Black Civil Rights Pastors ask Rep. Victoria Neave for Hearing on HB 803 Equal Parenting Bill

The following is a letter from African American Civil Rights Leader Bill Owens, who marched with MLK Jr., who is now asking Representative Victoria Neave, Chairwoman of the JJFI Committee, to set HB 803 Equal Parenting bill for a hearing. 

The damage to children from unequal parenting, especially in low income and minority communities, is devastating. This bill has 21 bi-partisan authors, the most of any bill in JJFI Committee, and has support from leaders of multiple minority groups. Such a popular bill, that will have such a positive impact on children and Texas, deserves a hearing with enough time to pass and not be killed in committee without the people from both sides of the isle having a voice and a vote.

From the Desk of Bill and Deborah Owens 

April 12, 2021 

Rep. Victoria Neave 

Texas House of Representatives 

Room E1.404 

PO Box 2910 

Austin, TX 78768 

Dear Chairwoman Neave, 

We write to you today to ask you to help improve the lives of thousands of children in Texas by granting a hearing on bill HB803, the shared parenting bill. 

Today, we are contacting you as parents and private citizens. However, in our public work for the Coalition of African American Pastors, we have seen the devastation that divorce, custody issues, and the lack of two involved parents have done to generations of children. It is an especially serious problem in the African American community, where far too many young Black children grow up in single parent homes without an active and involved father. 

Currently, the law governing custody operates on the presumption that the mother should be the custodial parent. Too often, this approach deprives children of an involved father while putting far too much pressure on the mother to fill both parental roles. 

In addition to being archaic, the current system effectively disadvantages minority and low income families. Litigating for shared custody is expensive, so minority and low income children are often stuck with the default solution, where the father is little more than a weekend visitor. HB803 would create a presumption in favor of shared parenting, except when one parent is unfit. 

The social science demonstrates that children who grow up in single parent homes (usually fatherless) are at risk for higher levels of suicide, drug abuse, alcoholism, incarceration, behavioral problems, and teen pregnancy. 

Please consider holding a hearing on HB803. This bill is a sensible first step towards ensuring a healthier, happier future for every family that goes through divorce. 

Thank you, 

Rev. Bill Owens and Dr. Deborah Owens 

27120 Fulshear Bend Drive, Suite 900-181 ❍ Fulshear, TX 7744

Confederate Memorial on MLK in Orange, TX Angers NAACP

Slavery was bad... it still is happening and it still is bad.... no one is disputing that. The thing about war though is that it usually is started by the powerful people and then lots of not powerful people get sucked into it and lots of innocent people die on both sides. The Civil war was over slavery between the big guys, but for all the regular people fighting, most of them did not own slaves and had no interest in owning slaved. Many people fought just to fight for their state or against the north or against the south or to right with their brother who joined. Did all the British solders that were fighting against the colonist in the American Revolution hate Americans or were many of them fighting just because they were British and had to fight for their side? Look, it does not mean you agree with slavery just because you are proud to be southern or want to honor your relatives who died in the civil war fighting for the Confederacy. In America we have a Constitutional right to freedom of speech and everyone is entitled to it. So if this guy wants to build a Confederate Memorial on a major intersection so that people driving through the city can see it then so be it. Soldiers have died to protect Freedom of Speech just as soldiers have died to end Slavery.


the story below is from KBMT 12 News:
http://www.12newsnow.com/story/21192179/confederate-memorial-to-be-built-on-mlk

ORANGE - Granvel Block of Orange says he's related to at least 17 Confederate soldiers.

"My great grandfather was a Confederate veteran," he told 12News Wednesday.

He and his organization, called the Sons of Confederate Veterans, want to honor their ancestors by building a Confederate memorial in Orange. It would look similar to the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., and it would be surrounded by 26 different Confederate flags.

     

"It'll be there for an educational purpose, to show the public the misconception that a lot of people have that the only flag is the battle flag," Block said.

But the memorial will be at the corner of Interstate 10 and MLK, and it's the location that has people talking.

"I think the location could be offensive, it seems to be in bad taste," said Orange resident Philip Cooper.

         

Orange City Council member Theresa Beauchamp finds it offensive, saying, "Everyone has their freedom of speech, but let that (part of history) be gone and forgotten. We do not need to stir up controversy in this town."

Block says his organization never intended to "make a statement."

"It was just a matter of fate that this particular spot became available," he said.

Block says the complaints are unfounded.

"We are a very diverse group, we do not have prejudices," he said.

Several Orange residents and the Orange division of the NAACP plan to voice their concerns to the City Council. But the property is paid for, and Block says the memorial will be built, possibly completed as early as April.

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

www.harriscountygop.com Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.         Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968    I would like to encourage all of my fellow Republicans to take a moment today to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.    Dr. King was a minister and the most famous civil rights activist in our American history and it was his work on behalf of civil rights that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 at age 35, making him the youngest person in history to receive the honor.    Dr. King is most often remembered for his, "I Have a Dream" speech, which included a reference to the Declaration of Independence and went on to say, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."    Dr. Martin Luther King fought for equality, for justice and for human dignity.  These are not ideals that belong to the Republican Party or to the Democrat Party.  These are American ideals that belong to all freedom-loving Americans.    As our Declaration of Independence says most eloquently, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."    Dr. King stood for these ideals, lived for these ideals and ultimately, died for them.    Regardless of political philosophy or party affiliation, we should all stop for a moment today and remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, his work and the truly American ideals for which he stood. Sincerely, Jared WoodfillChairman, Harris County Republican Party