Tag Archives: latinas

Thoughts on Viernes…11192021

Abbott’s Steel Stupidity

We all remember that Greg Abbott parked DPS vehicles to form a “steel wall” on the border, right? Well, now, he’s added those steel shipping containers. They look old, the colors don’t even match, and, oh yeah, it’s all for show. Just as Eagle Pass was getting purty, Abbott adds eyesores (beyond his own presence). Who got the contract for this? And how much did it cost? Since there is a shortage of shipping containers, I’m sure it’s a pretty penny.

SBOE’s Pearl Clutching

The State Board of Education is burning banning books that teach sexual responsibility. Apparently, healthy practices like masturbation are an abomination, but by all means, let’s leave kids to learn on their own in the back of pickup trucks by the lake, just like their mommies and daddies learned, right? It’s irresponsible. I’m always thankful for good parents who not only explained responsibility to us, but got us better books than the “health” education provided at the schools (like the ones that will be left on their own to find materials to teach kids something).

$2 Million

I’m not surprised at Beto’s first day haul. I’m on a Beto facebook page not run by him and his fan base was chomping at the bit to start sending money to his campaign. Greg Abbott is already at $55 million given to the enormous price tag hanging from his hind side, so Beto needs to catch up. But Beto’s current tour, which started in South Texas has injected some energy to voters. The middle-of-the-week crowds have been pretty awesome and he has honed his message to really get voters excited. He is in Houston tonight at Discovery Green!

The Dean Is Running

Texas Senate Dean John Whitmire filed to run for re-election for SD15, but at his fundraiser/party he put rumors of running for Houston Mayor to rest by saying he would indeed run in 2023. Well, it’s still way too early to get excited about anything 2023 and the 2022 campaign has barely started. I’m waiting to see if I’m even residing in the city limits by then to get excited about anything. Anyway…

Trib Gets Chicanos Riled Up

There is a lot to unpack in James Barragan’s “Dems So White” Trib article. It’s the same old song about if the Republicans have some brown sell outs Latin@s, why don’t the Democrats? Texas AG candidate Rochelle Garza has the best quote about that: “It’s not enough that folks on the Republican ticket are people of color. You need to show your work,” she said. “What do you stand for? And who do you stand for? What we’re seeing on the right is folks that stand for corporations and big interests and don’t stand up for the little guy, for everyday Texans

It’s not like we don’t have a bench of experienced brown people who’d love to run statewide, but brown folks don’t have the fundraising prowess at that “Beto” level. We just don’t have those wealthy (non-Latino) connections to make us seem viable to white folks, so we keep running in our own neighborhoods and districts. Hell, the first challenge is convincing white Dems that one is qualified beyond their resume, like saying one is related to an Alamo “hero” or being a “descendant” of Sam the big statue or some pendejada like that. Having to jump through hoops and do a little jarabe tapatio (Mexican hat dance) for the powers that be just isn’t worth the task of serving as a sacrificial lamb. Because they will leave you out on your own, no matter if it’s Lupe Valdez or one of the Castros. They will find some excuse to go with whatever great white hype is offered up. So, I won’t get riled up. Go ahead, gabachos, run, represent, say all the things that need to be said. Just don’t sell us out or the first Tuesday in November will be lonely.

SD6 ~ Sylvia Garcia Wins!

Looks like it’s State Senator-Elect Sylvia R. Garcia who will be headed to Austin to represent Senate District 6. After starting the evening with comfy lead after the Early and Absentee votes were tallied, Garcia kept the lead en route to a 1000+ vote victory at the end of the evening.

Now, the bad news, as Kuff and the Trib reminds us.

Harris County has 10 days to canvass the results after Saturday’s contest, and Gov. Rick Perry‘s office of has an additional four days. The winner cannot take her oath until the governor’s canvass, which means the victor will not be able to file any bills after taking office.

Well played, Rick Perry. Which is why many of us were calling for Perry to call the election from the get-go, and which goes to show where Perry’s priorities are during the session.

Yeah, sounds like it sucks, right? But the new Senator had the perfect response to the Trib.

“What we’ll do is just work with some of the legislation that’s already been filed, not only on the senate side but with some of the house members that I have been working with during this campaign,” she told the Tribune. “We’ll just have to work with what we got.”

There’s no doubt that things got a bit serious in this race; even I enjoyed a few insults from some more overzealous supporters of Alvarado. (I drink coffee with the wealthy people of Memorial and that should bar me from having an opinion, apparently.) But Garcia hit the nail on the head.

Garcia said she will make health care and public education her priorities and said she anticipated that the delegation, which was split in its support between the two candidates, will heal and come together. Both she and Alvarado will be in Austin now as members of the same delegation.

“It’s all about moving forward and moving the ball forward and making sure we get things done, not only for this district but for the state of Texas,” she said.

State Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, was one of Garcia’s earliest supporters and said Saturday’s election means the delegation has added a strong and motivated Latina to fight for Houston.

“The election is over. District 145 gets to have a strong leader and advocate,” he said. “And it has a strong senator to advocate for our community in tandem.”

All that’s left to be said is:  How dare Garcia and Alvarado make friends pick between them!

Seriously, though, this is something that will keep occurring, but I hope this just means we’re another step closer to creating a Latina/o break-out candidate who can run competitively city-/county-wide and statewide. We’re overdue!

PDiddie has more.

Univision Does Better Job on SD-6 Report

Univision has done a better job on reporting on SD-6 than most mainstream media outlets here in Houston or Texas. And this one is a discussion on the issues, as mainstream media should do. Billing Sylvia Garcia and Carol Alvarado as two powerful Latinas, Univision’s Jose Carrera does a great job of introducing the candidates and an even better job of promoting their stances on issues, even that of driver licenses for undocumented immigrants.

State Immigration Issues

Both Garcia and Alvarado stated their support for the Texas DREAM Act, which allows undocumented students access to a college or university at in-state tuition rates. This should be a no-brainer beyond SD-6, in my opinion, given that these students and their parents have more than met residency requirements for in-state tuition. Both also support driver licenses for undocumented immigrants, Alvarado stating that all driver’s should have access to vehicle insurance as a measure of safety, and Garcia stating that all residents should have a State ID no matter their immigration status.

On Voter Turn-Out

I’ve made myself clear on the disappointing turn-out after both Garcia and Alvarado spent a nice chunk of change on Round 1. So, what’s the plan during the run-off?

Garcia:  States her campaign will be more forceful and motivated. If they knocked on your door 3-times, this time, they’ll knock 6. If they called you 4 times, this time, they’ll call 8 times.

Alvarado:  With a smile, she states that she will be getting in the middle of street, yelling at voters to go vote because of the election’s importance.

On Education

Both have stated their support of any effort to restore the $5.4 billion cut from K-12 education. Alvarado stated that more money beyond what has been cut is needed. The report stated Garcia was emphatic about this, but also supported reforming public education in Texas that would free teachers to teach everything and not just to the test. In the report, Garcia also stated she would fight against Rick Perry’s idea to take funding away from public schools for private school vouchers.

On Medicaid, Health Care

Both Garcia and Alvarado support an expansion of Medicaid. Garcia cited that Rick Perry not accepting federal dollars only means that what Texas invests in federal income taxes will only go to other states. Alvarado added that one in four Texans do not have health insurance.

Although both campaigns have gone negative in various ways, there is agreement beyond the issues. Garcia stated that both are going to make history, with Alvarado adding both are of good quality and hopes to see more Latinas elected to other posts.

The Main Difference? (My own commentary)

I delve deep into word games, particularly the code words campaigns use. In this race, I see a huge difference in one instance. From Day 1, I’ve seen Carol Alvarado using her “born, raised in the East End” meme as an asset, which obviously points to the fact that Sylvia Garcia was not. Garcia, on the other hand, has not run away from being born and raised in a farm-worker family in Palito Blanco, Texas down in the Valley, and it has been an asset which shows a small-town girl grew up to be a major player in the big city. In this case, I relate a lot more to Garcia because I’ve been the recipient of that kind of commentary from many locals when all one wants to do is serve and do some good. And the bottom line, some would say that most people in Houston are arrivals, rather than born here. Just sayin’.

I figure since no one had mentioned this before, I thought I’d throw that out there for conversation’s sake. Or if that makes the decision for you, great!

Great job by Jose Carrera!