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Tag: Abortion

Fighting Back At The Texas Legislature: A Conversation With Katie Klabusich

Posted in Audio, Austin, and Journalism

I just made my second appearance on the Katie Speak Show, where I talked about activism at the Texas Legislature:

The show’s host, Katie Klabusich, and I discussed the special session of the Legislature, which began last week, and the strategies Governor Greg Abbott is using to try to force through a raft of unpopular, inhumane laws. On the agenda during the next month are abortion access, transgender rights, the ability of unions to collect dues, even cities’ ability to protect historic trees from development.

At the same time, about three dozen nonprofits and activist groups have combined to form the One Texas Resistance coalition, in an effort to pool their efforts at resistance together and highlight the intersectionality of their diverse issues, from climate change to the rights of Latinx Texans. Last week’s highly publicized quinceañera protest was organized by Jolt, a member of the coalition. These tactics, and their successes or failures, can likely serve as a model for the rest of the country which is also controlled by the power hungry and bigoted GOP.

Kit Talks Texas Legislature Activism Saturday On The Katie Speak Show

Posted in Archive, Austin, and Journalism

On Saturday, I’m back on the Katie Speak Show, chatting with Katie Klabusich about the special session of the Texas Legislature and how progressives, leftists and radicals can push back against the inhumane agenda of the GOP.

You can hear me on Saturday at 7pm EST / 6pm Central on Netroots Radio. The Katie Speak Show is also available on iTunes and other popular podcast apps. And Katie’s patrons get a sneak preview of upcoming shows.

Of course, I’ll also share my appearance on the show next week here on my website.

Protests & Events In Austin For Donald Trump’s Inauguration

Posted in Archive, Austin, and Creative Commons

You don’t have to go to Washington, D.C. to resist Donald Trump. Here in Austin, we’ve got a full weekend of protest — and some fun events to round it out.

Heres’s a list of every protest, rally, or inauguration-related event I know of in Austin. You can jump in the comments with links if you know about anything else I’ve missed.

I’m not endorsing any of these events, but I’ll be covering them when I can. Keep an eye on my Twitter for updates and my Facebook for live coverage.

A Brief Primer On Texas’ F*CKED Up Politics & Why It Matters To You

Posted in Act Out!, Austin, Creative Commons, Journalism, and Video

Whenever you talk about terrible things happening in Texas, people start to tune out. You’re thinking, of course it’s fucking awful, it’s Texas. Why don’t we let them secede already?

It’s true, Texas politics seem like what happens when you apply dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” as an instruction manual BUT everything that happens there is a test balloon. The University of Texas at Austin motto is “what starts here changes the world.” And with most states and the U.S. Congress united behind that shit stain Trump, you can bet we’ll all be eating the same shit-filled Texas chili soon enough.

Now, the Texas government is full of low-life scum, but due to the peculiar whims of Texas politics, the Lt. Governor is a scumbag who stands above all the rest. The Lt. Governor is not just president of the state senate, but also sets the agenda for the entire legislative session. The senators and reps have a lot of politics to get through in a short amount of time, because the Texas State legislature only meets for 140 days every other year. Lemme say that again but slower: A hundred and 40 days EVERY OTHER year. The rest of the time, that massive building is just a big pink tourist trap.

Nearly One Million Americans Watched Jill Stein Crash The Two-Party Presidential Debate

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

Excluded from the third and final presidential debate by the two-party system, Green Party nominee Dr. Jill Stein took to Facebook Live and Twitter on Wednesday night to offer an alternative point of view.

Over 932,000 people viewed her broadcast and it had been shared more than 19,700 times by Thursday afternoon.

“Thank you so much for tuning in to the real debate,” Stein told her Facebook audience during the opening moments of her video.

From Bathroom Bills To Islamophobia: It’s All Connected In America’s Anti-Diversity Backlash

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

From anti-Muslim legislation to violence targeting mosques and those who worship there, it’s clear that Islamophobia is on the rise in the United States.

While opponents of Muslims’ religious freedom often cite terrorist attacks carried out by religious extremists to justify their bigotry, analysis of the sources of Islamophobia reveal ties to broader, national issues of systemic racism and xenophobia in the U.S., and the people who stand to profit from fomenting hate.

A November poll by the Brookings Institution showed that 61 percent of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Islam and 46 percent hold an unfavorable view of Muslims.

And compared to other forms of hate speech, anti-Muslim speech remains surprisingly acceptable. Saeed Khan, a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding and a professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, told MintPress News, “When it came to the rhetoric against Muslims … it was one of the few communities or groups by which politicians and opinion makers could speak with impunity against without facing any kind of repercussions either politically or economically.”