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Month: June 2025

Video: Rebel Cheese, Austin’s Vegan Deli, Goes On One-Day Strike

Posted in Activism, Austin, and Journalism

On Sunday, workers at Rebel Cheese, Austin’s vegan deli went on a one-day strike over an unfair labor practice complaint. They say 5 workers were laid off after they a majority of workers began organizing a union. They’re demanding that all workers get reinstated.

After the strike, Rebel Cheese closed early. A sign on the door said it would reopen Wednesday. The business did not respond to a request for comment.

Visit the Restaurant Workers United instagram to find out how you can help support the workers.

The Left’s Forgotten Cause: Long Covid and Public Health Awareness, with KD Drackert

Posted in Activism, Austin, Deceleration, Journalism, LGBTQIA, and The Texas Observer

KD Drackert is one of my favorite people in Austin; to be honest, I think I have an “activist crush” on them. What I mean is, I just adore everything she does and wish more people knew about their work. So I thought this month I’d share my full interview with KD, from March of this year. We spoke after a banner drop she organized, which was the hook for my Deceleration article about mask blocs and Long Covid activism. Earlier, KD also appeared in my Texas Observer magazine feature on Long COVID. 

I also just think it’s terribly important to keep this issue in the public awareness, especially as the Trump regime begins to dismantle access to vaccines and other public health measures. Sadly, I feel like the American left doesn’t put enough emphasis on these issues, whether it’s access to universal healthcare or the importance of improving air quality in public places. That’s why I admire the work that Clear The Air ATX, mask blocs and similar mutual aid groups do so much, and feel it’s so important to amplify their work. 

We held this interview on the patio of a noisy bar, while I sipped on a THC-laced beverage, the kind Dan Patrick is so offended about. But my transcription software saved the day, turning useless audio into useful text.

Texas Observer: Reefer Madness 2.0 Arrives in Lone Star State

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and The Texas Observer

Marijuana prohibition is a Texas tradition. Unless Governor Greg Abbott vetoes Senate Bill 3, the state’s new ban on THC, the state is about to suddenly and drastically renew its commitment to that tradition—at a potential cost of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in lost taxable revenue, and countless lives broken in the prison system.

“We have to look at a long history in Texas,” said Austin Zamhariri, executive director of the Texas Cannabis Collective. “The modern enforcement of marijuana prohibition that exists today, that system began in Texas in 1915 in El Paso. It was the very first city in the entire country that prohibited marijuana.”

Zamhariri offered this historical perspective by way of explaining why our state is so eager to close the legal loophole that accidentally created a booming market for THC products about six years ago. “These systems have existed for 110 years,” he said.