Unconventional Journalist

Movement for a People's Budget in Houston

As we all watch the national news, it feels helpless watching our tax dollars go to endless violence, bailing out corporations, and a random ballroom. However, every city and county has a budget season! The season for the Houston budget is here, and there is a movement demanding a budget that serves the working class. The Houston People's Budget [https://linktr.ee/htxpeoplesbudget]is a community movement to demand elected officials prioritize community safety, public infrastructure, and flood prevention for Houston and Harris County. Felix from West Street Recovery, [https://linktr.ee/WestStreet] NAC [https://www.weststreetrecovery.org/northeast-action-collective/], and the Houston People's Budget joins me to talk about how the current budget overfunds police while not paying city workers a living wage and cutting public services in general. The FY2026 budget cut $122M from public health, parks, libraries, housing, and the arts, reduced the total city workforce by 10%, and diverted $90M meant for drainage. We talk about the ways in which you can join the movement and help with plenty of events coming up before the vote in June.

How Houston Electeds are Over-Complying w/ ICE

Houston city officials and police are cowardly claiming they are “just following” the 2017 SB4 (the “Anti-Sanctuary” law). However, the law mandates compliance with ICE detainers, formal requests to hold someone already in custody. It does not require, or even mention, compliance with ICE administrative warrants.  This means HPD is doing more than the controversial state law requires, essentially volunteering for federal immigration enforcement while violating the 4th amendment. Jennifer, a policy attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) [https://www.ilrc.org/], joins me to break it all down. Resources so you can learn more: * https://store.ilrc.org/ [https://store.ilrc.org/]  * https://houston-leads.org/rapid-response-training/ [https://houston-leads.org/rapid-response-training/] * https://houston-leads.org/current-campaigns/ [https://houston-leads.org/current-campaigns/]

Movement to End Houston Police's Collaboration w/ ICE

We all know what's going on with ICE. There is movement in Houston putting pressure on City Council to end collaboration with ICE. Thuan and Adam from Houston DSA, part of the Houston Leads coalition [https://houston-leads.org/members/], join me to talk about the current movement to put pressure on to get ICE out of the city.  There are a few ways to get involved! From helping get signatures for petitions, showing up to city council and county commissioners meetings, to doing rapid response training [https://houston-leads.org/rapid-response-training/]. We are not hopeless!

Bridging the Gap: Connecting Farmers & Community

Farmers love to farm. They love plants more than they love people, and I don't blame them. How can farmers and the community connect, reinvigorate the food supply chain, and keep farm safety a priority? Jonathan from the Kalos Project [https://n6b.64d.myftpupload.com/] joins me to discuss challenges farmers face and how their work aims to bridge the gap between farmers and the community. https://www.instagram.com/kalosproject.earth/

Building Community Through Growing Food

Nothing quite brings community together more than food. AJ from Lone Oak Farm Tech [https://wfscorp.zoom.us/j/9881243646]joins me to talk about being a first generation farmer while also working on conservation efforts along the Colorado River. We cover her adventure into rural farming, the plans for the farm contributing to local food supply, and she offers tips on how to engage with your HOA or apartment complex for a community garden.