You Will Have To Do The Work Of Democracy Yourself—Texas Progressive Alliance Round-Up

At the bottom of this post is the most recent weekly Texas Progressive Alliance round-up. The TPA is a confederation of the best political bloggers in Texas.

For the most part, TPA bloggers have no official affiliation with the Democratic Party. They are citizen-bloggers who blog on their free time.

Consistent with this ethic of citizen involvement were two rallies held in Texas this past week.

On March 12,  a Save Texas Schools rally was held in Austin. On March 15, a rally against the extreme cuts to vital state services being planned in our state legislature was held at Houston City Hall.

( Above—The Houston City Hall protest.)

Perry Dorrell at Brains & Eggs attended the Houston event.

These rallies were not led by the Democratic Party of Texas or by the Harris County Democratic Party.

If we waited for the official structures of the Democratic Party to help folks find a response to the far right-wing Republican Party of Texas, then we might have to wait until the end of time itself.

The Democratic Party and most Democratic officeholders do little to mobilize people.

In many cases, Democratic officeholders sit in safe districts and never face a serious primary challenge. Sometimes they have unspent campaign funds.

These are folks who could be out helping organizing folks and registering voters.

In the end, it is up to each of us to do the work of freedom.

You always have the option to attend a public meeting, attend or organize a protest, write or call an elected official, talk to friends and family,  start a blog, donate money, write a letter to the editor,  volunteer for candidates and causes you value, and even run for office yourself.

Don’t wait for others to act. Do it yourself.

Here is the round-up—-

Off the Kuff noted that in the days just before the Save Texas Schools rally, State Rep. Scott Hochberg filed a bill that made clear what the effects of cutting the public school budget would mean for local school districts.

Despite a strengthening progressive uprising, the Texas Democratic Party remains so feeble that it appears unable to capitalize on an open US Senate seat in 2012. That’s why the nascent movement to draft Tommy Lee Jonesto run keeps gaining steam, notes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

As thousands of Texans turned out on Saturday to “Save Texas Schools”,WCNews at Eye On Williamson reminds us whose fault it is that Texas schools need saving — and that their ruin has been the GOP’s plan all along:Yes Governor Perry, it is your fault.

State Rep. Borris Miles Says Texans Should Flood State Capitol Just Like In Wisconsin—Where Are Other Elected Texas Democrats?

Houston-area Texas State Representative Borris Miles says that Texans should flood the Texas State Capitol in Austin just as people are doing at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison.

Here is a portion of what Rep. Miles said—

“We need to fill the Texas Capitol like the citizens of Wisconsin are doing in Madison and let our voices be heard.  I have been inspired by the citizens of Wisconsin turning their capitol into the people’s house and we need to do the same thing here in Texas.”

Why should Texans do such a thing?

Again from Rep. Miles—

“Make no mistake, balancing the budget purely through by budget cuts will have a disastrous effect not only on District 146, but the entire state.  In fact, Standard & Poor’s said that Texas needed to combine new revenue along with budget cuts to prevent significant negative impacts on local governments and public schools.  I have not tried to hide my disgust with the proposed budget whose deepest cuts will fall on children, the poor, the disabled and the elderly.”

Other elected Democrats at all levels of government in Texas should also be calling for average citizens to take the lead in fighting back against the brutal cuts being planned in our Texas legislature.

Is anybody aware of any leadership coming from Houston City Council on these questions? Has Mayor Annise Parker made clear a strategy of any kind with these cuts on the way? Is the city lobbying in Austin? Will that lobbying make any difference? Are we just supposed to sit by quietly? Would Tea Party activists, who out-worked and out-organized the other side in 2010, do nothing if they were under attack in Austin?

What about where you live in Texas? Are the Democrats you vote for year-after-year well-representing you when the stakes are so high for the things we value as Democrats and as liberals and progressives?

Rep. Miles has it right. Everyday Texans must take the lead in working against the brutal cuts under strong consideration in Austin.

March 12 Save Texas Schools Rally Gains Momentum—You Must Make The Decision To Take Action

Texans are fighting back against sharp cuts in public education and other essential state services that are being planned by Governor Rick Perry and the Republican dominated Texas legislature.

We here in Texas can be just as tough and organized as we are seeing in Wisconsin.

How are drastic cuts in education funding going to help Texas children prosper in the global economy? Isn’t it hard enough for young adults to get a start in the changing world economy?

(Above– The John B. Connally High School. J.B.C.H.S.  is part  of Pflugerville I.S.D. The slogan of P.I.S.D. is “Each Child. Their Future. Our World.” )

There will be a massive Save Texas Schools march at 11 AM and rally at noon the State Capitol in Austin on Saturday, March 12.

If you live in the Houston-area and Alief ISD area, there is a free bus you can take to the protest.

Here are facts about this bus—

What: Alief to Austin bus for Save Texas School rally at the Capitol
When: Saturday, March 12. 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM
Where: LeRoy Crump Stadium parking lot, 4214 Cook, Houston, TX (map)
Cost: FREE!
RSVP: Natali. Lacasa@gmail.com

(Below–Buffalo High School is in Buffalo, Texas. Buffalo is in Leon County. Buffalo is “Where  the mighty bison roam.”)

Here are details about others folks in Texas planning to help people get to the rally. There is another Houston-area location on this list.

Here is a list of  the very many school districts around Texas that will have supporters at the rally.

Here is a history of education in Texas from the excellent Handbook of Texas Online. You always have the option to learn more.

(Below—Amarillo High School is in Amarillo. Amarillo I.S.D. says — “Our mission is to graduate every student prepared for success beyond high school.”)

Regardless of if you attend the rally or not, there are steps you can take to fight for Texas kids and for a better future for Texas. Please consider the list below as a model for all sorts of citizen-action that you ,and the people you know, have the ability to complete.  Here is the Save Texas Education Funding site that is the source of this list.

(The good folks at Save Texas Education Funding want you to know that they are a non-partisan group and that they seek the support of all Texans.)

1.  Write to your legislators by mail or fax using a letter template

2.  Email your legislators using the same letter template

3.  Call your legislators (this will only take you 5 minutes or less per call)

4.  Contact the members of the Education and Appropriations Committees.  If you mail a letter to the Committee Chairman, you can include a sticky note asking the Aide to distribute a copy of your letter to all members of the Committee.

5.  Meet with your legislators

(Below–Ysleta I.S.D. is in El Paso. Ysleta is the “Star of Texas.”

6.  Sign Petitions & host Block Walks in your neighborhood to gather petition signatures

7. Attend the “Save Texas Schools Rally” in Austin on March 12^th

8.  Attend the Legislative Day in Austin on Monday, March 14^th (free bus transportation, lunch and training will be provided, but no children permitted to attend): http://www.texasedfunding.com/home/activities/legislative-meeting-day (Emailsusan.deigaard@gmail.com to RSVP by March 1st)

9.  Join an Email Distribution List for updates by emailing TexasEdFunding@gmail.com.  Join the Facebook group: Texans for Public Education Funding

10.  Ask your children to write letters to Governor Perry and Legislators

And Finally: Email everyone you know (even outside Texas) to inform them of the issues and ask for them to take the above actions as well.  Spread the word to Save Texas Schools!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Also, don’t forget the protest against the state budget to be held at Houston City Hall at 4:30 PM on Tuesday, March 15.

We all have the ability to attend a public meeting, attend or organize a protest, write or call an elected official, talk to friends and family,  start a blog, donate money, write a letter to the editor,  volunteer for candidates and causes you value, and even run for office yourself. It is up to you to do the work of freedom and to make progress for the future in our state of Texas.

If You Want A Better World, You Are Going To Have To Speak Up

If you want a better world, you are going to have to speak up.

You are going to have to step up to the podium.

I can go on posting here about any number of outrages. And to some extent, that is what I will keep doing at this blog.

But in the end it is up to you to attend a public meeting, attend or organize a protest, write or call an elected official, talk to friends and family,  start a blog, donate money, write a letter to the editor,  volunteer for candidates and causes you value, and even run for office yourself.

I can’t stress this enough.

(Photo copyright Neil Aquino 2011.)

It Is Up To The Individual To Decide To Work With Others For Shared Goals

Regular readers of the blog will know I often emphasize the fact that it is up to everyday people to do the work of freedom.

We are seeing this fact in full view with current events in Egypt, the middle east, and Wisconsin.

It is the responsibility of everyday people to fight back and make progress.

In Texas, as crippling budget cuts are planned for health and education, everyday people can flood the state capitol just as is going on in Wisconsin right now.

In the end, it is up to the individual to make the decision to work with others for shared goals.

You and the people who share your hopes for the future have the make the call to move ahead.

Just Because You’ve Been Provided With A Phone Booth Does Not Mean You’ve Been Given A Way To Effectively Communicate

Just because you have been provided with a phone booth, does not mean you’ve really been provided with a place to talk and communicate.

Take for example the phone booth you see above that is located in Cincinnati’s Burnet Woods Park. I took this picture last February.

Beyond the fact this phone booth is most likely filthy and quite possibly out-of-order, it is also stuck behind the snow in the freezing cold.

There are today more forums to express ourselves than ever before.

Yet the responsibility to effectively communicate remains with us as individuals. We are all individuals with the ability and obligation to communicate our values in way that gives our individual lives greater purpose and meaning.

Many forums exist, but we need to understand that these forums may be controlled by others who have no genuine interest in allowing us to connect with each other in ways that can better our collective lives.

We need to understand that these forums provided by others may in essence be out-of-order in that there is nobody truly listening on the other end.

If the phone booth we wanted to use is out-of-order, or if it in not accessible because it is stuck behind snow on a cold day, there are still many ways  we can effectively communicate.

We can write a letter. We can talk to each other in person. We can allow our actions to set the example. These are ways we can communicate that do not depend on a working or accessible phone booth.

We have the ability to donate money, to run for office ourselves, to start a blog, to volunteer for causes and candidates that we support.

Other may provide tools of communication that are of varying use for us to be effective citizens.

Yet in the end it is up to us to make the best possible use of these toools, and, most importantly, it is up to us to make the best use of our abilities.

(Picture copyright Neil Aquino.)