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Austin gem, University of Texas professor and celebrity Matthew McConaughey looked the part of a Texas politician sitting in front of an American flag when he took to social media to discuss the winter storm that had ransacked his home state.
McConaughey, a native Texan and Austin homeowner, announced that with all the damage and repair work in store, he and wife Camila are working on a virtual benefit put on by their just keep livin Foundation to help the state get back on its feet. They are also posting daily updates on their social media on resources available.
"While most of the power is, thankfully, being restored, the busted water lines from hospitals to so many homes has left so many Texans without the bare necessities they need to survive," McConaughey said in the video.
We're Texas pic.twitter.com/rwIo81Pn6E
— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) February 22, 2021
The Austinite is just one of several native Texas celebrities and influencers who have reached out or donated to the Lone Star State.
Beyonce and sister Solange are working with organizations in their hometown of Houston to bring relief to residents. Beyonce, as part of her BeyGood Foundation, has teamed up with The Bread of Life Disaster Relief Assistance Fund's Houston branch. The fund is providing up to $1,000 in one-time assistance to Texas residents in need, but the first round of applications are already closed due to high demand.
Meanwhile, Solange has partnered with Mutual Aid Houston to provide assistance to homes after the devastating freeze.
Longhorns football alumnus Michael Huff has swept aid across the state, first paying for thousands of tacos as well as hundreds of BBQ plates and chicken sandwiches while most Austinites could only hope for warm food. He later sent the same amenities to residents of Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston.
East Texas native and country music star Kacey Musgraves took a topical spin on helping the community with a commemorative jab at U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who left the state for a Cancun vacation. T-shirts with the phrase "Cruzin' for a Bruzin'" selling on her website will benefit causes including the American Cross of Central and South Texas, Casa Marianella and Feed the People Dallas.
Petition for @tedcruz to retweet this link. A quick and easy way to really help from the comfort of your home! We're halfway to raising $100k for Texas! Come on, Ted. https://t.co/TglB3AsEkt
— K A C E Y (@KaceyMusgraves) February 19, 2021
And close to home Austin food blogger Jane Ko partnered with Austin FC and local Austin restaurants, helping thousands of hot meals be delivered around the city with the more than $90,000 she raised to go toward relief efforts. Additonally, Austin musicians Willie Nelson and Jackie Venson retweeted resources and help to their audiences.
U.S. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez proved that you don't have to live in the Lone Star State to send help, while advocating for better living conditions and instructing Texans on basic steps to help ensure FEMA aid. And in the same fashion, model and influencer Chrissy Teigen asked followers for their expertise, retweeting helpful information to a large global following.
Texas still has a long way to go in terms of recovery but one thing is always certain: Texans are in it together.
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Popular
(Paxton Smith/Instagram)
Paxton Smith’s 2021 valedictory speech at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas wasn’t the same speech she had previously shared with school administrators. She dropped the approved speech and made a case for women’s reproductive rights after lawmakers passed the Texas "Heartbeat Bill.”
Her advocacy made news on NPR, YouTubeTV and in The Guardian. Just over a year later, the “war on (women’s) rights” she forewarned has come to a head as the U.S. Supreme Court voted Friday morning to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protection for abortion access.
“It is up to the people to show up and show the courts and the politicians that we won’t sit back and let this happen,” Smith told Austonia Friday morning. “We will show up, we will fight back. Before, we were scared of them, now they should be scared of us.”
Now a University of Texas sophomore and abortion rights activist, 19-year-old Smith said she wanted to give the same speech in the “the most public way possible” to reach “as many people as possible who don't agree that I deserve this right.”
However, she says the response was “actually overwhelmingly positive” and supportive of her cause. According to a recent UT poll, 78% of Texas voters support abortion access in most cases.
The speech opened up further opportunities for activism: she advocated for reproductive rights at the International Forum on Human Rights in Geneva, interviewed with Variety magazine and spoke to tens of thousands at Austin’s Bans Off Our Bodies protest at the Texas Capitol in May.
Smith also serves on the board of directors for the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, a national nonprofit organization that helps fund abortions or medication abortion—like Plan C pills—in all 50 states. Most recently, Smith has been attending protests in Washington, D.C. leading up to the ruling.
“This is land of the free. This is where you get to choose how you live your life,” Smith said. “Overturning Roe v. Wade violates everything that we have come to believe about what it means to live in this country. I think a lot of people aren't willing to accept that this is a human right that is most likely just going to be gone for over half of the country within the next couple of weeks.”
Bracing for the next steps, Smith gave some tips for supporters:
- Find a protest to attend.
- “I would say invite somebody to go to those protests with you, invite a couple of friends, invite people into the movement,” Smith said.
- Talk about the issue on social media—use the platform you have.
- “Have these kinds of conversations where people can just talk about their fears and then find ways to go and advocate for yourself,” Smith said.
- Volunteer at a nonprofit near you.
“I feel like a lot of the reason things have gotten as bad as they have within the abortion rights world is that people are not making a scene, not protesting, not putting the effort into ensuring that the government doesn't take away this right,” Smith said. “I want to emphasize that if you're not doing anything, don't expect the best scenario, expect the worst because that's the direction that we're going in.”
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(Council Member Chito Vela/Twitter)
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion, Friday morning. Moments later, Austin City Council set a special meeting for next month to pass a resolution aimed at decriminalizing abortion.
The GRACE Act, which stands for guarding the right to abortion care for everyone, is a twofold plan submitted by council member Jose “Chito” Vela. It recommends that city funds shouldn’t be used to surveil, catalog, report or investigate abortions. It also recommends that police make investigating abortion their lowest priority.
Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, who co-sponsored the resolution along with council members Paige Ellis, Kathie Tovo and Mayor Steve Adler, said the importance of the GRACE Act cannot be overstated.
“By introducing this resolution during a special session, City Council is doubling down on fighting back for reproductive health,” Fuentes said. “Items like the GRACE Act will promote essential healthcare while enabling individuals to exercise their bodily freedom.”
The act takes an approach similar to when former council member Greg Casar moved to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Ultimately, state law doesn't allow city officials to order police chiefs to adopt specific enforcement policies so the resolution would be a request to Police Chief Joe Chacon. In May, Politico reported that Vela is having "ongoing conversations" with Chacon about the proposal.
Austonia contacted Attorney General Ken Paxton for comment on the GRACE Act but did not hear back by time of publication. On Friday, Paxton celebrated the overturning of Roe and announced an annual office holiday on June 24 in recognition of the high court's decision.
In a press release, Vela said the Texas state government has a history of overturning municipal protections of human rights. Thirty days after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Texas will ban all abortions, with exceptions only to save the life of a pregnant patient or prevent “substantial impairment of major bodily function.”
Still, Vela expressed hope for the GRACE Act’s longevity. Council’s special meeting on it is set for the week of July 18.
“We know this resolution is legally sound, and Austin is not alone in this fight,” Vela said. “We are working with several other cities who are equally horrified by the prospect of an abortion ban and want to do everything they can to protect their residents.”
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