Shelby (right) and fellow COS volunter Jack Hosterman (left) with Gov. Greg Abbott
Throughout the Convention of States movement, the most foundational role is that of the District Captain, who provides grassroots leadership at the state house district level.
Here in Texas, we also have Regional Captains who help oversee the DCs. One of these, Shelby Williams, has been serving in this position for almost two years and is now taking on a greater statewide leadership role, assisting State Directors Tamara Colbert and Paul Hodson while learning the ropes of the State Director job.
Shelby's view of the law and its role in American society was influenced by his growing-up experiences. His mother died when he was only twelve, leaving his father to raise Shelby and his sister as a single dad.
Shelby wandered off track as a teenager, running with a bad crowd and flirting with criminal activity.
"I was a juvenile delinquent," he said. "I could easily be dead or in prison now." He credits the redemptive grace of God and specifically his wife Mariya with enabling him to make the necessary changes to become a productive member of society who strives to live according to the Word of God.
Mark Levin's book The Liberty Amendments, which calls for an Article V Convention of States, made a great impact on Shelby.
"I was stricken by the clarity of the need to do this," he said. After finishing the book, Shelby was unsure of exactly what steps to take. He first discovered a separate Article V movement and spent some time volunteering for them.
At the 2016 Texas State Convention, Shelby become connected with the Convention of States team and decided that his efforts could be more productively directed toward our movement.
His first role was as a District Captain in his own state house district in Plano. He soon realized that his Regional Captain, Paul Hodson, was also serving as Co-Director for COS Texas, and so Shelby offered to take on the Regional Captain role in order to free Paul up to focus on his other responsibilities.
As Regional Captain, Shelby has been overseeing a region that includes parts of Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Tarrant, Johnson, and MacLennan Counties, from Allen and Plano down to Waxahachie, over to Fort Worth and further south to Burleson, Cleburne, and Waco.
Although Shelby has been involved in a few other political efforts, he sees them as only supplemental to the more significant Convention of States movement.
"In one election cycle after another, we bend our time and will toward electing the right people," he points out, "but nothing in Washington ever seems to change. COS is something that can bring about true and lasting change for the betterment of our nation."
Last Fall, Shelby was involved in a COS initiative called "The Cavalry" with the purpose of enabling volunteers to multiply their efforts in various states that have not yet passed the COS resolution. He finds great fulfillment in devoting his time and energy toward correcting the course of our republic.
Shelby has no trouble articulating his view of the essential nature of law.
"The Constitution isn't merely a well-crafted legal instrument," he maintains. "It's the very foundation for the rule of law in our nation, without which we would be subject to the whims and caprices of whomever can exercise the most power, by force or by popular sway. Without the rule of law, we have nothing sacred. Without the Constitution, we have no rule of law. And I dare say, without COS, ere long, we will have no Constitution."
Fortunately, volunteer patriots like Shelby are hard at work to ensure that our constitutional republic will survive and thrive. But it will take an army.
Will you join us? Sign the petition and volunteer today.
