Draft:Egberto Willies

Egberto Willies
Egberto Willies (born May 18, 1961 ) is an American entrepreneur, author, blogger, radio show host, media personality, and political activist. He mainly expresses his thoughts and opinions on American politics through his blogs and radio shows.

Early life and education
Willies was born on May 18, 1961, in the Colon Republic of Panama. He lived in the former Canal Zone, where he was actively involved and one of the community’s leading members. He had a band named the Dynamites, where he was the lead guitarist and musical director. He played in both the concert and stage bands at his high school and was a member of the National Honor Society.

Willies moved to the United States of America. He attended the University of Texas in 1980 and earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1983. During that time, he was a part of Big Brothers of America. He was a member of SALAC, the South African Liberation Action Committee that protested to have the University divest its funds from South Africa. He founded the Caribbean Central American Association and was a member of the Afro-American Cultural Committee.

Corporate Career
After graduating, Willies was hired by NL Industries as a senior programmer analyst. His job was designing and implementing real-time data acquisition systems between the PDP11 computers and Z80 microprocessors. He worked there for over two years. From 1986 to 1988, Willies worked as a research engineer, software engineer, senior programmer, and analyst for several companies. In 1989, he became the vice president and chief engineer of PWL Systems, where he designed a real-time computerized oil well logging system and real-time operating systems.

While working for those companies, Willies started his own software company, Willies Computer Software Co. The company designed and developed serial communication libraries, drivers, real-time operating systems, and tools. It distributes Bluetooth wireless serial adapters, multiport serial cards, USB to serial converters, and other communication devices and develops custom software. His software was used by NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Boeing, Texaco, and hundreds of other large and small companies.

Media Career
Willies entered the media industry in 2004 due to his interest in politics. He is a contributing editor for Daily Kos. His articles mainly cover political news and opinions. He was also a contributor to HuffPost Live. He was the CNN iReporter with more than a million page views and appearances on air several times a week. He received two awards there: the 2nd Annual CNN iReport Spirit Award Honoree and CNN iReport Pundit of the Week. Willies has also contributed to Alternet.com, CommonDreams.org, ProgressiveChristianity.org, and RawStory.com. He is currently the senior editor at OpEd News.

Willies started hosting the Move to Amend Reports radio show for the Move to Amend Organization. The organization is working on the 28th Amendment to the constitution to codify that money is not speech, and corporations are persons.

In 2013, Willies joined KPFT 90.1 FM, where he hosts the talk show Politics Done Right. The program airs at 6:00 AM and 3:00 PM every weekday. Politics Done Right, in addition to airing on KPFT 90.1 FM, airs on other Pacifica Affiliate Stations nationwide and is streamed throughout the United States on several independent networks. including Coffee Party USA, Progressive Radio Voices, and other streaming networks. Politics Done Right mainly covers serious political issues.

Willies has interviewed several notable political personalities, including President Bill Clinton’s labor secretary Robert Reich, economists Richard Wolf, Gar Alperovitz, and Dean Baker. Willies later became a board of directors’ member of KPFT 90.1 FM Houston Local Station, Move to Amend, and Coffee Party USA. He is a National Director on the national radio network, Pacifica National Network.

In 2015, Willies founded Willies Media LLC, an independent progressive media organization covering health, politics, and entertainment news. The organization’s factual reporting is rated HIGH by Media Bias/Media Fact Check fact-checking company. The company was featured in VoyageHouston in 2020.

Politics and social justice work
Willies is actively involved in political activism. He was a founding member and board member of Coffee Party USA. He was formerly on the executive committee of Move to Amend. Willies is the communications secretary for the Houston Peace & Justice Center. He is a Precinct Chair and an active member of the Harris County Texas Democratic Party.

In 2011, Willies became the president of the Kingwood Area Democrats. He served for four years. As president, he met Mike Collier, a former Republican turned Democratic Candidate who ran for Texas Comptroller as well as Texas Lieutenant Governor. Collier pointed out in his book, “Out of Control,” that Willies was instrumental in introducing him to the Democratic community. The Texas Tribune subsequently interviewed Willies during the contentious election.

Willies was a part of the Occupy Houston movement. He was one of the founders of Occupy Kingwood. In January 2012, his home was attacked with fireworks, which various television stations covered. It was believed that the attack was politically driven.

In 2015, Democracy for America (DFA) named Willies the DFA Netroots Nation Scholar for his work building a progressive movement. He covered the major disruption at Netroots Nation, the largest progressive conference in the country, where Black Lives Matter took the stage to force Bernie Sanders to change his platform to include issues of police brutality and racism. He remains a media partner with the organization.

Willies was a part of the team that brought in Bernie Sanders’s huge Nevada win that panicked the establishment wing of the Democratic Party in 2020.

Publications
Willies has authored books that explore political concerns and provide various perspectives. He has also published his autobiography, Tribulations of an Afro-Latino Caribbean Man: Racism Didn’t Stop My Smile, Hope, Or Journey Forward, in which he narrated his experience in America as an Afro/Latino Caribbean man and the tribulations he navigated through in corporate America and society. His political books are:


 * As I See It - Class Warfare: The Only Resort To Right-Wing Doom
 * How to Make America Utopia: Take Away the Economy from those who rigged it
 * It’s Worth It: How to Talk To Your Right-Wing Relatives, Friends, and Neighbors

Awards

 * Recipient of the Houston Peace & Justice Center (HPJC) local Peacemaker Award
 * 2015 Democracy for America Netroots Nation Scholar
 * 2nd Annual CNN iReport Spirit Award Honoree
 * CNN iReport Pundit of the Week