Since mid-March, I’ve been spending at least 15 hours a week posted up at the Capitol with our Central Texas Campus Organizer Maggie DiSanza and our Texas Rising students, fighting for the issues that matter most to us: public education, LGBTQIA+ rights, religious freedom, abortion access, and more. Some days we’re there for lobby visits, and others we’re there to testify for or against a bill at hearings. Hearing days can be especially long. Earlier this month, for example, we got to the Capitol at 7 a.m. — and waited until 1 a.m. — to testify against SB 17, the higher education DEI ban.
I’m telling you this because I want you to see what I see. Every day I’m more amazed by the dedication, heart, and fight of our Texas Rising students. We've been told that conservative legislators dread when our Texas Rising students are up to testify, and I don’t know about you, John, but that’s 🎵 music to my ears 🎶.
Thank you for believing in us and our power. Texans under age 30 now make up 43 percent of the state’s population. Soon we will make up a third of eligible voters in Texas. If we stay active at the Capitol, in our communities, and at the voting booth, the politics of this state will change forever.
In the fight,
Mel Leblanc (they/them)
Texas Rising Regional Program Coordinator - Central Texas
