The nation, once again, reels in the aftermath of an unjustified and tragic young Black death at the hands of law enforcement in the case of Tyre Nichols. Over two episodes, Progress Texas seeks to learn: what's the status of police reform in Texas, and nationwide? What are the factors that lead to what seems to be an ever-escalating epidemic of lethal police violence against unarmed Black citizens? And - most importantly - what can WE do to end this disgraceful trend? In the first part of a two-part conversation on this pivotal topic, we welcome John Fullinwider of Dallas-based Mothers Against Police Brutality, who brings us perhaps our most sobering view yet on a national plague that against all reason - and in spite of repeated national protest - appears to be steadily increasing.

Thanks for listening, and for supporting Progress Texas.

What will become of the historic surplus currently at the fingertips of the Texas Legislature? Given the state of public education, you'd think a big spend on our schools and students would be a no-brainer - but after all, we're talking about the Texas GOP here. We talk education and more this week with a pair of young Democratic officeholders: Jeff Casper of the Mesquite City Council (a high school government teacher himself), and Venton Jones, freshman Representative for storied District 100 of Dallas, who both express support for new legislation introduced by Representative James Talarico that would earmark a large portion of the surplus for our public schools.

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And, see the Texas Observer for a headline that will make your head spin - and then, consider running for office yourself!

Our first episode of the year features two Texans we plan to follow closely as the Texas Legislature begins another session. First, Tarrant County's State Representative Salman Bhojani, who alongside freshman Rep. Suleman Lalani of Fort Bend County is one of the two first Muslim and South Asian lawmakers in state history! And Nicole Golden, Executive Director of Texas Gun Sense joins us with details on her organization's strategy to keep the pressure on legislators to enact common sense laws in regard to gun safety. Buckle up, y'all - the session has just begun. Thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas!

Learn more about how to advocate during the 2023 Lege: https://progresstexas.org/advocating-2023-texas-legislature

Thinking about running for office yourself? We encourage you! Learn more here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/new-year-new-movements-making-progress-locally

And, make a donation to Progress Texas here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate

Our annual holiday party was a blast last night at Antone's in downtown Austin, and as has become tradition, we took the time to interrogate our guests in between sips of sweet beverage. This time: As Texas progressives, what do we most want for the holidays - politically speaking of course? We got a bunch of terrific answers from a bunch of terrific people, with whom we were happy to reconnect after a bruising mid-term, and with whom we are proud to carry the fight forward into 2023 and beyond. Thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas - and Happy Holidays!

It's become an annual exercise of catharsis, renewal and forward strategy for us at Progress Texas: every year, we analyze the last year of the battle and pick out the five best, and five worst, Texans when it came to the arc of politics in the Lone Star State. On the good side, the obvious: Beto O'Rourke and Mothers Against Greg Abbott, along with pleasant surprise heroes like Olivia Julianna and Access Education Round Rock. On the bad side, the even more obvious Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz, with disturbing and dangerous surprises in the Republican press on banning books and attacking school boards. Right now, for Texas progressives, it can be easy to see and to be discouraged by all the negatives stacked against us - but we're here also to highlight and celebrate the good and the possible that is always present in Texas, and we're renewed for the fight ahead. Thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas!

At a moment when Elon Musk appears to be doing all he can to destroy his new $44 billion toy, Facebook is largely DOA, the TikTok kids are interested in anything but politics, and one particular orange gorilla has thrown in once again for the top job - how on Earth are candidates and political orgs to navigate the catastrophic mess that is the current scene of social media? As things ramp up (yes, already) for 2024, are there any viable platforms left for factual, ethically-sound politics? How are we to counter the ever-present and continually-evolving threat of disinformation? Tough questions, whose answers are changing day to day. Thanks for joining the crew on a fascinating but frustrating ride this week, and thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas.

Nationally, and also at the city level in the large metros of Texas, Democrats actually had a better than expected night on Tuesday. But at the statewide level? The same old goose egg. What happened? Is this just an impossible fight? And if not, what have we learned? The crew is joined by Texas Blue Action Democrats President Carrie Collier-Brown for a post-mortem of the '22 midterm election, in which no degree of campaigning or spending appears to have made a dent for Texas Dems - but which also provides some valuable lessons and reason to be confident and determined as we begin - yes - our contemplation of 2024. Thank you as always for your support of Progress Texas!

Here we are folks - as we publish this podcast, there's one day of early voting left (Friday November 4), followed by Election Day on Tuesday November 8. In the spirit of Go Time, we present a carefully constructed, somewhat triggering, and cruelly short list of the top ten reasons YOU should vote AGAINST Governor Greg Abbott.

In no particular order:

As early voting gets underway, we gather to take a tour through some of the prominent TV commercials being leveled in various directions by prominent players including Beto O'Rourke, Mike Collier, Rochelle Garza and yes - Governor Greg Abbott. Plus, a look at a powerful new piece from our heroes at Mothers Against Greg Abbott, and one of a more homegrown strain from TikTok that, we think, may represent the future of visual political advertising. Thanks as always for your support - and GO VOTE TEXAS!

Proud to welcome back Lana Hansen, Executive Director of Texas Blue Action, to provide an update on the ongoing Two Million Texans relational organizing effort aimed at strengthening Democratic performance in what may shake out to be a very challenging mid-term election. Listen to learn about how the Reach app can provide an invaluable tool in your own personal organizing effort! Thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas - and get ready to VOTE!