Next Action When You Organize It, Voting Not Going To Be Enough-Speaking At Katy Indivisible

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​This past Tuesday, 12/16, I spoke at the monthly Indivisible Katy Huddle meeting at the Cinco Ranch Library in Katy, Fort Bend County. I really appreciated being invited. There I am in the picture. 

This is part of my work on the Houston Democracy Project. I've spoken at many Democratic clubs, Indivisible chapters and organizing meetings as well as at the Downtown No Kings protests. I'd be happy to speak at your meeting. E-mail me at [email protected] and we'll set it up. 

​Here is what I said in Katy: 

* Voting is not going to be enough to get us out this crisis. 

* Conventional politics and protest are both essential. The line between the two is blurring all the time. We saw this in the successful response to the martial law declaration in South Korea last year. 

​* At bottom line, police are not there to protect protestors. This is important to know when we are on the streets after habeas corpus is suspended or the state interferes in Harris County '26 elections. 

* The No Kings Protests are helping build new networks of both rapid response and political organizing. They help people realize they have allies even in Republican areas. 
 
* Trump’s new national security strategy document is a white supremacist authoritarian plan. Consider reading it so you can speak to it. A third or whatever portion of the country is committed to destroying the lives of Black people and this seems implacable over the centuries. We just have to proceed. 

* ICE is an extermination unit in the making. 

* Democratic voters have a right to demand standards for our elected officials. It was true for Kim Ogg and Shaun Thierry, and it is true for John Whitmire. It’s not a so-called “purity test.” It is our right to have expectations of the people we help elect.

​* We give a lot of free labor to candidates. It's exploitive in many respects. Politics is a multi-billion dollar industry. Many campaigns just extract resources like a strip mine. 

​* Primary candidates come and go like Christmas or Halloween pop up stores. Our need to live freely remains. You have to decide if fighting over them is worth it when they will be gone so quickly.

* Opposing authoritarians isn't going to be safe. We are going to have to accept some measure of risk.

* We have a right to a collective identity as active rank and file democracy advocates and Democrats that is independent from candidates and elected officials. We must advocate for ourselves. 

*The next action is when you organize it, the First Amendment is your permit, the only credential needed is your presence.

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

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PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO THE HOUSTON DEMOCRACY PROJECT