Champion for Racial Justice & Civil Rights, Merritt Will Bring Transformational Change to Black & Latino Communities  

Today, Texas Organizing Project (TOP) PAC is proud to announce the endorsement of Lee Merritt for Attorney General. Merritt, “The People’s Lawyer,” has centered his career around being a social justice torch-bearer, carrying on the legacy of the Civil Rights movement, both inside and outside the courtroom. He’s dedicated his career to fighting for justice on behalf of Black Americans killed by police, including Atatiana Jefferson, Botham Jean, Jordan Edwards, and George Floyd, as well as victims of corruption, corporate discrimination, and hate crimes. If elected, Merritt would bring this commitment to racial justice and civil rights to the office of the attorney general.

Far-right Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has proven himself unfit for leadership time and time again. During his tenure, Paxton has abused the power of his office, using his role to service wealthy donors and a radical right-wing agenda. A Trump acolyte, who participated in the January 6th insurrection, Paxton has been under indictment for securities fraud for the last six years. Paxton has failed Texas. We believe with the right leader at the helm, the attorney general’s office could be a source of real meaningful change, particularly for communities of color who for so long have been failed by our state’s justice system. 

“This race represents a historic opportunity to elect a person from our social justice movement and the first statewide progressive Black candidate in Texas,” said Brianna Brown, TOP Co-Executive Director. “Electing Lee Merrit would lead to transformational change, particularly for Black and Latino communities. Texas needs a massive overhaul of its justice system and of the attorney general’s office, which has been corrupted by the right-wing for decades.”

“Last cycle, TOP PAC engaged 1.4 million infrequent and new voters of color. We also launched the only progressive door knocking canvass operation in the state. Our program turned out over 544,000 unlikely voters of color through early vote,” said Eric Mata, TOP President of the Board of Directors. “We intend to bring this same energy and do even greater amounts of outreach for the upcoming 2022 cycle at the statewide level. We’re fired up and ready to elect Lee Merritt the next attorney general of Texas.”

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Texas Organizing Project PAC runs the largest, independent Get-out-the-Vote political field programs in Texas, focusing on expanding the electorate of color, with an emphasis on turning out Black and Latino voters. To date, TOP PAC has mobilized hundreds of thousands of voters across the state with the aim of building a reflective democracy–one that looks like us and shares our values.

This press release was sent out December 17, 2021.

The following statement is from Michelle Tremillo, Co-Executive Director of the Texas Organizing Project (TOP), in response to the U.S. Department of Justice today announcing the filing of a lawsuit against the State of Texas over redistricting maps approved by the state legislature earlier this year:

“We thank the U.S. Department of Justice for suing against Texas Republicans’ discriminatory redistricting efforts that aim to shut Black, Latino, and Asian voters out of the political process for years to come.

“Governor Abbott and the Texas GOP purposely drew redistricting maps this past special session that weakened the voting power of our state’s growing communities of color, and they did so to cling to statewide political control. This already shameless partisan power grab is even more egregious when you factor in that 95% of the growth in Texas over the past decade has come from people of color.

“Lawsuits alone will not stop Texas Republicans’ extreme gerrymandering and overall assault on our voting rights. That’s why we once more demand our Democratic-controlled House, Senate, and White House to abandon the filibuster and put the future wellbeing of our democracy first by swiftly passing the For The People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

“Each day that passes without this legislation in place is a win for Abbott’s radical right-wing agenda, and a loss for fair representation in our state for Black and Latino Texans.”

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Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris, Bexar, and Fort Bend counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.

This statement was sent out December 6, 2021.

The following statement is from Michelle Tremillo, Co-Executive Director of the Texas Organizing Project (TOP), in response to the U.S. Department of Justice today announcing the filing of a lawsuit against the State of Texas over redistricting maps approved by the state legislature earlier this year:

“We thank the U.S. Department of Justice for suing against Texas Republicans’ discriminatory redistricting efforts that aim to shut Black, Latino, and Asian voters out of the political process for years to come.

“Governor Abbott and the Texas GOP purposely drew redistricting maps this past special session that weakened the voting power of our state’s growing communities of color, and they did so to cling to statewide political control. This already shameless partisan power grab is even more egregious when you factor in that 95% of the growth in Texas over the past decade has come from people of color.

“Lawsuits alone will not stop Texas Republicans’ extreme gerrymandering and overall assault on our voting rights. That’s why we once more demand our Democratic-controlled House, Senate, and White House to abandon the filibuster and put the future wellbeing of our democracy first by swiftly passing the For The People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

“Each day that passes without this legislation in place is a win for Abbott’s radical right-wing agenda, and a loss for fair representation in our state for Black and Latino Texans.”

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Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris, Bexar, and Fort Bend counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.

This statement was sent out December 6, 2021.

The following statement is from Brianna Brown, Co-Executive Director of the Texas Organizing Project, in reaction to a jury finding Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan guilty in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery:

“The right and only acceptable verdict was reached today, however it will not bring back yet another young Black life violently cut short. Our hearts are with the Arbery family during this emotional and cathartic time.

“Once again, having to hold our breaths in anticipation for whether three men who hunted down a Black man in a modern-day lynching will be found guilty for their actions shows us who our legal system was built to protect, and who it is stacked against.

“Jurors saw for themselves how this sheer act of evil transpired. They witnessed white men acting as vigilantes nefariously distort ‘law’ to end the life of a Black man in broad daylight on that rural road in Georgia, simply for being Black. White supremacy murdered Ahmaud Arbery.

“While we are glad to see this accountability, true justice still evades us here, as it is far too often out of reach for families of color – especially Black families. This of course isn’t by chance. Our nation’s legal system was constructed not to serve Black people, but to punish and dehumanize us.

“A complete overhaul of this system is needed if this country ever expects to eliminate the racism built into the system itself. It’s imperative we support the racial justice work being done on the ground to transform and reimagine this system, in particular by groups such as Just Georgia. We encourage those hungry for making this change in Ahmaud’s memory to support their work by contributing at just-georgia.org.”

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Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris, Bexar, and Fort Bend counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.

This statement was sent out November 24, 2021.

The following statement is from David Villalobos, Statewide Right2Justice Coordinator of the Texas Organizing Project, in reaction to a jury finding Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts:

“This verdict emboldens white nationalist vigilantism and violence, signaling to militant right-wing extremists that policing and killing in communities of color across the country has little to no consequence under the law. This is white supremacy at work.

“A racist double standard is on full display here: a Black or Latino young man strapped with an AR-15 provoking and engaging in violence in neighborhood streets would have been forcefully confronted by law enforcement and likely fatally shot on the spot, not welcomed and allowed to claim ‘self-defense’ as Kyle Rittenhouse was. 

“If Rittenhouse were Black or Latino, had committed these offenses, and was put on trial for the same charges, he would not only be convicted, he would be looking at a far different outcome, serving time behind bars.”

Tamara Neal, a TOP Right2Justice campaign member, added:

“A far-right militia member equipped with a semi-automatic weapon travelled to a community that is not his own with the sole intent of instigating conflict, resulting in two people being murdered and a third injured in the streets of Kenosha.

“By giving a pass to this clear-cut white nationalist vigilantism, our nation’s justice system is showing us that it did not fail, it disturbingly worked as designed — to protect white supremacy. 

“This consequential moment further highlights how critical it is that we channel our energy and resources to people working on the ground in communities of color to counter this hate and achieve the racial justice we deserve — organizations such as BLOC (Black Leaders Organizing for Communities) in Wisconsin. There are many ways to engage in our collective fight for racial justice. One way is to donate to BLOC’s organizing efforts at blocbybloc.org.”

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Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris, Bexar, and Fort Bend counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.

This statement was sent out November 19, 2021.