[The following remarks were delivered on June 22, 2016 at a conference, Southwest Border Colonias: Housing and Sustainable Development in…
Author: John Henneberger
I started my commitment to housing justice for people and communities with low incomes in 1975 in Austin's Clarksville community. These years of working side-by-side with dedicated community leaders to find solutions to housing and community development challenges have taught me some things and I’m learning new things every day.Austin for everyone: Building an inclusive, diverse city begins in every neighborhood
[The following remarks were delivered before the Austin chapter of the American Institute of Architects on June 21, 2016.] I…
A builder of The Beloved Community passes – who’s gonna fill her shoes?
Photo: Charles Smith, Katherine Poole, Councilwoman Sally Shipman in the midst of fight to save Blackland neighborhood from University of Texas expansion (ca.…
Proposed program change would provide voucher holders with greater choice, opportunity
A proposed rule change for the use of federal Housing Choice Vouchers would greatly improve the chance that housing vouchers will do what they…
Advocates: Let’s get the National Housing Trust Fund details right from the beginning
This piece originally ran on Shelterforce Magazine’s Rooflines blog. It’s rare when a major new national housing program comes along.…
Austin’s proposed development codes and building the inclusive community
I live today just outside Clarksville, where three decades ago low income African-American families, aided by a handful of supporters, waged a landmark…
The opportunity blueprint: Our plan for a united, diverse Houston
Houston is at a crossroads. The city is growing and the economy is booming – but only for some. Despite…
Houstonians should be angry about public housing – because of segregation
Note: A version of this post ran in the Gray Matters section of the Houston Chronicle on March 30. Our piece on…
Building a model for fair housing success: Our commitment to community leadership
Above: TxLIHIS and Texas Organizing Project staff and community residents discuss neighborhood issues at a meeting of the Sunnyside Pride…
Texas House Speaker instructs Urban Affairs Committee to study housing and fair housing issues
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has instructed the House Urban Affairs Committee, chaired by Rep. Carol Alvarado of Houston, to…
Announcing our curated, up to date collection of housing articles and research – Texas Housers Magazine
Around Texas Housers we are voracious readers of housing news and research reports, and especially those with a Texas angle.…
The right to choose, the right to stay, the right to equal treatment, the right to have a say: Reimagining fair housing
[The following are remarks I prepared for the keynote at the National Association of Collegiate Planners Conference in Houston, October 23,…
Revitalization and mobility in Austin: A response to The Atlantic
The subtleties of a compelling new article in The Atlantic, and some of the included quotes, may leave some people with the…
US Department of Justice and HUD file brief in support of Austin’s Fair Housing Ordinance
HUD and the US Department of Justice have filed a brief against the appeal filed by the Austin Apartment Association…
David Simon’s new HBO mini series is on housing integration… seriously
These are heady times for fair housing advocates. In the wake of a historic month for fair housing which included a stunning…
Thinking about the next step toward equality: Protect LGBT people from housing discrimination
Yesterday’s historic Supreme Court ruling established nationwide marriage equality. As we celebrate this historic ruling, we need to prepare to…
Three things Texas should do to make rebuilding from the floods faster and easier
With President Obama’s major flooding disaster declaration of certain Texas counties the long-term disaster rebuilding process will soon begin again.…
My remarks at the University of Texas School of Architecture commencement: “Hit a lick against what’s wrong or say a word for what’s right”
Yesterday I had the honor to deliver the keynote speech at the 102nd commencement ceremony for the School of Architecture at the…
Texas Senate Committee passes bill to prohibit source of income protection – exempts Austin
This morning the Texas Senate Business and Commerce Committee voted to recommend passage of SB 267, a bill that prevents…
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals lifts order barring Austin’s Source of Income protection ordnance
This afternoon the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans vacated its order blocking immediate implementation…
To this day some are lined up on the wrong side of the bridge, blocking the march to integration
Fifty years ago today, hundreds of brave men and women marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, to…
“This court is not persuaded” – U.S. District Court rejects Austin Apartment Association challenge to city fair housing ordinance
In a ruling this afternoon, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks rejected a motion for preliminary injunction by the Austin Apartment Association…
Dallas Morning News editorial: High court must not perpetuate segregation
In a strongly worded editorial the Dallas Morning News has called on the US Supreme Court to reject the State…
Those who seek to limit Fair Housing law should be asked about Beaumont, Texas
Tomorrow, the Supreme Court of the United States takes up a case about housing discrimination in Dallas that has brought national…
Austin’s poisonous legacy of housing segregation exposed
In an exceptional three-part print and video journalism series titled “Inheriting Inequality,” Austin American-Statement economics reporter Dan Zehr explores how as Austin…
What’s really at stake for low-income families of color in the Inclusive Communities Supreme Court case
On Jan. 21, the Supreme Court of the United States will begin to hear arguments in Texas Department of Housing…
City of Dallas signs Fair Housing conciliation agreement with HUD
Today the City of Dallas signed a Fair Housing conciliation agreement with HUD. Click to access dallas-hud-executed-vca.pdf Major provisions include:…
A Texas houser’s thoughts on the State of Texas’ appeal of the Dallas fair housing case to the Supreme Court
As a whole, Texas has made some real progress toward equal opportunity and fair housing in the forty-six years since…