Occupy Houston stands in solidarity with Food Not Bombs.  Food Not Bombs has been sharing free healthy vegetarian food for about 18 years. However, if this amendment to the city’s codes passes on March 21, then March 19 will be our last legal sharing. Home made food will be illegal. Unlicensed organizations will be illegal. Serving in public space that hasn’t been pre-approved will be illegal. So, on our last legal night, we are planning music, media, and of course free healthy vegetarian food.

5 Things You Can Do! 1) Sign the petition: tinyurl.com/freetosharepetition 2) Call the City Secretary at (832) 393 – 1100 on Monday or Tuesday morning, to reserve time to address City Council Tuesday between 2 and 5 pm. When you call, request 1 minute to speak against the anti-sharing ordinance. Then come Tuesday, and leave enough time to park and go through metal detectors. 3) Call all of your city council members on Monday. If they are already against the amendment, thank them. If not, tell them your own reasons, or simply say “The increased government regulation described in a new proposed law would lead to more hungry Houstonians and criminalization of those trying to help the needy. ” Council member numbers: Helena Brown (832) 393-3010, Jerry Davis (832) 393-3009, Ellen Cohen (832) 393-3004, Wanda Adams (832) 393-3001, Mike Sullivan (832) 393-3008, Al Hoang (832) 393-3002, Oliver Pennington (832) 393-3007, Ed Gonzalez (832) 393-3003, James G. Rodriguez (832) 393-3011, Mike Laster (832) 393-3015, Larry Green (832) 393-3016, Stephen C. Costello (832) 393-3014, Andrew C. Burks, Jr. (832) 393-3013, Melissa Noriega (832) 393-3005, C.O. “Brad” Bradford (832) 393-3012, Jack Christie (832) 393-3017 4) Come celebrate what could be the last legal food sharing with Houston Food Not Bombs!

Monday 8 – 9pm at 521 Lamar St.  Downtown Library Courtyard

Bring only vegetarian food, or just bring yourself. 5) Spread this post around!

~Nick Cooper

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As some may know, Houston City Council is trying to pass an ordinance that would effectively prohibit nonprofit organizations and charities from sharing food with the homeless. It has three disturbing components * all food must be prepared in a kitchen sanctioned by the Health Inspector (food czar); this means volunteers can not prepare food in their homes anymore * all people distributing prepared food must be trained like food service employees for paid corporations * you must have written approval from all points of distribution by the property owner — public, or private.

Food Not Bombs – Houston is a nonprofit pacifist organization that prepares vegetarian meals for the homeless. They do this out of love and passion. They’ll be hosting the last legal food sharing tomorrow at 8 PM. Go and show support for Food Not Bombs and all others that resist big government intrusions on our right to help other less fortunate members of the 99%. RSVP, invite your friends, and share the event bellow.

* https://www.facebook.com/events/346683062037845/

BTW this policy would also effectively kill off any permanent occupation. Occupy Houston ran off of food donations too. Did the City Council create this ordinance to kill off a potential future occupation? Maybe. But, ultimately it’ll be the homeless that bear the burden.

~ Evan Carroll

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[There is a FLASH slide show on the actual site. – Mike]

  In the spring of 1917, shortly after the United States declared war on Germany, the War Department, taking advantage of the temperate climate and newly opened Houston Ship Channel, ordered two military installations built in Harris County—Camp Logan and Ellington Field. The Illinois National Guard was to train at Camp Logan, located on the northwest outskirts of the city. To guard the construction site, on July 27, 1917, the army ordered the Third Battalion of the black Twenty-fourth United States Infantry to travel by train with seven white officers from the regimental encampment at Columbus, New Mexico, to Houston. From the outset, the black contingent faced racial discrimination when they received passes to go into the city. A majority of the men had been raised in the South and were familiar with segregation, but as army servicemen they expected equal treatment. Those individuals responsible for keeping order, especially the police, streetcar conductors, and public officials, viewed the presence of black soldiers as a threat to racial harmony. Many Houstonians thought that if the black soldiers were shown the same respect as white soldiers, black residents of the city might come to expect similar treatment. Black soldiers were willing to abide by the legal restrictions imposed by segregated practices, but they resented the manner in which the laws were enforced. They disliked having to stand in the rear of streetcars when vacant seats were available in the “white” section and resented the racial slurs hurled at them by white laborers at Camp Logan. Some police officers regularly harassed African Americans, both soldiers and civilians. Most black Houstonians concealed their hostility and endured the abuse, but a number of black soldiers openly expressed their resentment. The police recognized the plight of the enlisted men, but did little to alert civil authorities to the growing tensions. When they sought ways to keep the enlisted men at the camp, the blacks disliked this exchange of their freedom for racial peace.

On August 23, 1917, a riot erupted in Houston. Near noon, two policemen arrested a black soldier for interfering with their arrest of a black woman in the Fourth Ward. Early in the afternoon, when Cpl. Charles Baltimore, one of the twelve black military policemen with the battalion, inquired about the soldier’s arrest, words were exchanged and the policeman hit Baltimore over the head. The MPs fled. The police fired at Baltimore three times, chased him into an unoccupied house, and took him to police headquarters. Though he was soon released, a rumor quickly reached Camp Logan that he had been shot and killed. A group of soldiers decided to march on the police station in the Fourth Ward and secure his release. If the police could assault a model soldier like Baltimore, they reasoned, none of them was safe from abuse. Maj. Kneeland S. Snow, battalion commander, initially discounted the news of impending trouble. Around 8 P.M. Sgt. Vida Henry of I Company confirmed the rumors, and Kneeland ordered the first sergeants to collect all rifles and search the camp for loose ammunition. During this process, a soldier suddenly screamed that a white mob was approaching the camp. Black soldiers rushed into the supply tents, grabbed rifles, and began firing wildly in the direction of supposed mob. The white officers found it impossible to restore order. Sergeant Henry led over 100 armed soldiers toward downtown Houston by way of Brunner Avenue and San Felipe Street and into the Fourth Ward. In their two-hour march on the city, the mutinous blacks killed fifteen whites, including four policemen, and seriously wounded twelve others, one of whom, a policeman, subsequently died. Four black soldiers also died. Two were accidentally shot by their own men, one in camp and the other on San Felipe Street. After they had killed Capt. Joseph Mattes of the Illinois National Guard, obviously mistaking him for a policeman, the blacks began quarreling over a course of action. After two hours, Henry advised the men to slip back into camp in the darkness—and shot himself in the head.

Early next morning, August 24, civil authorities imposed a curfew in Houston. On the twenty-fifth, the army hustled the Third Battalion aboard a train to Columbus, New Mexico. There, seven black mutineers agreed to testify against the others in exchange for clemency. Between November 1, 1917, and March 26, 1918, the army held three separate courts-martial in the chapel at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. The military tribunals indicted 118 enlisted men of I Company for participating in the mutiny and riot, and found 110 guilty. It was wartime, and the sentences were harsh. Nineteen mutinous soldiers were hanged and sixty-three received life sentences in federal prison. One was judged incompetent to stand trial. Two white officers faced courts-martial, but they were released. No white civilians were brought to trial. The Houston Riot of 1917 was one of the saddest chapters in the history of American race relations. It vividly illustrated the problems that the nation struggled with on the home front during wartime.

This article was taken from The Handbook of Texas Online.

Occupy-related Tweets & Info

Top Group is my copies. 2nd Group is #OHTX Official Timeline:

4hOccupy Houston‏@OccupyHouston: And, if you can’t make it our and still wanna provide some aide for the #D12 defendants, you can donate at https://www.wepay.com/donations/OHTXLegalFund #OHTX

15hIn Lak’ech Ala K’in‏@MorpheusDeZion: Occupy the Machine http://www.facebook.com/occupythemachine #OTM #OWSHouston #OHTX #EarthDay #JoinUs Retweeted by Occupy Houston

14hOccupy Houston‏@OccupyHouston: https://www.facebook.com/events/377783295573224/ #April7th #JoinUs for a night of revelry and music.  Relax and reunite with YOUR #OccupyFamily! #OHTX #LastConcertCafe

1hMike Honig‏@ThinkWingRadio: Sign this [NEW] petition for #TheWhiteHouse to increase the #NIH budget for 2013 http://t.co/oCvyF7Le #Health #Science #Research

6hKohler Co.‏@Kohler: @farleftofright Thank you for your concern. We do not support the comments of Mr. Limbaugh and have pulled our advertising from his show. Retweeted by Alan Smithee Prṏject

23 MarOccupy Houston‏@OccupyHouston: Here is an easy-to-access list of contact info for all of our lovely city officials. https://t.co/yuc4DL9F #OHTX #KeepSharingFree #HouNews Retweeted by Mike Honig

2hThe Nation‏@thenation: The latest from #OWS, including Occupiers “fishing for cops” with donuts and the evolution of #Occupy at Union Square: http://t.co/zoJWlx2O

21 MarOccupy Houston‏@OccupyHouston:The anti-food sharing ordinance has been defeated.  We the people defeated it! Our collective voice is thunderous! #OHTX #FoodNotBombs

21 MarThe Nation‏@thenation: RT @brycecovert: A follow up to yesterday’s @thenation post: Why we have to reform, not abandon, the police. http://bit.ly/GLIzYG

21 MarThe Nation‏@thenation: Plans are afoot for a grand reawakening at #Occupy Wall Street: http://ow.ly/9NdLv #OWS

11hOccupy Houston‏@OccupyHouston: That & 1pm Mon. #JoinUs at College Station to protest the food monopoly, #Monsanto. @occupy_cs #OHTX #OATX https://www.facebook.com/events/189359131169039/ #Action2012

11hOccupy Houston‏@OccupyHouston: Tomorrow, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to sign up to speak at city council Tuesday 832-393-1100.

4hEstelle Weyl‏@estellevw: The NYPD, proving once again, that the USA is a police state. http://www.truth-out.org/re-occupation-and-police-raid-zuccotti-park-set-tone-radical-spring/1332097105 Land of the free? Bullshit!

2hThe Nation‏@thenation: Occupy has already accomplished so much. What promise does it hold and what dangers does it face this spring? http://ow.ly/9Gv3t

9hRoger Ebert‏@ebertchicago: 2012 listing of World’s Most Ethical Companies. I’d never heard of this. http://bit.ly/FP6oyU

12hOccupy Houston‏@OccupyHouston: Next Tuesday will be our last chance to speak to city council and defend the sharing of food. https://www.facebook.com/events/203794839719983/ #OHTX #FoodNotBombs

17hGlenn Greenwald‏@ggreenwald: ACT-UP was the Occupy of the 80s: scorned as pointless disruptions – “what’s it achieving?” – answer: a huge amount http://is.gd/zPZ8Lr Retweeted by Jeff Marks

16hGreg Mitchell‏@GregMitch: My OccupyUSA blog for today: http://bit.ly/wDfYrD #OWS Retweeted by The Nation

14hThe Nation‏@thenation: The #Occupy Spring? http://ow.ly/9FRsW

14hThe Nation‏@thenation:This week at @thenation: We asked 11 Occupy observers to speculate about #Occupy‘s future. Join the conversation! http://ow.ly/9FN4G

55mThe Nation‏@thenation: Watch Occupiers set a up living room in Bank of America lobby: http://ow.ly/9EmJX #Occupy #M15 #FightBAC

3hLOLGOP‏@LOLGOP: Any conversation of government waste that doesn’t start with defense contractors and end with big oil subsides is 1%er propaganda.

6hThe Nation‏@thenation: How community radio stations helped the #Occupy movement take hold across the country: http://ow.ly/9CTjK #longreads

7hThe Nation‏@thenation: The latest from the #Occupy movement, updated in real time: http://ow.ly/9CWKz

9hGreg Mitchell‏@GregMitch: Artist creates $2500 folding chairs –made out of Occupy signs–to sell to the 1% to raise money & issues for #OWS.  http://bit.ly/xOybyr Retweeted by The Nation

14hMatthewAurelius‏@MatthewAurelius: NYT reports unconstitutional arrests, surveillance & searches by NYPD against Occupy Wall Street protesters: http://nyti.ms/w1jRmt #OWS Retweeted by Bruce Judson

14hBruce Judson‏@BruceJudson: WSJ tool to see “what percent are you?” Input your income; see percent. http://on.wsj.com/wSE7KW

14hBruce Judson‏@BruceJudson: Extroardinary; Top 1% accounted for 93% of all income recovery in 2010. http://huff.to/yovvAs

14hBruce Judson‏@BruceJudson: Is this federal bill an anti-protest law in disguise? http://bit.ly/yggASI

Occupy Houston‏@OccupyHouston: #FoodNotBombs shares at 521 Lamar St., 77002 (Public Library) on MWF at 8pm, Sun. at 7pm. Bring vegan food to share or just yourself! #OHTX

Occupy Houston‏@OccupyHouston: https://twitter.com/OccupyHouston/houston-city-officials Here is a list of #Houston City Officials on twitter. The few followers means they’ll hear you. #FoodNotBombs #OHTX