In this month’s GWC newsletter, our Candidate Action team features two articles that discusses the Black Lives Matter movement and the historic moment of change that we are facing. One article discusses how you can get involved to make change, even while living abroad, and the other discussions the intersections between racial injustice and environmental injustice.
Our Candidate Information Team has been doing great work, and this month, they provide an interview with Wendy Davis, who is famous for her filibuster attempt to stop the closing of most abortion clinics in Texas in 2013, as well as profiles of two Democratic women running for Senate and the House of Representatives to represent Iowa.
The pandemic has sadly caused a substantial increase in domestic violence both in the US and globally, and we feature an article that discusses some of the legislative measures that can be taken to address it.
Finally, June is Pride Month, and we provide the 2nd part of our two-part series of recommendations for books, podcasts, music and more to celebrate LGTBQ women.
BLACK LIVES MATTER: THE TIME FOR HISTORIC CHANGE IS NOW!
Black Lives Matter in the Climate Crisis
By Naomi Ages
We have all watched with increasing horror, and resolve, protests arise across the United States in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders. Racism in the U.S. is deep, with roots that go back before the founding of the country. And racism in the U.S. is inseparable from environmental injustices. Communities of color, and frontline communities have always borne the brunt of pollution in the air, land and water (remember Flint?), negative impacts from construction and the operation of fossil fuel facilities (“cancer alley” in Louisiana) and even the disproportionate environmental impacts of redlining, which forced African-Americans into certain neighborhoods, and prevented them from living in others.
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At the same time, the racist power structures in the U.S. systematically undermined these communities’ ability to build political power and resist these injustices. “The systems of oppression that have led to the deaths of so many Black people,” says Black environmentalist Leah Thomas, “were the same systems that perpetuated environmental injustice.”
Taking Action from Overseas for Black Lives Matter
By Chloe Shin-Gay
Living abroad comes with a mixed bag of benefits and as well as its own pains. The distance is usually the biggest drawback, frequently requiring long and costly flights to get back to your home. During the past weeks of protests over the killing of George Floyd (or Breonna Taylor, or Ahmaud Arbery, or of too many others), that distance has never felt further. Sometimes the distance makes it harder to take action, and easier to explain away when you don’t. It’s easy to say: “That’s happening in America”, or to say, “I’d protest if I was there, but there’s nothing organized here,” instead of finding another way. But this is no longer acceptable.
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CANDIDATE INFORMATION TEAM - MONTHLY UPDATE
Wendy Davis is More Determined than Ever
By Naomi Ages
“I want to make sure that we have voices in Congress that will be there as champions of advancing gender equity, which is incredibly important to me. I think we need more champion voices on those issues...Each of us brings our own fight in our bellies from our experiences and I think we need a little more belly fightin’ on gender equity issues that are long overdue.” Wendy Davis
Who is Wendy Davis?
You (hopefully) got to know Wendy Davis back in 2013 when her “remarkable” filibuster in the Texas legislature went viral. Standing in her beloved pink sneakers for 13 hours, Davis stood up to block the passage of a bill that would have closed most of the clinics in Texas that provided abortions. That may have been her most famous fight, but Davis has been fighting for women, for healthcare, for communities, and for Texans her whole life. She had her first child while she was still in high school, and then went on to college and then to Harvard Law School. She survived a brutal opposition campaign that tried to keep her out of the Texas state Senate, and eventually ran for governor of Texas. Now she is running to flip the Texas 21st district from red to blue, a seat formerly held for decades by a climate-denying Republican, and now held by a corporate-PAC-funded Trump supporter.
Candidate Virtual Town Halls, Women to Win, and Primaries
by Kaitlyn Newcomb, GWC Editor for Candidate Information
This month, the Candidate Information Action Team is excited to excited to preview an upcoming series of events: our Candidate Virtual Town Halls! The team has been working behind the scenes to connect with campaigns across the U.S. to bring these fabulous women virtually to your screen. Keep an eye on your inboxes and our social media pages to hear more about the candidates who will be joining us and how to attend these virtual events.
Separately, our Women to Win series features two Iowans this month: Theresa Greenfield is running to represent Iowa in the Senate, and Rita Hart is running to serve Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District in the House.
A Framework for Understanding Biden’s VP Pick
By Kaitlynn Newcomb
Yesterday an episode of the FiveThirtyEight podcast, “What Biden’s VP Picks Say About Him,” popped up on my podcast player and I gave it a listen. In it, Perry Bacon Jr., Julia Azari, and Galen Druke discussed the considerations that go into making a vice presidential selection.
The three compared and contrasted the pros and cons of the women considered to be on Biden’s shortlist for VP: Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, and Catherine Cortez Masto, as well as former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
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THE STATE OF THE AMERICAN WOMAN PROJECT
Domestic Violence & Prevalence of Firearms
By Samantha Borzi-Hedges
Every year domestic violence offenders in the US commit more than a million acts of domestic violence. Pair the prevalence of domestic violence with the ease of acquiring a firearm in America and you end up with an average of 52 women shot and killed by an intimate partner every single month--52 women shot and killed monthly. In fact, if a gun is present in the home, the woman is six times more likely to die. Women are more likely to be murdered with a gun by an intimate partner than every other means combined. A note before we continue: women are not the only ones who face domestic violence; however, the vast majority of victims are women.
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JUNE IS PRIDE MONTH! HAPPY PRIDE.
Celebrating LGBTQ+ Women in History and Culture, Part 2
By Stacey Kruckel
Photo credit: https://www.pinknews.co.uk
GWC is proud to celebrate Pride Month in June. Below is part 2 of our list of links to websites, books, podcasts, etc., that commemorate the history and achievements of LGBTQ+ women in history and culture, and feature upcoming Pride events, such as:
Global Pride 2020: Celebrate Pride this year virtually by participating in Global Pride 2020. Speakers include numerous world leaders, including former Vice President Joe Biden, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Icelandic President Guðni Jóhannesson and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
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IN OTHER NEWS
Call for Volunteers
The Global Women’s Caucus welcomes volunteers to join us and participate in our Action Committees. We have a vibrant online team that provides support worldwide. We work to create many remote and online activist opportunities for our far-flung members.
We have six action teams focusing on various issues, and they do research, educate our members, write and share articles on our media platforms, develop event tool kits and create online “calls to action.”
In addition, we are now looking for graphic designers and people with press experience to work with us.
If you are interested in volunteering, please email us.
Request Your Absentee Ballot!
Have you requested your ballot yet? visit votefromabroad.org and make sure that you’re all set to receive your ballot, since COVID-19 has affected mail service to the US.
And while you’re there, check out their State Voting Guide to find your local election information and stay on top of deadlines and submission rules for this year’s elections.
Also, our VfA Voter Help Desk maintains an extensive FAQ resource. If you can’t find the answer you need there, you are welcome to submit your question to the VfA team of experts and you receive a reply, usually within just a few hours.
Registering to vote now is the number one thing you can do to help save our democracy. Please do it today!
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Thank you for reading our GWC Newsletter, and as always, stay tuned to our Facebook page for the latest news.