Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's the week of April twenty seventh, twenty twenty five,
and this is what's on the People's News. The Pope
is at home. We look at his legacy and who
will be his replacement. Houston Hospitality unions unite. Executions in
Texas continue with the third so far this year. Republican
(00:28):
voter suppression is alive and well in Texas. A Houston
team looks to educate all that and more on the
People's News. I'm Steve Gallington. This is the People's News,
and the People's News starts now. Pope Francis, the first
(00:52):
pope from Latin America, died the day after Easter this
past Monday. Known for his activism, he spoke against war,
encouraged people to come together with the LGBTQ community as
well as with Muslims. Among other progressive things Pope Francis
did is he met with the Aboriginal community in Canada
(01:14):
as well as members of the church that were victims
of child abuse by the church. His funeral is on Saturday,
with leaders from all over the globe to pay their
respect for the work he has done. We talked to
Craig Considine, a senior lecturer in sociology at Rice University.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Sure so, I think there's two primary elements to Pope
Francis's legacy. The first is that he did his best
to turn the church not to its centers in places
like Rome or Paris or La some of these big
metropolis But really his concern was for the periphery of society,
(01:51):
those that are on the outside looking in the downtroddens,
those who are suffering, those who are in war torn
with conflict. This was a huge part of his legacy,
the humble Pope, as many call him. And secondly, Pope
Francis's legacy is linked to what he coined early in
(02:14):
his papacy as the culture of encounter. And he introduced
this when he took his first trip outside of Rome
in twenty thirteen to Lampadusa, which is in Italy, in
the south of Italy, and this was an island that
became the epicenter of the refugee crisis, and there Francis
(02:35):
was saying, let's not be indifferent to the suffering of people.
Let us encounter them, let us break bread with them,
let us get to know them. These are the two
big elements of his legacy, the periphery and the culture
of encounter. What can he tell us coming from Margentina,
he was that was he outsider looking in. A lot
(02:57):
of things are going on when he became the pope.
You know, we were talking about the abuse charges against
the Catholic Church, and he also the criticizing people from
being gay, and he was open to He was open
to a lot of things that that the traditional Catholic
(03:18):
Church was always Again those.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Speaks, sure.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
So the big one is his position on let's call
them social issues, LGBTQ matters and same sex marriage, and
also the role of women in the church. I think here, Richard,
it depends on what country you're actually viewing Pope Francis's
mission through Some countries and some Catholics may have been
(03:46):
more open to this more progressive style of Catholicism. However,
despite being a great bridge builder in many ways with
the culture of encounter, Pope Francis was all so quite
divisive in many ways because of his positions, these progressive
positions on social issues. So it really depends through which
(04:11):
country we're viewing this. In the United States, we know
that Pope Francis was deemed by many Catholics as being
too progressive, that he has kind of left the fold
of the traditional faith. However, we also have younger Catholics
in this country who may be more open to some
(04:32):
of these more liberal positions on things like LGBTQ matters
and same sex marriage.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah, what happens now, as far as you know, we've
we've got Now we've had a pope from South America.
Are we looking for a pope maybe coming from Africa
or coming from maybe the Philippines so to speak.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, that's right. So the conclave is upon us here,
we're about twelve days away. The College of Cardinals. All
the cardinals are now gathering in Rome, and they're having
what people refer to as general congregations. So the cardinal
at our meeting having private meetings. In other words, they're
(05:20):
politicking and they're coming up with their preferred candidates. Now,
these things, the conclaves, are notoriously difficult to predict. Most
scholars would agree with this. However, there are a few
leading candidates, some popular names that we see popping up
in the media. Let's look across the political spectrum. From
(05:42):
a more progressive side, we might have Cardinal Tagel from
the Philippines, who is considered the Asian Francis. He's progressive.
If he were to win, many of the pope's positions
on these social issues would likely continue. And then also
so Cardinal Tagel would also make the environment a key
(06:05):
part of his papacy. Now on the center of things,
we have Cardinal Urdo from Hungary. He's considered a little
bit more center, perhaps center right, moderate, also open to
interfaith dialogue. On his positions regarding social issues a bit unclear.
(06:27):
And then on the right we could potentially have Cardinal
Sarah from Guinea, who would be the first African pope
in the history of the Catholic Church. Cardinal Sarah is
also very conservative when it comes to maintaining orthodoxy. So
these are three potential candidates. But again, Richard, very difficult
(06:51):
to predict the outcomes of these because the Conclave is
really the most secretive election in the entire world.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, why is this so secret? I mean with the
Catholic school as a young young kid, so explain, explain
what the the myths and why is the secretive in
all these years?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
That's a good question. And my hunch tells me that
the Vatican wants to ensure that the cardinals are not
driven or guided or influenced by external factors, so things
like the media, things like politicians, and various other influential
(07:39):
players in society. They want it shut off all these
external influences, perhaps because they want a pure Holy Spirit,
as the Catholics would say, to guide their conclaves and
decide their decisions on the next pope.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
And your thoughts on who who were going towards who
they might be going towards extremely difficult to answer. I
think it's either going to go to the left with
Cardinal Tagel and a continuance of Pope Francis's progressive legacy,
or I think we're going to have a quite conservative candidate,
(08:22):
perhaps Pardinal Sarah from Guinea, which would really be revolutionary.
Once again, we'd have a double revolution. We had one
with Francis, and we might have another with Cardinal Tagle,
except it would go in the opposite direction. It wouldn't
be progressive, it would be more conservative. And frances will
he be But is he going? Is his body going
(08:44):
to go back to Argentina or is it going to stay.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It's going to stay in Rome. And what I read
is that he is not going to be buried in
Saint Peter's but somewhere else in the Vatican. So his
funeral is Saturday, and I'm assuming he would likely be
laid to rest that day or the next day. So
(09:10):
he's gonna be in Rome in the Vatican, but not
in Saint Peter's.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
This quick question though, the coming from Africa's coming from Guinea.
And you said he was he was pretty conservative.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yes, he's He's quite conservative in a lot of different ways,
largely maintaining what a lot would describe as like a
doctrinal orthodoxy, getting back to getting back to the text.
He's also not as open to let's refer to it
(09:46):
as the culture of encounter, as Cardinal Tagel might be
or Cardinal Urdo. Cardinal Sarah talks a lot about what
he perceives as a threat coming from Muslims, especially in
your He's gone on record saying that he's concerned that
Europe is losing its Christian identity and the influence of Islam,
(10:10):
who he deems to be kind of outside of a
certain fold, to be a major threat. So that would
greatly impact my work because I do Christian Muslim relations
and Francis did a lot of work in this category.
If Cardinal Sarah comes in, I think the Church would
really pump the brakes and halt a lot of their
(10:33):
engagement with Muslims around the world. The thing is like,
I like Cardinal Sarah's orthodoxy, but yeah, some of his
political and social positions, I think it's a bit extreme.
I thought some of Francis's social positions were also a
bit extreme. So here we are. I mean, this is
an age of extremism in many ways. And let's see
(10:55):
if the Church does a three sixty really and then
moves away from the far left and goes to the
far right, should be very interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That was Craig Constantine, a senior lecturer in sociology at
Rice University. In twenty twenty four, Houston saw a record
breaking fifty four million visitors, but the hospitality workers who
welcome those guests to Houston have not seen the benefits
of that boom. Instead, workers at the Hilton Americas, Marriott,
(11:27):
Marquee Convention Center, and Bush Intercontinental Airport, all major tourism
properties with public investment, report that they are struggling to
pay their bills. A coalition of hospitality unions have launched
an incentive called Project twenty three. They are asking for
a minimum of twenty three dollars an hour. They met
(11:50):
this week to announce the plan and some of the
pain that they are going through.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Is because today we're going to launch a historic fight
because the union isn't about what we say, it's about
what we do, okay, And I want to talk about it.
And you know, Houston is the fourth largest city in
the country. The only larger cities are New York, LA
And Chicago. But do you get paid like New York
(12:19):
LA or Chicago?
Speaker 5 (12:22):
All right?
Speaker 6 (12:23):
Do you think that's fair?
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Okay? And that is we've got to change something in
this city. And we have an opportunity to change this
because today you're seeing representatives of over three thousand workers
in this city, okay, the two largest hotels, over fifteen
hundred workers, concession workers at I Age, okay, who are
(12:50):
demanding to be treated with respect. And we're gonna win.
I'm gonna talk about this word respect because we're gonna
win the way we deserve and we're gonna talk about
that today. We're gonna win the benefits we deserve, and
we're gonna talk about that today.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
But above all else.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
The reason we haven't gotten them yet because we need
to demand some respect. Okay, when the city comes out
here and highlights and brags about the fact they're gonna
expand the convention center, well what about the workers in
(13:32):
the hotels and the convention center that don't make.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
It, that makes sixteen or seventeen dollars an hour and.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
Have to choose between paying for their medicine or buying food.
Is that respect? Well, we're gonna get some respect from them.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
A few of you may know me, a few of
you may not. My name is Genesia. I'm a union
rep with You're Not Here Local twenty four read and
I started with this union your night here back in
twenty fourteen. I was a housekeeper back in San Francisco
at the Marriott Marquis. I transferred in twenty sixteen to
(14:16):
hear Houston, Texas, to the Marriott Marquis Downtown.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
I opened the Marriott Marquis. It was like day and night.
Speaker 7 (14:29):
Because why the San Francisco Marriotte was union the Houston
was not. Imagine cleaning twelve rooms and coming to Texas.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Now I'm cleaning eighteen. My pay I was making.
Speaker 7 (14:46):
Eighteen Bucks housekeeper here, ten bucks. Also, my health insurance
was one hundred dollars there for one hundred here.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
It was really bad, guys.
Speaker 7 (15:03):
I was struggling. I was living with family members. I
couldn't afford a car, couldn't afford my own place. It
was taking a toll on me. I was really miserable
at that job. But I knew something had to change.
I couldn't keep going on like that, and the only
(15:25):
way was with the union.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
I got involved. I pushed my coworkers, I came to
the meetings.
Speaker 7 (15:34):
I was signing people up left and right, going to
city hall speaking because I knew the difference.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
Imagine going from a union job to a nun union job.
You feel it, you feel it in your body, your pay,
your benefits.
Speaker 7 (15:52):
But I was really really involved in the fight because
I knew what changes it could be this hotel, and
I was proud of myself for pushing and winning the
union there. The biggest thing I was fighting.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
For was the health insurance for me.
Speaker 7 (16:12):
I know people fight for different reasons pay parking benefits, so.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
I wanted those changes. I wanted that health insurance, I
wanted that parking.
Speaker 7 (16:23):
I wanted that raise and I knew we deserved better,
so I showed up. And I'm glad you guys are
showing up and standing up for your rights and for
your families.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
Because you deserve better. So when we fight, we win.
When we fight. I made about sixteen dollars an Now
I have a family of eights.
Speaker 8 (16:55):
My rent is twenty one hundred dollars a month. Now,
you tell me how is one supposed to survive with
cost of living going out? Rent is going out, food
is going up. A pack of wings is thirty dollars. Now,
y'all realize that twelve eggs ten dollars.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
That's where we're at today.
Speaker 8 (17:21):
Yet our companies look at us and say, this is
all your worth, This is what your service is worth.
This is the only respect that I'm going to give
you is sixteen dollars an hour. It's utmostly and utterly disrespectful.
So I'm in the fight with y'all, and I want
y'all to fight with me, because we are going for
these companies and we're going to get what we deserve.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
We serve people every day and.
Speaker 8 (17:53):
We give the best customer service that we can give,
and all they do is power more work on more
work less.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Fine, that ain't gonna work right because when we fight.
Speaker 9 (18:06):
When we fight, So your personally sing.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
Hi ma, name is Patricia last case, I'm fifty one
years old.
Speaker 9 (18:16):
Okay yoengl mil.
Speaker 6 (18:22):
Mil Houston Angeles, from Houston, from Los Angeles in canill
six two thousand and six. Okay, pero.
Speaker 5 (18:32):
In Houston, barata.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
But they said that here in Houston it was cheaper
and life.
Speaker 9 (18:39):
Was cheaperta pero que pasa the tempos.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
Poor and sube dodo.
Speaker 6 (18:54):
Maybe at that time it was cheaper. But now making fourteen, fifteen,
sixteen or even twenty, it's not enough to be making directly.
Speaker 9 (19:03):
Thats the travajan. So you know, madhus.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
So, I worked at the Bush Airport, just seventeen years
at the Bush Airport and I have directly five kidsos
Losumian and I worked for ATG for eight years.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
And what do they do.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
They humiliate us directly and that we should be grateful
to have a job.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Name of one Needle Thomas.
Speaker 6 (19:48):
I worked for Hills in America.
Speaker 10 (19:49):
I've been in twenty years and my struggle is like
back in seventeen, I lost my house to house power.
Speaker 6 (19:58):
Seven months later I lost my husband.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
After that COVID hit.
Speaker 10 (20:04):
And I managed to pay my bills, but I struggled
and right now.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
To day, I'm still struggling.
Speaker 10 (20:11):
We deserve more, we want more, and we're gonna fight
and fight until we get more. Yeah, I know they fight.
Speaker 5 (20:27):
Every fight.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
They were supported by Houston City Councilman Joaquin Martinez.
Speaker 11 (20:34):
How are you gonna fight for these workers coming in here?
And he heard their stories?
Speaker 5 (20:41):
The city going to protect them?
Speaker 3 (20:42):
How are they going to be.
Speaker 12 (20:45):
So first, it's about speaking to it, right, So I
appreciate you all organizing, making sure that you're holding us accountable.
UH and certn have this conversation around the horseshoe, making
sure the administration the Marin.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
Knows about this is shared with folks.
Speaker 12 (20:59):
You know, we got the Hilton area, we have Georgia
Brown and all that's gonna see the economic impact in
a positive way in the next even the next year.
We need to make sure that now where the contract
consions are happy, that everybody understands and it's not about
just folks that are in this room. People in Houston
need to know, right, So we need to make sure
that this is not just you know, labor coming together,
(21:21):
but Wstonian's understanding that there is a benefit that's coming
into the city, and then everybody needs to participate.
Speaker 11 (21:27):
Especially for Latino community, because we have a situation now
where contractors are hiring, hiring people and then calling we're
even trying to rip off the community are particular.
Speaker 13 (21:40):
So again this goes back to at the end of
the day, you know, as an elected official, we're just
one and the really power comes in community, and you know,
I need to make sure that the community is speaking up.
Speaker 14 (21:52):
We're speaking up as well at city home, making sure
that the community, Latin the community feels safe, that they
feel that that they feel part as a fabric of
this community and so protecting them, making sure that there's trusts,
booting trusts.
Speaker 12 (22:05):
That it's all it's a long term conversation, right, but
we need to have that.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Conversation with The union is also supported by the Texas
a fl CIO, who's president Rick Levy, was on hand
to stand by the workers every single.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Way that we can.
Speaker 15 (22:21):
When you hear the stories of what people are doing
just to see why, and then you hear them the
obscene profits that these companies are making off their backs.
Speaker 16 (22:29):
If people aren't mad enough to get up and organize.
Speaker 15 (22:31):
When they hear these stories, they never will be And
when you look at everything going into this country today,
all the ways that workers are under your attack, this
is the way organize your workplace, stand up for yourself.
The person who is standing right next to you is
the person that help.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
You change your world.
Speaker 15 (22:49):
So let's get after it. And we're going to be
doing everything we can to make that.
Speaker 17 (22:52):
The fear factor, especially when when you're talking about the
hospitality and industry. Yeah, and the fear that a lot
of workers are here to you because because of being fired,
was being targeted.
Speaker 15 (23:05):
That the best protection you have against being fired is
to have a union contract. And until you do, it's
like the brother said in there, they can't ride your
back and you're standing uptown.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
And so that's what we need to do and have.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
Each other's back.
Speaker 17 (23:20):
And I have to talk nationally about what's going on
as far as as far as as far as the
president and trying to take away collective bargaining.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
You can't.
Speaker 17 (23:28):
They took the TSA.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
Sure, how screw you is that?
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Not just ts A?
Speaker 15 (23:35):
Like vast slots of the federal government and one fell
swoop he took away collective bargaining. And if you think
he's stopping at that, the answer is no. This president,
when people stand up to him.
Speaker 16 (23:48):
And say no, he'll back down. But people got to
stop giving all this. People got to understand that this
is the new normal, that nothing we have we can
take for granted, and we have to be if it's
important to us, we have to be willing to fight
for it. And I feel like people can be kind
of complacent. It's like when people come to work in
(24:09):
a union and unionize environment that I.
Speaker 18 (24:11):
Don't have to under it.
Speaker 15 (24:13):
I got good pay, good benefits without understanding the struggle
that it took to get that and to maintain that.
And it's the same thing in our democracy. We have
the greatest democracy in the world, but unless we're willing
to fight for it, we're only going to get what
they're willing to give. And I want more than they're
willing to give. I want what's due to eat and
every one of us to be able to live with
(24:34):
dignity and respect in my in the comfort. So look,
the labor open here in Texas is coming together. We're
all in for organs, We're all in for doing whatever
we can to stand it for working people, whatever that means.
Speaker 17 (24:47):
I also have to learn one question about the uh
the vouchers that the program juster place in the danger
that is to teach us especial.
Speaker 15 (24:56):
It's not just teachers that vouchers is nothing but a scam.
It's billionaires who are putting money in to take over
privatize our education system. Why so they can make bank
just like they're doing on all these other things. So
we talk about who's going to run it, who's going
to make these private schools, who's going to get all
that money? That's money that should be going into educating
(25:18):
your kids and my kids and has to be going
into some billionaire's pocket. And I feel like the only
reason it us is because you had very powerful economic
couple of little interests threatening people, cowering people, spending millions
and millions of dollars against the candidates who weren't willing
to toe the line. We're not willing to put it
(25:40):
up for a vote if they think it's so popular,
and why weren't they going to put up for a vote.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
So look.
Speaker 15 (25:46):
The damage that they're.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
Going to do it to public education.
Speaker 15 (25:49):
We're going to be folding it for decades unless we're
serious about it and work to undo that and fight back,
it's only going to get worse.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
They now fight and go into negotiations. If you want
to find out more about the struggle, email Santana Mitchell,
s Mitchell. That's s m I t ch e l
ll at unite heere dot org.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
This is Steve Gallington, producer and host of the People's News.
If you have a story that needs to be told,
come to us. We accept fully produced audio written material,
or just give us the idea and we will run
with it. Shiny new one hour episodes of The People's
News drop each Sunday on The People's News podcast, hosted
(26:36):
by Spreaker dot com and linked to my website Gallington
dot com. Texas has executed their third person this year.
Moys's Sandoval Mendoza, forty one, received a lethal injection at
the State Penitentiary in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at
six forty pm. He was sent to death for his
(26:58):
conviction in the March to the thousand and four killing
of twenty year old Rachel O'Neill to Lesso. We talked
with Gloria Rubik of the Texas death Penalty Abolition.
Speaker 19 (27:07):
Movement Texas carried out is five hundred and ninety fourth
execution since the death penalty was reinstated, So from nineteen
eighty two until now, who we lead the country in executions.
The man that was executed was named Moisaise Mendoza and
(27:35):
it was a very sad situation. He was not innocent,
he was guilty and he said he had no idea
what came over him to commit this crime, but he
kidnapped and raped and murdered a girl that he was
actually friends with that he had gone to high school with.
(28:00):
He had terrible trial lawyers who actually called a witness
that probably sealed his state because the witness that they
called said that he was violent person and he was
very likely to commit violence again.
Speaker 14 (28:21):
So that was.
Speaker 19 (28:25):
I can't imagine why his attorney did that, but it
probably made it absolutely because you know, once you're convicted,
then there's almost like a separate trial to decide the penalty,
and if you're convicted of capital murder, the penalty can
either be one of two things, death or life without parole.
(28:50):
But there was about thirty people protesting, maybe more. It
was a good crowd, although it was very bizarre because
all of a sudden, when we got there, they had
put up barricades where we always stand the protest and
said we couldn't go over there, that that was state property.
(29:12):
So they had Texas's I don't know, it's called the
Office of Inspector General OYG. They had three YG cops
patrolling the area and keeping us across the street, and
(29:34):
it was strange. But during the execution, before they killed him,
Moist apologized to the girl's family who was witnessing, and
(29:56):
he also she had a two month old daughter or
a very tiny daughter when this happened. That girl is
now twenty or twenty one years old, and she did
not attend, but he did apologize to her too, And
(30:18):
then he had his sisters and his wife's witness for him.
So after he apologized to the victim's family, he told
the family that he was okay, that you know, he
accepted what was happening, and he said he told them
(30:38):
to stay strong, that love was the answer. Obviously violence
was not an answer to anything.
Speaker 15 (30:51):
And.
Speaker 19 (30:55):
He said that don't he said, don't kill anyone with kindness.
Heal them with kindness and love. It's always got.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
To be love, love, love.
Speaker 19 (31:09):
So, like I say, this is put in Texas closer
to five are six hundred executions. The next execution is
May twentieth, and Matthew Johnson from Dallas's scheduled to be executed.
But I was reading some information today and it's really
sad that not only did his trial attorney call a
(31:33):
witness that made sure he got the death penalty, but
then his appeals attorneys over the years, over twenty years,
he saw them twice and never knew what was even
going on. He got some good attorneys at the m
who tried to bring up the fact that he'd had
(31:56):
lousy attorneys all of this time, but that was denied
in Texas courts and ultimately by the Supreme Court.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Well.
Speaker 19 (32:06):
So, he had apparently made amends with his family and
kept in touch with them, and his mom was from
Al Salvador, and one of our members who is from
(32:26):
Al Salvador said her family knew his family and his
poor mother was having a nervous breakdown. Which is just
another reason to begin to the death penalty, because you're
creating a whole another set of victims' families. I mean,
the mother couldn't even go to Huntsville. She was just
(32:47):
really freaking out and they were worried she was having
a nervous breakdown. And the other thing with the death
penalty and executions, you give somebody death instead of life.
There are endless appeals after appeals where the victim's family
has to relive and retell the story over and over again.
(33:12):
Which is why a few years ago, when that really racist,
probably mentally ill man went to the Walmart in al
Paso and killed I think it was thirty people, the
DA is not seeking the death penalty, and that is
because he met with all the victims' families and they said,
(33:34):
you know what, just send them to life and let's
be done with it and we can move on with
our lives. So that's something people don't think about very often.
And the other thing I just wanted to add is
on Sunday, there's going to be an event for the
(33:54):
seventy first birthday of political personal Moumia Abu Jamal, and
there's actually going to be events all over the world.
MoMA's has just exhausted all his appeals in the Pennsylvania
system where he was convicted, and so legally things aren't
(34:20):
looking too good and his health is terrible, so we're
going to have Minister Abdul Hali Muhammad and Bunchie Career,
a member of the Black Panther Party, are going to
be speaking. Johnny Tortis, whose uncle Joe Complish Tortis was
(34:41):
murdered by the police, just wrote a new beautiful poem
for Momia and he will be doing that. And then
Nikki lleu Allen's going to be doing poetry, and Sister
Mama Sonya, who's our creative member, is going to do
probably spoken word as well as some So we're going
(35:02):
to protest, but we're also going to celebrate his birthday.
We'll be having a birthday cake and I think some
of the young kids are going to be blowing out
the candles for him. But we'll be joining people from
all over.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
The world this week.
Speaker 19 (35:21):
To celebrate Mumia's birthday.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Mumia Abdul Jamal is a political prisoner and former Black
Panther Party member that is serving a life sentence in Philadelphia.
Those that say he was innocent have been protesting for
all the years he's been locked up. There is a
celebration of Mumia's birthday that is celebrated around the world,
and on Sunday at two PM at Emancipation Park. You
(35:48):
can go to their Facebook page at the Texas Death
Penalty abolition Movement. House Bill fifty three to thirty seven
and its companion bill, Senate Bill sixteen, are bills that
will press Texas voters by requiring documented proof of citizenship
to register to vote. Is being heard in the House
Elections Committee. In response, a coalition of organizations voice their
(36:12):
strong opposition. Widely criticized for creating unnecessary barriers to voting,
House Bill five three three seven will disenfranchise millions of Texans,
particularly young people, naturalized citizens, and married women. We talk
to Emily French with common cause.
Speaker 18 (36:30):
Texas HB fifty three thirty seven is the companion to
SB sixteen. Both of these bills are a trick aimed
at making it harder for eligible voters to register. They
say that it's about checking non citizen voter registration and
making sure that no non citizens are on the roles.
But we already have robust processes in Texas that do that,
(36:50):
our DPS that talks to our county elections departments constantly
making sure that non citizens aren't.
Speaker 19 (36:56):
On the roles.
Speaker 18 (36:57):
They've been unable to prove that. That is a big problem,
but that's not to stop them from suppressing regular eligible
votes in order to keep people from voting. Like you said,
this bill would require everybody in Texas to be subject
to a citizenship check based on systems that we don't
know that aren't particularly listed in the bill, and it
(37:21):
would make everyone in Texas, all eighteen point six million
of US currently registered folks in Texas might get our
registration downgraded to just two federal races and not be
able to vote on any of our state or local
offices unless we go into our elections offices, wait in line,
(37:42):
go through the process right like a DPS, to show
documents that prove that we are citizens that have our
current names on them.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
What's scary is the whole aspect of required documents of
proof of citizenship. You know, so right now when you
go to vote, to have a driver's license, So what
else do you need?
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Right The.
Speaker 18 (38:06):
S sixteen at HP fifty three thirty seven would require
you to have an additional document that you don't just
show at the polling place, that you would have to
go show to your county office. The way the bill
is written now, they would require either a US citizenship
certificate or a birth certificate with your name on it,
or a passport. I got married in twenty twenty three.
(38:28):
I don't have a birth certificate with my current name
on it. For a long time I didn't have a passport.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
Now I have one.
Speaker 18 (38:34):
But there are tons of Texans in the same position
who don't have a birth certificate with their current name
on it. It takes a long time to go down
to county offices. It takes money to get birth certificates.
Passports are one hundred and thirty dollars. This seems to
me to be a poll tax that adds additional layers
of unhelpful security just to keep people from casting those ballots.
(38:57):
I believe two and three rule voters don't have a
pass sport. One out of three regular voters don't have
a passport. Many folks who are college students don't have
access to passports or first certificates because they vote eligibly
in Texas. But those documents are sitting at home with
their parents in a fire stake that the kid had
never seen before. This is just a It seems to
(39:19):
me to just be a pure voter suppression effort.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Yeah, and it seems like it's a poll tax. And
for people that don't know, Uh, these were restrictions on
uh to stop African Americans from voting up until up
until the sixties. In some places, these were put in
place that you had to have, but you have to
go to a lottery. In some places to get to
be able to vote, you had to you had to
(39:43):
know somebody to vote. These are these are the type
of restrictions we had in the past, during during segregation.
Is this the same Is this going into the same
pattern of you you've seen the same pattern because I've
heard you mentioned the poll tax.
Speaker 18 (39:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 8 (39:58):
Uh.
Speaker 18 (39:59):
The twenty four Amendments to the Constitution says it is
illegal to have a pull tax, but that has not
stopped a lot of Texast legislators. So I'm trying to
sneak a poll tax in right. Driver's licenses cost money.
The Fifth Circuit said, we don't want to voter id
to be a poll tax. The Fifth Circuit is the
most conservative circuit court in America. They even they said
a driver's license might be a pull tax. So you
(40:21):
have to be able to vote if you have a
reasonable impediment like a reason you can't get a driver's license.
But there has been a bill in the past couple
of weeks trying to get rid of those reasonable impediment declarations.
And I think that this birth certificate voter birth certificate
passport extra expense definitely seems to me to be a
(40:43):
poll tax. I don't know if the courts would agree
with me, but if it looks like a pull tax
and smells like a poll tax and quacks like a
full tax, you have to think it probably is.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
So this is this is coming out of committee, and
I guess tomorrow you're gonna have a hearing. How serious
is this a to passing this measure of session?
Speaker 18 (41:03):
There does seem to be a lot of will to
pass this. It's already been through the whole process on
the Senate side, and the Senate has done everything they
need for it to be a bill that becomes law.
It's just on the House side now that we'll have
to fight it in the House Elections Committee tomorrow April
twenty fourth, as well as later on down the line
(41:24):
on the House floor.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
If this goes into this goes into reality, so to speak,
will this be taken up in the courts.
Speaker 18 (41:35):
I can't imagine it won't be taken up in the court,
so I don't litigate myself. But there are so many
red flags here. And in Kansas they passed a similar
law like this a decade ago, and twelve percent of
eligible voters who tried to register for three years were
denied registration because of this documentary proof of citizenship law.
(41:59):
And the tempts where Kansas is that that this is
illegal and they can't do it. So I think there's
plenty of opportunities for judges to find this unconstitutional.
Speaker 3 (42:10):
Is this pretty much being done for publicity or for
showmanship so to speak?
Speaker 18 (42:22):
Hard to say what the motivation is. I do think
that they are that there are folks in the legislature
who want to make non citizen voting seem like a
problem when it really is not. I do think that
there are people who just want to make it harder
for everyone to vote and reduce the pool of who
is electing our representatives, our president to the smallest number possible,
just like you know, the seventeen nineties, white land owning
(42:45):
males were allowed to vote. I think they're trying to
get it back to that number. However they can.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
And this added to all the other restrictions that have
been put in place in Texas. You want to talk
about that.
Speaker 18 (43:00):
Well, of course, there have been some folks trying to
get rid of county wide polling, which is the mechanism
by which folks can vote at any polling place in
their county on election day. Harris County went to this
in twenty eighteen. In the twenty eighteen election, right before
Harris County got county wide polling, there were four thousand
(43:21):
people in Harris County whose votes were thrown out just
because they voted in a different neighborhood from their precinct.
As soon as Harris County went to county wide polling,
those votes were all eligible, were all fine, Those people
were not disenfranchised the county wide polling. That stuff is
thalled out on the Senate side, but we're still trying
to be wary of it. There are also a bunch
(43:42):
of bills that are trying to get the Attorney General
right now it's kin Paxton back into charging folks with
electron crimes. From that is a local prosecutor's job to do.
Harris County DA and Harris County attorney have both clashed
with the state because the state does not agree with
their prosecutor discretion. But that is where the decisions are
supposed to be made, not from the Attorney General's office.
(44:05):
There are all kinds of bills where folks are trying
to get crcial voting rights, but we're still out here
fighting them.
Speaker 3 (44:11):
Yeah, and to add insult to injury, you know, Harris
County is this just seems like something ten Paston was
trying to get back at Harris County, just as the
governor was also for not supporting him and making it
hard for Ustonians to go out and vote. Whereas now,
(44:33):
especially in my neighborhood, you can go down the street
to vote. Now you have to go two three miles
down the road to go vote, exactly.
Speaker 18 (44:43):
And I think that that Harris County has been a
target of the House Elections Committee to the point where
it's almost a joke. When people bring up a bill
in House Elections sometimes they'll say, this is not a
Harris County bill, because everyone expects it to be a
Harris County bill. It is so wild that people in
his Harrison County have different voting rights and people in
Travis County are people where I grew up in Wichita County.
(45:05):
This is one state we're also to have the same
amount of voting rights and the reasons that the state
goes after Harris County seemed to me to be partisan
motivated and honestly in a lot of cases racially motivated.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
That was Emily French with Common Cause Texas. You can
reach them at Common Cause All put Together, dot org,
forward Slash Texas. Houston's getting a new football team. The
Houston Roughnecks of the United Football League is a new
league for the US for American football. They play at
(45:40):
the University of Houston and are starting a new initiative
to get kids in the area to start reading and
to help teachers. We talked to Houston Roughnecks VP of
Team Business and Event Operations, Catherine Schultz.
Speaker 20 (45:54):
Absolutely we were delighted to want what we're calling our
Roughnecks Reach, which is a community initiative and it has
multiple pillars. For this upcoming game, we're really excited to
launch our education pillars and what those initiatives are within
our community. And so for this upcoming game on May third,
(46:16):
we're calling it our Houston Huddle Up game, which is
a celebration of education and innovation. And so we really
believe that the foundation is innovation is education, right, and
that what makes our cities so great is the strong
foundation of education and teachers and leaders who really want
(46:37):
to shape the future of our community. So we're doing
a couple of different initiatives for this game that we're
really excited about and that we'll carry on not just
throughout this season, but throughout years to come. So the
first is called our Roughnecks Reading Program, And as a
mom of several children, I'm really excited to be able
(46:57):
to encourage students to read. And once you read, then
you're earning the opportunity to come to one of our games.
So for this year, it is read three books and
submit that through our program and you will receive a
complimentary ticket that is for students, right. So as much
as I love to read, it is a student led
(47:20):
program and we really hope that this will help teachers
in the classroom. Literacy matters, right, and we know that
our educators are really working hard to make sure that
we have a generation of strong readers and that.
Speaker 18 (47:36):
They're encouraged to read.
Speaker 20 (47:37):
So we're excited to launch that initiative. We also have
a coloring contest that we're really enjoying rolling out. So
it's called our hard Hat coloring Contests. We are the
Houston Roughnecks, so you will often see hard hats right
to represent a Roughneck in our stands and around the
(47:58):
community as we're out engaging with folks from our community.
And so we're excited about this one. We've sent it
to all of the schools, but you don't have to
be in a public school to participate. Again, it's for students,
and so it is coloring one of our hard hats
and submitting it into our program, which is available on
(48:19):
our website. And once you complete that, then again you've
earned a free student ticket and discounted offers for parents, family,
et cetera to attend. We've got a really great college
student ticket discount because again we've got phenomenal colleges and
universities in the greater Houston area and so through our
(48:41):
ex Now system, we have a college student offer that's
as low as twelve dollars. So it's that we hope
that our college students will take advantage of. And then
we get to the heart of the program and it's
really teachers and faculty. And so we have launched a
buy one at one free for teachers through our website
(49:02):
and we have put that to all of our school
districts in the area and we're.
Speaker 18 (49:08):
Continuing to send that out today. And then one that
is the most exciting to me, which is a nominate
a teacher award. And so we're calling on all Houstonians,
all Roughnecks, fans, all administrators to you know, nominate a
teacher who makes a difference in our community. Let's be real,
all of our teachers make an incredible difference and you know,
(49:32):
quite an impact on our community.
Speaker 20 (49:35):
That there are some that are quiet and unseen and
they are true heroes and we would love nothing more
than to shine a light on them during this game
that scept coming on May third.
Speaker 3 (49:47):
One thing, I'm going to back up a bit because
for those who do not know what a roughneck is,
a roughneck is a person that works in the oil field.
And they called in my roughneck grit on it.
Speaker 18 (50:04):
You are correct, you are correct. You know, being in
the heart of the energy capital of the world, we're
really excited to lean into those roots. And again, when
you kind of look at who our city is. One
of the things that I love about Houston, being a
native Houstonian is I think that, you know, the city
(50:25):
screams grit. It's screams hard work, and it's it's really
the commitment of that grit and wavering commitment and meeting
technology and innovation. And we're phenomenal at that that. You know,
the in this energy industry is synonymous for that here
and so being able to lean into, you know, Houston's
(50:48):
roots is something that we're really excited about building upon
that to celebrate how education is such a pillar component
of that industry, energy industry, excuse me, And what that
innovation means for our community is something that you know
that we don't take lightly.
Speaker 3 (51:07):
One thing I don't I don't know if you guys
are doing anything with you have between Texas Southern University
and the University of Houston, you have Jack Yates High
School and down the street you have Austin High School.
I'm just curious if it's any type of relationship or
(51:27):
any type of meetings or something or or meetings with
this with those two schools in general, and you have
a couple of middle schools in their area too that
was just that Roughnecks are trying to work with him,
especially Jack Yates because they were champions football team.
Speaker 20 (51:50):
Yeah, and they have phenomenal programs at Yates High School.
It is one that I would say our team has
worked with actually in past lives, with our organizations in
the past, and then we worked pretty closely with them
in twenty twenty three, and we have reached out to say,
you know, we'd love to do something.
Speaker 18 (52:09):
We'd love to.
Speaker 20 (52:10):
Showcase your players.
Speaker 19 (52:11):
We'd love to showcase your.
Speaker 20 (52:12):
Band during our upcoming games, specifically this may third game.
So I don't want to spill any secrets. I don't
want to say anything. We're still working on confirmations for things.
But to your point, you know, the heartbeat of the
community is important to us, and giving kids opportunities that
they may not have had otherwise is really at the
(52:33):
core of who we are. And so nope, I don't
We don't have those things, you know, somewhat solidified. We
are working on them. We've got another component that that
we're really excited about it. We have you mentioned TSU, right,
We've got really phenomenal institutions in the city, and we
(52:54):
have quite a few coaches that are part of the
Divine Nine, and we are really looking to showcase the
Divine Nine in this upcoming game as well. And so
our head coach C. J. Johnson, he is part of
Alpha Phi Alpha. We've got our head football operations manager
(53:15):
that same fraternity. We've got some other coaches that are
part of different fraternities. So really, you know, really looking
at those historic Black colleges and universities and the amazing
fraternities and sororities that support them, is really is really
important to us again providing tentacles and opportunities. So kids
(53:40):
like that JACKO at Austin High School really, you know,
really have opportunities to meet some other some other individuals
that can help with their future careers and their future success.
Speaker 3 (53:53):
Nominating a teacher, how is that going to work?
Speaker 20 (53:57):
So we've got a form that I'm sure or you
will either receive if you've if you've not already received it,
and it is it is just as simple. You go
into the form and you nominate a teacher, and it is,
you know, just a couple of quick questions, their name,
how we contact them, and then what the impact that
(54:18):
they have made on their community, on your life. We
did this last year and we actually had several nominations
from students and from parents, not just from faculty and
administration from those schools, and so it was you know,
talk to us about these educators that are making an impact.
Talk about these.
Speaker 18 (54:38):
Educators that are truly influencing the lives of the next
generation and are often our community's unsung heroes.
Speaker 3 (54:48):
And the hard hat coloring contest. You said that the
high schools or it's not just Hi C High schools,
it's also Fort Ban County and other high schools around
around around Harrison County that they're participating the correct.
Speaker 20 (55:06):
Absolutely, every every school and school district and private school,
really all youths in the greater Houston area are welcome
to participate in this.
Speaker 18 (55:19):
It does need to be a student, you do need
to be in school.
Speaker 20 (55:23):
But it is color this, make it your best design.
We're going to pop them up, we'll showcase them on
our social media channels. They'll be showcased.
Speaker 18 (55:31):
Throughout the game on May third, and so.
Speaker 20 (55:34):
Again really wanting to showcase artistic levels of all ages
and give students something fun.
Speaker 18 (55:42):
At the end of the year. You know, we know
that Teacher Appreciation Week kicks off on May fifth, and
our game is on May third, and we are really
excited to you know, kind of head into the end
of the school year and kick off things celebrating our
amazing teachers at this game.
Speaker 3 (56:02):
And an amazing team.
Speaker 20 (56:04):
If you get this, We've got players that have been
talking about, you know, the journey that they've been on,
and that journey started with those teachers, with the coaches,
with the art instructors, with the band, you know, directors
that have made an impact on their life. And so
for for our players, it's really important to them that
(56:27):
they be able to have those same touch points within
our community and that everybody is thinking at our game
and and they're excited. They're they're coming back to Houston,
Hungary for a win, and that they are telling me
they're going to deliver on that and that they they
really want to inspire students that come to this game
(56:48):
with what the future could look like.
Speaker 1 (56:50):
That was Houston Roughnecks VP of Team Business and Event Operations,
Catherine Schultz. The game is next Saturday at the University
of Hughes. The People's News is a production of Steve
Gallington and Richard Hannah and is protected by copyright laws.
All the information broadcast on air and online, as well
(57:12):
as published in both print and or online, including articles, audio, clips, illustrations, graphics, photographs,
and videos, are protected by these copyright and other state
and federal intellectual property laws. Therefore, you may not use
our content in any prohibited way, including reproducing, publishing, transmitting, selling, rewriting, broadcasting,
(57:33):
or posting on the Internet without the expressed written permission
of the People's News. Prohibited use also includes publication of
our material in printed or electronic brochures, newsletters, or flyers,
as well as all website or email distribution. To obtain
permission to use copyrighted material, email Steve Gallington at Steve
(57:54):
at gallington dot com. Thank you,
It's the week of April twenty seventh, twenty twenty five,
and this is what's on the People's News. The Pope
is at home. We look at his legacy and who
will be his replacement. Houston Hospitality unions unite. Executions in
Texas continue with the third so far this year. Republican
(00:28):
voter suppression is alive and well in Texas. A Houston
team looks to educate all that and more on the
People's News. I'm Steve Gallington. This is the People's News,
and the People's News starts now. Pope Francis, the first
(00:52):
pope from Latin America, died the day after Easter this
past Monday. Known for his activism, he spoke against war,
encouraged people to come together with the LGBTQ community as
well as with Muslims. Among other progressive things Pope Francis
did is he met with the Aboriginal community in Canada
(01:14):
as well as members of the church that were victims
of child abuse by the church. His funeral is on Saturday,
with leaders from all over the globe to pay their
respect for the work he has done. We talked to
Craig Considine, a senior lecturer in sociology at Rice University.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Sure so, I think there's two primary elements to Pope
Francis's legacy. The first is that he did his best
to turn the church not to its centers in places
like Rome or Paris or La some of these big
metropolis But really his concern was for the periphery of society,
(01:51):
those that are on the outside looking in the downtroddens,
those who are suffering, those who are in war torn
with conflict. This was a huge part of his legacy,
the humble Pope, as many call him. And secondly, Pope
Francis's legacy is linked to what he coined early in
(02:14):
his papacy as the culture of encounter. And he introduced
this when he took his first trip outside of Rome
in twenty thirteen to Lampadusa, which is in Italy, in
the south of Italy, and this was an island that
became the epicenter of the refugee crisis, and there Francis
(02:35):
was saying, let's not be indifferent to the suffering of people.
Let us encounter them, let us break bread with them,
let us get to know them. These are the two
big elements of his legacy, the periphery and the culture
of encounter. What can he tell us coming from Margentina,
he was that was he outsider looking in. A lot
(02:57):
of things are going on when he became the pope.
You know, we were talking about the abuse charges against
the Catholic Church, and he also the criticizing people from
being gay, and he was open to He was open
to a lot of things that that the traditional Catholic
(03:18):
Church was always Again those.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Speaks, sure.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
So the big one is his position on let's call
them social issues, LGBTQ matters and same sex marriage, and
also the role of women in the church. I think here, Richard,
it depends on what country you're actually viewing Pope Francis's
mission through Some countries and some Catholics may have been
(03:46):
more open to this more progressive style of Catholicism. However,
despite being a great bridge builder in many ways with
the culture of encounter, Pope Francis was all so quite
divisive in many ways because of his positions, these progressive
positions on social issues. So it really depends through which
(04:11):
country we're viewing this. In the United States, we know
that Pope Francis was deemed by many Catholics as being
too progressive, that he has kind of left the fold
of the traditional faith. However, we also have younger Catholics
in this country who may be more open to some
(04:32):
of these more liberal positions on things like LGBTQ matters
and same sex marriage.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Yeah, what happens now, as far as you know, we've
we've got Now we've had a pope from South America.
Are we looking for a pope maybe coming from Africa
or coming from maybe the Philippines so to speak.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, that's right. So the conclave is upon us here,
we're about twelve days away. The College of Cardinals. All
the cardinals are now gathering in Rome, and they're having
what people refer to as general congregations. So the cardinal
at our meeting having private meetings. In other words, they're
(05:20):
politicking and they're coming up with their preferred candidates. Now,
these things, the conclaves, are notoriously difficult to predict. Most
scholars would agree with this. However, there are a few
leading candidates, some popular names that we see popping up
in the media. Let's look across the political spectrum. From
(05:42):
a more progressive side, we might have Cardinal Tagel from
the Philippines, who is considered the Asian Francis. He's progressive.
If he were to win, many of the pope's positions
on these social issues would likely continue. And then also
so Cardinal Tagel would also make the environment a key
(06:05):
part of his papacy. Now on the center of things,
we have Cardinal Urdo from Hungary. He's considered a little
bit more center, perhaps center right, moderate, also open to
interfaith dialogue. On his positions regarding social issues a bit unclear.
(06:27):
And then on the right we could potentially have Cardinal
Sarah from Guinea, who would be the first African pope
in the history of the Catholic Church. Cardinal Sarah is
also very conservative when it comes to maintaining orthodoxy. So
these are three potential candidates. But again, Richard, very difficult
(06:51):
to predict the outcomes of these because the Conclave is
really the most secretive election in the entire world.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, why is this so secret? I mean with the
Catholic school as a young young kid, so explain, explain
what the the myths and why is the secretive in
all these years?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
That's a good question. And my hunch tells me that
the Vatican wants to ensure that the cardinals are not
driven or guided or influenced by external factors, so things
like the media, things like politicians, and various other influential
(07:39):
players in society. They want it shut off all these
external influences, perhaps because they want a pure Holy Spirit,
as the Catholics would say, to guide their conclaves and
decide their decisions on the next pope.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
And your thoughts on who who were going towards who
they might be going towards extremely difficult to answer. I
think it's either going to go to the left with
Cardinal Tagel and a continuance of Pope Francis's progressive legacy,
or I think we're going to have a quite conservative candidate,
(08:22):
perhaps Pardinal Sarah from Guinea, which would really be revolutionary.
Once again, we'd have a double revolution. We had one
with Francis, and we might have another with Cardinal Tagle,
except it would go in the opposite direction. It wouldn't
be progressive, it would be more conservative. And frances will
he be But is he going? Is his body going
(08:44):
to go back to Argentina or is it going to stay.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It's going to stay in Rome. And what I read
is that he is not going to be buried in
Saint Peter's but somewhere else in the Vatican. So his
funeral is Saturday, and I'm assuming he would likely be
laid to rest that day or the next day. So
(09:10):
he's gonna be in Rome in the Vatican, but not
in Saint Peter's.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
This quick question though, the coming from Africa's coming from Guinea.
And you said he was he was pretty conservative.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yes, he's He's quite conservative in a lot of different ways,
largely maintaining what a lot would describe as like a
doctrinal orthodoxy, getting back to getting back to the text.
He's also not as open to let's refer to it
(09:46):
as the culture of encounter, as Cardinal Tagel might be
or Cardinal Urdo. Cardinal Sarah talks a lot about what
he perceives as a threat coming from Muslims, especially in
your He's gone on record saying that he's concerned that
Europe is losing its Christian identity and the influence of Islam,
(10:10):
who he deems to be kind of outside of a
certain fold, to be a major threat. So that would
greatly impact my work because I do Christian Muslim relations
and Francis did a lot of work in this category.
If Cardinal Sarah comes in, I think the Church would
really pump the brakes and halt a lot of their
(10:33):
engagement with Muslims around the world. The thing is like,
I like Cardinal Sarah's orthodoxy, but yeah, some of his
political and social positions, I think it's a bit extreme.
I thought some of Francis's social positions were also a
bit extreme. So here we are. I mean, this is
an age of extremism in many ways. And let's see
(10:55):
if the Church does a three sixty really and then
moves away from the far left and goes to the
far right, should be very interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That was Craig Constantine, a senior lecturer in sociology at
Rice University. In twenty twenty four, Houston saw a record
breaking fifty four million visitors, but the hospitality workers who
welcome those guests to Houston have not seen the benefits
of that boom. Instead, workers at the Hilton Americas, Marriott,
(11:27):
Marquee Convention Center, and Bush Intercontinental Airport, all major tourism
properties with public investment, report that they are struggling to
pay their bills. A coalition of hospitality unions have launched
an incentive called Project twenty three. They are asking for
a minimum of twenty three dollars an hour. They met
(11:50):
this week to announce the plan and some of the
pain that they are going through.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Is because today we're going to launch a historic fight
because the union isn't about what we say, it's about
what we do, okay, And I want to talk about it.
And you know, Houston is the fourth largest city in
the country. The only larger cities are New York, LA
And Chicago. But do you get paid like New York
(12:19):
LA or Chicago?
Speaker 5 (12:22):
All right?
Speaker 6 (12:23):
Do you think that's fair?
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Okay? And that is we've got to change something in
this city. And we have an opportunity to change this
because today you're seeing representatives of over three thousand workers
in this city, okay, the two largest hotels, over fifteen
hundred workers, concession workers at I Age, okay, who are
(12:50):
demanding to be treated with respect. And we're gonna win.
I'm gonna talk about this word respect because we're gonna
win the way we deserve and we're gonna talk about
that today. We're gonna win the benefits we deserve, and
we're gonna talk about that today.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
But above all else.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
The reason we haven't gotten them yet because we need
to demand some respect. Okay, when the city comes out
here and highlights and brags about the fact they're gonna
expand the convention center, well what about the workers in
(13:32):
the hotels and the convention center that don't make.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
It, that makes sixteen or seventeen dollars an hour and.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
Have to choose between paying for their medicine or buying food.
Is that respect? Well, we're gonna get some respect from them.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
A few of you may know me, a few of
you may not. My name is Genesia. I'm a union
rep with You're Not Here Local twenty four read and
I started with this union your night here back in
twenty fourteen. I was a housekeeper back in San Francisco
at the Marriott Marquis. I transferred in twenty sixteen to
(14:16):
hear Houston, Texas, to the Marriott Marquis Downtown.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
I opened the Marriott Marquis. It was like day and night.
Speaker 7 (14:29):
Because why the San Francisco Marriotte was union the Houston
was not. Imagine cleaning twelve rooms and coming to Texas.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Now I'm cleaning eighteen. My pay I was making.
Speaker 7 (14:46):
Eighteen Bucks housekeeper here, ten bucks. Also, my health insurance
was one hundred dollars there for one hundred here.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
It was really bad, guys.
Speaker 7 (15:03):
I was struggling. I was living with family members. I
couldn't afford a car, couldn't afford my own place. It
was taking a toll on me. I was really miserable
at that job. But I knew something had to change.
I couldn't keep going on like that, and the only
(15:25):
way was with the union.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
I got involved. I pushed my coworkers, I came to
the meetings.
Speaker 7 (15:34):
I was signing people up left and right, going to
city hall speaking because I knew the difference.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
Imagine going from a union job to a nun union job.
You feel it, you feel it in your body, your pay,
your benefits.
Speaker 7 (15:52):
But I was really really involved in the fight because
I knew what changes it could be this hotel, and
I was proud of myself for pushing and winning the
union there. The biggest thing I was fighting.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
For was the health insurance for me.
Speaker 7 (16:12):
I know people fight for different reasons pay parking benefits, so.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
I wanted those changes. I wanted that health insurance, I
wanted that parking.
Speaker 7 (16:23):
I wanted that raise and I knew we deserved better,
so I showed up. And I'm glad you guys are
showing up and standing up for your rights and for
your families.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
Because you deserve better. So when we fight, we win.
When we fight. I made about sixteen dollars an Now
I have a family of eights.
Speaker 8 (16:55):
My rent is twenty one hundred dollars a month. Now,
you tell me how is one supposed to survive with
cost of living going out? Rent is going out, food
is going up. A pack of wings is thirty dollars. Now,
y'all realize that twelve eggs ten dollars.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
That's where we're at today.
Speaker 8 (17:21):
Yet our companies look at us and say, this is
all your worth, This is what your service is worth.
This is the only respect that I'm going to give
you is sixteen dollars an hour. It's utmostly and utterly disrespectful.
So I'm in the fight with y'all, and I want
y'all to fight with me, because we are going for
these companies and we're going to get what we deserve.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
We serve people every day and.
Speaker 8 (17:53):
We give the best customer service that we can give,
and all they do is power more work on more
work less.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Fine, that ain't gonna work right because when we fight.
Speaker 9 (18:06):
When we fight, So your personally sing.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
Hi ma, name is Patricia last case, I'm fifty one
years old.
Speaker 9 (18:16):
Okay yoengl mil.
Speaker 6 (18:22):
Mil Houston Angeles, from Houston, from Los Angeles in canill
six two thousand and six. Okay, pero.
Speaker 5 (18:32):
In Houston, barata.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
But they said that here in Houston it was cheaper
and life.
Speaker 9 (18:39):
Was cheaperta pero que pasa the tempos.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
Poor and sube dodo.
Speaker 6 (18:54):
Maybe at that time it was cheaper. But now making fourteen, fifteen,
sixteen or even twenty, it's not enough to be making directly.
Speaker 9 (19:03):
Thats the travajan. So you know, madhus.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
So, I worked at the Bush Airport, just seventeen years
at the Bush Airport and I have directly five kidsos
Losumian and I worked for ATG for eight years.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
And what do they do.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
They humiliate us directly and that we should be grateful
to have a job.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Name of one Needle Thomas.
Speaker 6 (19:48):
I worked for Hills in America.
Speaker 10 (19:49):
I've been in twenty years and my struggle is like
back in seventeen, I lost my house to house power.
Speaker 6 (19:58):
Seven months later I lost my husband.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
After that COVID hit.
Speaker 10 (20:04):
And I managed to pay my bills, but I struggled
and right now.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
To day, I'm still struggling.
Speaker 10 (20:11):
We deserve more, we want more, and we're gonna fight
and fight until we get more. Yeah, I know they fight.
Speaker 5 (20:27):
Every fight.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
They were supported by Houston City Councilman Joaquin Martinez.
Speaker 11 (20:34):
How are you gonna fight for these workers coming in here?
And he heard their stories?
Speaker 5 (20:41):
The city going to protect them?
Speaker 3 (20:42):
How are they going to be.
Speaker 12 (20:45):
So first, it's about speaking to it, right, So I
appreciate you all organizing, making sure that you're holding us accountable.
UH and certn have this conversation around the horseshoe, making
sure the administration the Marin.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
Knows about this is shared with folks.
Speaker 12 (20:59):
You know, we got the Hilton area, we have Georgia
Brown and all that's gonna see the economic impact in
a positive way in the next even the next year.
We need to make sure that now where the contract
consions are happy, that everybody understands and it's not about
just folks that are in this room. People in Houston
need to know, right, So we need to make sure
that this is not just you know, labor coming together,
(21:21):
but Wstonian's understanding that there is a benefit that's coming
into the city, and then everybody needs to participate.
Speaker 11 (21:27):
Especially for Latino community, because we have a situation now
where contractors are hiring, hiring people and then calling we're
even trying to rip off the community are particular.
Speaker 13 (21:40):
So again this goes back to at the end of
the day, you know, as an elected official, we're just
one and the really power comes in community, and you know,
I need to make sure that the community is speaking up.
Speaker 14 (21:52):
We're speaking up as well at city home, making sure
that the community, Latin the community feels safe, that they
feel that that they feel part as a fabric of
this community and so protecting them, making sure that there's trusts,
booting trusts.
Speaker 12 (22:05):
That it's all it's a long term conversation, right, but
we need to have that.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Conversation with The union is also supported by the Texas
a fl CIO, who's president Rick Levy, was on hand
to stand by the workers every single.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Way that we can.
Speaker 15 (22:21):
When you hear the stories of what people are doing
just to see why, and then you hear them the
obscene profits that these companies are making off their backs.
Speaker 16 (22:29):
If people aren't mad enough to get up and organize.
Speaker 15 (22:31):
When they hear these stories, they never will be And
when you look at everything going into this country today,
all the ways that workers are under your attack, this
is the way organize your workplace, stand up for yourself.
The person who is standing right next to you is
the person that help.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
You change your world.
Speaker 15 (22:49):
So let's get after it. And we're going to be
doing everything we can to make that.
Speaker 17 (22:52):
The fear factor, especially when when you're talking about the
hospitality and industry. Yeah, and the fear that a lot
of workers are here to you because because of being fired,
was being targeted.
Speaker 15 (23:05):
That the best protection you have against being fired is
to have a union contract. And until you do, it's
like the brother said in there, they can't ride your
back and you're standing uptown.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
And so that's what we need to do and have.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
Each other's back.
Speaker 17 (23:20):
And I have to talk nationally about what's going on
as far as as far as as far as the
president and trying to take away collective bargaining.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
You can't.
Speaker 17 (23:28):
They took the TSA.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
Sure, how screw you is that?
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Not just ts A?
Speaker 15 (23:35):
Like vast slots of the federal government and one fell
swoop he took away collective bargaining. And if you think
he's stopping at that, the answer is no. This president,
when people stand up to him.
Speaker 16 (23:48):
And say no, he'll back down. But people got to
stop giving all this. People got to understand that this
is the new normal, that nothing we have we can
take for granted, and we have to be if it's
important to us, we have to be willing to fight
for it. And I feel like people can be kind
of complacent. It's like when people come to work in
(24:09):
a union and unionize environment that I.
Speaker 18 (24:11):
Don't have to under it.
Speaker 15 (24:13):
I got good pay, good benefits without understanding the struggle
that it took to get that and to maintain that.
And it's the same thing in our democracy. We have
the greatest democracy in the world, but unless we're willing
to fight for it, we're only going to get what
they're willing to give. And I want more than they're
willing to give. I want what's due to eat and
every one of us to be able to live with
(24:34):
dignity and respect in my in the comfort. So look,
the labor open here in Texas is coming together. We're
all in for organs, We're all in for doing whatever
we can to stand it for working people, whatever that means.
Speaker 17 (24:47):
I also have to learn one question about the uh
the vouchers that the program juster place in the danger
that is to teach us especial.
Speaker 15 (24:56):
It's not just teachers that vouchers is nothing but a scam.
It's billionaires who are putting money in to take over
privatize our education system. Why so they can make bank
just like they're doing on all these other things. So
we talk about who's going to run it, who's going
to make these private schools, who's going to get all
that money? That's money that should be going into educating
(25:18):
your kids and my kids and has to be going
into some billionaire's pocket. And I feel like the only
reason it us is because you had very powerful economic
couple of little interests threatening people, cowering people, spending millions
and millions of dollars against the candidates who weren't willing
to toe the line. We're not willing to put it
(25:40):
up for a vote if they think it's so popular,
and why weren't they going to put up for a vote.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
So look.
Speaker 15 (25:46):
The damage that they're.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
Going to do it to public education.
Speaker 15 (25:49):
We're going to be folding it for decades unless we're
serious about it and work to undo that and fight back,
it's only going to get worse.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
They now fight and go into negotiations. If you want
to find out more about the struggle, email Santana Mitchell,
s Mitchell. That's s m I t ch e l
ll at unite heere dot org.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
This is Steve Gallington, producer and host of the People's News.
If you have a story that needs to be told,
come to us. We accept fully produced audio written material,
or just give us the idea and we will run
with it. Shiny new one hour episodes of The People's
News drop each Sunday on The People's News podcast, hosted
(26:36):
by Spreaker dot com and linked to my website Gallington
dot com. Texas has executed their third person this year.
Moys's Sandoval Mendoza, forty one, received a lethal injection at
the State Penitentiary in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at
six forty pm. He was sent to death for his
(26:58):
conviction in the March to the thousand and four killing
of twenty year old Rachel O'Neill to Lesso. We talked
with Gloria Rubik of the Texas death Penalty Abolition.
Speaker 19 (27:07):
Movement Texas carried out is five hundred and ninety fourth
execution since the death penalty was reinstated, So from nineteen
eighty two until now, who we lead the country in executions.
The man that was executed was named Moisaise Mendoza and
(27:35):
it was a very sad situation. He was not innocent,
he was guilty and he said he had no idea
what came over him to commit this crime, but he
kidnapped and raped and murdered a girl that he was
actually friends with that he had gone to high school with.
(28:00):
He had terrible trial lawyers who actually called a witness
that probably sealed his state because the witness that they
called said that he was violent person and he was
very likely to commit violence again.
Speaker 14 (28:21):
So that was.
Speaker 19 (28:25):
I can't imagine why his attorney did that, but it
probably made it absolutely because you know, once you're convicted,
then there's almost like a separate trial to decide the penalty,
and if you're convicted of capital murder, the penalty can
either be one of two things, death or life without parole.
(28:50):
But there was about thirty people protesting, maybe more. It
was a good crowd, although it was very bizarre because
all of a sudden, when we got there, they had
put up barricades where we always stand the protest and
said we couldn't go over there, that that was state property.
(29:12):
So they had Texas's I don't know, it's called the
Office of Inspector General OYG. They had three YG cops
patrolling the area and keeping us across the street, and
(29:34):
it was strange. But during the execution, before they killed him,
Moist apologized to the girl's family who was witnessing, and
(29:56):
he also she had a two month old daughter or
a very tiny daughter when this happened. That girl is
now twenty or twenty one years old, and she did
not attend, but he did apologize to her too, And
(30:18):
then he had his sisters and his wife's witness for him.
So after he apologized to the victim's family, he told
the family that he was okay, that you know, he
accepted what was happening, and he said he told them
(30:38):
to stay strong, that love was the answer. Obviously violence
was not an answer to anything.
Speaker 15 (30:51):
And.
Speaker 19 (30:55):
He said that don't he said, don't kill anyone with kindness.
Heal them with kindness and love. It's always got.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
To be love, love, love.
Speaker 19 (31:09):
So, like I say, this is put in Texas closer
to five are six hundred executions. The next execution is
May twentieth, and Matthew Johnson from Dallas's scheduled to be executed.
But I was reading some information today and it's really
sad that not only did his trial attorney call a
(31:33):
witness that made sure he got the death penalty, but
then his appeals attorneys over the years, over twenty years,
he saw them twice and never knew what was even
going on. He got some good attorneys at the m
who tried to bring up the fact that he'd had
(31:56):
lousy attorneys all of this time, but that was denied
in Texas courts and ultimately by the Supreme Court.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Well.
Speaker 19 (32:06):
So, he had apparently made amends with his family and
kept in touch with them, and his mom was from
Al Salvador, and one of our members who is from
(32:26):
Al Salvador said her family knew his family and his
poor mother was having a nervous breakdown. Which is just
another reason to begin to the death penalty, because you're
creating a whole another set of victims' families. I mean,
the mother couldn't even go to Huntsville. She was just
(32:47):
really freaking out and they were worried she was having
a nervous breakdown. And the other thing with the death
penalty and executions, you give somebody death instead of life.
There are endless appeals after appeals where the victim's family
has to relive and retell the story over and over again.
(33:12):
Which is why a few years ago, when that really racist,
probably mentally ill man went to the Walmart in al
Paso and killed I think it was thirty people, the
DA is not seeking the death penalty, and that is
because he met with all the victims' families and they said,
(33:34):
you know what, just send them to life and let's
be done with it and we can move on with
our lives. So that's something people don't think about very often.
And the other thing I just wanted to add is
on Sunday, there's going to be an event for the
(33:54):
seventy first birthday of political personal Moumia Abu Jamal, and
there's actually going to be events all over the world.
MoMA's has just exhausted all his appeals in the Pennsylvania
system where he was convicted, and so legally things aren't
(34:20):
looking too good and his health is terrible, so we're
going to have Minister Abdul Hali Muhammad and Bunchie Career,
a member of the Black Panther Party, are going to
be speaking. Johnny Tortis, whose uncle Joe Complish Tortis was
(34:41):
murdered by the police, just wrote a new beautiful poem
for Momia and he will be doing that. And then
Nikki lleu Allen's going to be doing poetry, and Sister
Mama Sonya, who's our creative member, is going to do
probably spoken word as well as some So we're going
(35:02):
to protest, but we're also going to celebrate his birthday.
We'll be having a birthday cake and I think some
of the young kids are going to be blowing out
the candles for him. But we'll be joining people from
all over.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
The world this week.
Speaker 19 (35:21):
To celebrate Mumia's birthday.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Mumia Abdul Jamal is a political prisoner and former Black
Panther Party member that is serving a life sentence in Philadelphia.
Those that say he was innocent have been protesting for
all the years he's been locked up. There is a
celebration of Mumia's birthday that is celebrated around the world,
and on Sunday at two PM at Emancipation Park. You
(35:48):
can go to their Facebook page at the Texas Death
Penalty abolition Movement. House Bill fifty three to thirty seven
and its companion bill, Senate Bill sixteen, are bills that
will press Texas voters by requiring documented proof of citizenship
to register to vote. Is being heard in the House
Elections Committee. In response, a coalition of organizations voice their
(36:12):
strong opposition. Widely criticized for creating unnecessary barriers to voting,
House Bill five three three seven will disenfranchise millions of Texans,
particularly young people, naturalized citizens, and married women. We talk
to Emily French with common cause.
Speaker 18 (36:30):
Texas HB fifty three thirty seven is the companion to
SB sixteen. Both of these bills are a trick aimed
at making it harder for eligible voters to register. They
say that it's about checking non citizen voter registration and
making sure that no non citizens are on the roles.
But we already have robust processes in Texas that do that,
(36:50):
our DPS that talks to our county elections departments constantly
making sure that non citizens aren't.
Speaker 19 (36:56):
On the roles.
Speaker 18 (36:57):
They've been unable to prove that. That is a big problem,
but that's not to stop them from suppressing regular eligible
votes in order to keep people from voting. Like you said,
this bill would require everybody in Texas to be subject
to a citizenship check based on systems that we don't
know that aren't particularly listed in the bill, and it
(37:21):
would make everyone in Texas, all eighteen point six million
of US currently registered folks in Texas might get our
registration downgraded to just two federal races and not be
able to vote on any of our state or local
offices unless we go into our elections offices, wait in line,
(37:42):
go through the process right like a DPS, to show
documents that prove that we are citizens that have our
current names on them.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
What's scary is the whole aspect of required documents of
proof of citizenship. You know, so right now when you
go to vote, to have a driver's license, So what
else do you need?
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Right The.
Speaker 18 (38:06):
S sixteen at HP fifty three thirty seven would require
you to have an additional document that you don't just
show at the polling place, that you would have to
go show to your county office. The way the bill
is written now, they would require either a US citizenship
certificate or a birth certificate with your name on it,
or a passport. I got married in twenty twenty three.
(38:28):
I don't have a birth certificate with my current name
on it. For a long time I didn't have a passport.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
Now I have one.
Speaker 18 (38:34):
But there are tons of Texans in the same position
who don't have a birth certificate with their current name
on it. It takes a long time to go down
to county offices. It takes money to get birth certificates.
Passports are one hundred and thirty dollars. This seems to
me to be a poll tax that adds additional layers
of unhelpful security just to keep people from casting those ballots.
(38:57):
I believe two and three rule voters don't have a
pass sport. One out of three regular voters don't have
a passport. Many folks who are college students don't have
access to passports or first certificates because they vote eligibly
in Texas. But those documents are sitting at home with
their parents in a fire stake that the kid had
never seen before. This is just a It seems to
(39:19):
me to just be a pure voter suppression effort.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Yeah, and it seems like it's a poll tax. And
for people that don't know, Uh, these were restrictions on
uh to stop African Americans from voting up until up
until the sixties. In some places, these were put in
place that you had to have, but you have to
go to a lottery. In some places to get to
be able to vote, you had to you had to
(39:43):
know somebody to vote. These are these are the type
of restrictions we had in the past, during during segregation.
Is this the same Is this going into the same
pattern of you you've seen the same pattern because I've
heard you mentioned the poll tax.
Speaker 18 (39:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 8 (39:58):
Uh.
Speaker 18 (39:59):
The twenty four Amendments to the Constitution says it is
illegal to have a pull tax, but that has not
stopped a lot of Texast legislators. So I'm trying to
sneak a poll tax in right. Driver's licenses cost money.
The Fifth Circuit said, we don't want to voter id
to be a poll tax. The Fifth Circuit is the
most conservative circuit court in America. They even they said
a driver's license might be a pull tax. So you
(40:21):
have to be able to vote if you have a
reasonable impediment like a reason you can't get a driver's license.
But there has been a bill in the past couple
of weeks trying to get rid of those reasonable impediment declarations.
And I think that this birth certificate voter birth certificate
passport extra expense definitely seems to me to be a
(40:43):
poll tax. I don't know if the courts would agree
with me, but if it looks like a pull tax
and smells like a poll tax and quacks like a
full tax, you have to think it probably is.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
So this is this is coming out of committee, and
I guess tomorrow you're gonna have a hearing. How serious
is this a to passing this measure of session?
Speaker 18 (41:03):
There does seem to be a lot of will to
pass this. It's already been through the whole process on
the Senate side, and the Senate has done everything they
need for it to be a bill that becomes law.
It's just on the House side now that we'll have
to fight it in the House Elections Committee tomorrow April
twenty fourth, as well as later on down the line
(41:24):
on the House floor.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
If this goes into this goes into reality, so to speak,
will this be taken up in the courts.
Speaker 18 (41:35):
I can't imagine it won't be taken up in the court,
so I don't litigate myself. But there are so many
red flags here. And in Kansas they passed a similar
law like this a decade ago, and twelve percent of
eligible voters who tried to register for three years were
denied registration because of this documentary proof of citizenship law.
(41:59):
And the tempts where Kansas is that that this is
illegal and they can't do it. So I think there's
plenty of opportunities for judges to find this unconstitutional.
Speaker 3 (42:10):
Is this pretty much being done for publicity or for
showmanship so to speak?
Speaker 18 (42:22):
Hard to say what the motivation is. I do think
that they are that there are folks in the legislature
who want to make non citizen voting seem like a
problem when it really is not. I do think that
there are people who just want to make it harder
for everyone to vote and reduce the pool of who
is electing our representatives, our president to the smallest number possible,
just like you know, the seventeen nineties, white land owning
(42:45):
males were allowed to vote. I think they're trying to
get it back to that number. However they can.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
And this added to all the other restrictions that have
been put in place in Texas. You want to talk
about that.
Speaker 18 (43:00):
Well, of course, there have been some folks trying to
get rid of county wide polling, which is the mechanism
by which folks can vote at any polling place in
their county on election day. Harris County went to this
in twenty eighteen. In the twenty eighteen election, right before
Harris County got county wide polling, there were four thousand
(43:21):
people in Harris County whose votes were thrown out just
because they voted in a different neighborhood from their precinct.
As soon as Harris County went to county wide polling,
those votes were all eligible, were all fine, Those people
were not disenfranchised the county wide polling. That stuff is
thalled out on the Senate side, but we're still trying
to be wary of it. There are also a bunch
(43:42):
of bills that are trying to get the Attorney General
right now it's kin Paxton back into charging folks with
electron crimes. From that is a local prosecutor's job to do.
Harris County DA and Harris County attorney have both clashed
with the state because the state does not agree with
their prosecutor discretion. But that is where the decisions are
supposed to be made, not from the Attorney General's office.
(44:05):
There are all kinds of bills where folks are trying
to get crcial voting rights, but we're still out here
fighting them.
Speaker 3 (44:11):
Yeah, and to add insult to injury, you know, Harris
County is this just seems like something ten Paston was
trying to get back at Harris County, just as the
governor was also for not supporting him and making it
hard for Ustonians to go out and vote. Whereas now,
(44:33):
especially in my neighborhood, you can go down the street
to vote. Now you have to go two three miles
down the road to go vote, exactly.
Speaker 18 (44:43):
And I think that that Harris County has been a
target of the House Elections Committee to the point where
it's almost a joke. When people bring up a bill
in House Elections sometimes they'll say, this is not a
Harris County bill, because everyone expects it to be a
Harris County bill. It is so wild that people in
his Harrison County have different voting rights and people in
Travis County are people where I grew up in Wichita County.
(45:05):
This is one state we're also to have the same
amount of voting rights and the reasons that the state
goes after Harris County seemed to me to be partisan
motivated and honestly in a lot of cases racially motivated.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
That was Emily French with Common Cause Texas. You can
reach them at Common Cause All put Together, dot org,
forward Slash Texas. Houston's getting a new football team. The
Houston Roughnecks of the United Football League is a new
league for the US for American football. They play at
(45:40):
the University of Houston and are starting a new initiative
to get kids in the area to start reading and
to help teachers. We talked to Houston Roughnecks VP of
Team Business and Event Operations, Catherine Schultz.
Speaker 20 (45:54):
Absolutely we were delighted to want what we're calling our
Roughnecks Reach, which is a community initiative and it has
multiple pillars. For this upcoming game, we're really excited to
launch our education pillars and what those initiatives are within
our community. And so for this upcoming game on May third,
(46:16):
we're calling it our Houston Huddle Up game, which is
a celebration of education and innovation. And so we really
believe that the foundation is innovation is education, right, and
that what makes our cities so great is the strong
foundation of education and teachers and leaders who really want
(46:37):
to shape the future of our community. So we're doing
a couple of different initiatives for this game that we're
really excited about and that we'll carry on not just
throughout this season, but throughout years to come. So the
first is called our Roughnecks Reading Program, And as a
mom of several children, I'm really excited to be able
(46:57):
to encourage students to read. And once you read, then
you're earning the opportunity to come to one of our games.
So for this year, it is read three books and
submit that through our program and you will receive a
complimentary ticket that is for students, right. So as much
as I love to read, it is a student led
(47:20):
program and we really hope that this will help teachers
in the classroom. Literacy matters, right, and we know that
our educators are really working hard to make sure that
we have a generation of strong readers and that.
Speaker 18 (47:36):
They're encouraged to read.
Speaker 20 (47:37):
So we're excited to launch that initiative. We also have
a coloring contest that we're really enjoying rolling out. So
it's called our hard Hat coloring Contests. We are the
Houston Roughnecks, so you will often see hard hats right
to represent a Roughneck in our stands and around the
(47:58):
community as we're out engaging with folks from our community.
And so we're excited about this one. We've sent it
to all of the schools, but you don't have to
be in a public school to participate. Again, it's for students,
and so it is coloring one of our hard hats
and submitting it into our program, which is available on
(48:19):
our website. And once you complete that, then again you've
earned a free student ticket and discounted offers for parents, family,
et cetera to attend. We've got a really great college
student ticket discount because again we've got phenomenal colleges and
universities in the greater Houston area and so through our
(48:41):
ex Now system, we have a college student offer that's
as low as twelve dollars. So it's that we hope
that our college students will take advantage of. And then
we get to the heart of the program and it's
really teachers and faculty. And so we have launched a
buy one at one free for teachers through our website
(49:02):
and we have put that to all of our school
districts in the area and we're.
Speaker 18 (49:08):
Continuing to send that out today. And then one that
is the most exciting to me, which is a nominate
a teacher award. And so we're calling on all Houstonians,
all Roughnecks, fans, all administrators to you know, nominate a
teacher who makes a difference in our community. Let's be real,
all of our teachers make an incredible difference and you know,
(49:32):
quite an impact on our community.
Speaker 20 (49:35):
That there are some that are quiet and unseen and
they are true heroes and we would love nothing more
than to shine a light on them during this game
that scept coming on May third.
Speaker 3 (49:47):
One thing, I'm going to back up a bit because
for those who do not know what a roughneck is,
a roughneck is a person that works in the oil field.
And they called in my roughneck grit on it.
Speaker 18 (50:04):
You are correct, you are correct. You know, being in
the heart of the energy capital of the world, we're
really excited to lean into those roots. And again, when
you kind of look at who our city is. One
of the things that I love about Houston, being a
native Houstonian is I think that, you know, the city
(50:25):
screams grit. It's screams hard work, and it's it's really
the commitment of that grit and wavering commitment and meeting
technology and innovation. And we're phenomenal at that that. You know,
the in this energy industry is synonymous for that here
and so being able to lean into, you know, Houston's
(50:48):
roots is something that we're really excited about building upon
that to celebrate how education is such a pillar component
of that industry, energy industry, excuse me, And what that
innovation means for our community is something that you know
that we don't take lightly.
Speaker 3 (51:07):
One thing I don't I don't know if you guys
are doing anything with you have between Texas Southern University
and the University of Houston, you have Jack Yates High
School and down the street you have Austin High School.
I'm just curious if it's any type of relationship or
(51:27):
any type of meetings or something or or meetings with
this with those two schools in general, and you have
a couple of middle schools in their area too that
was just that Roughnecks are trying to work with him,
especially Jack Yates because they were champions football team.
Speaker 20 (51:50):
Yeah, and they have phenomenal programs at Yates High School.
It is one that I would say our team has
worked with actually in past lives, with our organizations in
the past, and then we worked pretty closely with them
in twenty twenty three, and we have reached out to say,
you know, we'd love to do something.
Speaker 18 (52:09):
We'd love to.
Speaker 20 (52:10):
Showcase your players.
Speaker 19 (52:11):
We'd love to showcase your.
Speaker 20 (52:12):
Band during our upcoming games, specifically this may third game.
So I don't want to spill any secrets. I don't
want to say anything. We're still working on confirmations for things.
But to your point, you know, the heartbeat of the
community is important to us, and giving kids opportunities that
they may not have had otherwise is really at the
(52:33):
core of who we are. And so nope, I don't
We don't have those things, you know, somewhat solidified. We
are working on them. We've got another component that that
we're really excited about it. We have you mentioned TSU, right,
We've got really phenomenal institutions in the city, and we
(52:54):
have quite a few coaches that are part of the
Divine Nine, and we are really looking to showcase the
Divine Nine in this upcoming game as well. And so
our head coach C. J. Johnson, he is part of
Alpha Phi Alpha. We've got our head football operations manager
(53:15):
that same fraternity. We've got some other coaches that are
part of different fraternities. So really, you know, really looking
at those historic Black colleges and universities and the amazing
fraternities and sororities that support them, is really is really
important to us again providing tentacles and opportunities. So kids
(53:40):
like that JACKO at Austin High School really, you know,
really have opportunities to meet some other some other individuals
that can help with their future careers and their future success.
Speaker 3 (53:53):
Nominating a teacher, how is that going to work?
Speaker 20 (53:57):
So we've got a form that I'm sure or you
will either receive if you've if you've not already received it,
and it is it is just as simple. You go
into the form and you nominate a teacher, and it is,
you know, just a couple of quick questions, their name,
how we contact them, and then what the impact that
(54:18):
they have made on their community, on your life. We
did this last year and we actually had several nominations
from students and from parents, not just from faculty and
administration from those schools, and so it was you know,
talk to us about these educators that are making an impact.
Talk about these.
Speaker 18 (54:38):
Educators that are truly influencing the lives of the next
generation and are often our community's unsung heroes.
Speaker 3 (54:48):
And the hard hat coloring contest. You said that the
high schools or it's not just Hi C High schools,
it's also Fort Ban County and other high schools around
around around Harrison County that they're participating the correct.
Speaker 20 (55:06):
Absolutely, every every school and school district and private school,
really all youths in the greater Houston area are welcome
to participate in this.
Speaker 18 (55:19):
It does need to be a student, you do need
to be in school.
Speaker 20 (55:23):
But it is color this, make it your best design.
We're going to pop them up, we'll showcase them on
our social media channels. They'll be showcased.
Speaker 18 (55:31):
Throughout the game on May third, and so.
Speaker 20 (55:34):
Again really wanting to showcase artistic levels of all ages
and give students something fun.
Speaker 18 (55:42):
At the end of the year. You know, we know
that Teacher Appreciation Week kicks off on May fifth, and
our game is on May third, and we are really
excited to you know, kind of head into the end
of the school year and kick off things celebrating our
amazing teachers at this game.
Speaker 3 (56:02):
And an amazing team.
Speaker 20 (56:04):
If you get this, We've got players that have been
talking about, you know, the journey that they've been on,
and that journey started with those teachers, with the coaches,
with the art instructors, with the band, you know, directors
that have made an impact on their life. And so
for for our players, it's really important to them that
(56:27):
they be able to have those same touch points within
our community and that everybody is thinking at our game
and and they're excited. They're they're coming back to Houston,
Hungary for a win, and that they are telling me
they're going to deliver on that and that they they
really want to inspire students that come to this game
(56:48):
with what the future could look like.
Speaker 1 (56:50):
That was Houston Roughnecks VP of Team Business and Event Operations,
Catherine Schultz. The game is next Saturday at the University
of Hughes. The People's News is a production of Steve
Gallington and Richard Hannah and is protected by copyright laws.
All the information broadcast on air and online, as well
(57:12):
as published in both print and or online, including articles, audio, clips, illustrations, graphics, photographs,
and videos, are protected by these copyright and other state
and federal intellectual property laws. Therefore, you may not use
our content in any prohibited way, including reproducing, publishing, transmitting, selling, rewriting, broadcasting,
(57:33):
or posting on the Internet without the expressed written permission
of the People's News. Prohibited use also includes publication of
our material in printed or electronic brochures, newsletters, or flyers,
as well as all website or email distribution. To obtain
permission to use copyrighted material, email Steve Gallington at Steve
(57:54):
at gallington dot com. Thank you,
Popular Podcasts
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.