inauguration Celebration January 23, 4:00-5:30 PM (CET) - Online |
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January 31, 4:00-6:00 PM (CET) - Online |
Annual General Meeting & Elections March 21, 3:00-5:00 PM (CET) - Online |
About the Inauguration Watch Party —
We’ll not only be watching and discussing the events in Washington, DC, but we’ll also feature a few special guests and other activities. If you missed the Election Night party, you’ll definitely want to tune into the LIberadio Show out of Vorarlberg. Stephanie and Diego are our hosts and will spin a few tunes as we try to answer their Inaugural quiz questions for DAA swag. We’ll also be joined again by former DAA Chair Keith and mixology partner Kate as they mix up some Liberal Libations for us to enjoy (see the ingredients below).
So grab your martini glass and patriotic paraphernalia as we celebrate a Democratic victory in the House, Senate and White House!
Liberal Libations:
Will be mixing The President and The Kamala Harris Victory Cup for us. We’ll be mixing our victory cocktails together.
Be sure to have on hand:
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The President–
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The Kamala–
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Issues & Actions:
Looking Forward
The silver lining in moving online is that many of our members across Austria and Europe have been able to come to our events, and we’ve been able to join their’s. I hope many of you will take the opportunity to attend the Global Black Caucus for a film night and discussion on Martin Luther King holiday or the Global Women’s Caucus for an Inaugural Celebration and plan to keep volunteers engaged. And, for those of you hoping to get a stimulus check, Nathalie Goldstein from My Expat Taxes will be answering your questions on January 13.
For more information and to RSVP for all these events, click the links in Events above.
Save the Date!
Annual General Meeting & Executive Committee Elections
Fresh voices, energy, and ideas — save the date! On March 21, 2021 DA Austria members will meet online for our Annual General Meeting and to elect a new Executive Committee. More information about the meeting and how you can run will be posted in February’s newsletter, but we wanted to make sure you add this important date to your calendar!
Youth Caucus Coordinator Position Open
If you or someone you know is interested in building your resume and being a key component of DA Austria’s youth outreach, please contact me at: [email protected]
–Jennifer Rakow-Stepper, Chair DA Austria
Fixing Democracy Project
We’re turning Trump out of the White House, but that’s only the first step. America’s democracy has been hijacked, and we need to get it back. Throughout 2021, our Fixing Democracy Project looks at one democratic institution a month. We‘ll examine why it‘s not working and inspect solutions.
Our year-long series starts on January 31 at 4 p.m. with Solidarity Sundays 39: Americans Divided and a look at our troubling political divide: Who voted for Trump? Why? And how do we interact with them? Or not?
Many of us want to initiate conversations with Republicans to cultivate solidarity. We‘ll explore ideas, and share tips and resources for conducting difficult conversations on your own.
Check out the 2021 agenda for the Fixing Democracy Project — what do you want to work on? https://www.facebook.com/solsunvienna/guides/?view_public_for=2248595575364902&ref=page_internal
—Tanya Lolonis, Solidarity Sundays Vienna Co-Founder
Reviews:
ProDA “Progressive Punch”
On December 6th, a dozen progressive “punchers” convened via Zoom to discuss president-elect Biden’s developing cabinet and agenda for the presidency’s first 100 days and beyond. These were our central questions:
- How might the Georgia run-off elections influence the developing team and its agenda?
- How will the administration respond to the coronavirus health and economic crises?
- What steps will it take to combat climate change quickly and effectively?
- What can we do to influence the decisions?
We enjoyed our favorite holiday punch, heard talking-point reports from ProDA Austria members, discussed in small-group break-out rooms, then held a joint discussion of what we expect. Finally, we considered action options to ensure our expectations are met. Please look for an invitation to our January event soon!
– Bruce Murray, ProDA Leader