Amnesty Houston welcomes special guest speaker Dr. Dawn McCarty

Central Market Community Room 3815 Westheimer, Houston

Free and open to the public, Amnesty International Houston welcomes special guest speaker Dr. Dawn McCarty of the University of Houston School of Social Work. She will discuss, from  her experiences at Casa Juan Diego, working with the immigrants of Houston, their mental health struggles and their struggles of being indigent.

First Wednesday, April 4th ,7:00 to 8:00 PM in the Central Market Community Room.

Free

Foreign Policy Town Hall Meeting

University of St. Thomas - Jones Hall 3910 Yoakum, Houston

Here in the middle of Congressional primaries and election season, the University of St. Thomas sits within a mile of four different Congressional Districts. This Town Hall meeting will provide an opportunity for voters and perhaps even a few candidates to listen to a range of viewpoints on Foreign Policy issues.

A panel of foreign policy experts, practitioners, and citizen activists representing a wide range of viewpoints will discuss and take questions and comments from the public covering all manner
of Foreign Policy challenges which face our country today.

Free

United We Dream – Community Gathering

United We Dream - Houston 1900 Kane St, Rm 116, Houston

On Thursday, April 5th, United We Dream - Houston will be hosting a community gathering. We will be discussing important issues such as DREAM, SB4, Coming Elections and the launch of the new Houston Hotline. Please do not miss out on these important conversations now more than ever we need to unite and fight back to stop the deportation and separations of families.

Hola gente hermosa no se les olvide que este Jueves tenemos junta Comunitaria donde estaremos discutiendo sobre temas importantes como lo que esta pasando con el DREAM ACT, la ley SB4 y las proximas elecciones asi como el lanzamiento de la nueva linea de ayuda para la comunidad imigrante. Por favor no falten ahora mas que nunca tenemos que unirnos y pelear para parar la deportacion y seperacion de familias.

Free

Race, Film and Reconciliation

Hines Center for Spirituality and Prayer 500 Fannin Street, Suite 100, Houston

Race, Film and Reconciliation
A look at our culture from 1968 to 2018

Movies play a vital role in documenting history in the United States. For years, such films have sparked controversy and conversation.

Join Dr. Greg Garrett and guest panelists for this challenging and enlightening two-day event: Friday – Saturday, April 6 and 7, at the Hines Center in Downtown Houston. We are thrilled to host an event that will highlight culture and ignite dialogue for months to come.

This two part event will feature three notable movies addressing race and reconciliation in America, interspersed with commentary by Dr. Garrett and guest panelists to be announced. Refreshments and lunch on Saturday are included in the price for this event.

$25 – $30

Two Houston Quakers Visit Israel / Palestine

Clear Lake Islamic Center 17511 El Camino Real, Clear Lake

Two Quakers have recently returned from an interfaith delegation to Palestine and Israel. They will share photos and stories from their experiences after staying with families, meeting with Israeli and Palestinian peace activists and non-governmental organizations and experiencing life on both sides of the separation barrier.

Free

Protest Saudi Crown Prince

Tranquility Park 400 Rusk St., Houston

April 7th & 8th, the Saudi Arabia Kingdom "Crown Prince" Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) finishes up his deal-making USA tour, in Texas. Join Codepink, Muslim Congress, Houston Peace & Justice Center, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Yemeni refugees and other peace and justice organizations in protest.

Join Us for a Repair Cafe! Recycle/Reuse/Repair Your Stuff!

TXRX Labs 6501 Navigation Blvd, Houston, TX, United States

A Repair Cafe celebrates fixing through a fun, collaborative, hands-on, fix-n-learn, community event. People bring us their broken items for assessment, disassembly and repair. Bring your toolkit and join us to have fun and learn while helping others troubleshoot and fix their broken stuff! Volunteers assess, take apart, and hopefully — REPAIR.

Transition Houston is partnering with TX/RX Labs, the City of Houston Green Building Resource Center, Houston Complete Communities, Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, Texas Campaign for the Environment, and the Houston Peace and Justice Center in this effort!

Solarize Houston for Houses of Worship (& Their Members)

Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church 1900 Bering Dr., Houston

The Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston invites you to learn how you and/or your house of worship can go solar for less by leveraging the Solarize Houston program. Solarize Houston is a program of the Houston Renewable Energy Group, a local non-profit dedicated to promoting renewable energy solutions and businesses. Solarize Houston is a group purchasing program for rooftop solar, which achieved discounts of 20 percent on rooftop solar purchases for participants when it was held in 2016 & 2017.

Free

RACE CARDS: SELINA THOMPSON

MATCH (Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston) 3400 Main Street, Houston

Selina Thompson is a UK based artist, performer, and writer. Her practice is primarily intimate, political, and participatory, with a strong strand of public engagement that then leads to joyous, highly visual work that seeks to connect to those often marginalized by the arts.

The Race Cards installation is a room containing 1,000 questions about race, written by Selina Thompson. In this constantly evolving installation and archive, Thompson invites participants to supply their own answers to the many facets of race and racism in modern society by answering one of the questions. Up to four people may access the installation at once, and are invited to spend some time experiencing it at their own pace.

On April 14 at 3pm, Selina Thompson will ask all 1,000 questions in a durational performance in MATCH Box 1. Audience members may come and go throughout the performance, arriving anytime between 3pm and 7pm. While at the MATCH, audiences are encouraged to interact with the Race Cards gallery installation.

Free

Socialist Reading Group: “The Essence of Capitalism – Stolen Surplus Value!”

Cafe Express 1422 West Gray Street, Houston

The essence of capitalism remains a deliberate hidden mystery. It is hard to justify the theft of value created by others - "surplus value". For this reason, euphemisms are used to put lipstick on the capitalist pig: "free enterprise", "free market", "entrepreneurship", etc.

In this discussion, we will focus on the Marxist Theory of Surplus Value. This theory provides the economic basis to understanding the basic contradiction of capitalism - social production and private appropriation, leading to overproduction and underconsumption.

Free

Environmental Justice: A community discussion and call to action

Green Building Resource Center

Michél Legendre from Corporate Accountability is in Houston to discuss Environmental Justice!

Environmental Justice is a key principle in the climate movement globally, especially for local communities. Join us for an event that paints clearly the action being taken locally, in Houston, post-Harvey, ways to get involved, and what Environmental Justice means to organizers. We will also connect the local campaigns, to city/state-level campaign, and the calls in the halls of the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This will be a community discussion and a call to action for attendees to get involved and create even more impact for justice with a number of organizations.

Free

Zikaron BaSalon – Memories in the Living Room

TBD Houston, TX, United States

Zikaron BaSalon is an annual event, which takes place on Israeli Holocaust Memorial Day. Zikaron BaSalon started in Israel, in a living room where a few friends gathered in 2010 and experienced an extraordinary and meaningful event. The idea was born from the understanding that the connection between us and the memories of the Holocaust, has significantly deteriorated. Today, the program operates in more than 50 countries around the world.

 

Alongside formal events, Zikaron BaSalon offers a new, meaningful and intimate way to commemorate this day and address its implications through discussions at home among family, friends and guests. It is a unique and authentic tradition of people gathering together to open their hearts to the stories of the survivors, sing, think, read, talk and most importantly- listen.

 

Zikaron BaSalon happens in the living room space of a home with 15-40 people. The event consists of three parts: testimony, expression part and open discussion. Light refreshments will be served.

Free

Uniting Our Communities & Countering Hate

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church 1805 W. Alabama St., Houston

Please join Transgender Education Network of Texas and Texas Freedom Network for this interfaith panel discussion examining the relationship between the faith and trans communities.

While the relationship between these two communities is often painted as contentious in the media and proposed policy by extremist elected officials, more than ever we are seeing affirming faith organizations stand up against discrimination for the LGBTQ+ community. This panel will explore that relationship with various voices of leadership within the faith community.

Free

JED Talks Featuring Author Stephanie Wittels Wachs

Rec Room Houston 100 Jackson St #130c, Houston

Join Emanu El Young Professionals on April 12th for the next installment of our award winning JED Talks series. We are so pleased to be featuring Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Owner and Executive Director of Rec Room Houston, actress, and most recently author of Everything Is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir of Genius, Heroin, Love, and Loss. Wachs recently appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, was interviewed on NPR, and was featured as one of Houstonia magazine’s “10 Women Making it Happen.”
 
Come enjoy dinner (on us!) and drinks as we share in Stephanie’s journey. Dinner will be served at 6:30if you’d like to join us early, and the program will begin at 7. There is no cost for this event.

Free

Houston Young Women’s Political Leadership Summit

Rice University 6100 Main St., Houston

Join IGNITE for an action-oriented conference focused on strategies for stepping up and owning your political power. Elected leaders and politically ambitious young women, like you, will share how to best position yourselves as public leaders. You will leave inspired, activated, and ready to run!

Free – $125

RACE; THE POWER OF ILLUSION

Dominican Sisters of Houston Spirituality Center Meeting Room 6501 Almeda Rd, Houston

Is Race for Real? 

We all know that people look different.  Anyone can tell a Czech from a Chinese.  But are these differences racial? What does race mean? Come learn the answers to these and other questions as we explore the Power of Illusion. 

Free

Tax March – Not One Penny

Emancipation Park 3018 Emancipation Ave., Houston

It’s almost that time of year again, folks, which means we’ll be hitting the streets along with ol’ Chicken Don to demand greater transparency and accountability in our elected officials, along with the repeal of the Trump Tax Scam.

Free

When Presence is Penalized: Homelessness in HTX

UH Graduate School of Social Work 3511 Cullen Blvd, Room 110J, Houston

Please join us on Thursday, April 19th to learn more about the current Houston's ordinances that are negatively impacting the lives of the homeless community in Houston.

Free

Post-Harvey Resilience: Top Climate Scientist Katharine Hayoe 4-19

Congregation Emanu El 1500 Sunset Blvd, Houston

As one of the world’s top climate scientists, Katharine Hayhoe has been named among Time's 100 most influential people, Foreign Policy's 100 leading global thinkers, and Fortune's 50 world’s greatest leaders. The New York Times called her “…one of the nation’s most effective communicators on the threat of climate change and the need for action.” Her presentation will go beyond global climate issues, as she addresses local measures to make Houston a more resilient community post-Harvey. She is a professor at Texas Tech University and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech. Her work has resulted in over 125 peer-reviewed publications. She is a lead author of the nation’s Fourth National Climate Assessment special report soon to be submitted to Congress and the President. She has conducted local climate impact assessments for a broad cross-section of organizations and cities, from Boston Logan Airport to the state of California to Austin Water. As a self-professed Evangelical Christian, she is well known for bridging the gap between scientists and faith-based communities.

$40 – $150

Volunteers for Refugees

Samurai Karate Dojo 12500 Oxford Park Dr., Houston

Community networking to benefit Houston's refugees:

Join us at this annual community networking event to share information and resources to benefit the refugee community in Houston. This is a public event; please invite friends, family and coworkers! If you would like to have a free table to share resources from your own organization or non-profit, or if you have any questions, contact Carmen Garcia at 281-216-6622. More information is also available at the dojo: 281-920-9330 or [email protected] .

Free