Faith and Hard Work in an Era of Upheaval
(part of a series from the “Shipwrecked Project”)There are many definitions of a hard childhood. By any definition Mario had a hard childhood. A childhood shaped by deprivation and struggle. Mario did not have a complete understanding of the reasons his father abandoned his children and his wife. Though his father at one time served […]
2016
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 One of our early Houston founding families supported the creation of settlement houses and community centers, because, as he said, “neighbors should live as friends”. I just recently returned from Germany. A country leading the struggle to welcome newcomers, to make a place for over a million Syrian refugees. German […]
WHAT WE KEPT SILENT ABOUT
I recently spent a few days with four white women friends. A real vacation of the kind I rarely take. No plans except to do whatever we felt like — or nothing. After 24 hours we fell into an accommodating rhythm. The coffee and plans got made every day. We ate. We walked. We talked. […]
Inter-modal Facilities for People: Sorting on Aspirations (2015)
Cities are doing it for themselves. Stepping out of federal frameworks, working past gridlock, and under the radar of states — cities are running toward the burning issues. And facing disruptions. Tackling infrastructure, immigration, transportation, jobs and training, supply chains and trade. We sort and ship and rail and fly and skip goods across the […]
Uniquely US
Millions of immigrants and refugees all over the world are fleeing oppression, starvation and violence. Today, the United States is the ONLY receiving nation tearing children from the arms of parents. Not the desperately poor countries. Not the horribly dysfunctional governments. Just the U.S. Aren’t you proud? I can’t help but believe that every adult […]
Becoming A Collaborator
As I was flying home a United Airlines flight attendant told me the worst day she’d ever had at work was this past week on a plane with children being flown from Houston to Miami without their parents. It made me think…. Someone had to take children from parents. Had to transport them to prison. Had […]
This is my campaign
There is a Middle Majority in this country that if you poll a 1,000 different ways it comes back the same —— We want universal health care. We don’t want people to go bankrupt because they fractured a leg or got pneumonia. We want our representatives to do what other countries have done and figure […]
A Brief Essay on Time
…on advocacy and heartbreak… Time passes differently for the privileged than for the neglected. For “the poor”, time is measured in packages of effort devoted to survival, the time it takes to earn your rent, the hourly wage, overtime (if you are lucky), the time it takes to scrounge up a meal. And waiting. The […]
Crowdsource that Dang Wall
I’ve been thinking about DJT’s ~1,900 mile wall.* I think we should crowdsource it. If you want a wall, grab a brick and haul it down to the Texas** border and put it right down. On the border. A few things to watch out for: Snakes. I’m scared of snakes. They have snakes. Mean ones. […]
You’re Welcome
Today in Houston, elected, faith, civic and nonprofit leaders, led by Mayor Turner, gathered at Baker Ripley to tell all residents of our city that they are still welcome in Houston. It was necessary. Children are not coming to school. Parents are calling hot lines with questions about “immediate deportations”. People proudly seeking citizenship now […]