We Got This TX is devoted to cultivating a brave and authentic space for progressive Black, Indigenous, and women of color (BIWOC) who engage in the Texas legislative process to share their stories of purpose, success, and struggle. We are doing this because we recognize the power that sharing our stories can have in paving a pathway for others to follow. We Got This TX encourages progressive BIWOC that have previously or currently work in the Texas legislative process (as staff, in a caucus, in an advocacy org, or in the lobby) or engage in legislative advocacy on their own time by testifying, rallying, calling their elected officials, or advocating for progressive policies to share their stories here in our Herstory Archive.

We invite you to share your story in your own words and on your own terms. You can submit your story via audio, video, or 500- 750 word written submission by emailing your story and a photo or your video story to info@wegotthistx.com. You can also express your interest in getting help sharing your story by filling out the Share Your Story form at the button below. Anonymous submissions are allowed. Based on available funding, our team will select stories to be featured in our Herstory Archive.

My name is Maggie Luna and I am the Hogg Foundation Peer Policy Fellow for the Texas Center for Justice and Equity. In my role I influence policy and work to make meaningful changes in the criminal justice system. I am also an addict with 20 years of untreated substance use who is now in long-term recovery. It is because of my lived experience with many broken Texas systems that I am able to speak truth to power. Read More

My grandmother is almost 75 years old, she is a strong, resilient, hardworking woman, and a true feminist icon of her time. She taught me from a very young age that I belong, that I can acquire anything, and that I deserve to be heard. Starting from singing in church choir, and now testifying at the State’s Capitol, I heed her words and refuse to let my voice go unheard. Read More

The desire to serve others is born of experience and perseverance. I often believe mine was planted somewhere between the Waxahachie cotton fields where my grandmother spent long hours picking under the Texas sun and the foundation of the West Dallas church my great grandfather built for his Spanish-speaking community. Read More

Although my Professor of Inequality and Poverty did not intend single me out that morning of my first semester at Columbia University, the statistics she read fell upon me like heavy blows. I identified with nineteen of those twenty-six demographic traits she listed as indicating the decreased likelihood of upward socioeconomic mobility, and this shook me to my core. I was particularly devastated because I had just learned over the weekend that I was about to become a teenage mom. The realization that my child’s life course could be so readily predicted by factors beyond their control conflicted with my perception of justice and drove my passion for entering public policy. Read More

Growing up as a young Latina girl in a border town city in Texas I was shy, quiet, and anxious about speaking out in front of others. When I was teenager, I never ever imagined that I would be an advocate and passionate about making a difference in the legislative system. Back then if someone would have told me that I would one day become an advocate, I probably would not have believed them. Read More

I never thought I’d be in politics, it was the complete opposite of what I intended to study in college and I had zero experience, insight, or networks in that space. Being a first-generation Ethiopian/Eritrean-American Black woman, I didn’t see many folks like me in those spaces. And so I did what most young people did and disengaged — I didn’t t think my voice mattered in these processes. And then, during my first college semester at a prominent PWI in Central Texas (sic’em bears) I saw the effects of the 2016 election impact those close to me. Read More