Texans, start hoarding your doubloons. Gold and silver are now legal tender in the Lone Star State — which is great news for anyone who’s been dying to tip their bartender in Krugerrands. Yes, while the state is busy dealing with immigration raids, floods, and Attorney General Ken Paxton’s ultra-messy divorce, Texas has also declared […]
Category: Opinion
Posted inPolitics
Texas Gov. Makes Lawmakers Return to Address Floods, Regulate THC, and (Maybe) Ban Medical Abortion
Good news, Texas: Gov. Greg Abbott has announced a special legislative session to tackle the most pressing issues facing the state — like whether gummies are too fun and whether your uterus is up to no good. On Wednesday, Abbott laid out 18 priorities for the July 21 special session. At first glance, it’s your […]
Posted inOpinion
How Do You Celebrate a Country That Doesn’t Love You Back?
Last month, my mom sent me a video of a little girl named Galilea from Dallas. She’s sitting on her gray couch, clutching a brown plush dog, remembering her mom’s voice, her clothes, and the way she would say goodnight. “My mom is supposed to be with us,” she says. “ICE took her away.” On […]
Posted inOpinion
Happy July 4. Everything You Love About America Was Made by Black People.
Black women are intrinsic to the fabric of America. Grace Wisher, a Black girl from Baltimore, assisted in the creation of the American flag. Harriet Tubman led Union soldiers to victory at the Combahee Ferry Raid during the Civil War. There is no United States without Black people. It was Black women and men who […]
Posted inOpinion
This Fourth of July is Red, White & Bleak
It’s almost the Fourth of July, and I have no idea what to do with it this year. I guess I could grill something? Or wave a sparkler and pretend things are normal? But it just feels bizarre, like clapping for a magic trick while the magician bleeds out backstage. The red, white, and blue […]
Posted inOpinion
What Can Texans Learn from Zohran Mamdani’s Political Earthquake? More Than You’d Think.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you know that a young democratic socialist just swept away establishment opposition in the New York City mayoral Democratic primary election. Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman in New York defied polling odds — and conventional wisdom — in a blowout victory that sent […]
Posted inCulture
Don’t Forget That Juneteenth Is Black Texas History
I can still remember Sister Loria McQueen, a tall tawny-complexioned woman who I thought was the embodiment of elegance as a child. She wore eggshell blue tailored suits and elaborate hats on Sundays in our apostolic church in my hometown of Sherman. At some point in the 1980s, when I was around 8 or 9 […]
Posted inNews
Will Cities Stop Using AI License Plate Readers? Some Are Reconsidering After Reports of ICE Searches.
Local lawmakers in Texas are responding to recent reports that some law enforcement agencies are using automated license plate reader technology to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. Last week, The Barbed Wire delved into data first reported by 404 Media and found that at least five law enforcement agencies across Texas have conducted at […]
Posted inOpinion
I’m a Black, Queer, Trans Man Who Has Had Two Pregnancies. Texas Wants to Eliminate People Like Me From Healthcare Spaces.
It was May 2020, I was five months pregnant when I walked into the perinatal office, referral in hand, and said, “My name is Kayden Coleman and I have an appointment here at 2:00 p.m.” The receptionist looked at me — disregarding the paperwork I was holding — and said, “There’s no way you have […]
Posted inOpinion
Gov. Abbott is Stuck Between His Lieutenant and a Bag of Gummies
Gov. Greg Abbott can’t be enjoying all this. On one side, his powerful lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, is foaming at the mouth to rid Texas of THC products, waving candy-flavored edibles around like they’re contraband at a kindergarten show-and-tell. On the other, you’ve got hemp farmers, military veterans, and people who like sleeping through the […]