How Your Voices Made a Difference Last Week: DACA and the Zen Wisdom of Taking Action

After his categorical announcement terminating the DACA “dreamers” program that helps hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants on a path to education, jobs, and potentially citizenship, the ever-unpredictable Donald then did an about-face and he’ll be working with Democrats (his new BFFs “Chuck and Nancy”) to help pass legislation that protects them. Despite Paul Ryan’s bleated denials and …

Take Action: Stand Up for immigrants: tell your MoC to vote no on H.R. 3697.

This week, as hurricanes and wildfires devastate much of the country, the Trump administration will continue to act on the executive order to rescind DACA from 800,000 immigrants–including 138,440 DACA recipients in Texas. Each year Texas DACA recipients contribute $313,095,000 in State and local taxes. Now it’s up to your representatives in Congress to stand up …

Take Action: Defend DACA

Defend DACA Jeff Sessions is making a statement on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in which he is expected to announce the Trump administration’s plan to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA grants protections to immigrants brought to this country as children. DACA recipients work, pay taxes, and have no criminal records. There …

Training: Protest Safety and Verbal Self-Defense on Sept. 9, 2017

We’re  excited to host a session on protest safety and verbal assertiveness led by trainer Susan “George” Schorn. Space is limited. Please RSVP on Action Network.  We’ll cover: Grounding and emotional self-regulation techniques for public speaking/civic conflict situations De-escalation and other group safety skills Tactical nonviolence planning essentials How to take control of a conversation (being …

Take Action: Show Up & Shout Out! Senator Ted Cruz…You Work For Us!

UPDATE: some of this week’s events have been cancelled or postponed due to Harvey recovery efforts. Please see below for updates. We’re writing this on Sunday morning, as rain continues to drench Austin and the news out of Houston is very grim. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo (formerly of Austin) is instructing people not to go …

Take Action: Call your Reps and tell them to censure the president for his comments on the domestic terrorism in Charlottesville.

Over the past week, communities from Austin to Houston to Dallas to Boston have shown that Americans will not tolerate white supremacist hate groups. Let’s keep that momentum going by pressuring our MoCs to censure the President for his vile “both sides” comments on the domestic terror Charlottesville. Censure is nothing more than a formal …

Take Action: Defend DACA rally outside Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Office

We are deeply saddened about the white supremacist-fueled violence in Charlottesville over the weekend. It was an act of domestic terrorism, plain and simple. On Saturday, Heather Heyer was murdered on the streets of Charlottesville when a man who identified with neo-Nazis used his vehicle as a weapon. Many others were injured, and people still …

Stealth Stops and Photo Ops Through Rural TX-10

Guest post by Michele in Smithville, TX Have you checked out Congressman Michael McCaul’s Twitter feed and Facebook postings this week? Well, he’s on recess and back in Texas meeting with constituents, holding town halls, shaking hands, and kissing babies! Just kidding!! He’s making the rounds, but not with regular, everyday constituents. His stops are …

Statements from Our Lawmakers on the White Supremacist Violence in Charlottesville

These are in chronological order. https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/896450159428677633 https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/896450314349490176 https://twitter.com/RepLloydDoggett/status/896459266239987712 https://twitter.com/RepMcCaul/status/896487102082412544 https://twitter.com/RepRWilliams/status/896503486543691777 https://twitter.com/DanPatrick/status/896504379565641728 https://twitter.com/RepBillFlores/status/896510877364563969 https://www.facebook.com/judgecarter/posts/1462536010526769 We grieve for the Charlottesville victims & fiercely reject the views & actions of white supremacist groups. They are un-American. #txlege — Joe Straus (@SpeakerStraus) August 13, 2017 https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/896540709993533440 https://twitter.com/RepLloydDoggett/status/896543440204214272   https://twitter.com/SenTedCruz/status/896543609440407553 https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/896547391192653824 https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/896548130635878401 https://twitter.com/JohnCornyn/status/896591297808433153 https://twitter.com/LamarSmithTX21/status/897194350299545601 https://twitter.com/RepRWilliams/status/897440149495308289 https://twitter.com/RepRWilliams/status/897440544019947520 https://twitter.com/RepRWilliams/status/897440950934528000      

Security Planning for Events: Tips and lessons from past actions

Cross-posted, with permission, from Susan Schorn’s blog I’m fortunate to live in Austin, Texas, with a rich history of activism and ready access to elected officials. Since the election of November 2016, I’ve protested racists and Neo-Nazis, Islamophobia, misogyny, tax fraud, racism, and climate change denial; I’ve helped with safety on marches, rallies, lobbying events, and townhalls; I’ve used tactical non-violence skills on campuses, at …