Latinos For Texas Blog

If you can make this press conference, please do so to show your support for the Austin City Council members

For immediate release

March 20, 2008

Contact:           Bobby Garza, Office of Council Member Mike Martinez, 512.974.2264

 

 

Media Advisory

 

 

Why:                A public agenda for a public meeting of the Creedmoor-Maha Water Supply Corporation that was posted on the Secretary of State’s Web site lists an agenda item as “Dempsey’s proposed old Harmony Hills tract and possible holding pen for wetbacks.”

Who:                Council Members Mike Martinez, Lee Leffingwell, Sheryl Cole, Jennifer Kim, and Brewster McCracken, Mayor Will Wynn, Mayor Pro Tem Betty Dunkerley, State Sen. Kirk Watson, State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gomez

 

What:               Press Conference calling for resignation of Charles Laws, General Manager, Creedmoor-Maha Water Supply Corporation and Mayor Pro Tem for the City of Mustang Ridge

 

When:              5:15 p.m.

TODAY - Thursday, March 20, 2008  

 

Where:             Austin City Hall, 301 W. Second St.

News Conference Room, First Floor

 

 

Shame on Mr. Navarette, for defending Alberto Gonzales and assuring us he is not a liar after 3 interviews (see http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/22/navarrette/index.html ). He should have done his homework. Mr. Navarette has stated that Gonzales assured him that the firings were related to performance. If that is true then why was David Iglesias, US attorney from New Mexico, ranked the # 4 best US attorney in the nation fired? It seems that Mr. Navarette doesn’t mind continuing to victimize another Hispanic’s reputations in defense of someone who dishonored himself, his country & Hispanics when he chose to carry the water for this less than stellar administration.

I am Hispanic, I am from Texas and I am aware of the long history Mr. Gonzales has at failing to do what is honorable & what is good. In Texas he looked the other way rather than intervene in the execution of a retarded man under then Governor Bush. After that came condoning & encouraging torture, his faults are endless. He is an embarrassment to Hispanics. He embodies the saying, “Por eso no sube la raza [that is why the raza (Hispanics) never progress]. It is not just white Liberals who want him gone. Fuera, Sr. Gonzalez.
Margie Medrano

in response to http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/22/navarrette/index.html

An excellent start to the Lege, from LFT-endorsed State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin), which not only allows, but, can it be true, actually encourages people to be more involved in politics, and the process.

Representative Eddie Rodriguez to propose amendment to support Bloggers

AUSTIN– Representative Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) will propose an amendment to the house rules today that will give established Bloggers access to the House floor.

“With the rise of citizen journalism, it no longer makes sense to limit access to House business solely to the traditional press outlets,” said Representative Rodriguez.

Political blogs are some of the limited media that focus solely on reporting the happenings at the Capital and many of these Bloggers regularly break stories that show up in the traditional media.

Bloggers, as defined by this revised rule, produce original reporting and informed comment worthy of credentials. This amendment will allow increasingly popular non-traditional media, the privileges necessary to more effectively inform citizens on governmental issues.

“This kind of measure would encourage citizen participation in government and help demystify the system for the general public,” said Rodriguez.

Promoted from the comments for better visibility:

The Station Museum of Contemporary Art and The Museum of Fine Arts Houston are pleased to announce:

MAQUILAPOLIS
[city of factories]
http://www.maquilapolis.com
A film by Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre
90min

Free film screening November 5th from 2-4pm at the Museum of Fine Arts Theater (1001 Bissonnet Street Houston, TX 77005). Question and answer session with special guests, Dir. Sergio De La Torre and Lourdes Luján, at 4pm.

THE FILM
Carmen works the graveyard shift in one of Tijuana’s maquiladoras, the multinationally-owned factories that came to Mexico for its cheap labor. After making television components all night, Carmen comes home to a shack she built out of recycled garage doors, in a neighborhood with no sewage lines or electricity. She suffers from kidney damage and lead poisoning from her years of exposure to toxic chemicals. She earns six dollars a day. But Carmen is not a victim. She is a dynamic young woman, busy making a life for herself and her children.

As Carmen and a million other maquiladora workers produce televisions, electrical cables, toys, clothes, batteries and IV tubes, they weave the very fabric of life for consumer nations. They also confront labor violations, environmental devastation and urban chaos — life on the frontier of the global economy. In MAQUILAPOLIS, Carmen and her colleague Lourdes reach beyond the daily struggle for survival to organize for change: Carmen takes a major television manufacturer to task for violating her labor rights. Lourdes pressures the government to clean up a toxic waste dump left behind by a departing factory. As they work for change, the world changes too: a global economic crisis and the availability of cheaper labor in China begin to pull the factories away from Tijuana, leaving Carmen, Lourdes and their colleagues with an uncertain future.

THE OUTREACH CAMPAIGN
We are currently seeking funding to implement a binational Community Outreach Campaign, designed and implemented collaboratively with stakeholder organizations in the U.S. and Mexico. The campaign utilizes a high-profile public television broadcast, top tier film festivals and community screenings of the film to create meaningful social change around the issues of globalization, social and environmental justice and fair trade. Our outreach team includes dedicated activists on both sides of the border, mediamakers committed to social change, and most importantly a group of women factory workers struggling to bring about positive change in their world.

SPECIAL THANKS
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Department of Education at the Museum of Fine Arts and George Ramirez. Rosalinda Gonzalez, Curator of Frontiera 450+, Ann Harithas, and James Harithas, Director of The Station Museum.

This film was supported by a grant from the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund. It is a co-production of the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and a project of Creative Capital.

CONTACT
Department of Education MFA: George Ramirez, gramirez@mfah.org or 713.639.7727
The Station Museum: Rosalinda Gonzalez, rosalindagonzalez@gmail.com or 823.213.7428

LFT PAC’s first official financial contribution was to Juan Garcia, State Rep candidate for HD 32. and we went to blockwalk and do voter reg in San Patricio county because this guy is a natural leader and will make a great State Rep and beyond. Juan Garcia, his credentials, and his campaign really is the model by which candidates can inspire voters to become active, and everyday folks to become voters, or as Alfred Stanleys says in his annoucnement of a fundraiser:

Juan Garcia is one of our brightest hopes for beating an incumbent Republican legislator this fall. With dazzling credentials that give him almost instant credibility, he’s hard at work reaching out to fellow veterans and inspiring voters in and around Corpus Christi.

So if you are in Austin, make some time to support Juan Garcia:
WHO: Lt. Cmdr. Juan Garcia
WHAT: Fund-raiser for his campaign vs five-term Republican Rep. Gene Seaman
WHERE: Home of Liz and Kirk Watson, 2301 Woodlawn Blvd, Austin (directions below)
WHEN: Tuesday, September 26, 5:30-7:30 PM

Suggested Donation: $100 (all contributions welcome!)
Sponsorships: $250, $500, $1,000

ps. check out his commercial.

Another friendly reader (thanks Adam!) sent in a link to a MySA.com article about the efforts of Lionel Sosa, ‘one of Time magazine’s “25 Most Influential Hispanics”‘ to build an

online grass-roots think tank, it promises to forge new ideas and practical solutions to problems facing the United States and Mexico, immigration reform being the latest and most volatile.

He has some very interesting twist on the blogosphere ideas of getting Clickers into the streets, envisioning a complentary role for a new new site Mexicans & Americans Thinking Together at MATT.org:

“There’s been these marches on the street, but what happens afterward?” he said. “We hope they’ll join the Million Click March next and give us their best ideas, and we’ll serve them up to the leadership.”

Additionally, and not surprisingly since Sosa built the ‘largest Hispanic ad agency in the United States with clients such as Coca-Cola and Burger King and annual billings of more than $100 million,’ he aims to fund the non-profit side with a commercial venture side.

Its a good article, read it all at MySA.com and thanks again for the tip!

Felix Alvarado, recent candidate for Governor, writes in:

Having read candid comments regarding the removal of my name from the Democratic Primary race for governor, I would like to offer these comments.

You are correct when you say that I am a stupid fool.

In as much as I would like to prove you wrong, I cannot. Let me explain why you are correct.

It was foolish and stupid of me to believe that I could trust the news media to report a more accurate account of what happened. This is a lesson I learned the first election.

It was foolish and stupid of me to not apologize instead to the countless number of people across the State of Texas who were supporting my candidacy for governor. They include those who stopped me at gas stations; grocery stores; at malls; walking down the street; at restaurants and wished me good luck. I let them down. There is no amount of apologies that I could offer to minimize their disappointment.

It was foolish and stupid of me to not apologize instead to the thousands of Latino supporters across the State of Texas, who were embarrassed by my act. I let them down. There is no amount of apologies that I could offer to minimize their disappointment.

It was foolish and stupid of me because I let my courageous sister, Maria Luisa down on her campaign for Lieutenant Governor. I am certain that no matter how intense my pain, hers is greater.

It was foolish and stupid of me to not realize that there were some people that I could not trust. For that, I am solely responsible.

In retrospect, it was foolish and stupid of me to not consider the embarrassment and humiliation that would be felt by those who were actively supporting me. Irma, my Campaign Manager; Frank, my communications director; Andres my point of contact in the Metroplex; my old and trusted friends, Jacinto and his lovely wife Elena, and the list goes on. There is no amount of apologies that I could offer to minimize their hurt and disappointment.

To Irma and Frank who bore the brunt of calls from the news media that infamous Thursday night. They showed immense courage under fire.

When I spoke to the media that famous Thursday evening I had a chance to offer my apologies to many people across the State of Texas, as you can see, I did not. You are right, it was foolish and stupid of me to not do so when I had a chance.

This election was not about me. It was about the thousands of Texans who want to have a different choice, someone with no ties to special interests, one who has walked their shoes. When I was a young boy growing up in Texas, the thought of running for governor was not even a dream. I want to make that dream a reality.

Adios Amigos.

Atentamente,

Felix Alvarado

Alfredo Santos writes in to let us know another fact-and-figures-packed edition of La Politiquera is available, and i can tell you it is packed with interesting information, and a timely reminder:

On the question of voting, I had a man tell me a few years ago, “No, si yo tuviera la ciudanania, you saldria a votar cada vez que me tocaba. Yo veo que hay muchos de ustedes que no cuidan lo que tienen aquí en este país.” (No, if I was a citizen, I would go out and vote every time I could. I see that a lot of you are not taking care of what you have in this country.)

Headlines include ‘The Race for the 28th Congressional District Seat’ and

• On the Question of First Class Citizenship
• Diana Davila Named Board President of Houston ISD
• Armando Villarreal Now in Iowa
• Latinos by the Numbers
• Hispanics and Texas Politics
• Maria Luisa Alvarado Head of Democratic Ticket

Download the 800k PDF right here.

There is another (well-done) site in the Progressive community. They have some great tools, and clever feedback so you can see how the tools are being used by others.

They have started what looks like a series on the WSJ articles about the 2004 vote, especially the Latino vote: http://bluelatinos.org/v-web/b2/index.php?m=200504#18

Their mission:

A national online organization for progressive Latinos.

We are the next generation of action-oriented Latinos who are taking ownership of our lives and political futures and working to make America better for everyone. We are concerned individuals who are exercising our democratic right to organize.

Our mission is simple.

To organize progressive Latinos online and harness energy and resources to move voters, particularly Latino voters, toward progressive issues and action. We are using the best tools available to reach out and connect to other progressive Latinos throughout the country. We are the best messengers to communicate with Latino voters on issues that matter.

read more at http://bluelatinos.org/blog.htm

What categories would you like to see?

hit the comments link below and let us know what area and issues and languages you would like.

thanks!