Photos From Sunday Trayvon Martin Protest At Houston City Hall
This past Sunday afternoon, I attended a rally in at Houston City Hall calling for justice in the case of Trayvon Martin. This rally was organized by the Houston NAACP and by LULAC in Houston.
I went to this protest and took some pictures.
The Trayvon Martin shooting , which took place in Sanford, Florida, is relevant to Houston because everything is connected. The killing of Trayvon in Florida could happen to a young person any place in our nation.
Above you see a picture of the Houston rally. There were estimates that 1,000 people showed up. Most of the people were black. But by no means were all the people at the rally black.
What people wanted at this protest was simple.
They wanted peace, justice, an end to racism, and the right to be who they are.
These are goals as American as apple pie.
These citizens made their own signs and came on down to the rally.
You will see that one of the signs indicates that the person holding the sign is his or her brother’s keeper.
What could be more basic and accurate?
Among the speakers at the rally were Congressperson Sheila Jackson Lee in blue, former Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia in the hoodie, and two students from Texas Southern University.
The young lady in red is a TSU student. I’m sorry that I did not catch the names of the two young people from TSU, but they did a good job at the podium.
In addition to Congressperson Jackson Lee and Ms. Garcia, Richard Shaw from the Harris County, Texas AFL-CIO was present.
I do regret that while many local black officeholders were at the event, that white and Hispanic elected officials did not seem to be present.
We are all connected.
It is especially confusing that Houston Mayor Annise Parker was not there, or that she could not send a representative.
Mayor Parker, a so-called Democrat, was in 2011 able to attend the Reagan-Lincoln Day fundraiser of the Harris County Republican Party.
What Mayor Parker needs is a challenger from the left in 2013.
While there was a strong crowd at City Hall last Sunday, there is always room for your involvement.
The work of freedom and democracy is up to each of us.
Shelia Jackson Lee Gets It Right—Carry The Constitution With You At All Times
Above is Houston-area Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
Rep. Jackson Lee is known for her knack for finding the camera.
Rep. Jackson Lee also has a consistently liberal voting record that serves her district and all people of Texas well.
The picture shows Rep. Jackson Lee at the Muslim-bashing House hearings held earlier this month by Republican Rep. Peter King. She is holding a copy of our United States Constitution.
Mr. King represents folks on Long Island. He chairs the so-called Homeland Security committee of the House. Mr. King held these hearings to “investigate” Muslim involvement in domestic terror.
Mr. King discussed no other group in these hearings. Just Muslims.
Are Muslims the only folks capable of engaging in terrorist acts?
No.
In strong contrast to Rep. King’s un-American singling out of one group of citizens, was Ms. Jackson Lee ‘s bringing the United States Constitution to the proceedings.
You never know when you have to argue for an expansive interpretation of the Constitution that allows for a wide range of government actions on behalf of the public.
Our government of the people has the right to act as a counterweight to the influence of big money, and other powerful but narrow influences.
Our government of the people has the obligation to expand the rights of citizens to meet the needs of the times.
The strongest arguments for this wide view of opportunity are the promises of freedom written into our founding documents.
Ms. Jackson Lee brought her Constitution to this shameful hearing and spoke of freedom for all.
At least that is what I imagine she was saying. I had the sound off on the television for most of her remarks.
I think I was reading a book at the time. I can’t stand all that talk in these hearings.
We’ve let the political right claim ownership of the flag, and the Boston Tea Party, and the Constitution.
The freedom of all people is a progressive cause.
Put a flag sticker on your car with your liberal/progressive bumper sticker. Invoke the founding fathers to support your views. Read up on American history and tell people the facts when they get it wrong.
As they work day- and-night to screw-up the future, don’t let conservatives also mangle our past.
Yet Another Sports Stadium In Houston—Thank You Taxpayers
Great news!—Houston is getting yet another stadium.
In case you did not feel that facilities built over the last decade for the baseball Astros, football Texans, and basketball Rockets were enough, now we will have a new stadium for the soccer Dynamo.
The pictures at the top and bottom of this post come from the Facebook page of Houston City Councilmember Stephen Costello.
In the center of the photo above is Mayor Annise Parker. She is wearing orange. Three people to the left is Houston U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee.
I’m not certain who the other folks are. I suppose I could study the picture and maybe guess. But the bottom line is that they are the interchangeable municipal luminaries who back big-ticket projects in Houston year-after-year while rarely–if ever– mentioning that we have a 60% child poverty rate in Houston.
(Above–Some things never change. Painting is “Thumbs Down.” It is an 1872 work of Jean-Leon Gerome.)
The Dynamo stadium uses less public money than have the recent sports complexes in Houston. Though the city paid $15.5 million to buy the land where the stadium will be located, and the Dynamo will get sales tax “rebates” amounting to $3 million over the next 30 years. The City of Houston and Harris County have also committed $10 million each in taxpayer dollars towards the facility.
Taxpayer funds will be used even as we plead poor on services for the poor, education, honoring pension commitments, and keeping up our roads.
Claims of the economic benefits of stadiums are greatly exaggerated.
The sign below says “This your stadium.”
Sure.
.
KIng Street Patriots, Tea Party & Republicans Have High Regard For Dead Black People
The so-called King Street Patriots, a local Tea Party cell in Houston, care a lot about black people when they are dead. It is just the living ones that they don’t worry so much about.
The King Street Patriots are taking part in an effort to clean the Olivewood Cemetery in Houston. It’s a campaign stunt by the Republican running against Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in the 18th Congressional district of Texas.
Olivewood is a historic black cemetery in Ms. Jackson Lee’s district. Above is a picture of Olivewood that I took a few days ago.
At the same time they are tending with such respect for the dead, the King Street Patriots and the Republicans want to repeal Health Care Reform.
Here are some of the things that HCR accomplishes—
- Deny coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions. Health plans cannot limit or deny benefits or deny coverage for a child younger than age 19 simply because the child has a pre-existing condition like asthma.
- Put lifetime limits on benefits. Health plans can no longer put a lifetime dollar limit on the benefits of people with costly conditions like cancer
- Cancel your policy without proving fraud. Health plans can’t retroactively cancel insurance coverage – often at the time you need it most – solely because you or your employer made an honest mistake on your insurance application.
- Deny claims without a chance for appeal. In new health plans, you now have the right to demand that your health plan reconsider a decision to deny payment for a test or treatment. That also includes an external appeal to an independent reviewer.
Consumers in New Health Plans Will Be Able to:
- Receive cost-free preventive services. New health plans must give you access to recommended preventive services such as screenings, vaccinations and counseling without any out-of-pocket costs to you.
- Keep young adults on a parent’s plan until age 26. If your health plan covers children, you can now most likely add or keep your children on your health insurance policy until they turn 26 years old if they don’t have coverage on the job.
- Choose a primary care doctor, ob/gyn and pediatrician. New health plans must let you choose the primary care doctor or pediatrician you want from your health plan’s provider network and let you see an OB-GYN doctor without needing a referral from another doctor.
- Use the nearest emergency room without penalty. New health plans can’t require you to get prior approval before seeking emergency room services from a provider or hospital outside your plan’s network – and they can’t require higher copayments or co-insurance for out-of-network emergency room services.
These are the facts. This is what the Tea Party/Republican Party opposes. And as the plan rolls out, millions will do not now have access to coverage will get access to coverage.
In 2007, 19.5% of black Americans had no health insurance. This was in comparison to 10.4% without insurance for whites. And these numbers were from before the recession.
Republicans had years to do something about the problem of access to health insurance in our nation. They did nothing.
Here is a story about average Americans who are now so much better off because they can get care.
The King Street Patriots, the Tea Party movement, and the Republican Party have such regard for dead people, that they want to make sure we have as many dead people as possible from the lack of health insurance.
Yet you can bet your last dollar that just like with Social Security, these people will take the benefits of Health Care Reform when it serves their personal needs.
Shelia Jackson Lee Not At Funeral Of Deli Meat King Oscar Meyer
Packaged lunch meat king Oscar Meyer has died at the age of 95.
Above you see a picture of Mr. Meyer’s funeral.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked the Wienermobile be retired and that the Oscar Mayer company consider a line of vegetarian products.
(The name of the company is Oscar Mayer. Meyer is the correct spelling for the man who is a subject of this post.)
Here is the web home of PETA. Please click here to see what the folks at PETA think of the McDonald’s Happy Meal.
Mr. Meyer’s death was noted at Meat International.com. It is also the 30th anniversary of Certified Angus Beef.
As far as I know, Houston Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee was not at the service for Mr. Meyer.
Ms. Jackson Lee spoke at the memorial service for Michael Jackson. Below you see a picture of her at the service.