There is SO MUCH organizing going on in Austin these days. There are SO MANY things to be pissed off about. There are SO MANY ways to act upon creating a better world.

Since I’m feeling like I’m in Calendar mode, please allow me to map out the next few days for you – both personally and politically:

THURSDAY

(I’ll be working through most of these)

9-10:30 AM: Budget out Acevedo! (first of 2 events) @ City Hall – https://www.facebook.com/events/498508403561139/?suggestsessionid=6f0565fc5d7f29911673e8caea6e028d

1st event, 9-10:30am/City Hall
2nd event, 5:30-7pm/APD HQ

PROTEST AT CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSESSION—to “budget out” our Police Chief/budget for a police chief search:

After Byron Carter’s unjust murder and subsequent cover-up, some folks wanted to call for Acevedo’s firing, since that made it clear he is not the chief we thought we were getting (it proved his poor handling of Sanders was a pattern; not an isolated event). When he started, he made some good changes-on paper and in practice; built up some community trust simply by being present and responsive, then after the Sanders shooting/cover up, resorted to old skool bad-cop-no-donut chief, which only worsened with Carter’s death.

We can now see APD struggling GREATLY to justify the foot chase of Eugene Jackson; and therefore justify the killing…when it may even be that the gun went off accidentally! Of course, they know if it did or not by now, so the lies/spin has DEFINITELY begun – there is no more “waiting for the facts.” The fact is they are lying…the truth is now immaterial from an accountability standpoint.

This is the final straw for many…it’s time for Acevedo to go. He’s wiped away any good deeds from his first couple of years of his tenure, and now many feel we’re worse off than we were before he came.
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Austin City Council has notoriously been silent when police shoot unarmed black men in our town. They are the boss of the City Manager, who is the boss of the chief. As our elected leaders, they have a duty to publicly ask questions/hold the chief accountable during these crucial community times.

THEY must make the decision to fire him, ultimately.

Thursday, starting at 9am, is Council’s first 2013/14 budget presentation/worksession. Let’s go for the 1st hour or so, while tv cameras are about, and hold signs demanding they budget for a new police chief search so they can fire him and we can move on as a community.

We can stand inside the boards/commission room at the back, or outside, holding signs up to the windows of the room.

Noon: Texas Solidarity Singers @The Capitol – https://www.facebook.com/events/525129900874018/

NOTE – 2 seperate sing-alongs are at:
Noon to 1pm and 8pm to 10pm
Come join our Solidarity Sing Alongs every Thursday at noon and/or evening during the 3rd Special Session of the Texas Legislature. We’ll have songbooks and smiles. You bring a voice, good, bad, or ugly. It all sounds good in the rotunda. You don’t have to stay the whole time, just as long as you can.Our purpose is to stand with Wisconsin and North Carolina and let the Texas Legislature know we haven’t gone away; we’re still watching. Wisconsinites have been doing this every weekday since 2011. North Carolina’s Moral Mondays just ended with about 1,000 people turning out for the last day of their legislative session.These singalongs are modeled after the Wisconsin Solidarity Sing Alongs. They designed and sent us this logo and shared their songbook. Our support means a lot to them.Noon sing alongs start at, well noon or as soon as you can get there from your lunch hour. You’ll get a musician with his instrument!Evening singalongs start at 8 p.m. The Capitol closes at 10 p.m. We will sing until then. Those who wish to keep singing can continue outside.Parking is free in the evenings in the visitor parking lot at 12th and Trinity.

5:30 pm: FIRE Austin Police Chief Acevedo – https://www.facebook.com/events/601762469869120/

2nd event:
After countless cover ups by the APD to protect criminal cops, the community is rallying to demand that the Mayor & City Council fire Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo. The rally will take place at the steps of the Austin Police Department on Thursday, August 1st at 5:30 pm. This is a community effort.

The latest killing of an innocent, unarmed, African-American man (Larry Eugene Jackson, Jr.) by APD compels us to say enough is enough. Art Acevedo and his cronies have once again come out and made up excuses for why his cop (who broke policy) ‘had’ to kill an unarmed man, and as per standard operating procedure, they have been working overtime to slander the victim of police brutality. The buck should stop with the city council and the police chief.

7 PM: Justice for Trayvon Organizing Meeting – https://www.facebook.com/events/295948833883408/

Organizing to plan for the national march on Washington and local events related to Trayvon Martin’s case and other cases of racism in ATX.

8 PM: Texas Solidarity Singalong, Take Two – https://www.facebook.com/events/525129900874018/ (See above description)

FRIDAY

(I’ll be doing mom/kid stuff all day)

SATURDAY

(I’ll be working most of the day, but this is going on…)

12:30 PM: Stand Up Against APD Brutality – #JusticeForJackson – https://www.facebook.com/events/171535619693256/ AS you may or may not have heard, the Austin Police Department is responsible for yet another death of an UNARMED, African-American Male.

Details on shooting:

1. Jackson was unarmed.

2. Detective Charles Kleinert enlisted a ride from a citizen to track down Jackson.http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/police-investigating-detectives-tactics-in-shootin/nY7Wb/

3. Kleinert broke APD policy 216.

4. Jackson was fatally shot in the back of the neck.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Calling all activists, community leaders, church members, students, allies, and anyone that cares about this ongoing INJUSTICE SYSTEM here in Austin, TX to join me THIS SATURDAY @ 12:30pm in front of the Austin Police Department (8th and I-35) as we call for the following actions:

– Detective Charles Kleinert be punished and/or fired for his abuse of power and lethal force to an unarmed individual who was not being legally detained.

– An investigation into the ENTIRE Austin Police Department for police for their history of wrongful deaths caused by police officers

– Suspension and/or removal of current Police Chief Art Acevedo for his lack of leadership and failure to address these issues as they continue to happen.

– JUSTICE FOR LARRY EUGENE JACKSON!

SUNDAY

7:30 PM: 1984 Day Movie-Watching Party @location to be announced Join us on August 4th to watch We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists- a 2012 documentary film about the workings and beliefs of the self-described “hacktivist” collective, Anonymous who organize online and offline protests in efforts to protect free speech, internet freedom, and personal privacy.

This will be a fun opportunity to bring your friends to talk through the current level of surveillance present in all of our lives, so invite anyone affected by the NSA’s disregard of our fourth amendment rights- which is to say, invite everyone!

More details regarding event-specifics to come, but mark the date and time on your calendars folks! Our journey to restoring the fourth amendment is just beginning and we need one another’s support to continue fighting the good fight. Your presences makes a difference.

MONDAY
(more mom stuff for me, and…)

7 PM: Planning Meeting for ALEC Protest Solidarity Action and Coalition-Building @Austin City Hall (Facebook page not yet created.)

THURSDAY
(Worky worky…and then…)

5:45 PM: ACTION: Stop Marriott Developer from Cheating Austin!! @Austin City Hall – https://www.facebook.com/events/447144502047573/ The developer of the Marriott is lobbying City Council to get around the law and not pay workers their fair wages. Cheaters don’t get to change the rules of the game!! Come support workers and their allies on August 8th at City Hall!

Last month, we celebrated that the City of Austin had cut off all tax breaks to developer White Lodging, the largest hotel developer in Austin, because it failed to keep its promise to workers and taxpayers to pay fair wages to the workers building the JW Marriott. However, White Lodging’s high-powered lobbyists are pushing city council to re-write the law, so that the developer can get $3.8 million dollars in tax breaks without having to pay workers their fair wages.
Basically, White Lodging got caught cheating and now they want to change the rules of the game!

We need YOUR SUPPORT to tell Council on August 8t that our community expects them to uphold the terms of the original agreement: pay workers a fair wage in order to receive tax breaks.

Make sure our City leaders do the right thing!
EMAIL MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS the message below by clicking here: http://www.austintexas.gov/mail/all-council-members

Dear Mayor Leffingwell and City Council,

I respectfully urge you to defend workers and taxpayers, not back room developer deals. City Staff has already ruled that White Lodging failed to pay workers wages in accordance with the ordinance. If the city gives in to White Lodging and re-writes the rules of the game, we allow this developer to get away with $3.8 million in tax dollars while breaking their promise to the men and women who are building our city.

We should invest in responsible businesses; however, Austin needs to hold developers accountable who don’t uphold their end of the bargain.

FRIDAY

1 PM: Solidarity with ALEC Protest Action @TX State Capitol (Facebook event not yet created.)

Phew!

Also, look at this awesome sandwich. Best veggie sandwich in the world is at Little Deli right here in Austin. Not to be all advertise-y or anything, but I’m just saying…

Also…it took me far far too long to write this post. I’d like to post on upcoming activist events more often, but it’d be nice to know if it’s helpful…so let me know!

Also also…don’t even ASK me about the italics. Somewhere in the middle of this post, the formatting got all screwed up, and I’m too tired to fix it now. Hahaha. Deal with it!

 

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