When she isn’t busy taking care of her boys or running her insurance agency, small business owner Cyndi Lawrence is out informing her neighbors and fellow conservatives about the issues that affect them most.
“What I am passionate about is bringing local issues back to the voters and educating people about them,” says Lawrence. “So many folks know about what is going on federally but they don’t have a clue about what is going on locally in their own back yard.”
She is currently the president of the Katy Tea Party, a group she revived in 2013 after it had disbanded a few years earlier due to IRS targeting.
“My goal in Katy is to get the voters educated about what is going on locally, such as Katy ISD and Katy City Council, that will affect the next generation.” Good thing too, as that’s what affects citizens the most. “Katy Tea Party is regularly getting involved with these entities that affect our property taxes, school taxes, etc.”
This is precisely the kind of activism that is in dire shortage. All too often, people only pay attention to politics when it’s ‘in season’—such as the presidential elections and, to a lesser extent, midterm elections. Activists like Lawrence, however, are taking action where participation enjoys its greatest impact: at the local level, on entities like school boards and city councils.
Back when she was first getting involved politically, Lawrence noticed one of the most important distinctions when it comes to ensuring liberty: that the ‘Republican’ label does not always indicate conservatism.
“My first event (before the Tea Party movement) was an event held outside of Sheila Jackson Lee’s office when President George Bush was pushing for the government bailouts of AIG and other companies,” she recounts. “While the Republicans were telling us this was a good deal that would save jobs, true conservatives were the ones speaking out against it. I learned really quick that Republican doesn’t always equal conservative, like many people are led to believe.”
Lawrence is deeply inspired by her three boys, one of whom is in the Army, stationed in Germany. “Those three boys are my driving factor to fight for conservative values and demand fiscal responsibility so that I will know that I have done everything in my power to fight against leaving the next generation a debt that they will be enslaved to,” she says. “Because of our national, state, and local debts my sons will be working harder to pay more in taxes in order to sustain this government.”
Lawrence is a native Texan, and activism runs in her blood. “I learned to speak up because of my father, Floyd Martin, who has always been a grassroots activist since I can remember. My father instilled biblical values to speak up for those that cannot speak such as the unborn and our next generation. At 74 years old, he still cannot sit idly by on the sidelines without fighting. I strive to be as courageous as him.”
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