Hello all–

I hope the summer is off to a steady start. It is a big season of transition for me. After seven incredible years, I’m concluding my time at Texas Appleseed on June 26. I’m filled with pride, gratitude, and peace as I reflect on the past decade that I’ve spent as a civil rights lawyer.

Tomorrow, I begin my term as the co-chair of the Austin Democratic Socialists of America. I’m excited to pour into an organization that has given me so much. I invite you to join DSA, and I look forward to sharing more updates about our work over the next twelve months.

On this quiet fifth Sunday, I offer a piece that I initially penned right after the 89th legislative session in Texas in 2025. I recently testified before the Texas House of Representatives (start around 6:44:00) for very likely the last time, which brought this essay back into focus. I remain thoroughly convinced that Jesus firmly rejects exclusionary discipline.

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In 2025, I concluded the third regular legislative session I’ve worked in Texas. Although policy advocacy always brings demanding obligations, the 89th legislative session felt particularly grueling. As the Texas Legislature was gaveled in, both in 2023 and 2025, policymakers debated – and ultimately passed – prominent bills related to school safety and school discipline. Across years, my team and I presented deeply measured and evidence-based arguments against increased investments in school policing and the calcifying of zero tolerance in school discipline. Unfortunately, HB 3 (2023) and HB 6 (2025) became law, bringing numerous harms with them to children and families across Texas in the process. HB 3 mandates a school police officer on every campus across the state, and HB 6, most simply stated, eases pathways to disciplinary alternative education programs for young Texans. 

As last summer dawned, I thought of the various arguments that I employed to oppose these draconian policies. In a meeting with Chairman Jeff Leach, the primary author of HB 6, in February 2025, I conveyed that I am a man of faith as well – and I bring that identity into my work to ensure that every child feels nurtured & supported on their school campuses. We participated in a passionate exchange, but it was clear that his philosophy is that some kids need to be outside of the classroom. I sat back and let out a long sigh in his office; I thought of how the Clinton Administration boasted about funding 100,000 police officers across the country, and I reflected on my advocacy against HB 3 in the previous legislative session in 2023. The bipartisan commitment to militarized schools remains strong. 

After Sine Die – the official end of the legislative session on June 2, 2025 – I turned back to my work within one of my congregations, Ebenezer Third Baptist Church, with greater zeal. Along with a group of committed Black women leaders, I teach a class called Christian Education Discipleship Ministry (CEDM) for kids in grades one to six each Sunday. Reflect back on the Sunday School hour of your youth and you’ll get a good picture of how CEDM operates. 

On June 29, 2025, Ebenezer held its annual Children’s Missions Day program. I delivered a sermon from Hebrews 11:1 and Proverbs 3:5-6, focused on how change is constant. In a parallel structure, one of the brilliant kids from CEDM, Basil, delivered a lay message on the same topic. In witnessing Basil’s impactful remarks, I saw the model of intergenerational organizing that I’m seeking to build in clearer focus. I introduced Basil to the congregation, lauding the fact that – at then-nine years of age – he understands concepts like disenfranchisement and injustice. Basil’s inspiring speech reassures me that Black children are well positioned to articulate the vision of the Earth they deserve to inhabit. 

During my remarks, I honed in on the experience of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, as recorded in Mark 14. As I uplifted the fact that change presents each of us with an opportunity, I reflected on the fact that Jesus experienced deep distress and trouble as he approached his fate on Calvary. I uplifted – and found solace – in the words that he offered soon after: everything is possible with God. 

I grew emotional during the end of my remarks because I recognize the continuity of many things. Change is constant, as well as the fight for Black liberation in the United States and the organizing effort to unite the working class against the exploitation of capitalism. As a man of faith, I hold on to the inspiring and loving ministry of Jesus to guide me through the challenges of this journey. Moreover, as each year passes, I receive stronger confirmation that Jesus – who instructed us to love our neighbor as ourselves – would be fighting alongside me to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline if he were physically here. In that moment of distress in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus received grace and assurance from God; children across the United States should feel empowered to draw from this example, even when they’ve made mistakes in school. Children, especially Black children, deserve abundant compassion on their campuses.

For lawmakers like Chairman Leach, I implore you to spend time with the message that Jesus expressed across the Gospels. As I go deeper into ministry myself, a message does not leave me: no one is disposable, and everyone has access to the life-changing salvation that Jesus offers. 

For Black people, especially Black children, in 2026, I urge you to show up with your full selves as you fight back against the perniciously evil effects of racial capitalism. Despite the obstacles put into place by these regressive laws, I believe deeply that a better world awaits us. Jesus, through his radical inclusion, fortifies us in our righteous efforts to attain that dream.