Door-to-door political canvassing should be almost entirely paid work. Especially in Houston/Harris County  where the reality is extreme heat and stray dogs. There is plenty of money in politics to make this so.

Experienced neighborhood Democratic club leaders and longtime volunteers could be organizing communities & strengthening the abilities of Democratic clubs and organizations to hold politicians accountable and to advocate on issues.

These leaders should not be pinned down by an essential but still entry level task, in a political industry where there are literally billions of dollars floating around. 

There are low budget campaigns that need all the help they can get & rural areas where structures are different from what I know in Harris County or in an urban county. I don't have all the answers. 

But I do know that not among the answers is asking volunteers to go out year after year always being told that this is the important election of their lifetimes, while big campaigns suck up resources and elected officials are often difficult to find on the campaign trial.

How can the political party of unions be comfortable with exploitive models of labor and standard practices that put people out in high heat going door to door?

The plan in Houston and Harris County for 2024 has to be more than over-reliance on excitement for the Harris campaign to drive the vote. The inability to get Democratic voters to the polls in the recent HCAD races and the fact that three of the five Houston At-Large Councilmembers are Republicans, are realities that show we must find new and updated ways to build lasting structures of voter turnout.              

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.  

Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to [email protected]​​

A useful cliche is "Showing up is half the battle."

I looked up online to see if anybody famous really said that. Stephen Hawking came up a few times. I'll go with that. 

Knowing it is important to show up is a skill and one that involves plenty of intellect. 

Showing up to lead or, more often, to follow and to show support is critical. People take note of who shows up and who does not. Movements and causes need people to succeed.        

Reliably showing up over a good stretch of time is appreciated. (And knowing when to take a break for your own well-being, or maybe when not needed at the moment or in that situation, is another useful skill.)     

Showing up when others are nervous to do so--such as now when the political right is aggressive and threatens violence--is valuable. It is essential people see others like themselves willing to show up for democracy and other important things.     

​There is a lot of status and caste bias in activism and politics. People want connections to people perceived as powerful, and to make clear they went to well-known schools and have big credentials.   

​Showing up for others different than yourself matters. We need coalitions that span all types of people as we confront an authoritarian threat.   

The strongest credentials though are being reliable and consistent, confident enough to both lead and follow, brave enough-or able to fake it-for the challenges ahead & being respectful of the people doing the work and showing up.        

I know that I'll keep showing up no matter what in 2024 and beyond. 

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.  

Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to [email protected]​​

Here are some Houston Democracy Project notes:

* I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right broadcast each Thursday from 6 AM-7 AM for a weekly Houston Democracy Project episode. I'm on the full hour. You can listen on air on KPFT 90.1 FM, on Egberto's You Tube channel or on the KPFT livestream. Please tune in!   

* Please join us for the John Cornyn Houston Office Protest each Tuesday, 11;30-1, 5300 Memorial Dr. We have extra signs for all and we are a friendly crew.   

Each Saturday from noon to one at Hermann Park I stand with microbiology professor Steve Norris encouraging people to not vote for Trump. This is Steve’s action and I’m there in support. He has printed up his own signs. We are just off the roundabout near the statue of Sam Houston. We’d love to see you. 

It is important people see others like themselves willing to stand for democracy. At both the Cornyn Protest and when out with Steve, people often ask if we are afraid to be out in the open. It can’t be that peaceful political actions are physical risks. We can’t let the aggression of the right push us out of public space.         

* Houston City Council’s decision to send Mayor Whitmire’s anti-protest ordinance to committee was a real victory for grassroots activism. It’s not over yet. The matter will be back before Council’s Law & Public Safety Committee on September 10.   

I spoke before Council on the ordinance, wrote a letter to every Councilmember, introduced a motion that was approved to the membership of the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus and discussed the issue at length on Politics Dione Right.  

The ordinance would prohibit protest in front of homes if the focus of the protest is a resident of the home. It’s essentially a politician protection act. As we face an authoritarian threat, we can’t have John Whitmire & the Houston Police Department defining our freedoms. 

Electoral work is essential. We must also establish a climate of optimism, resistance and autonomous action outside conventional political practice.        

This all listed above is just a portion of my work with the Houston Democracy Project. This blog is also part of the effort. Please support the work with a contribution. ​The Houston Democracy Project takes time and effort and is the product of my efforts and experiences over the years. 

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I don't want to comment on Kim Ogg and her horse hockey.

I'll just say that even the Texas Rangers determined there was no election fraud in Harris County in 2022. 

Above is a statement from Harris County Clerk Tenisha Hudspeth.

Harris County is running our elections well and fairly. Don't let the right lay the ground to take our freedom with false claims.

The fights to define the extent of our rights and defend the integrity of our elections, are as important as working directly on the election itself.      

Don't let the worst people gaslight us out of our democracy. 

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.  

Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to [email protected]​

Houston City Council today referred to Council's Law & Public Safety Committee Mayor Whitmire's Anti-First Amendment ordinance that would prohibit protest at specific homes. He did not have the votes.

It was a real win for grassroots activism and Houstonians opposing the ordinance.  There were very many people at Houston City Council opposing the ordinance at public comment session yesterday. Mayor Whitmire thought he could just railroad the ordinance. The issue will be back before Council's Law & Public Safety Committee on September 10th.   

Here is a Chron.com article about the Council discussion on the matter. 

From the article--   

"The city of Houston punted on a controversial ordinance limiting protests outside of private residences, voting overwhelmingly to send the proposal to the public safety committee for further discussion after some council members sparked First Amendment concerns....The proposed ordinance, which would prohibit acts of protest within 200 feet of a targeted dwelling, landed on the city's agenda last month after months of targeted pro-Palestinian demonstrations outside of Houston Mayor John Whitmire's home,.....At a press conference Wednesday, Whitmire reportedly doubled-down on his comments, which he said had been founded on advice from the Department of Homeland Security and other higher departments. "There is intelligence reports, and I'm not going to go through it in public, that they are being paid by Iran," Whitmire said, per Houston Public Media. "It's dangerous if it's true, and I think I have a duty to protect all the neighborhoods of Houston."

Those protestors are not being paid by Iran. Nobody is paying them. Mayor Whitmire is trying to define them as terrorists or people set to do violence. He's laying the groundwork for aggressive police action towards the protestors. Who knows if he believes what he is saying or not. He rants on and on. 

Today it is the Palestinian protestors the Mayor is demonizing. Tomorrow it'll be another group. When Republicans refuse to accept election results or overturn a Harris election outcome, he'll have the police all over those protestors then as well.

Don't yield on any matter of First Amendment freedom. Not ever. And most especially not in this political climate.  
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Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.  

Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to [email protected]​

I spoke today before Houston City Council about Mayor Whitmire's anti-First Amendment ordinance.

I prepared my remarks for three minutes which is what I signed up for. Mayor Whitmire said there were so many speakers that everyone was limited to one minute. It was good that were so many people signed up to speak. 

Here are my full three minute remarks:

Mayor Whitmire has proposed Council approve significant restrictions on the rights of Houstonians to protest and hold elected officials accountable. Council must reject this attack on the First Amendment and freedom.

The spur for the ordinance is personal grievance. Mayor Whitmire is mad about a specific group protesting at his home. Score-settling is no way to make law. 

The ordinance says a person can be cited or arrested for protesting in front of a specific home “with or without signs.” How can the intentions of a person without a sign be known? 

Because of Texas law, this ordinance would mean someone could walk down a residential street with an AR-15, but could not stand outside an elected official's home in peaceful protest. 

Democrats on Council ask us to volunteer and block walk in 100 degree heat with stray dogs at our heels. But not too much democracy please. We might be inconvenienced or      frightened. I’m supposed to volunteer for you so you can take my rights away?    

Republicans trumpet the endorsement of the Kingwood Tea Party. I assure you that folks back in Tea Party times in Colonial Boston went to the homes of the authorities.   

But the deeper thing is that its us who need protection from you. You’re the ones who’ve   navigated systems that have brought us the edge of authoritarian outcomes and mass migrant round-ups, to reach the important position of Houston City Councilmember. You didn’t navigate these systems to take risks for us.         

Doesn't chronically low municipal election turnout, special interest campaign funding & the endorsement of law enforcement unions that support traitors like Ted Cruz, sufficiently insulate you all from the public?       

Who’s the danger here? The six Council Republicans --until they say publicly otherwise-- support a sexual assaulting, felon who promises violence if he loses and dictatorship if he wins, for President. That sure is extremism. Who’s the danger? Don’t look out here--Look at the Councilmember sitting next to you.   

At core this ordinance is a threat from elected officials to the public. Ted Cruz can support insurrection, but don’t you stand outside his house with a sign. Councilmembers can work for election of Republicans who would take our democracy, but don’t bug them outside office hours. Democrats say it’s about democracy. Just not on my street. 

Don’t like it? Tell it to the officer here.    

These systems you all prosper from from sent my dad to the Korean War as a combat medic to his lifelong detriment. All he ever told me about that war was the shared humanity of American, Chinese and Korean soldiers and civilians. 

You sit here in positions of privilege, protected by legions of cops, but still no safer than any of us from the threats of the political right--But instead of rising to the occasion like my father did, you cower from the public, from the Constitution and the duty you signed up for, when you chose to run for public office knowing full well the political realities of this moment. 

If you’re afraid, then quit. Let us find officials who are up to the challenge of protecting the public and standing strong for democracy.    

I've also written a letter to each Councilmember about this wrongful ordinance.  Here is the letter. 

Here is a story on the ordinance from the Houston Landing.  

Here is the ordinance. Click on the bottom left where it says "Redline"

 Here is how to speak at Houston City Council. 

Here is contact information for members of Houston City Council.  Your voice matters. 

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.  

Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to [email protected]​

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​Above is the statement from the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus opposing Mayor Whitmire's anti-First Amendment prohibiting protest in front of the homes of elected officials.

I made the motion for the Caucus to oppose the ordinance at the August membership meeting. The vote in favor was something like 25-1 from attendees at the meeting. This success is part of my work with the Houston Democracy Project.    

The issue will be voted on as Item 67 at the Council session of Wednesday, August 14.
    
I've also written a letter to each Councilmember about this wrongful ordinance.  Here is the letter. 

Here is a story on the ordinance from the Houston Landing.  

Here is the ordinance. Click on the bottom left where it says "Redline"

 Here is how to speak at Houston City Council. 

Here is contact information for members of Houston City Council.  Your voice matters. 

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.  

Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to [email protected]

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​Above you see a Twitter post by Harris County Republican nominee for Sheriff Mike Knox.

It's a lousy post by a lousy guy. The idea you are for law and order when you are hanging out with Ted Cruz is unlikely. It's no surprise Mr. Knox is hanging out with election denier Cruz. In the most recent legislative session, Mr. Knox testified in front of Senator Paul Bettencourt's election suppression committee to talk about how to make it more difficult to vote.     

What I want to highlight here is Mr. Knox's comment in the Tweet--"...fully flex the new state law tp locally initiate deporting illegal immigrants..."

This matches the clearly-stated intent of national Republicans to initiate mass roundups of migrants across the country.      

Mayor Whitmire has said the City of Houston would not enforce the law. That's fine. But there is little he could do about Harris County enforcing the law or about a Trump administration using local law enforcement in addition to the National Guard to enforce the law.   

The law Mr. Knox is referencing is S.B. 4. 

Here is a Texas Tribune article about S.B 4 & below are excerpts from the article. 

"...makes illegally crossing the border a state crime...give(s) Texas law enforcement authority to arrest undocumented immigrants anywhere in the state......Under the new law, migrants who decline to return immediately to Mexico would serve their sentence, then be transported by police to a port of entry — and they could face a felony charge for refusing to return to Mexico at that point."

Mr. Knox is telling us up front who is he. Shame on us if we don't strongly oppose him in 2024. Shame on local media for not asking tough questions of Mr. Knox about his comfort with election deniers, and his plans to use the resources of the Harris County Sheriff's Department to carry out the cruel Trump/Abbott agenda rather than keeping Harris County safe.         

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.  

Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to [email protected]

Below is the letter I've sent to each member of Houston City Council about Mayor Whitmire's proposed ordinance that would essentially eliminate the right to protest at the homes of politicians.

Here is story on the ordinance from the Houston Landing.  

Here is the ordinance. Click on the bottom left where it says "Redline"

I'm also signed up to speak at Council on Tuesday, 8/13. The public comment session begins at 2 PM. As it stands now, the ordinance will be voted on in Council on Wednesday, 8/14.       

Here is how to speak at Houston City Council. 

Here is contact information for members of Houston City Council.  Your voice matters. 

An update--This will be Item 67 on the upcoming Council agenda. You can refer to that number when contacting Council.   
 
​Here is the letter--

Mayor Whitmire has proposed that Houston City Council approve significant restrictions on the rights of Houstonians to protest and hold elected officials accountable. Council must reject this attack on the First Amendment and freedom. 

The spur for the ordinance is personal grievance. Mayor Whitmire is mad about a specific group protesting at his home. Score-settling is no way to make law in the fourth largest city in America. 

Mayor Whitmire’s ordinance is to his telling about the peace and security of neighborhoods. But what it really accomplishes is protecting elected officials from democracy. Protest would remain allowed--as it should be--on residential sidewalks across Houston. It is only a select few, such as Mayor Whitmire and Senator Ted Cruz, who would be held exalted above the First Amendment and the Constitution.      

There is no peace and security in attacking our most basic rights. There is no public safety without democracy.        

The ordinance says a person can be cited for protesting in front of a specific home “with or without signs.” How can the intentions of a person without a sign be known? Who will be given the ability to profile and define the intent and mindset of Houstonians deemed as suspected protestors by agitated politicians?           

The ordinance extends enforcement powers to civilians. It says the process of enforcement by police can be begun by “a person with authority to control the use of the residence being picketed.” Such a person can tell police who is not following their instruction to move, and that now it is time for citations and arrests.  

May I have the same ability to begin the citation process for Houston’s legions of red light runners and street racers? Can I call in license plates and inform police of why they must be pulled over? Or is it only the privileged few who can direct police who to cite and arrest?   

Mayor Whitmire wants to alter the municipal code to suit his whims and then have the capacity to enforce the code. He wants to serve as both judge and jury.     

Because of Texas law, this ordinance would mean someone could walk down a residential street with an AR-15, but could not stand outside an elected official's home in peaceful protest. How does this make sense? 

Democracy is at stake in Texas and the nation. We are just months shy of possibly returning a Viktor Orban-type figure to the White House. The Republican nominee for President refuses to commit to accepting election results. The prospect of mass roundups of migrants is very much on the table.

It defies belief that this is the political environment in which Houston City Council is considering taking away the rights of Houstonians. Don’t we already have enough political leaders working to take away our rights?  

Vote no on this attack on the First Amendment. Do it for the people of Houston. Do it for yourselves. The rights that Mayor Whitmire is seeking to diminish and strip, are rights that each of you may well need soon enough. None of you are safer from the ongoing authoritarian threat than any other citizen of Houston.     

​Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.  

Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to [email protected]