all I want for my birthday is to fight hate
About 3 years ago, just as the pandemic was taking over the world, I was invited to join the board of the Houston Coalition Against Hate. Friends, I can’t tell you how honoured I was. HCAH is a pretty singular organization: founded in 2017 in response to the steady rise in incidents of hate and bias in Houston, especially incidents against African-American, Jewish, Muslim and LGBTQ communities, the Coalition consists of 65 organizations that are committed to reducing hate and encouraging belonging, while setting the standard and model for the prevention of hate, bias, violence, and discrimination. They do this through education, research, relationship building, and prevention initiatives, as well as partnering with organizations to host events that celebrate the diversity that makes Houston strong.
And how. In the almost 6 years of their existence, they’ve managed to accomplish wonderful things, like:
Commissioned a free, downloadable and accessible report on building hate-crime response capacity for community-based organizations, currently used by local law enforcement agencies, local FBI, the Department of Justice and other community-based organizations;
In collaboration with Right to Be, created and presented Bystander Intervention Training to help stop hate-based harassment, a 90-minute interactive training on what to do if you witness harassment and 5 strategies for how to safely intervene, offered virtually and for free almost every week;
Created presentations and workshops for organizations to learn how they can do more than just simply adopt diversity and inclusion statements that fail to address systemic barriers and institutional oppression.
See? It’s an amazing organization.
But this week, we got some hard news. Because HCAH is committed to providing so many of these services for free or at a minimal cost, we’re in danger of running out of funding and having to close up shop. This is in the face of an unprecedented rise in hostilities toward some of our most vulnerable populations. Like a state law recently passed that nullifies local rules mandating water breaks for construction workers (and given that government data shows Texas is the state where the most workers die from high temperatures, Texas is in the middle of an insane heat wave, and Latinos represent 6 out of every 10 construction workers, this feels especially cruel). Or the fact that a bill is currently making its way through the Texas legislature that proposes to ban gender-affirming healthcare — surgical and nonsurgical — not just for trans youth, but for adults as well. Or the fact that just last month, the Texas Governor signed a law shutting diversity offices at all the state's public universities, stating that any public college or university that does not certify it is in compliance with the measure would not be able to spend state funds allocated to it.
And here’s the thing: Houston is no backwater town. We’re the fourth largest city in the country (after New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago), and by many accounts, the most racially and ethnically diverse. So it is very possible that as Houston goes, so goes the rest of the country. If we can’t fight bigotry and hate here, then where can we?
This week I’ll be turning 56 years old. And the truth is that more than anything, I want this beautiful organization to be able to continue doing its work. The only way it’s going to be able to do so is with an influx of cash. So to celebrate my birthday, I’m going to do something that in almost twenty years of blogging, I don’t think I’ve ever done before: I’m going to ask you to please donate to a cause. Could you please donate to the Houston Coalition Against Hate? Truly any amount will be gratefully received, whether it’s $11.20 (that’s $5.60 twice, get it?), or $56, or $560 or more. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, and needless to say, it would mean so much to me if you helped this organization that is near and dear to my heart. (Tell them Karen sent ya.)
Thanks in advance, fellow lightmakers. Let’s fight hate together.
(And incidentally, if you’re in Houston, or work for a Houston-based business, please consider attending and/or sponsoring our Visionary Justice Celebration, to be held Thursday, November 16th. You can find out more about tickets and sponsorship opportunities here, and if you’re interested in being a sponsor, just email me at karen@chookooloonks.com, and I’ll make sure you get in touch with the right people.)
A little about the new book.