Unconventional Journalist

What is War Tax Resistance?

From local taxes to state and federal, the money we pay our government continues to fund atrocities that violate human rights. Our taxes continue to fund "wars" that no one asked for. Ken from the the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee [https://nwtrcc.org/](NWTRCC) joins me to talk about the ongoing movement to resist war taxes. We talk about the history of war tax resistance, what it looks like now, along with myths and general education. NWTRCC is a coalition of local, regional, and national groups and individuals from across the United States. For everyone interested in or actively refusing to pay taxes for war, NWTRCC offers information, referral, support, resources, publicity, campaign sponsorship, and connection to an international network of conscientious objectors to war taxes.

Tenant Rights Movement in Houston

When folks think about public safety, they tend to think about cops. Instead of seeing cops as a means of safety, what else can keep us safe? Housing as a human right is one of the many ways we can reimagine safety in our communities.  Dominica and Diana from Houston Tenants Union [https://linktr.ee/houstontenantsunion] (HTU) join me to talk about how housing is a human right and provide tips on how to read your lease. HTU's meetings are weekly with a potluck, childcare, and an option to join online.

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!