Category: Meetups

TX-17 Candidate Forum – Feb. 11, 2018

Posted on by Indivisible Austin

 

TX-17 candidate forum in Austin on Feb 11

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NEW DATE and TIME

Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018, 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
14311 Wells Port Dr, Austin, Texas 78728

Join us to learn more about & ask questions of the candidates running to represent us in Congress in Texas’ 17th Congressional District.

Confirmed candidates:

  • Dale Mantey (Dem)
  • Rick Kennedy (Dem)
  • Peter Churchman (Lib)

Declined to come:

  • Current Rep. Bill Flores (Rep)

Please bring one or more cans of food to donate for our host location to help our neighbors in need.

Rally for Peace at John Cornyn’s Office – Nov. 9 at 12:30 p.m.

Posted on by Indivisible Austin

Sponsored by Indivisible Austin, Beyond the Bomb Austin Chapter, and TX10 Indivisible

President Trump is attempting to normalize the idea of a nuclear war with North Korea. Such a war would have devastating human, and environmental consequences. Senator John Cornyn is the second ranking member in the Senate and sits on the Senate Intelligence committee.

On Thursday, November 9th from 12:30 to 2:30 we will rally at Cornyn’s office to oppose nuclear war and support legislation placing checks and balances on the President’s current unilateral ability to launch a nuclear weapon.

WHAT TO BRING: – Bring a sign stating you oppose nuclear war. Or a sign stating why you support removing first strike capability. Or a sign supporting peace or opposing war generally. – Wear a poppy as a reminder of Armistice day which is celebrated on November 11th and is the day the first “War to end all wars” (WWI) ended.

MEETING SPOT: -We will meet on the corner of 6th and Colorado promptly at 12:30 PM

PARKING OPTIONS: – Chase Bank Tower Parking is $11.00 (entrance on Colorado between 6th and 5th) – There is metered parking in the surrounding area as well – TX State and Capital lots will not be available because they are reserved on weekdays

Come Early, Be Loud, & Help Save the Planet!

View this event on Facebook >>

October 19: Sarah Kendzior in Austin

Posted on by Indivisible Austin

We are excited to kick off our new speaker series, “Understanding Autocracy,” with the writer Sarah Kendzior. Get tickets below or on Eventbrite.

Kendzior has been eerily prescient about the Trump administration.

Her essay “We’re heading into dark times. This is how to be your own light in the Age of Trump,” published on November 18, 2016, stands alongside works by Masha Gessen and other experts on authoritarianism as a roadmap for what to expect, and what we can do about it.

Kendzior’s writing appears in The Globe and Mail and many other publications, and she is a frequent guest on NPR, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, CBC News, BBC World Service and other broadcast outlets.

As part of a new series called “Understanding Autocracy,” Indivisible Austin is proud to host an opportunity to hear Sarah Kendzior speak and answer your questions.

Indivisible Austin strives to be a vocal ally for marginalized communities. A portion of proceeds from our Understanding Autocracy speaker series will go toward local organizations working to change systemic injustice and inequity. These are two organizations we are supporting.

Austin Justice Coalition is a grassroots, activist-led organization addressing community needs, increasing political involvement, empowering communities, and criminal justice reform at the local level.

Mama Sana Vibrant Woman is a community organization that works to facilitate access to culturally appropriate and quality, prenatal and postnatal care for women of color in Austin and Travis County.

Charlottesville Solidarity Vigils (will be updated as events unfold)

Posted on by Lisa

We’ve included vigils taking place in the Congressional districts that include Austin, though some locations are far afield. If you know of other vigils, please let us know! You can comment on this post directly and we’ll get a message. These vigils have been organized by different groups. We’ve included a link to an event page where applicable.

Sunday, August 13

Bastrop
7:30 p.m.
Bastrop County Courthouse Gazebo, 804 Pecan Street, Bastrop, TX 78602

Brenham
8 p.m.
Brenham Courthouse, 100 E Main St # 304, Brenham, TX 77833

La Grange/Fayette County
8 p.m.
Fayette County Courthouse, 151 N. Washington St., Rm. 102. La Grange, Texas 78945

San Antonio
8 p.m.
Travis Park, 311 E Travis St, San Antonio, TX 78205

Austin
9 p.m.
City Hall, 301 W 2nd St, Austin, TX 78701

Wednesday, August 16

Round Rock
7 p.m.
St. Paul AME Church
407 N. Sheppard St., Round Rock, Texas 78664

Saturday, August 19

Wimberley
8 p.m.
Blue Hole Regional Park
100 Blue Hole Ln, Wimberley, Texas 78676

 

 

We Stand Indivisible Against Hate in Austin

Posted on by Lisa

UPDATE: Please scroll to the bottom of this post for an update from Scholz management.

An Indivisible Austin member was targeted for abuse by a group of white supremacists today and their car was vandalized.

Today, neo-Nazis held a hate-filled rally at the State Capitol in Austin to claim that “Tomorrow Belongs to Texas” (a reference to the song from Cabaret and a favorite of prominent racist Richard Spencer, despite the fact that it was written by a gay Jewish progressive). They then headed over to Scholz Garten for an after party. They lied and misrepresented their group’s true nature to the Scholz management. Reports suggest they represented themselves as a veterans’ group, not only hiding their own name, but stealing valor from real veterans.

Indivisible Austin happened to be holding an event at Scholz at the same time. We had a sign posted, and several members were wearing their IATX t-shirts or had bumper stickers on their cars. One of our members, dressed in an IATX shirt, left the meeting a little early, and was verbally attacked with anti-Semitic slurs and videotaped by these people. This person then found that their car, which had progressive bumper stickers, had been vandalized.

We have contacted the Austin Police Department, the Anti-Defamation League, and reached out to Scholz management to understand how and why this happened. We trust that they were deceived by a group with bad intentions.

If you were at Scholz’ around 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, June 17 and you witnessed any part of the assault, please contact us at Board@IndivisibleAustin.com or DM us through Facebook or Twitter.

Scholz Garten is well-known as the home of Texas progressive social gatherings, and Indivisible Austin will not stand by while bigots turn it into a home for hate groups. We have decided to carry on with our previously scheduled happy hour there next Saturday at 5:30 p.m. If you plan on coming, please show your solidarity with an Indivisible or other progressive t-shirt.

From Scholz management:
Hello Scholz Friends,First thank you for bringing yesterday’s incident to our attention, we share the same concerns as yourselves and are saddened that anyone was made to feel unsafe in our establishment.

We were asked, with rather short notice, to accommodate a party to be hosted Sat June 17. The group represented themselves to our staff as “TBT” and that they were a “Veterans group.”  While we searched for information on “TBT Veterans” we found nothing good or bad and confirmed the booking. There was no mention of participating in a march or their actual name. Based on today’s events we now understand they misrepresented themselves and misled our Scholz events team, management and staff. Please rest assured we would never give any group on the side of Hate a platform for any reason.

The question “Does anyone know anything about these Frank- Hot Dogs, Cold Beer people who are now running operations?” was posed.  The new operators have run many local businesses for decades that promote Diversity, Unity, Inclusion, and Love. The owners have spent time on many non-profit and charitable boards and have had a hand in raising awareness and funds for many righteous causes. We have prepared and distributed Thanksgiving meals for hundreds of Austin’s homeless and Safe Place, driven cargo trucks full of supplies to Standing Rock, Raised money for West Texas Fire Relief, Autism Awareness, Cancer Awareness, aGLIFF, Love-a-Bull, Boys and Girls Club of Austin, ACLU and more. We’re not patting ourselves on the back by any means but we do want you to know that we take Austin, Texas, our businesses, our guests, life, love, happiness and equality very seriously.

We will do everything to continue to support the great groups who call Scholz home and can reassure you Hate groups like Tomorrow Belongs to Texas are not welcome in this place of acceptance.

With love, Scholz Owners, Staff & Family

Come on Down to the Indivisible Central Texas Roundup and Town Hall with Ezra Levin!

Posted on by Lisa

Please join us on June 24th at the Indivisible Central Texas Roundup and Town Hall with Ezra Levin!

Indivisible groups in Central Texas have become POWERHOUSES of activism. We want to celebrate all that you’ve done, and build for the future. So we’re excited to invite y’all to come on down for the Indivisible Central Texas Roundup with our special guest Ezra Levin, Co-Executive Director of The Indivisible Project!

The Roundup includes an afternoon of learning, networking, and recharging for Indivisible group leaders, super-volunteers, and passionate supporters – folks who are very engaged in their local Indivisible groups and ready to take their activism to the next level. Our learning sessions will be followed by a Town Hall (ticketed and open to the public) with Ezra.

You can order your Central Texas Roundup T-shirt here (women’s and men’s styles available)!

When
Sat, June 24, 2017
1:00 PM – 5:00 PM CDT (Full schedule below)

Roundup location and additional program details will be provided after registration.

Tickets: $20. Please RSVP here.

Full Schedule

12:30 Check-in
1:00 Welcome + Icebreaker
1:20 Transition to sessions
1:30 Organizing 101 (this session covers both breakout periods)
1:30 Protest Safety/Verbal Self-Defense Training
1:30 Tech Resources for Organizers
1:30 Q&A: Legal & Financial Concerns for Indivisible Groups
2:25 Break
2:35 Media Training for Organizers
2:35 Tech Resources for Organizers
2:35 Q&A: Legal & Financial Concerns for Indivisible Groups
3:30 Mix & Mingle break, transition to Town Hall
4:00 Town Hall with Ezra Levin, Co-Executive Director, Indivisible Project
5:30 Happy Hour at Scholz Garten (no host, no ticket required)

Thank you. Here’s what’s next.

Posted on by Indivisible Austin

We just had an amazing experience at Huston-Tillotson University with Rep. Lloyd Doggett, State Rep. Celia Israel, and 700 of our closest friends. If you were there, or there in spirit, you know that Indivisible is a positive, uplifting movement. It is bringing together people from all walks of life to oppose authoritarianism and defend democracy.

Plus, we had food trucks.

One thing we ran out of time for was this video from Indivisible Guide cofounder Ezra Levin—who could not join us personally but his mom was in attendance!

So what’s next for the #Resistance? How can we channel all of that positive energy into action?

Join in a citywide action at Sen. Cruz’s office on Tuesday, March 7 to demand a thorough investigation of the Trump administration’s ties to Russia!

Sen. Ted Cruz: We Demand an Investigation!
12 to 1:30 p.m. at Sen. Cruz’s office
J.J. Pickle Federal Building, 300 E 8th St
Tell Senator Cruz that we demand a full investigation by a Special Prosecutor into ties between Trump and Russia. When a hostile foreign government meddles in our elections and members of the administration lie about their connections, we have to uncover the truth!  

RSVP here

Facebook event

If you can’t join us Tuesday, here are plenty of other #Resistance actions to keep you busy this week, and more is listed on our calendar.

See more weekly actions.

If you’ve read this far, we’d like to give you one more hearty thank-you for your commitment to defending democracy. Your actions are making a difference. You’re making phone calls and attending rallies, and looking for opportunities to do more, and to resist harder.

With your support, we can plan more events like today’s, more frequently, in larger venues, and with even more live music and food trucks. And we can plan new trainings like Protest Safety and Verbal Self-Defense, Media Training for Activists, Personal and Digital Security in the Age of Trump, and many more. If you have the means to make a donation, however small or large, you can do that here.

CANCELED: Conference Call on Feb. 28

Posted on by Indivisible Austin

Out of respect for the presidential address to the joint sessions of congress tonight at 8 CT, we are canceling our weekly conference call.

Well… actually: It’s so we can have an internal planning meeting for our March 5 Citywide Gathering & Rally. Here’s a partial agenda:

10:30 – 45 DOORS OPEN

11:00 a.m. VOLUNTEER/INFO FAIR begins

12:00 Call to Order

12:10 Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Speech followed by Q&A

12:50 District Captains’ speeches

1:15 I AM INDIVISIBLE film

3:00 – Everyone completely out of venue and parking lot — thanks for your help clearing out!

So, again, there will be NO CALL tonight!

Sign Up Now to Take Action on ACA Repeal!

Posted on by Lisa

Is health care repeal one of your top concerns? Then we hope to see you at the Capitol on March 6, along with 1000+ other health care activists and advocates!

While ACA repeal or replace or who-knows-what will happen in Congress, much of the implementation will be left to the states, especially with respect to Medicaid. That means we need to get in front of our #txlege members and tell them what Texans need!

If you want to #ProtectOurCare, join Indivisible Austin and the Cover Texas Now coalition on March 6 for the Rally to Protect Health Care + Lobby Day. In addition to the morning rally and press conference, you’ll be able to meet with lawmakers and staff in the afternoon. Austin locals may visit their own lawmakers, or they may join up with groups of concerned citizens from across the state–we’ve got people joining in from Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, the Rio Grande Valley, and El Paso! RSVP is required to prepare materials and lobby groups.

RSVP NOW

UPDATED: Upcoming Town Halls – Really!

Posted on by Indivisible Austin

One of the core tactics in the Indivisible Guide is to attend Town Halls where you can speak directly to your Members of Congress (MoCs). But what do we do when our MoCs refuse to hold a Town Hall–even during next week’s recess when they are supposed to be in their districts?

Answer: You hold one anyway!

Below are the “mock” Town Halls scheduled so far. In each case, the MoC has been invited to attend and may even show up. But that won’t stop constituents from gathering and raising their concerns. We hear cardboard cutouts, puppets, and other MoC stand-ins will in attendance.

TX17 Indivisible Bill Flores Town Hall (Bryan-College Station)

Sunday, February 19, 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Texas A&M Hillel

800 George Bush Dr, College Station, Texas 77840

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1862559110683658/

TX25 Town Hall/Town Howl Roger Williams

Sunday, February 19, 4:30-6 pm

Flores Mexican Restaurant, 2440 E Hwy 290, Dripping Springs, TX 78620

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1418162568218197/

Cruz/Cornyn Ghost Town Hall

Monday, February 20, 6-8 p.m.

Spider House Ballroom

2906 Fruth Street, Austin, TX 78705

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1447442305307711

TX17 Indivisible Bill Flores Town Hall (Pflugerville)

Wednesday, February 22, 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Blackhawk Amenity Center

3111 Speidel Dr., Plugerville, TX 78660

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/175693349589186/

TX31 Wilco Indivisible John Carter Town Hall

Wednesday, February 22, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

3830 Brushy Creek Rd, Cedar Park, TX 78613

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/727964680696280/

TX10 Indivisible Michael McCaul Town Hall

Thursday, February 23, 6:30-8 p.m. NOTE, this IS the correct date. An email went out with a typo 🙁

Congregation Beth Israel, 3901 Shoal Creek Blvd, Austin, TX 78756

RSVP HERE

TX21 Indivisible Lamar Smith Town Hall

Saturday, February 25, 5 p.m

The Scoot Inn, 1308 E 4th St, Austin, TX 78702

Facebook event: www.facebook.com/events/1360916700598119/

We’ll update this page as new info comes in.