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Tag: American politics

Deceleration: Palestine Protesters Disrupt Harris Rally in HoustonProtesters rally outside of the Kamala Harris rally in Houston, Texas with Palestinian flags and a sign reading "End the Siege on Jabalia."
Courtesy Al Awda.
November 2, 2024
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Deceleration: Palestine Protesters Disrupt Harris Rally in Houston

Posted in Journalism

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!”

Read moreDeceleration: Palestine Protesters Disrupt Harris Rally in Houston
Texas Observer: Fuck You, Greg Abbott! (The Musical)The cast of "Young Greg Abbott: A FuQusical" line up on stage, middle fingers raised. They are dressed in simple, all-black clothing except for the band leader, who is in Western wear: a tan skirt, pale colored Western button down, and a cowboy hat. Behind them to the right is the band on a small riser, and on a screen behind the cast is the acronym FUGA: Fuck You, Greg Abbott.
Courtesy Tin Pan Pally
October 31, 2024
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Texas Observer: Fuck You, Greg Abbott! (The Musical)

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and The Texas Observer

Some theater experiences are dignified and serious, exploring the depths of human emotion with gravitas and solemnity. On the other hand, there’s “Young Greg Abbott: A FuQusical.”

“This ain’t a subtle show, just thought you should know,” sang the band leader, King Amy Blackard, at the beginning of “Young Greg Abbott,” a satirical show which saw its first two full performances on October 18 in Austin. “Please save your thoughts and prayers. It’s just Sondheim with swears.”

At this “FuQusical,” the audience was encouraged to sing along, shout, and curse at the cast—especially at the actor, Brently Heilbron, playing the youthful version of our now third-term governor. Heilbron also wrote the script and music. Many middle fingers flew during the performance I attended, among the packed crowd at the downtown State Theatre.

Read moreTexas Observer: Fuck You, Greg Abbott! (The Musical)
FAIR: Alex Jones and the Post-Truth LandscapeA bearded Alex Jones sits flanked by his lawyers, two white men who are also wearing suits, all seated in a courtrooml
Courtesy of HBO
April 1, 2024
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FAIR: Alex Jones and the Post-Truth Landscape

Posted in Austin, FAIR, and Journalism

To lose a child to violence is already one of the most traumatic things a human being can experience. To compound that by seeing those deaths made the center of a seemingly limitless conspiracy theory pushes that suffering to a level that is almost inconceivable.

The Truth vs. Alex Jones, a documentary released last month from HBO/MAX, immerses us in the immense pain—and equally momentous bravery—of the parents and other surviving relatives of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, as they take on perhaps the most notorious conspiracy theorist of our age. Through exclusive courtroom footage and numerous emotionally vulnerable interviews, director Dan Reed (Leaving Neverland, Four Hours at the Capitol) brings the viewer inside the survivors’ legal efforts to force Alex Jones to face the consequences of his actions.

On the morning of December 14, 2012, a 20-year old man entered the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. Over the course of about five minutes, he systematically slaughtered 26 people, mostly young children, then killed himself. He had murdered his mother earlier that day.

Read moreFAIR: Alex Jones and the Post-Truth Landscape
Christians Must Fight Christian NationalismRev. Carter Heyward, an older white woman with white hair, speaks into a bullhorn, wearing a safety vest, with a rally for abortion access behind her.
Rev. Dr. Carter Heyward wants white Christians to stand up to Christian nationalism. (Rev. Dr. Carter Heyward)
November 3, 2022
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Christians Must Fight Christian Nationalism

Posted in Journalism, and The Texas Observer

Over at the Texas Observer, I interviewed groundbreaking lesbian feminist theologian Rev. Dr. Carter Heyward. Her new book unpacks the deep historic and modern ties between Christianity and white supremacy, and explains why Christians—and everyone who benefits unconsciously from white supremacy—needs to act more. 

Read moreChristians Must Fight Christian Nationalism
Austin Marches Over End of RoeActivists sit in the streets of downtown Austin, holding up their middle fingers towards the Texas Capitol, under a bright summer sun.
Austin took the streets to protest the end of Roe v. Wade. (Kit O'Connell)
June 25, 2022
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Austin Marches Over End of Roe

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and The Texas Observer

More than 1,000 people marched through downtown Austin on Friday, June 25 to express their anger and sadness over the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe V. Wade and the impending, widespread erosion of abortion access as a result.

Organized coalitions like Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights and others called for protesters to gather at the federal courthouse and in the surrounding Republic Square Park on the night after the Supreme Court decision came down. Word spread rapidly via social networks and posters affixed to lampposts throughout the city.

Read moreAustin Marches Over End of Roe
We Didn’t Fix Austin (Or America)’s Nazi ProblemA massive supercell storm cloud forms in a funnel shape over the fields of Oklahoma.
Just looking at this photo causes me a twinge of fibromyalgia pain. (Unsplash / Raychel Sanner, public domain)
September 1, 2021
Kit
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We Didn’t Fix Austin (Or America)’s Nazi Problem

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, and Journalism

A friend that lives in Portland posted on his Facebook about the latest spasm of white supremacist violence that took place there.

Someone that I’ve a bunch of mutuals in common with responded. A sort-of-smug comment to the effect of “thank goodness we ran those people out of Austin, Texas!” And I’ll be honest, that comment shocked me: we did what?

The comment reminded me that this attitude is probably widespread in my city and across the country.

I asked myself, are there people in this country that go days without thinking about the rise of fascism and the collapse of the climate? What must that be like?

Read moreWe Didn’t Fix Austin (Or America)’s Nazi Problem