Year after year, I’ve fended off the question, “How can you live in Texas?”
Because I remember.
I remember voting for Dolph Briscoe the first year I could vote.
I remember Mark White standing up for Texas teachers.
I remember Ann Richards delivering diversity, ethics and equal funding.
For the last thirty years, Texas Republicans have raped.
They raped my rights to speak freely as an atheist.
They raped my rights to select which books I can teach.
They raped my rights to clean air and water.
They raped my rights to love freely.
They raped my rights to well-being.
They raped my rights to have choices.
Yet under all of their oppression, I’ve held onto optimism because I remember my first years as a voter. I remember developing my own classroom curriculum without Big Brother spying. I remember believing in the power of governing where we protected the weakest.
Because I remember, I vote even when it seemed hopeless.
Because I remember, I speak my truth whenever possible.
Because I remember, I write to record this new beginning of possibilities.
Welcome Senator James Talarico.
Welcome Governor Gina Hinojosa.
You now carry the hopes and dreams of all of us who remembered.
Copyright 2026 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman
