Houston Food Not Bombs has been sharing
healthy vegetarian food with hundreds of hungry people, several nights a
week, for over 18 years and is a 2011 Recipient of a Peacemaker Award
from
the Houston Peace and Justice Center. Now in Houston, Mayor Parker and
her puppeteers have made it illegal to share food with five or more
needy people “without the advance written consent of the public or
private property owner.” There are other provisions in the law, but the
crucial part is this new criminalization of sharing food on public
property. As with most politics in Houston, real estate investors were
calling the shots.
A
fellow waitress/philanthropist and I went out to the sharing tonight
and saw a wonderful thing happening. Houstonians still enraged by the
injustice of the law (which has brought more attention to the org of
late and therefore, more volunteers) had flocked to the Houston Library
to particiapte and stand up to those who would criminalize one of the
simple and easiest acts of compassion to their fellow men and women.
There was more food prepared, brought, and shared than could be eaten,
and after seconds were given, take away bags of food were also provided
due to the recent surplus in the FNB movement. I met artists, musicians,
and writers on both the giving and receiving end; some thankful to give
and others thankful to receive. There were no apparent egos at this
event , only a mutual respect for humanity. Spirits were high and
defiant and I encourage all in Houston and other cities to participate
in their local food sharing events. The sense of community was in the
very air and everyone spoke as if they were already friends. We can all
learn a lot from each other at these events. How to keep division at
bay, how to not draw lines between humans in different life
circumstances, and how to push politics aside to unify for the greater
good of our fellow human beings pushed down by the current system and
"forgotten".....or so the powers at be would hope. The lovely fact is
that they are wrong, we will not leave our fellow men and women behind,
we will let the fight go on and push the envelope for all the right
reasons. Morality is a precious thing. We will not be defeated, law or
no law. Please join us on Mon, Wed and Fri @ 8pm, and Sunday evening at
7pm to continue this just cause now facing even more injustice. ( A big
shout out goes to Council Member Helena Brown for coming out to
volunteer and show her solidarity for Houston food sharing!)
--Vera Davis
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