July Update Newsletter: We Were Born for This
Emerson Shares A List of Upcoming July Events for SETX Impact
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Editorial
The Aztecs were a mighty people. Emperor Moctezuma II ruled over 15 million Aztecs, all of whom paid tribute to the capital city of Tenochtitlan. When the Spanish colonials arrived in Tenochtitlan, they entered a city that contained up to 200,000 people. Great stone towers loomed over jagged pyramids and massive aqueducts and canals that watered lavish gardens. Moctezuma II’s palace alone included 100 rooms, two zoos, and salt-water and fresh-water aquariums.
The Conquistadors thought they had lost themselves in a dream.
It did not stop them from laying siege to the city for 90 days, which caused the Tenochtitlan Aztecs to experience a horrific famine. The Aztecs who did not starve died by the hands of the Spaniards or the smallpox the Spaniards had unintentionally spread or by other Aztecs who hated Moctezuma. Once Hernán Cortés conquered the city of dreams, he destroyed it and built Mexico City on its ruins.
Such is the sin of Supremacy.
We talk a lot about White Supremacy nowadays, and we should talk about it more. Under the guise of American Judeo-Christian jingoism, the U.S. has aided and abetted Israeli campaigns in Gaza and in Iran. For those of us who remember the War on Terror, this all feels incredibly familiar: “If those scary Muslims get a nuke, we get World War III. So, we have to start World War III to prevent World War III. Make sense?” At the core of these arguments lies the deadly colonial spirit that caused Cortés to raze Tenochtitlan.
Cortés came to Mesoamerica for gold, George W. Bush came to Iraq for oil, Benjamin Netanyahu drops bombs on the Gaza strip for land. Cortés claimed Moctezuma had tried to kill him. Bush claimed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in the wake of 9/11. Netanyahu blames Gaza for harboring Hamas in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks. No matter the claims or the blames, innocent people died. Children died.
But you might say the people of Gaza are not a good comparison to the Aztecs. The governing Aztecs at Tenochtitlan conquered 15 million people and practiced human sacrifice. That Cortés could raise an army of other Aztecs to topple Moctezuma only shows that Tenochtitlan was governed by Supremacists. They too had poverty and class struggles and all the other problems of civilization. Therein lies the problem for students of history. The word “sin” damns all from an objective viewpoint. Everyone has done wrong, though no wrong deserves a massacre or a genocide. It’s just that when Supremacists do wrong, innocent people die, and children die, all for the sake of aquariums, zoos, gold, and gas that’s $1.98 a gallon.
We live on millions of bodies. We live the lives we do because colonialism empowered Supremacists—White Supremacists in our part of the world in particular—to craft a social order in which countries that don’t have nuclear weapons are labeled “third-world countries” and bombed and invaded whenever a regime change will save money on exports. A grocery run to Wal-Mart requires people in poorer countries to work for sub-poverty wages. Of the 15 million Aztecs who lived in the 1500s, only 1.5 million remain, working as farmers and artisan craft workers.
Why were we born now? Why didn’t we live back in the days of Hernán Cortés? I’ll tell you why: we were born to fight Supremacy. Donald Trump is the symptom of a dying notion that Supremacy is always right and always fair. He is a cancer that has consumed the Republican party whole, and now they can’t even wipe their butts without calling and asking him permission. Yes, the United States are more dangerous now, but every animal is most dangerous when it feels weak and frightened. No matter what happens, the story of Donald Trump will be a dark chapter in American history, but it won’t be the end of the story. 20,000 people came to his damn parade. At least five million protested it.
But the next president will try to convince us that the United States will need to go back to business as usual and rehire migrant workers for pennies a day, “introduce democracy” to countries to keep supply lines going, and bomb the enemies of our sketchy-as-hell allies. We will need to gather at least five million to protest their Supremacy, just like we protested Donald Trump’s. To kill Supremacy, we must spread the message far and wide:
Absolute equity for everyone, no matter what.
What Have We Done for You Lately?
We hosted a booth at Pride Fest in Beaumont to both inform people about our group and register new voters!
On Flag Day, we held our “Support a Star” program, where we brought gifts to veterans in the southeast Texas area to thank them for their service.
That same day, we attended the No King’s Day protest in Roger’s Park. Around 500 people attended, enough people to wrap all the way around the park. On a day of heightened tension and threats of political violence, no incidents occurred outside of those related to heat. Around 250 more people showed up than our last protest at the park.
On Juneteenth, we protested the Confederate “Monument of the Wind,” which flies in the face of not only United States values, but Texan values. After all, if the Confederacy was meant to last, why did we rejoin the Union?
We have been attending city halls around the Golden Triangle demanding our local representatives sign a petition regarding property tax abatements for big businesses and how they essentially force the middle and lower classes to hold the tax burden of the entire state. If you wish to add your name to the petition, contact us here.
Upcoming Events
July 4th, 2025: Independence Day Boycott, All Day
On this general boycott day, we will refrain from buying anything to show the power of the purse, especially during a lavish holiday.
July 7th, 2025: Jefferson County Democrats Meeting
At the Jefferson County Democratic Party headquarters, at 2211 Calder Ave, Beaumont, TX 77701, join the Jefferson County Democrats as they discuss upcoming midterm elections.
July 8th, 2025: Jefferson County Democratic Women
At the Jefferson County Democratic Party headquarters, at 2211 Calder Ave, Beaumont, TX 77701, join the women of the Jefferson County Democrats in their monthly meeting.
July 13th, 2025: SETX Impact Social
We shall meet at Buckstin Brewing Company as we usually do each month. Feel free to have a drink, some pizza, and hang out with new people.
July 19th, 2025: LU Green Squad
Bring pre-sorted recyclables up to Lamar University campus to get them recycled!
July 22nd, 2025: PFLAG Monthly Meeting
At 450 N 11th St, Beaumont, TX 77702, USA, PFLAG will hold their monthly meeting. Feel free to join!
“Genius looks forward; the eyes of man are set in the forehead, not the hindhead.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson