At a time when it seems there's so little we can do to really effect events, there's an opportunity to make a huge impact right here in Central Texas to help nourish hungry people.
Walmart has made a commitment to donate $2 billion by 2015 to the fight against hunger in America. This holiday, the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) in Austin has the chance to receive $1 million if Austin-Round Rock receives the most "likes" on the campaign webpage. The contest ends December 31.
The BOR Community can help to promote this opportunity:
Left of College Station will be covering the protest and counter-protest at Texas A&M University during President Barack Obama's speech to the Points of Light Institute.
Stay tuned for a report on the day's events, photographs from around campus and the protests, and video interviews from both the protest and the counter-protests.
On a Saturday I got out of bed at six in the morning, and put on some comfortable clothes threw a good book in my backpack and put some good music on my iPod. Then I rode my bicycle about three miles down the road to Planned Parenthood. Why would I get up so early on a Saturday just to go to Planned Parenthood? Because not sleeping in on a Saturday morning can make an important impact on women's reproductive rights. I started volunteering at the local Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas about a year ago, and in many ways I feel that it has been one of the most significant things that I do as an activist that effects people's lives.
Every day women walk through the doors of reproductive health facilities, and in many of these facilities women must deal with harassment for what is a very private and personal choice. The protesters that line up in front of these facilities claim that they are there because they care about women, and that they want to see an end to abortion. However, it is difficult to believe that the protest care about women when they participate in a culture that is patriarchal in nature and decidedly anti-woman. It is also difficult to believe that they want to see an end to abortion when they oppose every policy that actually reduces the number of abortions.
Early on Saturday mornings I arrive at the Planned Parenthood clinic, a facility that has been routinely targeted over the years but has enjoyed loyal support from community members. Sometimes if you arrive at the clinic in the early morning there are not protesters, but this week marked the first week of the anti-choice protest 40 Days for Life. As I came through the gate I noticed about half a dozen protesters in front of the fence that surrounds Planned Parenthood, and I parked my bicycle near the front door. The Planned Parenthood I volunteer at is surrounded by a fence, and staff and patients park inside the fence that provides a barrier between them and the protesters. Some reproductive health facilities are not as fortunate.
Last year there was certain energy around campus: perhaps one of the most significant elections in recent history was taking place and political activism was coming to life on campus. It did not matter what political ideology you identified with, or what issue you found to be most compelling, there was a conversation happening somewhere on campus. The question is now whether or not a campus that has never been significantly politically active will continue to expand on that political and activist energy, or during the relative quiet during a year when there is not a presidential or congressional election will that energy fade away.
What may capture the interest of the student body is a debate that has heated up during the month of August as students prepared to return to campus for the fall semester. The debate over health care reform has already sparked some student activism, as students participated in the recent town hall on health care reform that was presented by Congressman Chet Edwards. The Texas A&M Chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas voiced opposition to health care reform, while the Aggie Democrats voiced their support of health care reform. However, it is difficult to predict if this single issue will be able to propel students who have not been involved in politics or activism before to become involved now. Despite being the most politically conservative student body in the country, there is not a considerable amount of conservative political activism on campus. Perhaps the most consistently politically active group of conservative students have been active in off campus activism; over the last several years several students have been actively involved with the pro-life activism off of campus. Students have regularly been among the protesters who stand outside of the fence at Planned Parenthood, and many join in the 40 Days for Life campaign which now takes place twice a year. However, many other students have joined those like myself who stand inside the fence, and escort patients and clients inside the clinic to provide them with support and be there for people who are making a very difficult choice.
There is a new group of activist students that may be reaching out on campus, a group of students that a much more progressive but do not actively participate in partisan politics. The Human Rights Coalition, which was founded as a local grassroots organization earlier this year, is working towards becoming recognized on the Texas A&M campus. Originally founded by Charles Biash, Amelia Mayer, and Renee Robinson, this group of community members and students has focused on several issues from social justice to animal rights, and has modeled itself less after the hierarchal political organizations and more as a community of activists. Currently Braden Deckard is working with anthropology professor Michael Alvard to gain recognition as an organization on campus, and to bring more progressive activist opportunities to students. Most recently the Human Rights Coalition played a very significant role in the protest of the immigrant family detention center T. Don Hutton in Tyler, Texas, and the coalition of activist organization that protested the detention center eventually lead to the closure of the facility as a family detention center and the changing of the Obama Administration's policies towards immigrant detention. However, organizations like this one are the exception that proves the rule.
Today was the second day of the 40 Days for "Life" campaign, and the first day that Planned Parenthood in Bryan was offering services since the campaign began on Tuesday night.
Last night the two sides of the abortion debate where separated by a fence.
The Coalition for "Life" (CFL) began its 40 Days for "Life" campaign last night; the CFL Executive Director, Shawn Carney, spoke to a group of anti-choice protesters outside the fence of the Planned Parenthood in Bryan. Inside the fence the Planned Parenthood employees, volunteers, and community supporters gathered together in support of choice.
Last week I called Planned Parenthood and volunteered to escort. So, Monday morning I road my bike up to Planned Parenthood, and met with one of the clinics medical professionals.
As I rode up to the clinic I noticed that there were no protesters, which I did not mind at all. I parked my bike outside the door and left my backpack on the handlebars; there is a sign on the clinic door that is a notice not to bring backpacks are bags into the clinic (for obvious security reasons). As I came in through the double doors the clinic did not seem out of the ordinary, it looked like just about any other medical facility I have ever been in. After checking in at the front desk one of the clinics medical professionals came out of the "Staff Only" door and greeted me.
The staff member showed me into a room where volunteers sign in on a check-in sheet and where the volunteer vests are kept. After sitting down she asked me a few questions, and then she had several forms that I had to fill out and sign. Some of the forms I filled out where information about myself, and others where forms that protected the privacy of staff and clients. Then the staff member told me what to expect when I escorted, and things to do and things not to do and how to interact with the clients and how not to interact with the protesters.
It did not take long to fill out the paperwork, and in about fifteen minutes I was done. My information would be reviewed and after approval I would receive an email regarding what times I could be available for escorting.
Choice. It is something that all Americans have in many different circumstances. However, there are some who believe that are choices must be limited. There are some who believe that abortion is immoral, and that it should be made completely illegal. However, those that are proponents of eliminating this choice ignore the consequences of losing that choice and ignore the far reaching effects of legislating morality.
(Hopefully this primary and convention will inspire others back home across Texas to lead in their home counties! - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
During the Executive Meeting of the Brazos County Democratic Party, I was nominated and elected to be the Democratic Party Chairman of Precinct 53.
But, I was not the only person to be elected to a leadership position. The Brazos County Democratic Party Chair resigned and Maggie Charleton, previously Party Executive Director, was elected to be the Democratic Party Chair for the remained of this term. Linda Coats was elected as Democratic Party Vice Chair, Rosemary Swanson was elected as Recording Secretary, and Coats was also elected as Social Secretary.
It has been an interesting ride, from first standing in a crowd in Austin watching Senator Barack Obama speak in front of the Texas State Capitol Building to sitting in a crowd in a room caucusing for Senator Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. Then the journey continued, from being an Obama delegate at the Brazos County Democratic Convention to being an alternate Obama delegate at the Texas State Democratic Convention. Now, as I watch the Democratic National Convention, I am have moved into a place in the Democratic Party where I can be more than just a voice on a blog but a party leader pushing for change.
I have thrown myself into the democratic process. I am chairman of Precinct 53, I am a staff sponsor of the Blinn College Democrats, and I am the publisher of a liberal blog in one of the most conservative places in Texas. After serving my country spending eight years in the military, I want to serve my country by helping to shape the direction that we take. Whether that is calling voters and urging them to vote Democrat in November or it is helping to raise money for candidates like Donnie Dippel, Congressman Chet Edwards, and Representative Rick Noriega.
It is going to be an interesting journey into November...
I wanted to make sure the Burnt Orange community knows about the statewide global warming youth conference happening on the UT campus February 8-10. This is the first time students from colleges all over the state are getting together, creating a youth climate movement that will transcend individual schools.
And while the conference is aimed at students and young people, it is open to all. So even if you are not a currently registered student, you can still attend. Go to www.reenergizetexas.org for more information.
It's being put on by some of the same folks who organized PowerShift, the recent nationwide student conference that attracted over 5000 students and young people.
From the media advisory....
Hundreds of young adults from across Texas will converge in Austin February 8-10 for the first statewide youth conference on climate change. At the “Re-Energize Texas Summit, 300 college and high school students will learn about solutions to global warming and how to effectively put those solutions into practice.
"This is an incredible opportunity for young Texans to create a powerful youth coalition to make Texas a leader in safe, clean, just and affordable climate solutions,” said Praween Dayananda, Campus Field Coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation and one of the organizers of the Summit. “Students will learn what’s at stake and how to take action on campus and in their communities.”
Keynote speakers include wildlife biologist Dr. Camille Parmesan, Stonyfield Farm CEO Gary Hirshberg, commentator Jim Hightower, Reverend Lennox Yearwood of the Hip-Hop Caucus, Peter Illyn of Restoring Eden, Tom "Smitty" Smith of Public Citizen, Arlington mayor Robert Cluck, and Ted Glick of The US Climate Emergency Council. For more information, go to http://www.reenergizetexas.org/.
