Inside This Issue:
- Call to Action: Make Phone Calls to Help Drive Support of Voting Rights
- Call to Action: Support Expansion of Medicaid in Texas (HB 1741)
- You're Invited to the 2nd Annual Virtual HCDP Iftar Event
- Meet Hena Rafiq, Member of the HCDP AAPI Committee
- Houston Democrats Speak Out Against Proposed Voting Restrictions
- Texas Needs Medicaid Expansion!
- HCDP Training Opportunities
- HCDP Summer Leadership Academy
- Help Support HCDP Through Our Membership Program
- “We Run the World” Fundraiser to Highlight a Diverse Harris County
Call to Action: Make Phone Calls to Help Drive Support of Voting Rights
The Texas legislature is in session and moving through bills that will take away convenient and successful voting methods used here in Harris County last election. It will also put new extra burdens on voters. Voting is a fundamental right and we need you to reach out to your legislator and be heard! Bring a friend and join our weekly virtual phone banks!
Call to Action: Support Expansion of Medicaid in Texas (HB 1741)
Expanding Medicaid would save the Texas budget $100 million while providing comprehensive healthcare to 1.2 million adult Texans who earn less than $17,000 a year. A committee hearing has not yet been scheduled on bipartisan House Bill 1741, but every Texan can call, write, and email House Appropriations Committee members and your own representative. Ask them to hear and approve House Bill 1741.
You're Invited to the 2nd Annual Virtual HCDP Iftar Event
Ramadan Mubarak! The HCDP's Asian American Pacific Islander Committee cordially invites you to our 2nd Annual Virtual Iftar on Friday, April 23, 2021 at 5:00 PM. This celebration will consist of two parts: a virtual discussion and a community food drive.
The virtual panel will cover an array of topics, including: civic engagement as an act of worship and religious duty, the importance of registering to vote in preparation for the 2022 Midterm Election, life as a Muslim elected official, the status of American Muslims in Harris County.
The discussion moderated by Hena Rafiq, board member of the Texas They See Blue organization, will consist of the following speakers:
- Judge Gloria E. López, Judge of the 308th Family Court
- Judge Rabeea Collier, Judge of the 113th Civil District Court
- Judge Brittanye Morris, Judge of the 333rd District Court
- Council Member Letitia Plummer, member of the Houston City Council At-large Position 4
- Dr. Mehnaz A Shafi, Division of Internal Medicine at MD Anderson
Register for the virtual discussion here.
Ramadan is a time in which many Muslim families depend on local masjids for the ritual pre-sunrise breakfast and Iftar at sunset each day. Mezban Restaurant will provide and deliver individually packaged Iftar meals to 200-300 people in need at Masjid At-Tawhid located in 5th Ward, 5514 Hirsch Rd, Houston, TX 77026.
We need your help to make this happen. Contribute here!
Meet Hena Rafiq, Member of the HCDP AAPI Committee
The Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan begins on April 12, 2021. AAPI Member and HCDP Volunteer Hena Rafiq tells us about the holiday and why it’s a special time for her:
Ramadan is a really exciting time for Muslims. Most of us think first and foremost about fasting, but Ramadan comes with so many more wonderful activities. For me, our family eats together every single night (not a common occurrence in our home with everyone's busy schedules). I get to reconnect friends over regular iftar get togethers. I also generally go to the mosque every night and get to meet community members I never see throughout the year. Ramadan is a time where we all get to come out of individual bubbles and be a part of something bigger. Another core part of Ramadan is charity. Many Muslims give the bulk of their required zakat (charitable donations) in Ramadan. Muslims do what they can to uplift others, feed their neighbors, and share what they've been blessed with. Ramadan is overall just a really exciting, rewarding, challenging, and fun month.
Houston Democrats Speak Out Against Proposed Voting Restrictions
Elected and appointed officials from Harris and Fort Bend Counties joined Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner this week, vowing to fight two controversial bills in the Texas legislature that would restrict voting access. “In 2021, we find ourselves again fighting bills filed in legislatures across this country that would restrict and suppress the right of people to vote,” Turner said, about Senate Bill 7 and House Bill 6. “These bills are Jim Crow 2.0."
Learn more about the event here.
Texas Needs Medicaid Expansion
When Medicaid Expansion “was first presented to the Texas legislature in 2013, it was a new program, and cautious state leadership chose not to participate. Now, eight years later, the costs and benefits of Medicaid expansion are well known, as 38 states, including conservative states, have joined the program. Not one has exited; even in the face of built-in exit opportunities states like Indiana have re-upped. Dozens of studies show why.”
HCDP Training Opportunities
We're hosting a Votebuilder 101 training on Saturday, April 10, 2021 at 12:00 PM. Our team will dive into how to utilize Votebuilder (also known as VAN or Voter Activation Network) to identify potential Democrats and begin to familiarize yourself with VAN before the next election season.
Sign Up for Votebuilder Training.
Join us for a Precinct Organizing Training either on Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 6:00 PM or Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 12:00 PM! We'll cover how to organize your precinct throughout 2021, share best practices for new precinct chairs/captains (or those who may want a refresher), and learn about the resources available to help you along the way.
HCDP Summer Leadership Academy
The Harris County Democratic Party is looking for hardworking, passionate, future organizers to join our virtual Leadership Academy this Summer!
This program provides a unique learning opportunity for volunteer leaders to gain hands-on exposure to grassroots organizing, strengthen your understanding of the political process, and help us prepare to elect the progressive leaders in our community. Participants will have the opportunitiy to acquire skills in volunteer recruitment and management, various direct voter contact methods, event planning, and election worker management. We're building up the future leaders to Turn Texas Blue!
Help Support HCDP Through Our Membership Program
Work by the Harris County Democratic Party is supported through our membership program.
- Friend of HCDP - $10 a month
- Ally of HCDP - $15 a month
- Activist of HCDP - $30 a month
- Advocate of HCDP - $60 a month
- Champion of HCDP - $125 a month
Sustaining members who donate a regular monthly or annual amount allow us to underwrite our day-to-day operations. This is how we pay our staff. This is how we support Democratic candidates. This is how we fund our voter outreach.
This is how we win in 2022.
We Run The World Event to Highlight a Diverse Harris County
Join ROADwomen, H-BAD & HCDP for "We Run the World," a virtual fundraising event on April 16, 2021 at 6:30 PM - highlighting the true diversity of Harris County's artists, elected officials and grassroots activists!
Your sponsorship of this event will help us catapult our strategy of registering women voters and mobilizing first-time voters. With your support, we can help keep our progressive candidates in office and help new candidates flip the seats we need to Turn Texas Blue.
Celebrate the shattered glass ceiling women have broken, and let's show that We Run The World! 🌎
Stay safe y'all!