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A Moving Memoir Chronicles a Queer Coming-of-Age in Midland
Tarantula hawk wasps are beautiful bugs: They have iridescent blue-black bodies with yellow wings; large, doe-like eyes; and delicate frames with a seemingly magnetic connection between thorax and stinger. The hawks also boast the most painful sting in the world—scientists recommend that if stung, people should lie on the ground and scream for three minutes, the duration of the pain.
What the New Climate Change Report Means for El Paso and the Southwest
This story was originally published by El Paso Matters. The Southwestern United States is on the frontlines of climate change and the decades-long effects on the El Paso area will likely worsen, local and regional experts said, unless international governments curb fossil fuel emissions. The Earth’s climate has undergone “unprecedented”...
The ‘Queen of the Accordion’ Is Still Forging Her Own Path
Eva Ybarra plays her accordion with such passion that it can feel like fury. Smashing the instrument’s buttons and stretching her arms out wide, then quickly contracting, Ybarra bends air to produce rich vibrations of sound. One of her original ballads, “El Eco De Mi Voz,” is a booming, dramatic affair: When she starts to sing, in her low, thunderous belt, the music is all the more powerful. Sometimes, she weeps as she plays. She’s mostly been practicing in her apartment since the pandemic began; here, the sound blossoms against the walls. “The neighbors like it,” she laughs. Perhaps they dance to Ybarra’s songs in their living rooms.
Texas Draws Criticism With Plan to Lure Tourists to Sites Where Indigenous People Were Banished
This story was published in partnership with The Guardian. Texas, which exterminated or displaced most of the Indigenous people in the state, now wants to cash in on them. While lawmakers support legislation that could further restrict how Indigenous history is taught in schools, a state agency appointed by Governor Greg Abbott is trying to make money by attracting tourists to Indigenous historical and cultural sites. The Texas Historical Commission hopes to work with Indigenous nations to expand the state’s multi-billion-dollar tourism programs – even though almost all original tribes and communities were forced out of the state or killed decades ago and may not benefit financially from tourism.
The Sunrise Movement’s Trailblazing Quest for a New Green Deal
When Kidus Girma moved from Ethiopia to Dallas as a child, his family settled in Vickery Meadow. The neighborhood is home to a working-class immigrant and refugee enclave. Like many urban areas, Dallas’ population is deeply segregated by race and class. Its green spaces are segregated too: Research shows that they tend to be concentrated in wealthier, whiter parts of town where temperatures can be nearly 40 degrees cooler thanks to tree coverage.
‘A Lifetime of Damage’ On a Creosote Plume in Houston’s Fifth Ward
This story originally appeared in Scalawag Magazine, and was produced and co-published in collaboration with Environmental Health News. There’s a certain smell that reminds Dianna Cormier-Jackson of her childhood on Leila Street in Houston’s Fifth Ward. When she was young in the early 1960s, she recalls the air there feeling “heavy,” as if it was thick with oil and gasoline. Some days, the heavy smell would be so strong that her parents would make her and her siblings stay in the house. But on school days, they marched out into the rank air.
Opinion: From ‘Friendly’ State to Enmity State
In early July, I found myself trucking down Interstate 35 in an aging Ford with our dippy, big-eared hound dog in the extended cab. Months ago, my husband and I had bought our ’95 F-150 with the aim of being analog on purpose, a result of our household’s pandemic- and deep freeze-inspired, light, liberal Austin prepperism. If we were going to be the kind of people who drive an electric car, we’d better also have a gas-powered vehicle in which to haul ass out of town. Without a CD player or a Bluetooth connection, we enjoyed the drive back to Austin from East Texas rolling the radio dial to the next available twang whenever the music got fuzzy.
Reformer Sissy Farenthold Is Still Watching
Frances “Sissy” Farenthold sits at a table in a stately Houston dining room adorned with a pair of carved crosses atop an ornate altar. Wearing an elegant white shirt and with impeccably coiffed hair, she eats like a bird, tucking pieces of cornbread into her mouth. The window before her offers a stunning view of Houston’s leafy West Kirby district. A Corpus Christi native, Farenthold hired a South Texas artist to redesign the home to honor her respect for history and her commitment to challenging it. From this isolated aerie, the 94-year-old has a keen eye for political scandals and corruption, both past and present. She trains her sharp gaze on Texas politics with the agility of a hawk.
Two Years After Walmart Mass Shooting, El Paso Leaders See Inaction and Betrayal by Texas Officials
This story was originally published by El Paso Matters. Days before its official unveiling on Tuesday, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego walked through the healing garden planted to honor the victims of the 2019 Walmart mass shooting. Since the hate crime that took the lives of 23 people and...
Samantha Montano Has ‘Disaster Vision’
In 1900, the deadliest hurricanes in American history struck Galveston Island. As many as 12,000 people—nearly a third of the island’s population—may have died. The booming city on the Gulf Coast was flattened as storm surges as high as eight feet crashed onto the shore. More than 100 years later,...
In Deer Park and other chemical corridor communities, the slow seepage of toxics can affect families like mine for generations.
This story is from the July/August 2021 issue. Sam Allen almost always hitched a ride to work with his best friend Floyd. The plant was only a 10-minute drive from his Deer Park home across Texas Highway 225, but he liked to save on gas. Theirs was the graveyard shift,...
Texas Veterans Homes Overseen by George P. Bush Were Often the Deadliest Places to Be During COVID-19 Pandemic
Shannon Najmabadi, The Texas Tribune, Jay Root, Houston Chronicle and Carla Astudillo, The Texas Tribune Jul 29, 2021, 9:00 am CST. “Texas veterans homes overseen by George P. Bush were often the deadliest places to be during COVID-19 pandemic” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Small Birds in Big Bend
A version of this story appears in the July/August 2021 issue. The trip starts with a bang. A Common Poorwill, a bark-colored bird the size of your palm, jumps up from the narrow blacktop and sputters head-on into our pickup’s undercarriage. Lee Hoy, a wildlife guide with a long white beard and thick, black-framed glasses, is at the wheel, winding his truck along the dark road from Terlingua to Big Bend National Park in the early morning hours. “Dangit,” he mutters. Minutes earlier, Hoy had successfully avoided mowing another poorwill down. This time, he pumped the brakes and veered slightly, to no avail. “Didn’t jump up in time.”
For Greg Abbott, All the Border’s a Stage
It’s a Texas tradition as old as, well, at least the Perry administration. Don some camouflage, maybe add a bulletproof vest, and scurry south. Find someone with a gun, have your photo taken, get out on a boat, another photo, set your jaw and squint your eyes as you peer into the middle distance, photo. Assemble every cop and Border Patrol agent you can for a roundtable, then bellow: “The immigrants are coming, and I’m the guy to stop them.” It’s border security theater, the show that never ends.
A New Normal for Live Music
Black musicians were already struggling for resources and recognition before the pandemic. Now, they’re back onstage, championing lasting reform in the live music industry. The rollout of vaccinations and the removal of COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings have begun to offer Texans a light at the end of an unprecedented tunnel; this is especially true for musicians. The coronavirus, seemingly working in tandem with racial injustices that made global headlines in 2020, created a particularly harsh set of circumstances for Black musicians, who were already struggling for resources and recognition before the pandemic. For many, the past year presented an undue burden and an opportunity to champion lasting reform in the live music industry. Black musicians have for years dealt with a lack of dedicated venues for their music, infrequent attention from festival bookers, and a dearth of Black venue owners, promoters, and label executives; the pandemic only compounded those hardships.
In Memory of Santos Rodriguez
On July 24, 1973, Dallas police were called to investigate the theft of $8 from a gas station vending machine in Little Mexico, a Mexican American community in Dallas. The officers assigned to the case suspected brothers Santos and David Rodriguez, who lived in the neighborhood. Santos, 12, and David, 13, told the officers they didn’t do it, but they were handcuffed and taken to a police car where Officer Darrell Cain, who was white, began interrogating them. In an attempt to force a confession out of the brothers, Cain used his revolver in a terrifying game of Russian roulette. The officer held the gun to Santos’ head and pulled the trigger. The chamber was empty. When Cain pulled the trigger a second time, he shot Santos, killing him instantly in front of his older brother.
How Far Can Texas Democrats Take the Quorum Break?
It’s been 12 days since Texas House Democrats staged their dramatic quorum break to block the GOP’s election legislation, but it’s felt like an eternity. On July 12, more than 50 Democratic state representatives jumped on chartered planes to Washington, D.C., ensuring that the Texas House would not have enough members to operate and bringing Governor Greg Abbott’s nascent special session to a screeching halt. In Washington D.C., they planned to seize the national spotlight and push recalcitrant U.S. Senators to pass stalled-out voting rights legislation that could prevent Texas Republicans from further restricting state voting laws.
Actor Emma Galbraith on ‘Inbetween Girl’ and Why Teen Rom-Coms Matter
As Emma Galbraith sees it, all teen movies are about being in between. Starring as the titular “inbetween girl” in a new independent film shot in Galveston and Austin, Galbraith plays the sarcastic, aimless Angie, a half-Chinese, half-white teenage girl partly drawn from Galbraith’s own experience of growing up biracial in Texas. At 19, Galbraith is an actor as well as a youth organizer for climate and housing justice in Austin.
At the Capitol, Trans Activists and Allies Form an Inclusive Dance Floor
Erica Nix looks like a dance instructor straight out of an ‘80s workout video as she faces the small crowd and waits for the music to begin. Decked out in a purple crop top, checkered bicycle shorts, and fuschia platform sneakers, she blossoms against the backdrop of the Texas State Capitol interior. Her eyes flit between the dozen or so dancers in front of her and a portable speaker nearby. Just behind Nix is a winding staircase; this will be her dance floor. When the glittery vocals of trans-pop artist p1nkstar sound from the speaker, it’s showtime.
In West Texas, Astronomers Worry About Growing Oilfield Light Pollution
This Marfa Public Radio story first appeared on American Public Media’s Marketplace. In a rural corner of West Texas, hours away from the bright lights of big cities, the night skies are so dark that you can sometimes see the Milky Way from your backyard. But oilfield activity near this...
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The Texas Observer is an Austin-based nonprofit news organization known for fearless investigative reporting, narrative storytelling and sophisticated cultural criticism about all things Texan.