On the 2nd Saturday of the month Domingo Garcia and LULAC Council 102 host a community breakfast in Fort Worth. On the first Saturday of the month, they do the same in Dallas and Houston as well. People are giving a choice of having a free breakfast of the two items referenced above, which with today’s egg prices is not nothing.
Now for people that have never attended and are cynical about everything may ask “What’s the catch.” No, they are not trying to sell you anything. You, however, are expected to pay attention to community announcements, maybe some political speeches, and news-related information.
Northside High School
Por ejemplo (for example) Northside H.S. principal Antonio Martinez shared the “Rest of the story” concerning the social media post and teacher. A FWISD teacher posted online about several students at N. Side H.S. could not speak English and invited ICE to come out to school.
That person was a substitute teacher whose contract has now been terminated. Mr. Martinez made it clear that his behavior is not acceptable in any way and has convened that to all. Someone at breakfast asked him if could file to take his educator’s license, his response that as subsite he does not have one. Licensing is not a mandatory requirement for substitutes.
Officer Daniel Segura a spokesperson and public relations officer for the Spanish-speaking community in Fort Worth also spoke. He shared that the FWPD was not in the ICE enforcement business. Therefore no one should fear contacting his department for any reason, especially in reporting crime. He also encouraged people to contact him for questions or concerns.
New City Manager
Last (for me had to leave early) Jesus Jay Chapa the new Fort Worth city manager and first Hispanic to hold the position. Mr. Chapa has over twenty years’ experience in city government and before his new role he served as Deputy City Manager. He is highly regarded by numerous individuals within the Fort Worth community. However, I must mention though some were not happy with his appointment for his new position. The main issue was the hiring process, which many felt lacked transparency. They believed others should have considered and found the process unfair.
Nonetheless he received a warm welcome from the C&M breakfast club. Mr. Chapa, like Mr. Segura, invited all to please contact his office for any questions or complaints. I inquired about the city contracts that have been awarded as to whether they might be at risk due to the new federal and state regulations concerning D.E.I. considerations. He assured me that they could not retroactively renege on prior contracts without facing lawsuits. Therefore, he does not think that it could be possible and assured those in attendance they will continue to collaborate with all qualified contractors (paraphrasing).
Protests
In the last couple I attended two Immigration protests in D/FW, Pero I could have easily doubled that amount. There is no doubt that people are standing up to all the Ant-Immigrant talk coming out of Trump administration. Domingo Garcia former LULAC national president and well-known attorney and community activist is planning a Mega March for Sunday February 23rd. This is in process, and they are meeting weekly and still looking for people to join the planning committee. If you are interested, contact me, and will share information.
It is wonderful to see our community standing up for themselves and others. Pero Ahora (now) is the time to go beyond that and mobilize for action beyond that. So, to that end we will be hosting a Zoom meeting this Saturday February 15th at 11.00. We want your input on our action plan, so please contact us if you would like to join us.
Cesar and Dolores
The Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta March and Rally is set for Saturday, March 29th (see flyer for details). Expected to serve as this year’s Grand Marshals will be Paul Chavez (Cesars’ son) and Grammy award winner Little Joe. This year will mark the 25th year of March in Fort Worth. More than ever, we need to ‘Show Up’ and let’ people know that much like Cesar and Dolores ‘We will all stand up for our community. This is a March for Justice!
There is so much news coming out of Wahington every day and most of it does not make any sense to most of us. At the state level School vouchers are the big thing along with other Trump copycat Governor Abott ideocracy. More on this next week, in the meantime, I again invite to join our Zoom meeting this Saturday. Contact at me @ albertogovea@amigosnbusiness.co for link.
By A. Govea