In 1957, when the pastor of Boynton Chapel Methodist Church was looking for a larger facility, the congregation of the church in Houston’s Third Ward settled on a young Black architect to design it. John Saunders Chase, who would have turned 100 this year, was the first licensed Black architect in Texas and preached the […]
Category: Culture
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Posted inCulture
Few Did Tortured Male Genius As Well as Texas’ Townes Van Zandt
Texas hasn’t gotten its due as a major piece in the complex puzzle of American art. We’re here to rectify that. Every three weeks, H. Drew Blackburn will conduct a thoroughly scientific analysis of the 254 integral (one for every county) books, movies, tv shows, albums, podcasts, songs, and magazine articles — you name it […]
Posted inCulture
This Texas Drag Queen Wants to Teach You How to Protest
Austin drag queen Brigitte Bandit knew she’d draw attention at the Texas Capitol last week. While speaking against Senate Bill 18 — which would withdraw state funding from any municipal library that hosts drag queen story hour events — she wore a Texas flag top with a white skirt listing the names of Texas pastors […]
Posted inCulture
Black Dandyism, the 2025 Met Gala Theme, Grew Out of Southern Churches
André Leon Talley is the patron saint of the Met Gala. A Black gay man who grew up in the Jim Crow South, he became one of fashion’s biggest stars. Before his death in 2022, Talley helped dress Michelle Obama as first lady, served as creative director and editor at large at Vogue, and judged […]
Posted inCulture
ACL Fest Lineup Is Here: Sabrina Carpenter, Hozier, Doja Cat, More
The Austin City Limits Music Festival released its official lineup today, and headliners include Sabrina Carpenter, Hozier, Doja Cat, Luke Combs, The Strokes, John Summit, and Doechii. Three-day tickets go on sale today at 12 p.m. CT on the festival’s website. General admission prices for both weekends start at $360. Fans had a lot of […]
Posted inCulture
The Met Gala’s Theme is all About Black Style and Dandyism. See How Texans Dressed for the Red Carpet
What does the Met Gala 2025 have to do with Texas? And why should we care about Texans at the Met Gala and designer fashion that costs more than your entire car payment, while we’re struggling with trying to keep pregnant Texans alive, our health departments and public schools funded and prevent our beaches from […]
Posted inOpinion
Back-In Parkers: Society’s True Menace
There’s a lot of talk these days about threats to society — AI, Grand Theft Auto VI, birds that may or may not be government drones — but I’d like to nominate a new one: people who back into parking spaces. You know them. You see them. You feel them holding up traffic while they […]
Posted inCulture
Meet the Dallas DJ Behind (Maybe) the Longest Running Hip Hop Show On Air
If you want to understand the casual celebrity of EZ Eddie D, sit with him on a porch. Preferably on a Saturday evening, and preferably at the busiest intersection of the Bishop Arts District in the rapidly gentrified Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. Less than two minutes into my conversation with him on such a […]
Posted inCulture
The Beyoncé Cowboy Carter Act Two Tour is Putting Texas Where it Belongs: Everywhere
Thanks to Beyoncé, now the rest of the world knows what it really means to be Texan and country. We know some outsiders looking into our state think that we’re all a bunch of racist, transphobic, ignorant people, but Beyoncé (intentionally or not) is using Cowboy Carter to show what most of us know to […]
Posted inCulture
Meet the Texas Librarians on the Front Lines in the War Against Books
In recent years, Texas has become an epicenter of the rapidly-spreading book banning movement. This year alone, our state lawmakers lead the nation with at least 31 proposed bills that the American Library Association says would effectively restrict librarians’ abilities to do their jobs. One such bill, Senate Bill 13, passed through the Texas Senate […]