Denton, TX – Activists from Freedom Road Socialist Organization organized a local resource fair to rally against the incoming Trump administration, January 20, drawing hundreds from the community to engage local organizations and learn about the about the efforts to change the political landscape.

Event volunteers showed up in the early afternoon to set up at the historic Denton Courthouse square. Nearly two dozen organizations from Denton and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex showcased their campaigns and work, from the University of North Texas and Texas Women's University to local art collectives like Spider Web Salon and INKtifada. Colorful tables lined the sidewalk with art, banners and information. A growing crowd arrived throughout the afternoon as speakers addressed the issues that faced the Denton and Dallas communities, with no illusion as to the dangers another Trump presidency poses.

A second Trump administration presents a wide, hostile landscape for all workers and oppressed communities across Texas, many already failed by the outgoing Biden administration. Trump signaled his movement’s intent to target our state’s most oppressed through over 70 executive orders on the first day of his presidency. Tension on Inauguration Day was high, but the crowd was spirited.

Groups in attendance came from a wide swath of north Texas communities. Student groups from around north Texas shared the courthouse lawn with immigration and police accountability advocates, queer and anti-war groups. Speakers addressing the crowd included City Councilperson and Jewish Voice for Peace representative Deb Armintor, activists from UNT’s Eagle Dreamers, PRIDenton, DFW Anti-War Committee and local Teamsters.

Rick Majumdar, a member of Teamsters Local 767 addressed the crowd, stating, “The fires that are destroying the chains of imperialism across the world from Palestine to western Sahel are here too, inside of the belly of the beast. That fire is in the hearts and minds of the working class, who know that they have no choice but to fight back.”

The afternoon closed with a simple chant – “The people, united, can never be defeated,” true today as it has been for decades.

#DentonTX #TX #PeoplesStruggles #ImmigrantRights #StudentMovement #SDS #FRSO #Trump

Denton, TX – On August 8, 200 people braved triple digit temperatures to protest Governor Greg Abbott’s visit to Texas Women’s University, located in Denton, Texas. The governor came to the campus for a ceremonial signing of SB 15, a bill banning trans athletes from participating in college sports teams aligned with their genders. Abbott had already officially signed SB 15 into law in June of 2023.

For over four hours, protesters lined the entrances to the university library. Chants rang out like, “Greg Abbott, you can’t hide! We charge you with genocide!” and “Go home Greg! Fix the grid! Keep your hands off our kids!” A tall banner reading “Let trans kids grow up” towered over the crowd. Chanters kept rhythm by beating on signs and clacking their hand fans. Cars entering and exiting the venue, flanked by police, were greeted by a crescendo of boos and jeers from the crowd.

A statement released by Texas Women’s University students declared, “Governor Abbott is leveraging our university's name and reputation in the ongoing culture war against the transgender community. We (the students) were neither consulted nor adequately informed about this ceremony, and we cannot stop it from happening, but we will not allow him to speak for all of us. Our university has a rich, thriving culture of trans and gender diverse students. We respect them as valued members of our community, and we strive to treat them with dignity and fairness.”

In attendance was Kamyon Conner, executive director of Texas Equal Access Fund, or TEA Fund. Per the organization's mission statement, TEA Fund provides funding to low-income people in the northern region of Texas who are seeking abortion and cannot afford it, while simultaneously working to end barriers to abortion access through community education and shifting the current culture toward reproductive justice.

“We are telling Greg Abbott to go the fuck home because he’s here masquerading that he’s supporting the expansion of anything to do with women’s issues, when really he is putting into law anti-trans bills that ban them from sports,” said Conner. “What I’m really seeing happen in our state and across the country is an attack on people’s ability to make decisions about their own lives and healthcare and bodies. There’s a huge attack on bodily autonomy, and it’s the same fight that we have with abortion and reproductive health access that trans and queer folks are having with our government as well.”

Sage, a transgender activist with Abundance Denton, came to the rally to protest discrimination. “In Abundance Denton, we believe in public transit and affordable housing for all, and that means everyone, and that means all aspects of life. People should be able to have housing and go to the restroom and play sports and have transit available. There’s a lot of things that are human rights and people should have but we don’t, and that’s why we’re out here fighting.”

The Dallas Morning News reported that the chanting outside the building was audible from inside the event. During a press conference after the ceremony, Abbott was asked how he’d respond to criticism that this law ignores real issues facing Texans while seeking to solve a condition that doesn’t exist on a large scale, given that no openly trans athletes have competed at the collegiate level in Texas and fewer than three dozen trans athletes have competed at the collegiate level nationally. Abbott laughed, but did not answer the question.

SB 15 will go into effect on September 1.

#DentonTX

Denton, TX, – On June 30 in Denton, Texas, the Rayzor Ranch Starbucks held a One Year Union Sip-In to celebrate the anniversary of the location’s successful union vote. People entering the store were greeted by a colorful table of activity sheets, community supporters writing messages to the union on a poster board for the break room, and a rainbow birthday cake.

“It's been a really incredible year and it feels great knowing that the support is still very much alive and active and that we're here, we're still going strong, and we're here to stay,” said Moo Amassyali, a lead organizer for the location.

For organizer Shreya Chaudhari, their biggest takeaway from this year of being unionized was the lesson of persistence, saying, “They will wear you down with time and time and time. You have to persevere through all the BS corporations will put you though. It’s quite literally having the persistence to go against it and say we don’t care. We don’t care that we have digital tips or not. We are still unionized, and you can’t fight that.”

Amassyali echoed this sentiment, saying that the past year has shown them that union organizing is, “a bit of a process, and it’s time consuming, but it’s definitely worth the time and effort that we need to put into this.”

Amassyali sees the impact of this persistence and effort extending beyond this one Starbucks location, noting, “I’ve had somebody from AutoZone reach out to me. Recently somebody from Target reached out to me. So there's workers from other corporations that are interested in this whole union thing, and they're like, how do we get started on this?”

Chaudhari agreed, saying, “There are people around us, even from Target, even from AutoZone, that are more than willing to support us in so many different ways and showing Starbucks that we are willing to strike. We are willing to do sip-ins. We are willing to do boycotts. We are willing to do so many different kinds of things to show up and say that we don't agree with how you're treating us and you need to listen to us.”

Organizers said management has been dishonest and inconsistent in the wake of the store’s unionization. Chaudhari recalled instances of the dress code being applied inconsistently, with union members being held to one standard and non-union employees being held to another.

Organizer Vince Martinez said that after the Rayzor Ranch location received a company-wide raise, management would tell other stores that the Rayzor Ranch location didn’t get the raise because they were unionized. “We were being used as this example of like, this store is bad because they unionized. That’s the dishonesty coming from straight from the managers,” said Martinez. “It’s like a completely different level of dishonesty. And not only dishonesty to us as union partners, but dishonesty to other stores that might want to unionize.”

Chaudhari encouraged community supporters to keep showing up to support the union, saying, “If we had any other kind of union events, we would love to know that the community, the people who order from this store and the regulars that our district manager could recognize say, ‘Hey, we don't agree with what you're doing to these people.’ That's what matters the most to us.”

Amassyali encouraged the community to support the union by tipping, showing up the store, expressing the support for the union and spreading the word about the unionized status of the store. They also promoted the No Contract, No Coffee Pledge, ( https://crm.broadstripes.com/ctf/SJID0H), an intake form where one can sign up to receive alerts about rallies, pickets, and other local events supporting Workers United. The Adopt-A-Store website ( https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9M92V-DoySSA7Nmcqe1NTmveAJrOlLLnwQzg6-LHKuk2wSQ/viewform) is also available for people interested in signing up to help new stores become unionized.

Martinez closed simply by saying, “Unionize your workplaces. Give them hell.”

#DentonTX #StarbucksWorkersUnited