I am writing in regards to the December 12 Port of Houston action being organizing in solidarity with the West Coast Shutdown. My understanding is that this action is to be a solidarity march and not a shutdown and I am concerned with language used on the
westcoastshutdown.org website that seems to suggest otherwise. Specifically, I think that the title of
this page, "Occupiers in Texas Plan to Shut Down the Port of Houston!" and the language used on the 2 graphics posted on the page clearly imply a shutdown. This concerns me for several reasons: a) it was posted before any proposals went through the Occupy Houston GA, b) it is misleading because, to my knowledge, none of the Texas or Gulf Coast GAs have approved a shutdown action, c) it is potentially dangerous to participants in the march because the Houston Port Authority may try to interfere with their peaceful demonstration if they mistakenly believe the marchers intend to bock the port, and d) it does not help the movement if we announce actions that we do not, in fact, intend to carry out.
My suggestion is to change the page so that it reflects the actual nature of the action(s) approved by GAs.
For the record, I think that a solidarity march is a great idea and plan to be there.
Solidarity,
Elizabeth Brossa