Letter To Houston City Council About Need To Be Involved In April 5 Protest

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Below is a letter I've sent to each Democratic Party member of Houston City Council. It's essential that our elected Democrats have our backs for the challenging days ahead. 

There are ten Houston City Council Democrats. They are Sallie Alcorn, Martha Castex-Tatum, Mario Castillo, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, Abbie Kamin, Tarsha Jackson, Joaquin Martinez, Edward Pollard, Letitia Plummer, and Tiffany Thomas. Here is how to contact Houston City Council. There is information on how to follow and interact with Council at the bottom of this post. 

Please consider contacting Houston City Council about their need to take part in the April 5 protest.

Tell them our rights must be protected and that each of us must be protected. Tell them the Houston Democracy Project sent you. Our rights are on the line. Our elected officials must fully join the fight. 

Here is the letter--

Councilmember Alcorn: 

This Saturday April 5 at noon, there will be a large protest at Houston City Hall about the Trump/Musk white-supremacist attack on our economy and our democracy. 

It’s essential that pro-democracy Houstonians be allowed to freely express themselves. Last week, Mayor Whitmire sent 11 HPD vehicles to a protest of maybe 25 people regarding bike lanes. In 2020, then-District Attorney Kim Ogg dismissed charges against 602 people arrested at Houston protests about the murder of George Floyd while keeping charges against just 51 people. 

In recent weeks at Houston City Council public comment session, FIEL Houston leader Cesar Espinosa complained about heavy policing at a peaceful immigration rights demonstration. This concern came despite the fact that Mr. Espinosa has a positive relationship with Council. He is someone many of you have worked with on immigration issues. 

With big law firms and elite universities rushing to capitulate to Trump and Democratic Party elected officials having to be pressed by the rank and file to actively oppose the far-right takeover of the United States, it’s clear that the work of having any hope of freedom is up to everyday citizens of Houston. Through inaction and silence, our elected officials have placed themselves in a support role in this urgent task. 

Members of Houston City Council have an obligation to do all they can to protect Houstonians from State of Texas government and the federal government. It might not be much. But anything is better than complicity, acquiescence and silence. 

Councilmembers should attend Saturday’s protest as part of the crowd. Councilmembers should monitor how the event is policed and be ready to address any undue restriction or constraint on First Amendment freedoms. 

April 5th is a warm-up for larger mass protest. The institutions and processes we’ve long been asked to trust and defer to have not met the challenge of Trumpism. The public is rising to the fight ahead. Houston City Council must join the fight and use its power to protect freedom-loving Houstonians. 

Thank you.

Neil Aquino
Houston Democracy Project 
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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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