Adventures of a Gonzo Journalist
Posted in Audio, Austin, Journalism, Occupy Wall Street, and Video
Last weekend, I talked with photojournalist Zach Roberts of VisuNews about my recent essay on why we need to stop protesting at empty buildings and become more strategic about our activism.
We also talked about our work as journalists, and our involvement with past movements like Occupy Wall Street.
Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, and Journalism
The reelection of Donald Trump is a crisis decades in the making that presents activists with challenges the likes of which we’ve likely never seen in our lifetimes. If we are to rise to the occasion, we must engage our skills with caution and creativity in order to help each other survive until whatever comes next.
Trump’s destruction of vital services has occurred at a dizzying pace and our government is now controlled by an unelected tech billionaire. Frightened and angry people are starting to take to the streets. Unfortunately, I see many of them relying on outdated, unsustainable strategies that already lost their effectiveness before Donald Trump reclaimed the presidency.
One question I’m not alone in asking: Why do we keep marching on empty buildings?
Posted in Austin, Deceleration, and Journalism
For the past 40 years, ADAPT of Texas has advocated for the world to be more accessible, so that more disabled people can live in their communities, rather than in institutions. The progress this community has made in that timespan, which includes the 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, is remarkable. At 78 years old, community organizer Bob Kafka has been there to witness those changes. Like many in the rabble-rousing organization, he’s not afraid to throw his body, and his wheelchair, in the way of the machinery of injustice; he was present at key moments of nonviolent direct action like the Capitol Crawl and the subsequent occupation of the Capitol rotunda which forced Congress to pass the ADA.
Today, the disability rights community is looking at the incoming administration with trepidation, preparing to fight attempts to dismantle their hardfought gains. In a state where the governor is himself disabled yet often seems actively hostile to their cause, ADAPT organizers are prepared to ramp up pressure on Texas lawmakers to improve the state’s treatment of disabled people and their caregivers.
Outside of Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium on October 25, 2025, a group of area residents gathered outside a campaign rally of presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris to drive awareness of the U.S. administration’s material support for genocide in Gaza and demand that the U.S. stop supplying weapons to Israel.
The effort was organized by a coalition of groups that included Palestinian Youth Movement, Houston for Palestinian Liberation, and Al Awda, a group that supports the right of Palestinian peoples to return to their original lands in what is now the state of Israel. The rally’s message:
“If you want to beat Donald Trump, get Kamala Harris to stop killing Arab people!”
Posted in Austin, Journalism, LGBTQIA, and The Barbed Wire
At Austin’s Pride Parade in August, while rainbow-painted police horses stood guard and brightly decorated floats passed by, officers tackled two men, using kicks and pressure points to pin their bodies to the ground. They were taken to jail on charges of ignoring law enforcement commands and resisting arrest.
They were the first arrests at an Austin Pride event in years — perhaps more than a decade, according to one of the event’s longtime organizers. And it left many who watched it unfold, including journalists like myself, with one unshakeable thought: That didn’t need to happen.
I’ve spent the weeks since reporting on why it did.
Posted in Austin, Journalism, and Video
The song performed before yesterday’s march at Austin City Hall was a lovely moment of international solidarity with the people of Palestine. I hope they could hear us.
This video represents me experimenting with CapCut to create more short videos in the style of TikTok posts or Instagram reels. As you can see, I’m still learning, but I’m also trying to get better at sharing my imperfect projects and works-in-progress more often too.
