District Viewer

According to the newly drawn Texas House map, here are the Latino population numbers for Harris County districts: District 126 - 21.5% District 127 - 19.2% District 128 - 33.8% District 129 - 24.5% District 130 - 22.9% District 131 - 44.3% District 132 - 34.2% District 133 - 17.6% District 134 - 16.4% District 135 - 40.5% District 137 - 52.0% District 138 - 47.2% District 139 - 40.1% District 140 - 74.3% District 141 - 36.4% District 142 - 43.3% District 143 - 75.7% District 144 - 75.1% District 145 - 71.3% District 146 - 41.6% District 147 - 21.8% District 148 - 75.4% District 149 - 29.6% District 150 - 22.3%

In support of Commissioner Janiece Longoria

On Wednesday morning, Houston City Council will vote on Position 7 at the Houston Port Authority. This is a Council appointment but Mayor Parker and her administration are working District Council Members pretty hard to support the Mayor's preferred candidate. All of the usual political favors are on the table and promises have been made. I'd like to remind everyone that the budget is not being met, the City is discussing lay offs and furloughs, and no one should count on favors when there is no money.

With that said, I am steadfast in my support of Commissioner Janiece Longoria's re-appointment to the Port Authority. She is a great example of Hispanic success and a needed voice for diversity on the Commission. I must stand with my fellow Latina, because if we can't count on each other, who can we count on? Comadres stick together, and that's the way it is.

It is a shame that the Hispanic community allows ourselves to be divided for bogus political arguments on items of such great importance. Mayor Parker may succeed in her efforts to remove Commissioner Longoria, which would be a big political win for her, but it will come at a great loss - for the second time in as many weeks - for the Hispanic community.

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to save the Hispanic presence on the Port Commission. We did the right thing and we can only hope that the leadership will stand up for our community at Council on Wednesday.

P.S. If you're looking for the Houston Chronicle article on the agenda item, you won't find it. Written by Jenalia Moreno, it is no longer available online. 

From the No Sh*t, Sherlock Department:

After a tough Election Day on November 2nd, Democrats are re-surfacing to take a look at the damage done and to assess what remains. The obvious things are that we got out with our lives, it was just an election and not the end of the world. The losses in Harris County are deep and devastating, and if we don't learn from our many mistakes then we will not recover from 2010 for a long, long time.

It's interesting, though. There are lots of fingers pointed at the Latino community. Some blame Latinos for not voting in Texas, but the critics are silent after the numbers come out. Rick Perry picked up 48% of the Hispanic vote. Latino Republicans were elected to the Texas Legislature and to Congress. The Latino vote matters and when you ask for that vote, you get it.

Get it?

Latinos saved the United States Senate for the Democrats with our voting strength in Nevada, Colorado and California.  Why the hell can't that happen in Texas? Let's get real here. Bill White's campaign focused on moderate Anglos who made up their minds last year that they were voting a straight Republican ticket this year. There was no way that Bill White was going to change the heart and mind of that voter. And you can't grow more like-minded, moderate white voters in a lab at A&M. It doesn't work like that.

But you can register a whole bunch of eligible new voters in an exploding population. Hispanics haven't been engaged yet. But get to them fast, because unfortunately Hispanics have the same bad American habits of watching Glenn Beck and Fox News.

Until Democrats focus on the Latino vote in Texas, we will continue to sustain losses. It's that simple.

Something to share

By now you've heard about the commotion caused by angry, dried up old racists out in Arizona. Unfortunately, there's a brown child who voted against his own interests in the Arizona State Legislature. He appeared on the CBS Evening News defending SB1070, because, who better to tell Latinos "not to worry" about being discriminated against, but another Latino?

I wrote Representative Steve Montenegro an e-mail and wanted to share with you, Reader. And you know who you are. Enjoy!

To: smontenegro@azleg.gov
Date: Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 6:01 PM
Subject: Desgraciado

You ought to be ashamed of yourself for appearing on CBS Evening News carrying the water for white people who have as much regard for you, a little brown boy, as they do the protesters outside of the Capitol.

No matter how many times you cast a vote to humiliate, dehumanize and criminalize your own people, law -abiding U.S. citizens and residents, you will NEVER be white or white enough for Republicans.

I also think that it's quite telling that you have omitted biographical information on your House website. But I get that. You wouldn't want to tip off your masters in the Arizona GOP that you're actually not Anglo, although your dark hair, skin and features would be reasons enough to question your right to be at the Capitol at any given time.

You may want to start carrying your own papers. Representative.

Just an FYI.

Under the radar

I don't have anything to say. If anything comes up that I have an opinion on,  you'll be the first to know.

But thank you for reminding me that I haven't posted anything in a while. Half of the intent was to take some of the heat off of me and to www.moveon.org after a contentious election cycle, and the other half is about me not having much to say. It's nice flying under the radar.

Before I started this blog, several well-meaning friends and even a few of my mentors urged me to write about my thoughts on the political happenings in Our Town. After a couple of years of typing my opinions into perpetuity, I've been advised not to write at all and to shut this blog down because there are people in high places who don't like what I have to say.  And to that, I say, ya vez?! Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.  I've angered many but I've also been thanked for sticking my neck out. One person has chosen to distance herself from me altogether, and that's completely fine with me, because at least I know where I stand.

Just to be clear, my boss has not asked me to shut my mouth. In fact, he told me that he was proud of me and of my work and appreciates the fact that I didn't just sit down and shut up when "advised."

So ... move along, folks. Nothing to see here - YET!

Merry Christmas, Y'all

Robert Earl Keen says it best! And FYI, you've got about 15 minutes 'til Specs closes...

2009 didn't completely suck

For one, we won our election! Council Member Edward Gonzalez will be sitting at his seat in Council Chambers for a full term.

He is one of my dearest friends and one of the best persons you could ever meet. Working for him was pretty great. He is an awesome boss, and I am loyal to him come hell or high water.

I must confess that after that grueling campaign, I really did lose enthusiasm for elective politics. On the positive side, I can no longer say that I hate Republicans, because I don't. Edward's campaign taught me that we really must work together to win and to make Houston a better place to live for everyone. Two of his best friends in the world are Republicans and they put their whole hearts into getting Ed elected. In the process, one friend has begun laying the foundation for his own campaign, several years from now.

I'm still a Democrat. I still believe in the Democratic party. However, I realize that the Democratic party is severely lacking in engaging Hispanics in Texas and especially right here in Harris County. Sure, some of it is cultural. Latinos have a distrust for politics because they don't see how it directly affects their lives. It doesn't help that the national Democrats completely ignored Texas last year and showed complete disregard for Latino voters.

The Harris County Democratic Party Chair once observed out loud to me that there were no Latinos at his stupid nighttime brown bag event. It's usually the same old white liberals with no small children at home and no second jobs who are able to attend the boring shit at HCDP headquarters. "Didn't they get the email?" He wondered. For one, people are struggling to stay in their homes and feed their families. It's a bad economy and Latinos are taking a hit just like everyone else. Latinos are younger, have more kids and don't really see the value of hearing Gerry Birnberg talk for a hour about the topic of the month. If Latinos made it to HCDP, would you have someone there to address them in Spanish or talk about the issues that concern them? There is a huge disconnect that is very offensive.

I'm really sick of Democrats who blame Latinos for not voting in higher numbers in elections. How about doing some outreach, and I don't mean hiring a token employee to placate a few elected officials. How about admitting that the future of this state, the future of THIS COUNTRY is a brown face whose surname will likely end in a "z" or a vowel?

White liberals are enjoying their day in the sun right now, as they should. They should know that it will not last if they don't stop ignoring Latinos. There are simply not enough white liberals to carry the Democratic party to continuing victories. Wake up.