At the Death House Door, Kartemquin Films, 2007, 94 minutes, USA
Friday May 9th, 7pm at Rice Cinema [see map]
At the Death House Door is a personal and intimate look at the death penalty in the state of Texas through the eyes of Pastor Carroll Pickett, who served 15 years as the death house chaplain to the infamous "Walls" prison unit in Huntsville. During Pickett's remarkable career journey, he presided over 95 executions, including the world’s first lethal injection. After each execution, Pickett recorded an audiotape account of his trip to the death chamber.
The film also focuses on the story of Carlos De Luna, a convict Pickett counseled and whose execution troubled Pickett more than any other. He firmly believed De Luna was innocent, and the film tracks the investigative efforts of a team of Chicago Tribune reporters who have turned up evidence that strongly suggests he was.
Award-winning directors Steve James ("Hoop Dreams") and Peter Gilbert ("Vietnam: Long Time Coming") will be in attendence for a Q&A hosted by David Dow of Houston's Innocence Project.
>>>Watch the Trailer | At the Death House Door on IFC | At the Death Houste Door on Kartemquin Films | Listen to an interview with Directors Steve James and Peter Gilbert from the 5/2 edition of HIMC Radio
from the open publishing newswire: The second annual Houston Palestine Film Festival brings an honest and independent view of Palestine, its diaspora, culture, and political travails through the art of film. This group of groundbreaking cinematic texts rises above the degrading stereotypes or reductively politicized depictions that are so familiar to Houstonians. The festival aims to directly expose our local community to the perspective of artists as a first step toward circumventing the many government and media filters that pollute our understanding of Palestine and the wider region.
Daily admission $7 - May 9-11 and May 16-18, 2008, 7:00 pm every night [read full press release]
www.hpff.org | Films will be screened at Angelika, Museum of Fine Arts Houston and Rice Cinema: Full Schedule of films | Watch Trailers from Some of the Films | PSA for the Film Festival
from the open publishing newswire: Clean Up Dynegy Houston, a coalition of environmental organizations and individuals, will stage a series of events on May 13 & 14 focused on preventing six proposed coal-fired power plants from being built in six different states. The events will surround Houston-based Dynegy’s shareholders’ meeting, and are intended to educate directors, investors, shareholders and the public about the financial, ecological and health risks of investing in new coal, as well as to demand the company withdraw all plans to build new coal plants!
Citizens from each of the other 5 affected states are coming to Houston to demonstrate their opposition to the proposed plants in their communities.
Coal-fired power plants produce around 40% of the U.S.’s CO2 emissions which fuel global warming; and cause 24,000 deaths, 1,000 hospitalizations, and 38,000 heart attacks each year in the U.S. due to the harmful chemicals released. [full article & flier]
For more information, visit www.cleanupdynegy.org , www.houstonclimateprotection.org , or call Mark Kresowik from the Sierra Club’s National Coal Campaign - 319-621-7393 | No New Coal NOW!!! Action coming up May 14th, 2008 | Lone Star Chapter of Sierra Club to sue Dynegy & TXU over TX coal plants
from the open publishing newswire:The House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, led by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona), and Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans, led by Del. Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam), held a joint oversight field hearing on "Walls and Waivers: Expedited Construction of the Southern Border Wall and the Collateral Impacts on Communities and the Environment" at UT Brownsville on Monday April 28th.
A couple of us from Houston IMC and anti-border wall activists from through out the Rio Grand Valley came to listen to the testimony, cheer for the anti-wall speakers and congress folks and jeer at the fear mongering tactics of Tancredo, Hunter and their flunkies. Of the 8 congressmen and women, 6 were against the wall and power grab by Chertoff. The location of UTB for the hearing was interesting as the wall would put parts of the campus on the south side of the wall, and try to funnel border crossers onto the campus to make their apprehension by the Border Patrol easier. [full article with photos]
 Testimony of UT Brownsville President Garcia on the impact the Border would have on UTB | Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster Speaks out Against the Border Wall | Community Response to the Congressional Hearing on Walls and Waivers
 Border Wall Testimony Chairman Ned Norris Jr of Tohono O’odham Nation
About 9 enthusiastic media makers came to the TEJAS office last Saturday to learn more about radical radio. Among topics covered in the skills share were writing headlines, phone interviews (we interviewed HIMC veteran Rene Feltz about her new story the business of detention), some background on the history and ideas behing Indymedia, how we go about planning our radio program and basics of editing audio with the free software audacity.
The Houston Indymedia Radio Show airs every Friday at 7:30pm. Don't hate the media, be the media!..come by KPFT 90.1fm at 419 Lovett Blvd. and get involved. And of course please listen up! [listen up to the headlines we recorded at the workshop]
Riad Hamad died on April 14, 2008 in Austin, Texas, a victim of drowning in Lady Bird Lake. He was a tireless advocate for Palestinians, and especially women and children living in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon. He created the Palestinian Children's Welfare Fund and raised millions of dollars through this organization for schools, charitable organizations, and hospitals.
On the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008, Riad, an award-winning schoolteacher in Texas and a Lebanese Muslim was in his bathroom getting ready for work when the doorbell rang at his modest apartment in Austin, Texas. About 18 FBI and IRS agents bearing guns and a search warrant from Judge Robert Pittman, [ well known for his hostility to Palestinians and Arabs and with whom Riad has had previous experience with] searched every nook and cranny of his apartment. They left with more than forty boxes of papers, files, computers, CDs and an ounce and a half of catnip. [read full story]
Remembering Riad Hamad from the April 25 Radio Show | A Friend Remembers Riad Hamad The complete unedited interview with Paul LaRudee
from the open publishing newswire: Faith and community leaders gather in front of the Houston federal building to denounce the workplace raid at Shipley Do-nuts that resulted in 20 workers' detention and likely removal from their homes and families.
There is conjecture by some activists that this raid may be related to the mid-March settlement of sexual harassment, racial threats and violations of labor law brought against Shipleys management by Shipleys workers. This lawsuit, which The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission looked into and gave the workers the right to sue, alleged that management called workers "wetbacks" threatened to deport them, did not pay workers for working overtime, and demanded payment from workers who wanted to leave work for vacation or to visit a doctor when hurt on the job. KHOU article on settlement | Chonicle article on settlement
From the Newswire: Rally at the Federal Building against the Shipley Donut raids  | Immigration raid denounced | Cesar Espinoza with CRECEN denounces ICE Raids
from the open publishing newswire: In the second step of the Texas two-step process (actually three steps), delegates from precincts caucused to determine delegates to the state convention according to presidential preference. Contrary to what the mass media wants you to think, the number of delegates Obama or Clinton receive from Texas will not be known until after the state convention in June. In other words, we ain't done yet.
3000 delegates attended the convention. The usual attendance is around 300. A larger auditorium had to be reserved at the last moment due to the historically large attendance. This is a documentary of a Senate District Democratic Convention in Houston, Texas on March 29, 2008. The Senate District roughly comprises the northern half of Harris County.[watch the indy video coverage: Part 1 | Part 2]
Previous Coverage: Democratic Process Sweeps Harris County, will return in 4-8 years
from the open publishing newswire: On April 1st Michal Chertoff filled waivers to more than 30 federal laws including things like the endangered species act, the clean water act, historical preservation laws, tribal laws etc. as well as whatever state and local laws may apply, in order to start building a US Mexico Border wall in Texas.
The Real ID act that was passes in 2005 gives the department of homeland security the 'right' to waive these laws in the interest of building emergency fences and walls. The Secure Fence act of 2006 (Which Clinton and Obama both voted for) gives him the mandate to build the border wall, is very specific about where they have to build it, and when. The whackness of the Real ID Act also limits the legal recourse of people trying to sue to stop the fence. It can only be challenged on constitutional grounds, and people only have 60 days to file suit (by June it will be to late). Appeals are only allowed to be made to the supreme court.
370 MILES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE COMPLETED BY DEC 31 2008. DHS has already filed waivers to start construction in San Diego and Yuma AZ, and the legal challenges by environmental and constitutional lawyers have been unsuccessful. Lawyers may challenge the constitutionality of the whole process, but that will take a while, and there are less than 9 months till the deadline for 370 miles of fence to get built. [read the full article]
April 11 at Rice University, Rice For Peace and Justice hosted a teach-in on the border wall featuring Houston Environmental Lawyer Charles Irvine and Brownsville Teacher and Activist Elizabeth Stephens. [listen to audio and view photos]
April 11th Radio Show - No Border Wall Special Social Movements against the wall - April 18th Radio Show - looking at legal challenges to the wall | Previous Coverage: No Border Wall Walk Opposes Fear and the Secure Fence Act | Defenders of Wildlife Border Policy Page has maps of the Texas/Mexico border Wall | Texas Observer Dispatches from the Border Wall Web Feature
from the open publishing newswire: Tuesday, I drove down to Lake Jackson and met with folks from Ron Paul's office about the concerns that we have as members of Friends of Brad Will about The Merida Initiative, also known as Plan Mexico because of its similarities to Plan Colombia, another problematic anti-drug militarization package.
Ron Paul's Deputy Director Dianna Kile and District Scheduler Tracee L. Tollett seemed interested and engaged in the idea of stopping the Merida Initiative, aka Plan Mexico. Ron Paul can be counted on to oppose just about anything that entails the federal government spending money on something, especially something so unlikely to do any good. This is an issue appealing to both left and right politicians for many reasons, and therefore may be the kind of thing that a small but dedicated grassroots effort can help derail.
A Comment: We must stop this 'drug war' scheme, $ for military helicopters used against people in Oaxaca & Chiapas! No! - Another act to make: Global Exchange Petition
John Ross: From the Folks Who Brought You Plan Colombia - The Annexation of Mexico
Houston Indymedia has changed the wording of our Mission Statement, which sits on the about page and serves along with the Action Guidelines as the document new participants sign. The wording of the new statement is:
"The Houston Independent Media Center is an all volunteer collective committed to using media production and distribution as tools for promoting social and economic justice. We seek to provide alternatives to for-profit media not only in our coverage, but also within our collective by implementing consensus based non-hierarchical work-group models of decision making. While focusing on local social movements, we will explore connections to global systems. We believe that by reporting on dissent, by critiquing corporate, government and military domination, and by promoting art, culture and critical thinking through participatory events, we can contribute to the development of an equitable and sustainable society."
Some of the significant changes since the previous Mission Statement from early 2001 includes that we are all volunteers, that we are focusing on social movements, that we reporting on dissent, and that our events are intended to be participatory.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer with us at Houston Indymedia, please send an email to: houston at indymedia dot org
Last updated: Wed, 31 Dec 1969 16:00:00 -0800imc-houston
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May 9: At The Death House Door @ Rice Cinema
Film Festival Brings Palestine to Houston
Clean Up Dynegy moves to Shut Down New Coal Plants
5/1 Mayday Celebrated in Houston with march for Dignity of immigrants
4/28 Walls and Waiver Congressional hearing in Brownsville highlights opposition Border Wall
4/26 Houston IMC shares some Radio Skills
4/21 Riad Hamad: Death of an activist in Austin
4/16 ICE Raids Shipleys Bakery one month after labor settlement
4/15 Democratic Process Continues: Indy Video from TX district 15
4/12 Texas Border Wall plans on the table
4/9 Meeting with Ron Paul's Office about Plan Mexico
4/1 Fossil Fools Day Houston Action Takes on Dynegy
3/31 Students Against Sweatshops Funeral for Worker Rights
Houston Indymedia Has a New Mission Statement
