"Have Your Own Voice": Houston Activist Andrew Rodriguez Talks About the Vanessa Guillen Protests

HOUSTON - Texas Southern University’s KTSU2News held an Instagram live discussion on Wednesday, July 15 with No Mas community activist, Andrew Rodriguez.

TSU senior, a journalism major, and KTSU2News reporter, Maiya Turner, hosted the 25-minute live professional discussion with Rodriguez about the different community efforts that are being made for Vanessa Guillen and how others can get involved.

The community activist was among the 10 Houstonians who helped orchestrate the Vanessa Guillen protest on July 4.

“It didn’t feel right celebrating independence when something like this happens. There was just so many unanswered questions that went by,” Rodriguez said. “It didn’t feel proper honoring Independence Day, so we decided to go march for Vanessa.”

On April 22, Guillen went missing from her Army base at Fort Hood, causing immediate concern for her whereabouts as the news flooded social media.

Authorities were able to find suspects in her disappearance, Specialist Aaron Robinson, who killed himself as officers moved in to arrest him, and a suspect in connection, Cecily Aguilar.

Investigators found human remains 20 miles from Fort Hood on June 30th however, the remains were identified as Guillen on July 5.

After learning of her disappearance, Houstonians came together and marched from Discovery Green to City Hall in unity calling for change to the injustice of the late Fort Hood soldier.

Rodriguez described the moment of solidarity as an amazing experience.

“When we started, it was a beautiful amount of love being shown by the community. It didn’t matter if you were white, black, or Hispanic, it was just an amazing feeling.”

The case of Guillen wasn’t the first nor is it the last reported sexual assault case in the military.

Numerous women claimed to have been sexually harassed or assaulted in the military—some were reported, most were not.

According to Protect Our Defenders, an organization that works to protect women in the military, in 2016 alone, over 14,000 military personnel reported a sexual assault; out of that number, more than 1,000 were women.

“Those numbers are super alarming; I can’t even fathom that number. If you think about it that is nearly almost all the women in the military.” Rodriguez said describing the statistics.

Further, the community activist expressed his feelings on how cases are investigated, and the way the military structures its units.

“There has to be a third party internal body that does handle sexual abuse allegations and just any type of allegations for that matter period,” Rodriguez explained. “There has to be some type of ratio where you can’t have three or four women to a unit, and the rest is just men. I believe strongly that automatically makes you a target.”

Texas officials like Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, have been vocal about their opinions about the tragedy of Guillen.

Mayor Turner declared July 11th as Vanessa Guillen Day to pay tribute to the late Ford Hood soldier and Representative Jackson Lee made a promise to the Guillen family at the rally that she would call for a congressional investigation.

Rodriguez had the opportunity to see Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee during the Fourth of July march.

“Let me first say thank you to all the politicians that came out” he said, “It was an honor standing next to her just because she believes in the same core values that we have right now.”

Rodriguez said that so far, he had no complaints in regards to politicians, as 89 congressional members had soon after called for an investigation.

The Houston activist provided ways that other Houstonians can also be a part of the change. “Have your own voice, America is built on having your own voice. Don’t be scared, speak up [and] be a leader,” Rodriguez said.

For anyone interested in joining the next No Mas initiatives or want to donate, go to the No Mas Movement on Facebook. *