27th Annual Dining with Democrats Program March 19, 2025 by Martha Spinks

ANNOUNCING OUR ANNUAL COMING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY TO CELEBRATE WHAT DEMOCRATS STAND FOR 27th

AnnualDiningwithDemocrats

There are no problems we cannot solve together, and very few that we can solve by ourselves.

-Lyndon B. Johnson

Wednesday,March19,2025|6-9PM |AggiePark78216

“”The Right to Know,” Reprinted by permission of the Norman Rockwell Family Foundation

WITH DEMOCRATS

REPRESENTATIVE

Guest Speaker

Representative Eugene Wu

HD-37, Houston

After his party lost seats in the Texas House, Wu says he’s focused on building a coalition against extremism. ~ Texas Tribune

Scan the QR Code to go to Representative Wu’s page on the official website of the Texas House of Representatives

Eugene Wu is a Chinese-American lawyer and politician who is a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, serving since 2013. In 2025, he was elected chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus. He was formerly a prosecutor for Harris County.

Early life and education. Wu was born in Guangzhou in Guangdong province, China. Shortly after, his family immigrated to the United States, and spent time in Odessa, Texas before moving to Sharpstown, a neighborhood in Southwest Houston. He attended Ed White Elementary, Fondren Middle School, and St. Thomas Episcopal School. Wu received his Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University, a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School for Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, and earned a J.D. degree from the South Texas College of Law in Houston.

Texas House of Representatives. Wu was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2012. His time as a State Representative has been focused on issues concerning education, criminal justice, public safety and child welfare. He is currently a member of the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee, as well as the House Committee on Appropriations. Following his first legislative session he received the Sierra Club's New Leadership in Environmental Protection Award, and was also named Freshman of the Year by the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. In 2024, Wu supported an executive order by Greg Abbott that ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest those attempting to conduct influence operations in support of Operation Fox Hunt to coerce dissidents to return to China.

Personal life. Wu is married to Miya Shay (a reporter for ABC 13 in Houston, Texas) and has two children. He has served as a tutor for at-risk youths in the Grad-Lab and Twilight programs at Sharpstown High School and as a mentor for adults with the nonprofit, Skills 4 Living. Wu has been a volunteer and trainer for Neighborhood Centers Inc. In that capacity, he conducts monthly workshops where he has helped several thousand Harris County residents become United States citizens.

SPECIAL FOR DWD GUESTS: BID IN THE SILENT AUCTION TO HAVE JIM TO PERFORM AT YOUR HOME OR OTHER VENUE FOR TWO HOURS

About Norman Rockwell’s “A Right to Know”

An American Patriot in

Difficult Times

An illustration for Look magazine, August 20, 1968. Rockwell spent between April and June of 1968 working on The Right to Know. That same year, America witnessed the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, an escalating war in Vietnam, and the tumultuous election which brought Richard M. Nixon to the White House. A reflection of Rockwell's personal beliefs, The Right to Know illustrated an editorial which advocated for government transparency in light of the growing opposition to the Vietnam conflict.

AMBER LIDDELL ALWAIS

PARTNER, ATTORNEY AT LAW

Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is our country. This is our democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.

Justice Thurgood

Marshall Thank you North East Democrats for your service to educate and mobilize our citizens to preserve and protect our right to vote!

Paid for by the Peter Sakai for County Judge Campaign. Margaret Montemayor, Treasurer. PO BOX 15395, SATX 78212

Small Government, Big Chains: The Lie of Trump’s Libertarian “Freedom”

Welcome to the Hunger Games: This is what happens when government shrinks. Thom Hartmann Feb 28, 2025

They’re lying to us again. The American government isn’t too big or too bloated: it’s too small. And the result of it being too small is a steady erosion of Americans’ freedom over the past forty-four years. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his March, 1933 inaugural address: “A necessitous man is not a free man.”

If you or your children are sick but afraid to go to the hospital because you know the bills will leave you broke and homeless, you’re not free.

If you need to go to college or trade school to get a better life but can’t afford it, you’re not free.

If you’re hungry and can’t buy food for your family, you’re not free.

If you can’t afford housing and have to live in a tent on the street or constantly one step ahead of eviction, you’re not free.

If you’re afraid every day that your child may not come home from school because Republicans have saturated the nation with deadly weapons, you’re not free.

If you’re old and broken but still having to work because you can’t live on Social Security, you’re not free.

If your bank and insurance company are ripping you off and you have no recourse, you’re not free.

If your voice and vote are drowned out because billionaires, AIPAC, and giant corporations are pouring cash into elections, you’re not free.

If your boss refuses to let you and your fellow workers unionize and punishes you for demanding better wages, working conditions, and benefits you’re not free.

These are all things, including safety from gun violence, that are traditionally provided by “big government.” And the governments of most every other advanced democracy in the world do provide these things to their people. But not America, because our government is too small.

HELP WANTED

Are you a judge, law professor, civics teacher, attorney or other professional with expertise in government and the Constitution? We would like to start a Community Civics course for people aged middle school to adult. This would be a free course over approximately six 90-minute sessions, one session per week, and those who complete the course will receive a certificate. We have a great, simplified text book explaining how government works from federal to municipal levels. Now we need volunteers who would help us design the classes and teach them. If you are interested, please contact Martha Spinks at 210.364.6474.

Why Your Support of North East Bexar County Democrats Matters

Democrats know that when we get out the vote, we win. We also know that Texas is not a red state, but a non-voting state. And gerrymandering has made all of that worse.

How do we get people out to vote, especially now, when people are disheartened? The same way we always get people to vote: One conversation at a time.

People yearn for authenticity, in politics as much as anywhere else. Authenticity is not a word that comes to mind in the current political landscape. People are skeptical about politics and feeling hopeless.

Local politics is where we begin to dispel the skepticism and hopelessness. NEBCD is positioned to do that because we are a volunteer grassroots organization that is built on the idea of connecting with the community, educating people about government and politics through our ongoing monthly meetings and media outreach. And when election season comes, NEBCD has demonstrated, year in and year out, that it can operate an election headquarters that brings in all Democratic candidates, volunteers and voters to work together.

That’s what NEBCD does with your donations. In between election cycles, NEBCD raises about $60,000 that funds the lease and operation of a building from July to November in even-numbered years. In the 2024 election, that building housed numerous candidates, provided meeting space for all Democratic groups, provided training, organized block walks, and funded a volunteer call center with paid supervisors. The building also provided a venue for a merchandise store, which brought in more money to support the operation.

We know you are asked for donations from candidates and advocacy groups all across the country. But we hope you consider that while so much money goes to big national campaigns, very little comes to candidates for state and municipal elections.

That’s who NEBCD’s campaign headquarters supports. That’s where we build our back bench and develop leaders who go on to higher positions. If you donate to NEBCD, the money stays in our community, where you can see how it’s spent and be involved with the organization beyond just giving money.