College of Constructive Hell-Raising

09/06/2026

Former S-T reporter Tim Madigan is reprinting his series on Fort Worth’s white racist backlash to Black Civil Rights in the 1950’s and 60’s. This side of Cowtown’s past is not as well-know as Dallas’ but it mimics it - right down to the house bombings. Long but illuminating piece if you think Fort Worth residents and leadership in any way took the moral high ground during those years. And it goes w/o saying the current iteration of the S-T would never attempt this kind of ambitious reporting now or devote this many column inches to hometown racism.

What happened in 1956 when a Black family moved into a white neighborhood in Fort Worth

09/05/2026

Don’t be fooled! This woman is still a huge threat! At least according to the backlash taking place today. Word has it that the Dallas Morning News publisher is getting hate mail over the story they ran Saturday morning on the lifelong journey of Dallas Legend Mavis Belisle fighting one bad idea after another. Reporter Maria Ramos Pacheco takes the POV of someone who was very much in the thick of things during 1984’s GOP convention in anticipation of this next week’s event. Apparently it’s crapping on the Trumpers parade during their big week. Please consider taking just five minutes to write a short paragraph stating that you appreciate the DMN’s coverage of these kinds of local institutions and look forward to them doing more. Link to story: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-local-government/article/dallas-protester-trump-gop-convention-22411177.php Address: [email protected] Please CC the DMN CEO and Publisher who’s getting this stuff too: [email protected] Thank you.

09/05/2026

Today - one of our own. The Organizing School’s board member Mavis Belisle is one of the most amazing organizers to ever have called Dallas home. Her life is testimony to how one can maintain a stubborn resistance to one bad idea after another while finding celebration of the community that forms when you do that. Thanks to Maria Ramos Pacheco of the DMN for finally doing her justice.

Forty-two years after protesting Reagan in Dallas, Mavis Belisle is returning to the streets with younger activist Jo Hargis to challenge Trump and a new generation of political grievances.

09/04/2026

"Echols tells the story of in*******al and cross-racial organizing within the Black freedom movement through two organizations that bookend the decade: the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, and the Black Panther Party. The Panthers’ commitment to armed self-defense, and later debates over militancy and guerrilla warfare, form part of that history. Echols’ central concern — and the focus of this review — is the difficult work of solidarity: how movements build relationships across differences in race, power and political position."

What a history of the 1960s can teach us about cross-racial organizing in an authoritarian age.

09/03/2026

Looks interesting….

Here's the trailer for Being Heumann, the new film from Oscar-winning CODA filmmaker Siân Heder that opens the Toronto Film Festival.

09/03/2026

R.I.P. Gloria Steinem

09/02/2026

Maybe the best advice on Change you’ll hear today is from Sci-Fi author and digital advocate Cory Doctorow:

09/01/2026

"Laura Berlin watched images of immigration agents rounding up people and flying them to a Latin American prison without due process – and she knew she had to do something.

“That situation really haunted me,” she said.

She asked herself: “Who owned these chartered airliners that were flying the men to a Salvadoran prison? Who owned these detention centers where men were being held along the way?" In short, what companies were taking money from the government to help deport people? Berlin needed to know."

A Texas stay-at-home mom created a website showing companies profiting from ICE. It led to hundreds of protests. Feds called the site a "national threat."

09/01/2026

FYI:

Honor 60 years of Black Panther Party legacy at a landmark national gathering. Attend keynote speakers, community workshops, cultural programs, and a formal gala. Tickets available now.