Sedition Books grand opening and show

Sedition Books is open for bizness and anti-capitalist evangelization [at 901 Richmond]. I dropped by around 6:30 and got to see the space the way it will be laid out, as volunteers were sorting zines as part of the People’s Library. At 7 a whole buncha people started ariving for the folks show that kicked off the grand opening.

Ashley spoke a bit about the goals and services provided by Sedition Books, and requested the financial and time donations of people to keep the space alive and active.

They are now open every day of the week, go check it out!

House Judiciary Field Hearing on Race and Criminal (In)Justice

Friday Morning at 10am, dozens of community members, activists and victims of the criminal “justice” system came to Houston’s City hall to attend, testify and support the field hearing of the House Judiciary Committee looking into Crime, Justice and Race in Harris County. Congress People Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston and John Conyers of Detroit chaired the events and were joined by Texas State Legislators and members of Houston City Council.

They invited people to testify, including The District Attorney of Dallas County who has been trying to reform the office and has began retesting DNA evidence of folks convicted by the office, thus far freeing 8 innocent people. There were also number people who are victims of the Harris County Sheriffs office and other local agencies, including Sean and Erik Ibarra who recently won a 1.7 million dollar settlement from the Sheriffs office following being beaten and facing manufactured charges by the Sheriffs office in 2002. Also the Children of Margarita Savadrea who died in Harris County Jail after not receiving medication to treat her diabetes.

The audience was extremely supportive and frequently broke into applause and cheering in support of those giving testimony. Some people were able to bring signs into the hearing reading: “Houston we have a problem” and “Time to Clean House”.

The next step is apparently going to be a local hearing where the speakers list will be open to everyone who wants to give testimony. In the long run there may be a more developed field hearing where the house judiciary committee can compel testimony by supoena and try to push for changes in the Harris county system.

It was an interesting event, it will be interesting to see is the slow grinding gears of the government bueurocracy will be able to help correct the continued injustices of the local justice system.

Audio I recorded at the hearing: Victims of Texas Justice speak at field hearing in Houston

Protest at Houston Processing Center against Raids and Deportation

Around 2 dozen people gathered Saturday Morning at the Houston Processing Center, an immigrant detention facility run by the private corporation Corrections Corporation of America, to protest the recent raid and detention of more than 150 workers at Rags USA in East Houston.

Many folks parked on the north side of Greens road, and the protest took place on the south side, right next to the facility, making for quite a spectacle on a busy 2 lane road in north Houston. Protesters held signs, chanted, picketed, did interviews with the media (we noticed Univision, ABC, CW, the Chronicle and a couple others I dont know who they were with).

After a half hour of protest there were speeches by people who wanted to get on the mic. Including at least 3 socialist parties (whew), people from faith communities, a representative of CRECEN, a friend of Sin Fronteras who shut down the Processing Center in June of last year, as well as the girlfriend of a man who has been detained there for more than a year.

While we were hoping the turn out would have been larger, it was important to have a protest as soon as possible following this past raid. The mainstream media was there in force and will hopefuly let people know that there is resistance to these raids, and plans for a Emergency Response Network are underway, with a meeting planned for July 15th.

Props to all that came out on short notice. Keep organizing!

March to End Executions: They Say Death Row , We Say Hell No!

October 27th 2007, 200+ people gathered in Houston Texas for the 8th annual march to end executions. This first clip is excerpts from speakers at Emancipation Park before the march to SHAPE Center. (Low Resolution, I’m still learning this final cut bizness). Opening Speakers from groups including Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, Journey of Hope, Death Row Intercomunal Vanguard Engagement, Texas Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Panthers United for Revolutionary Education, National Black United Front and NOW Committee

Part 1

Part 2

Mov file on Houston Indymedia | Gislaine published photos from the march here

A more polished piece was featured on the January edition of Indymedia Newsreal, a monthly Indymedia production on Free Speech TV which is available on youtube:

No Justice No Peace: Kenneth Foster must be released! ATX march

The case of Kenneth Foster is extremely important and folks should read up on it. I’m not an expert so please check out past coverage Houston Indymedia has done.

We did not know what to expect a this event billed as rally and march from the Capitol to the Governor’s Mansion. Spending the previous day in Austin, we saw saw flyers for this all over the place, bookstores, restaurants, telephone poles etc. We arrived a little bit late, just in time to catch the end of a rally on the steps to the capitol building and join a march that took all of the southbound lanes on Congress, and snaking through downtown.

The march was largely composed of the African American family and friends of Kenneth Foster, Rodney Reed and former death row prisoners, the mostly anglo UT student based Coalition to end the death penalty/ International Socialist Organization, and a smattering of others; Puerto Rican Rappers from New York, Anarchists from Corpus Christi, Houston’s Texas Death Penalty abolition Movement, some folks from faith communities and many others.

The march was way more energetic than I was expecting, it moved very quickly with constant rythm of really catchy chants: “They say Death Row, We say Hell No” “No Justice No Peace – Kenneth Foster must be released” and others I cant remember.

We looped though downtown and ended up very close to where we started across the street from Rick Perry’s Mansion in a parking lot where a rally took place with music, from hip-hop to blues, poetry, messages sent from other people incarcerated and speakers from Kenneth’s family, other death row survivors and death penalty abolition activists.

It was a powerful event and I hope that it will serve to stop the execution of a man who was convicted under an anarconistic and barbaric law, and allow him to return to his family and community to continue the struggle for justice.

[full article with 10 photos] Gislaine took most of the photos, and I wrote the story, which offended the ISO of Austin for calling them ‘lily white’. Sorry y’all.

Houstons janitors are back – protesting in downtown

I biked downtown today and joined a march of around 100-125 janitors and supporters through downtown Houston. The Janitors are on the march again after their victory in 2006, winning thousands of janitors a contract and a wage above the minimum wage. Today the target is the Professional Janitorial Service (PJS) firm, one widely regarded as anti-union.

Acording to flyers being distributed by people in the march:
“unlike the city’s other leading cleaning companies, PJS is resisting janitors efforts to raise standards in the cleaning industry and has allegedly violated federal pay and labor laws, according to claims pending in federal court before the National Labor Relations Board.”

The march started at 1010 Lamar, a building managed by PM Realty who contracts PJS to clean their building (the flyer I have encourages people to support the janitors by calling PM Realty at 713-654-0608 and ask them to use a responsible cleaning contractor that provides a real future for janitors and their families). The march winded through downtown during lunch time, past many gawking buiesness people. the 100+ marchers stretched long enough that we could not all cross at a crosswalk and had to stop almost every block for everyone to catch up. There were probably around 20 cops on horses, bikes and on foot, surrounding and following the march.

The march ended at The Wedge Building, (WEDGE Group is an energy, construction and real estate company who from 1997 to 2004 was CEO’d by Bill White) who in 2006, switched cleaning contractors to PJS and away from a company which has allowed their Houston workers to Unionize. We were met outside by a giant rat, with PJS written on its belly. in front of the WEDGE building, a number of supporters from the community spoke, and people continued to drum chant and heckle the rich folks that keep thousands in poverty.

Organizing workers in Texas, with its ‘right to work‘ laws is very difficult, and a union-busting company like PJS could easily find a lot more buisness if there isnt constant pressure against such unethical behavior by workers and their allies. SEIU and the janitors expect the next couple of weeks to be very active, and hopefully Houston Indymedia will be covering a lot of this struggle.

www.houstonjanitors.org/

[full story with 9 photos]

Free Mumia Rally

I arrived late to the rally that tool place on Thursday May 17th, on the first day of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s arguments in federal court. The Houston rally was of around 30 people in front of the Harris County Courthouse building at Franklin and San Jacinto. As I arrived the rally was surrounded by cops, there were 18 cops at the San Jac/Franklin corner of the sidewalk, at least 3 cops on horses who looked really dehydrated facing the crowd, and 8 or 10 cops on bikes on the east side of the building. The rally was totally surrounded.

The crowd at the rally was an good mix of people. there were people there from the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, Houston Anarchist Black Cross, the SHAPE Center, the National Black United Front, People’s Party 3, Code Pink Women for Peace, Nation of Islam, and other folks who I’m not sure what group they were with (my apologies to folks I left out). A number of people made statements on the soundsystem, opposing the death penalty, supporting Mumia and other political prisoners, and railing against the injustice of the US justice system.

There was some chanting including “Brick by brick, wall by wall, we’re gonna free Mumia Abu-Jamal”. The rally ended with a Unity Circle and a prayer lead by Minister Robert Muhammed. We all headed our separate ways, and the cops dispersed, to go intimidate someone else. Thanks to Gloria and everyone who helped put this event together!

abu-jamal-news.com/

Sedition Book’s New Place on Old Spanish Trail

I drove down to find the new Sediton Books and help out a little but with their new space. It in a kinda neat 2 story bulding that used to be a Frat House on Old Spanish Trail.

I had been kind confused about how to get there. I think the easiest way to get there from a highway is to take 45 to Spur 5 and take Spur 5 south until it T’s into Old Spanish Trail. Take a right, and then it’s on your left in between MLK Blvd. and Calhoun.

Probably around 10 people were there through the afternoon, cleaning bookshelves computers and other things that were still covered with soot, cleaning dishes, moving furniture around, and disscussing the best way to lay out the building so it can fit their lending library, books for sale, free store and meeting space. There is definatly more space and it’s better divided up that the building on Washington Ave. Somehow I didnt take any photos on the inside.

Some folks came by to drop off furniture and I left some zines and magazines. The progress is slow going, but many of the folks seemed optomistic that they might be able to have some kind of event there on May First.

Sedition Books on Myspace

[Full article with 5 photos]

March ’07 Critical Mass

I biked downtown to Tranquility Park today and just caught the Critical Mass bike ride as it left the park there were probably at least 50 folks which is as big an unpermited ride as I’ve ever been to in Houston. We did a couple loops through the downtown area, drawing stares, cheers and maybe a honk.

We left downtown and rode west on Washington out of downtown eventually taking a right on Heights we went up almost to 20th street, then turned left and left again onto Yale. While on Yale the crew at the Indymedia radio show gave me a call and I talked a little bit about what I know about the history of Critical Mass and how the ride was going. We took a right on 11th street and then a left on Durham.

I broke off after hanging back with some of the folks who had mechanical problems we were cut off by a train just north of Washington. I ended up going over to MECA for the play Empanada about lesbianismo in the Chican@ community.

It was fun, I though the past was kinda fast but it was great to see so many folks on bikes riding together. Lots of respect to the guy who brough a boombox along, I was liking the ska music.

Join the ride next time:
Meet at Tranquility Park(400 Rusk) at 6:30pm, ride at 7. Last Friday of every month.

myspace.com/157695116

[full article with 5 photos]

Houston ABC Educates about Political Prisoners in Texas

The day after Valentines, Houston Anarchist Black Cross showed some love for Political Prisoners in Texas at a workshop in the freezing cold Sediton Books.

It was the first time Houston ABC had done the workshop, for around a dozen attendees, so there were definatly some kinks that could be worked out, but the facilitators asked the crowd to bear with them, and there was a lot of room for participation and help from the audience.

The workshop kicked off with introductions of folks and the groups they work with as well as their favorite things to do when it’s cold. People were there from ABC, the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, The Sedition Books Collective, Anti-Racist action and individuals who are not active with organizations. Peoples favorite things to do when cold tended to involve variations of snuggling and cuddling.

Houston ABC started by talking berifly about the history of Anarchist Black Cross, started in 1905 in Russia to support prisoners under the czar, which has gone through cycles of activity over the century.

There was then a brainstorm about what makes a political prisoner which included ideas like:

-Imprisoned for their views, not their accused crime
-Charge isnt the real reason for their incarceration
-The motive for an action being central in determing if it is political
-Theory that all prisoners in the capitalism are political – incarceration is a component of social control under the class structure of capitalism

we also looked at different labels that are sometimes used to describe certain prisoners:
Prisoner of War- People who are incarcerated for actions they commited in the struggle against their government, in the US many of the Black Power, Puerto Rican and other folks struggling for self determination of their communites.
Politisized prisoners- People who are incarcerated for “social crimes” or crimes not politically motivated, but who become revolutionaries in jail.

ABC folks then presented on the cases of 4 political prisoners held in Texas:
-Byron Chubbuck
A Cheeroke/Choctaw fellow who grew up in New Mexico, Colorado and a breif stint in Sugarland who is incarcerated at USP Beaumont. Byron robbed 14 banks in 1998-9 to help fund indigenous and barrio peoples and the ELZN Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico. He was nicknamed “Robin the Hood” by the FBI for his endeavors.

-Alvaro Luna Hernandez
Despite the US government’s lies that it holds no political prisoners in its prisons, Alvaro Luna Hernandez is an internationally recognized political prisoner imprisoned in Texas. Alvaro was a fierce advocate for the rights of immigrants, and other poor and oppressed barrios, in Houston, Texas, in the 90′s. He spearheaded the Movement to Free undocumented Mexican immigrant RICARDO ALDAPE GUERRA from Texas’ death row in 1996, framed for the killing of a Houston cop. Alvaro is incarcerated in Gatesville Texas.

-Ramón Labañino Salazar
One of 5 Cuban nationals (known as the Cuban 5) who infiltrated Miami based anti-Casto terrorist groups in an attempt to prevent attacks on Cuba. Ramon is incarcerated in Beaumont

Randal Hendricks
Arrested in early 2004 for ecologically motivated vandalism of SUV’s in northwest Houston. Sentenced to ten years, he will be paroled out later this year. His heavy sentenced is likely tied to the collaboration of Josh Killen, who identified Randy as the leader of the group when questioned by police.

A couple of the presentations were helped by contributions from long time activist Gloria Rubac. Gloria worked with Alvaro when he was active in Houston and has visited him in prison. She has also visited Ramon a number of times and is active in supporting the Cuban 5.

At the end of the presentations we had a brainstorm about ways we can support political prisoners that came up with some general things:

-Write Letters to the prisoners
-Educate ourselves on these cases so we can talk to other people about them
-More forums about Political prisoners, connect political prisoners and the prison industry to systematic injustice in the US

We also had some ideas about concrete actions:

-Help promote or host local screenings of a movie about the Cuban 5 that will be released in english in the spring
-Hold protests in support of a legal claim Byron and other Beaumont inmates are pushing
-Supporting Howard Guidry a death row prisoner who is recieving a retrial in Harris County.
-Letter Writing nights: ABC has hosted some in the past with good results, having an open evening for people to come by and write letters to political prisoners.

Overall, there were a lot of kinks to be worked out, but most of the folks who braved the cold seemed to enjoy it and with feedback received ABC can develop a really good workshop. The evening ended with everyone signing cards to each of the prisoners discussed, letting them know that folks are learning about their cases and struggling on their behalf.

myspace.com/houstonabc