John WorldPeace
July 1, 2003
Honorable Sheila Jackson-Lee
U.S. Congresswoman District 18
Houston Office, 1919 Smith Street, Ste. 1180,Houston, TX 77002
via fax at: 713-655-1612 and Regular mail
Washington Office, 2435 Rayburn Building, Washington DC 20515
via fax at: 202-225-3317 and Regular Mail
Heights Office, 420 West 19th Street, Houston, TX
via fax at: Regular Mail
Acres Home Office, 6719 West Montgomery, Suite 204, Houston, TX
via fax at: Regular Mail
Re: Heights Presbyterian Church and the Independence Heights Project
It is my understanding that you intend to visit Heights Presbyterian Church on July 20, 2003, the date of the church’s centennial celebration.
I would inform you that it would be a bad idea for you to speak about the Independence Heights Project if you attend because that project has been crammed down the throats of the congregation against their will by Tom Lord and Joe Delgatto, the minister. The tension in the church regarding the Independence Heights Project is potentially explosive. The congregation was never allowed to vote on the Project per the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church USA.
Mr. Lord has characterized the resistance to the Independence Heights Project as racially based. If that is true then All Saints Catholic Church and St Andrews Episcopal Church who are partners with Heights Presbyterian Church in the Heights Tower and Heights House retirement homes are racist because they have refused to participate in the Independence Heights Project. The resistance to Independence Heights Project is not about racism, it is about corruption.
When you attended the Independence Heights Project ground breaking, you saw only ten members from Heights Presbyterian Church, six were from one family. The minister, Joe Delgatto by design did not even attend. That should have told you something.
My personal experience with the Black community resides in working with Kurtyce Cole in his campaign for Houston City Councilman for District B. I attended over twenty-five church services in that community and many civic and precinct meetings during the campaign.
What I observed in District B, were outhouses, raw sewage flowing in open ditches, streets in very bad repair, minimum Police protection, houses that had burned all the way to the ground and no major retail or grocery chains in the community.
I also heard Lee Brown’s lie about “Super Neighborhoods” which had and has no funding in the city’s capital budget.
What I noticed in the Black community was a severe lack of Black leadership. The Civil Rights movement is dead and the foolish rainbow ticket of the Democratic Party which sold out to sixty-four million Sanchez dollars ended the two party system in Texas.
If you are not prepared to speak to these issues that affect the Black Community, I suggest that you not bring up the Independence Heights Project if you do decide to visit Heights Presbyterian Church on July 20, 2003.
Very Sincerely,
John WorldPeace
cc:
Reagan Brown, Attorney at Law via fax at: 713-651-5246
Max L. Tribble, Attorney at Law via fax at: 713-654-6666
Hartley Hampton, Attorney at Law via fax at: 713-751-0030
Marshall Searcy, Attorney at Law via fax at: 817-878-9280
Lisa Gaye Mann, Attorney at Law via fax at: 713-552-0231
Brad Bingham, Attorney at Law via fax at: 713-552-0231
Fred Cook, Attorney at Law via fax at: 713-229-8824
Bob Casey, Jr., Attorney at Law via fax at: 713-221-1212
Roy Keezel, Attorney at Law via fax at: 713-781-3027
How can we manifest peace on earth if we do not include everyone (all races, all nations, all religions, both sexes) in our vision of Peace?
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