The Founders of T.E.J.A.S.
Juan and Ana Parras created T.E.J.A.S. to organize against the effects of petrochemical plants in Houston. Their journey began in a South Texas courthouse, where they met while working on union campaigns. Juan, with his distinctive mustache, fedora, and wool coat, fresh from a union campaign in snowy Indiana, caught Ana’s attention as she worked at the information desk in the rotunda.
Early Life and Union Work
The couple’s encounter was a mix of workplace accident and love story, planting the roots of what would grow into one of Houston’s most enduring climate movements. They both carried union credentials, with Juan organizing public employees in new places and Ana navigating county politics from within. After meeting, they merged their lives, bringing a blended family of five kids and a shared belief in organizing from the ground up.
Community Organizing in Houston
In 1992, they moved to Houston, where Ana and two other mothers formed the first Eastwood Park Advisory Council. They noticed the park lacked basic infrastructure, such as lighting, walkways, and safe spaces for kids. Leveraging their knowledge of city and county budgets, they organized the community to demand improvements. This work, Ana later realized, was their first brush with environmental justice, even if they didn’t call it that at the time.
The Fight Against Petrochemical Plants
In 1993, the couple moved to Louisiana, where Juan worked with the Louisiana Labor Neighbor Project. He became involved in a tense labor dispute in St. James Parish, known as Cancer Alley, where a massive PVC manufacturing facility was set to be built in an already overburdened community. Juan notes that the people where these facilities are built tend to be African American communities, citing racism as a factor. The facilities often promise jobs and make promises to these communities because they are Black and Latino, but few community members are actually hired.
Intersections of Racial Justice and Health Disparities
Their time in Louisiana exposed them to the intersections between racial justice, health disparities, and corporate influence. Ana worked at a Louisiana Injured Workers Union, advocating for better workplace protections at the state capitol. She also spent evenings at a shelter for domestic abuse survivors, where she received a crash course in dealing with domestic violence. Ana believes that her experiences were guided by a higher power, placing her where she needed to be at the right time.
The Birth of T.E.J.A.S.
When the couple returned to Houston around 1999, they were armed with years of community labor experience and a sense of urgency. Driving along Old Galveston Road, they noticed a sign for a new high school being planned near their apartment, with oil and gas plants sprawling across the horizon. This sparked the idea for what would eventually become T.E.J.A.S. They launched a group called Unidas Contra Environmental Racism and began documenting the construction site, warning about the site’s proximity to industrial emissions.
The Fight for Environmental Justice
César E. Chávez High School was eventually built, despite years of resistance and community meetings. The couple was disappointed by the project’s progression, feeling that the school’s namesake, a respected labor icon, was being used to honor their concerns while ignoring the environmental issues. They continued to push for change, offering toxic tours of neighborhoods along the Houston Ship Channel and pointing out the proximity of homes, schools, and parks to refineries, tank farms, and chemical storage sites.
The Evolution of T.E.J.A.S.
Over time, their work developed a reputation for documentation and training the next generation of environmental advocates. Their son, Bryan Parras, joined the cause, bringing skills in video, media, and community storytelling. By 2006, the couple formalized their efforts into a nonprofit, which became T.E.J.A.S. The organization has stayed rooted in its mission: centering the communities most impacted by environmental racism.
Continued Advocacy and Challenges
In 2019, Juan was appointed to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) under President Joe Biden. However, the council was dissolved in 2024 with a surprise email, which Ana compared to being "dumped on a Post-it note." Despite this setback, T.E.J.A.S. continues its community outreach, youth internships, and media training, preparing local students to tell their own environmental stories.
Conclusion
T.E.J.A.S. remains committed to its mission, organizing up and down the state and pushing back against "false solutions" like unregulated carbon capture proposals and hydrogen infrastructure plans with little public accountability. As the oldest Latino-led environmental justice organization in Houston, they hope to pass on the torch to the next generation, emphasizing the need for communities to own their power and take action against environmental racism.
