Houston Democracy Project At Hou. 50501 Protest-We Must Show up For Ourselves

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​Today I was a speaker at the big 50501 protest in Houston. This is part of my work with the Houston Democracy Project. The estimated crowd today was 2,100.

I spoke at the 50501 protest at City Hall two weeks ago as well.

Above is a picture I took right before I spoke and below is a picture of me speaking. 

I said much the same today that I said two weeks ago. I’m saying over and over that we must show up for ourselves, that we all have the capacity to act, that our elected officials at every level must have our backs & we must be ready for whatever is on the way.

Here is what I said today:

*With big law firms and elite colleges giving in and elected Democrats needing to be pressed to act, our freedom is up to us.

*There are local actions you can take part in right now. There is a protest each Friday noon to one at the Social Security office at 13302 Westheimer & a protest each Tuesday from 11:30-1 at John Cornyn’s office at 5300 Memorial Drive.

*These actions are organized by people just like you. The First Amendment is your permit. It is essential people see others like themselves willing to stand openly against the aggression of the right. The next protest will be when you organize it.

*Authoritarianism will require a local infrastructure. Migrants won’t round-up themselves. Project 2025 will require local advocates. Mayor Whitmire and Houston City Council must fully join the fight.

*Members of Houston City Council should be asked if they support all this. The six Council Republicans—Davis, Peck, Huffman, Flickinger, Ramirez & Carter—-should say if they favor crippling cuts to NOAA and attacks on our rights. Each of us can ask them these-type questions.

* The Chair of Council’s so-called Resilience Committee is hard-right Republican Twila Carter. She campaigned with Mattress Mack in ’24 & is silent as NOAA, the National Weather Service and FEMA are gutted. Contact Councilmembers and ask they use Proposition A to remove Ms. Carter as Chair, or that they hold their own hearings on how Houston can prepare for and recover from our many disasters.

*The ten Council Democrats-Plummer, Alcorn, Martinez, Thomas, Castex-Tatum, Kamin, Jackson, Evans-Shabazz, Castillo & Pollard-must have our backs and join the fight.

*You can speak at Council Public Comment Session beginning at 2 PM each Tuesday. You can speak on any matter at all. The more in advance you sign up, the higher up on the speaker’s list you’ll be. Houston City Council holds its agenda business session on Wednesdays at 9 AM. 

* Democratic incumbents in safe districts in any office who don’t make year-round efforts to boost Democratic turnout in all elections merit a primary.

* This is all headed to the streets in addition to the ballot box and the courts. We must be ready for the challenge ahead.

Here is some more information on contacting and interacting with Houston City Council--

Public comment time at Houston City Council is each Tuesday at 2 PM. Here is how you can speak at Council and here is how to contact your councilmember.  The earlier before the session you sign up, the higher up on the speaker's list you'll be. The agenda session to conduct Council business is each Wednesday at 9 AM. The agenda is posted in advance. Council can be watched live on HTV Houston Television and the most recent session available at any time on the HTV feed on Facebook. Here is the link to past sessions of Council.

Here is the Houston Democracy Project list of things each of us can do to fight Trump/Musk. Here is a fundraising pitch for the Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. ​​

I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show every Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later Egberto's YouTube channel.

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