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ARCHIVES
Celebrating
César - “Si Se Puede!”
Chávez's
legacy is remembered in Austin by a main street
(formerly 1st Street), statue
at UT, and an annual march
and awards dinner.
César Estrada
Chávez was a farm worker, labor
leader, and civil rights activist who was
instrumental in helping to change America and
help bring improvements to both documente and
undocumented workers. Chávez, along with
Dolores Huerta, are remembered for their legacy
and the ongoing struggle for justice fo all
with the slogan "Si se puede!" (Yes
we can).
Austinites are invited
to participate in the César Chávez
march scheduled on Saturday March 29 at 10am
at City Hall and to join with PODER's “Si
Se Puede” Awards Dinner on Monday.
STATEWIDE
MARCH TO END THE WAR
Million
Musicians for Peace
Saturday,
March 15
12noon - Rally at the State Capitol
1pm March to City Hall
1:30pm Peace Concert
Join with thousands
of fellow Austinites to voice your protest to
the ongoing occupation and war in Iraq. Remember
Molly Ivins and bring you pots and pans! Lots
of special musicial guests and speakers.
Target workers
need support
On February 9th,
Austin volunteers will meet and go forth in
teams of 3-4 persons to visit local Target stores
to encourage the Target Corp. to live up to
high ethical standards: responsible contracting
practices, fair treatment of workers and payment
of legal wages.
This programis being
headed by the Religion
and Labor Network of Austin (RLNA) in response
to scores of cases in the Austin and San Antonio
area where janitors were employed by a "fly-by-night
outfit" that required many janitors to
work 7 days per week, without overtime and below
minimum wage. Due to a lack of adequate response
from Target, RLNA and other Austin organizations
will begin to spread the word and visit directly
with the managers of those stores where the
janitors used to work. Two lawsuits on behalf
of 130 workers have already been filed but Target
is asking the judge to dismiss the case - saying
that they have no responsibility for the wages
of janitors who worked at their stores. If you
are interested in participating, contact Carla
Cheatham at RLNA.
Monday, Feb.
4 last day to register for primaries
Monday is the last
day to register if you plan to vote in the March
4 primary. Many groups will be out in public
places on Monday to encourage people to register
if they haven't already. Whole Foods, Fiesta
Market, Goodwill and the UT Co-op are just a
few of the many locations that will have registration
tables. Thanks to volunteer deputy registrars,
86% of eligible Travis County residents are
registered to vote ... that leaves 14% of adults
unregistered.
Recent changes in
voter registration law may have left hundreds
and possibly thousands of Travis, Hays and Williamson
county residents temporarily ineligible to cast
their ballots next month. Many voters were accidentally
purged as counties began to consolidate their
records in a statewide database (a
requirement of the 200 Help America Vote Act
HAVA) To verify the status of your voter
registrion, visit the following: Travis
County Voter Search, Williamson
County Election Dept. Hays
County Elections or the Texas
Secretary of State Voter Information..
Life and Legacy
of MLK
On January 21, Austinites
celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. with marches, a cultural festival
and other events throughout the city. The
Heritage Council of Austin was busy throughout
the year preparing for these events and invites
the entire community to particpate and continue
Dr. King's work for peace and social justice.
Peacemakers marched
first from the MLK statue at UT and then met
at the Capitol. A Cultural Festival at Huston-Tillotson
lasted until 3 p.m.; it included all types of
vendors and local musical artists and made the
2008 Celebration the best ever!
Neighborhood
Dialogue on Police Relations successful
More than 100 people
joined in the first session of the Neighborhood
Dialogue on Police Relations on January 19 at
Austin Community College. Sponsored by the Austin
Center for Peace and Justice and Austin Community
College this was the first meeting of Austin
neighborhood associations and concerned Austin
citizens to build an ongoing dialogue between
all neighborhoods around Austin, citizens and
the Austin Police Department.
Chief Acevedo spoke
and then people dispersed into smaller break-out
sessions to discuss various safety concerns
in their neighborhoods. In February, groups
will come together to work on solutions to the
issues that were surfaced at the January meeting.
All of Austin is invited to participate in this
process, share concerns and learn about citizens'
rights and responsibilities when it comes to
safety and law enforcement
PT Director
needed - ACPJ
The Austin Center
for Peace & Justice is looking for a part-time
Director to help lead the organization during
2008 and help us to coordinate between groups
and projects in the Austin area while strengthening
local justice and peace.
The position requires
a broad range of abilities and skills in the
area of volunteer outreach, websites and administration
and is funded for 20 hours per week. For additional
information, download the Job
Notice (.pdf) and let us hear from you!
Under 21 Poetry
Slam - Dec 8
Join youth from
around Austin in the City-Wide Under 21 Poetry
Slam at Ruta Maya on December 8. The Poetry
Slam is a project of the Texas
Youth Word Collective, a youth literacy
program, that encourages middle school and high
school students’ interest in writing through
youth poetry slams, open mics and online anthologies.
In aaddition to literacy
projects, the Texas Youth Word Collective is
active in youth advocacy through its membership
in the Texas Coalition Advocating Justice for
Juvenile (TCAJJ), a reform coalition designed
to help end abuse and mistreatment of incarcerated
youth in the juvenile justice system.
Keep Austin
Housed Blanket Drive
The Second Annual
Keep Austin Housed Blanket Drive will be collecting
winter blankets for Austin
Resource Center for the Homeless November
23, 2007 - December 3, 2007. The goal of the
drive will be to provide Winter warmth for the
local homeless population. All collected blankets
will be donated to ARCH and distributed during
the winter months to the more than 4,000 Austin
area homeless individuals. Ruta
Maya will be a collection point for Keep
Austin Housed Blanket Drive. A blanket collection
bin will be stationed in the cafe. Other local
businesses with collection bins for the drive
include The Hideout at 617 Congress Avenue,
Waterloo Records and Wheatsville Food Co-op.
Demands for
judge to step down
Judge Sharon Keller,
the presiding judge on the Texas court of criminal
appeals, who is nicknamed "Killer Keller"
for her tough stance on death penalty, was recently
picketed at her Austin home. More than 300
lawyers and hundreds of citizens have signed
an official complaint against Keller for
her role in sending a condemned man to be executed
and created an outcry
around the world. Keller literally closed
the courthouse doors to Richard's attorneys,
who had asked for an extra half-hour to file
a last-minute appeal on Richard's behalf.
In an extraordinary
protest, the National Association of Criminal
Defence Lawyers also filed an official complaint
against Keller following her refusal late last
month to wait 20 minutes to receive an appeal
on behalf of Michael Richard, who had been condemned
for the rape and murder of a mother of seven.
Richard was later that night executed that night.
"This execution proceeded because the highest
criminal court couldn't be bothered to stay
an extra 20 minutes on the night of an execution,"
Andrea Keilen, of Texas
Defender Service, told reporters.
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