When musician Natalie Schlabs was a kid, she and her three brothers would gather around their grandfather to hear a little music. The family relished large gatherings, and Grandpa Gerald’s guitar-strumming was a staple of the evening. He liked Johnny Cash, but had no time for The Beatles, whom he…
Ednna will never forget it: The sound of the faucet turning, the elation in her husband’s voice and the sight of pure, clear water — not that yellow stuff they were used to — trickling into the kitchen sink. “It was amazing,” she says in Spanish. “It made it all…
You might not be able to tell by looking at him, but the rail-thin, mustached, cowboy-esque Garrett Owen loves to work out. The folk singer-songwriter can frequently be found nose-deep in fitness literature, yearning to bend, stretch, crouch and contort the way that the pros do. He does pistol squats,…
Sure, he’ll admit it: Did rapper Lou CharLe$ imagine one day owning a gleaming Lamborghini? Yes. Was there an ocean view involved? Of course. Supermodels and tequila? You bet. All of that was on his vision board, he jokes, but alas, there’s no extravagant whip in his garage, nor an…
In the 1970s, William Woods, a Black man and lifelong Dallas resident, worked at an ice cream parlor near Highland Park. Some customers were kind, but many others had no qualms expressing how they felt about being served by a Black man. Some insisted that another employee serve them. Others tossed…
Lately, Duche$$ has felt like she’s being followed by a cloud. It’s not normal for the 24-year-old rapper to be gloomy. While her songs are often suffused with somber storytelling, the musician herself is typically upbeat. Whether in the studio, at a friend’s place or at work at the Boys…
Shortly after she started rapping, Brionne was invited to a cypher, an informal gathering where rappers showcase their quick wit and lyricism. This was a big opportunity for Brionne. She would be one of two women at the cypher, and she’d have a shot to prove the doubters wrong. “I’m…
Venny Etienne’s first fashion show was at the church on Utica Avenue. “When you grow up in Brooklyn, that’s how you and your friends know what churches you go to,” he says. “Like, ‘Oh, you go to the one on Utica Avenue? Yeah, me too!’” In front of 500 churchgoers,…
When Angela Andrade was growing up, the story of Santos Rodriguez was a cautionary tale. Her family members would detail how 12-year-old Rodriguez and his 14-year-old brother were dragged from their home in Dallas’ old Little Mexico neighborhood and thrown into a Dallas Police Department vehicle. The details still haunt…
When Danielle Grubb and Delaney Hillan were in high school, they got in trouble for kissing. The two artists, both Dallas natives, were dating while enrolled at Booker T. Washington ten years ago. One day, a teacher caught them exchanging PDA in the hallway, and started yelling. “I don’t want…
On a humid Tuesday morning in mid June, more than 100 parents, daughters, sons and activists gathered on the steps of the Tarrant County courthouse. The county’s commissioners were convening for a vote on a controversial agreement between the sheriff’s office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and members of…
On the night of April 19, 2017, 15-year-old Jordan Edwards was in a car driving away from police officers when he was shot in the back of the head. Officer Roy Oliver, who was responding to a call about underage drinking, killed the Balch Springs high schooler with an AR-15…
When author Tim Miller reads back his writing, he hears the booming voice of his father, a Pentecostal preacher. Those kinds of preachers speak while they breathe, Miller explains, and their sermons are filled with intense fervor and conviction. The Dallas-based writer, now 49, was never a preacher himself, but…
May 14, Kiara Yarbrough was sent to Dallas County jail for a probation violation. Seven weeks earlier, the jail was consumed by an outbreak of COVID-19. While a pair of lawsuits have called for the release of medically vulnerable inmates, the jail has avoided responsibility for what attorneys describe as…
It’s June 30, 4:12 p.m. CST. We call Loners Club via Zoom. “Can you hear me? Can you see me?” she says. “Perfect. So, what were you saying?” I answer. “Man, to be honest, I think I forgot,” she says. “Oh wait, no I didn’t. We were talking about who…
Brandon Saenz didn’t feel the projectile hit him. He heard a sound — “a boom,” he says — and a moment later he saw blood dotting his shoes and the pavement beneath them. “‘Whose blood is that?’” Saenz, 26, remembers thinking. “‘Oh, it’s mine.’” Saenz was walking by a group of peaceful protesters…
It’s been a bad few weeks to be a dead creep. As Black Lives Matter protests continue across the nation, many people are pointing to institutions that memorialize or legitimize racism and racists. Brands are changing their names. Confederate statues are crumbling. Sports teams are under fire. And some people…
Bethany Bass drives a beat-up 2008 Kia Sorento. She likes to listen to rap music, and because she is a junior at Southern Methodist University, she often winds her Sorento through the tony, tree-lined neighborhoods in and around University Park. When she started her studies at SMU, she says she…
“I’m just trying to survive,” Jeremiah Onifadé says. “That’s the motto for 2020.” The artist says this while corralling his infant son, squeezing in some after-work painting, providing for a family in a pandemic and preparing for the second art show of his career. His voice carries no sound of…
To help protect the anonymity of the person highlighted in this story, I’ve used they/them pronouns. “I’m a business[redacted], trying to be an entrepreneur in a world that’s on fire.” The Capitalist is savvy. Over many years, they have built a successful small business in Dallas, which is not the…
Not even the gale force winds of a hurricane could bring down the slave quarters in Jammie Holmes’ hometown. Holmes, a Dallas-based painter with an impressive following, is from Thibadaux, Louisiana. Through portraits of his family and friends, he captures the desperation and poverty prevalent in his hometown. When he…
Last week, mainstay Deep Ellum club Lizard Lounge announced that it would be closing its doors after 28 years. Passing through the venue’s doors and getting a taste of late-night debauchery was a rite of passage for anyone in DFW who could claim to have any sort of edge. The…
