Jon Holmes was born in Lubbock and grew up in a farm near the city while being educated in Lubbock’s school system. He graduated from Lubbock High School and later attended Texas Tech University. At Texas Tech, Holmes participated in the campus anti-Vietnam War Movement and in the underground student newspaper named The Catalyst. Because of his work, especially in pointing out racial discrimination in Lubbock within the The Catalyst, Holmes and his fellow student advocates faced police harassment and violence. Facing such oppression, he moved to New York where he began a successful writing career. He has published articles in numerous publications like the New York Times and has published two cultural history books.

This report discusses funding for war-related activities, which has been largely provided through supplemental appropriation acts or has been designated as an "emergency" or "overseas contingency operation/global war on terror" (OCO/GWOT) requirement - or both.

Maria Jiménez was born in Coahuila, Mexico in 1957. Having grown-up in a political household, she would migrate to Houston at the age of six. Jiménez discusses Mexican American segregation in Magnolia Park and how that experience shaped her youth activism. She also discusses her involvement in the Young Democrats, the University of Houston Mexican American Youth Organization, her bid for state representative against Ben Reyes under the Raza Unida ticket, and the Dixiecrats. Jiménez also addresses fights for gender equality in the Texas Chicana/o Movement, Black and Brown collaboration, and her participation in labor movements in Mexico. Lastly, she talks about her life-long dedication to immigrant and human rights.