The COVID-19 pandemic has swept away lives, jobs, and individual freedoms. While more than 2.5 million Texans have filed for unemployment since April, there’s one sector of business that has been silently devastated by closures: arts institutions. According to a survey by The Arts Community Alliance, the Dallas Arts District…
In case you haven’t had the displeasure: “Karen” is an online term for entitled soccer moms whose sense of comfort is such a priority that they will cause whatever undue disruption is necessary for its sake. You know, the “Let me speak with the manager” types. The male counterpart to…
Mini golfing has landed in West Dallas, and while the idea of golfing in groups may sound a bit unsafe during a pandemic, Another Round is allowing for fun at a safe distance. The company is the brainchild of husband and wife duo Kendall and Alicia Spence, inspired by their…
Every Texas A&M student knows about Lawrence Sullivan “Sul” Ross. He was a former Texas governor, former Texas A&M University president and a former Confederate general. On A&M’s campus, Ross’ legacy lives on in a statue in the Academic Plaza. A&M students have been petitioning the university for years to remove the statue…
On Saturday night, a man tweeted at Mi Cocina in Allen that his wife had been waiting 18 minutes for shredded cheese, “as it’s the only way she can eat fajitas.” Not only had they waited 18 minutes, they also had asked four people for it. To add insult to…
Shakespeare Dallas, a staple in the DFW community for decades, would normally be in the heart of its summer season right now. Unfortunately, the 49th season of Dallas’ Shakespeare in the Park was canceled because of COVID-19. Luckily, there are some options at home to help fill the void. While…
Strange times, indeed. On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott hit the pause button on reopening the state and there’s also news of a Saharan dust cloud sauntering our way. Sounds like maybe we need to hunker down this weekend. Again. Pictures on Twitter portray hazy days in the Caribbean and layers…
While discussions on police abolition are still prevalent in the media and protesters continue to advocate defunding police forces and investing instead in community resources, people all over the world are beginning to reconsider just what “community” means. For The Afiya Center, radical community ideals and notions of intersectionality — how race,…
At the beginning of June, TLC reality show 90 Day Fiancé introduced a whole new cast of long-distance couples, but there’s one couple viewers have yet to meet. Tim, a 34-year-old account manager from Dallas, and his Colombian fiancée, Melyza, who will make their debut on the show Monday, June…
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…
Mike Brooks is a longtime Observer concert photographer who has shot seemingly every type of artist at every type of local venue. Here he breaks down how this week he was misidentified as a Trump supporter. This is a clickbait headline that is totally “true.” Quotation marks intentional. I readily…
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…
Although Nextdoor’s purpose is to unite communities, the digital platform has come under fire for what some see as cultivating a snitch culture among neighbors who aren’t always welcoming. The virtual neighborhood, where members sometimes encourage others to call the police on those who look “out of place” in their…
Being a parent requires a set of skills we’re forced to develop as they become needed. On top of providing financially and doing endless domestic work and errands, one must be a teacher, mentor and mediator. For black fathers in America, there’s even more to the job. They teach their…
In the new film Selfie Dad, lead character Ben Marcus speeds away from home in a fit of rage and is abruptly pulled over by a police officer. The scene in the original script called for Ben to get out of the car nonchalantly, but when considering the role, actor…
“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…
After the ongoing pandemic washed out the first events of the season, lawn mower racing in Texas got going again this past Saturday. The racers were excited to get back on the track, and we were pretty excited, too. Excited enough to make the one hour drive down to Wortham…
Juneteenth has been the subject of much conversation in the past week. The holiday, June 19, commemorates the date that slaves in Texas learned of the emancipation proclamation (two years after it became effective in 1863). Last Thursday, Nike announced that it would join Vox Media, Twitter and other companies…
While there’s plenty of bad news plaguing the world, the Dallas Jazz Piano Society offers a glimmer of positivity to North Texas jazz lovers of all ages. What started out more than a decade ago as a jazz concert in the living room of Jim Callaway’s home turned into a…
While much of the country has been busy trying to eradicate a bigger epidemic, systemic racism, the coronavirus still lurks around us. Confirmed COVID cases continue to increase daily, riding that second wave and putting Texas in the lead. We reminded you back in April of the many things you…
Two days after returning from the Sundance Film Festival, Dallas-born actor Jonathan Majors got the call that would fill any performer with joy: Spike Lee wanted to meet with him about a role. Majors eagerly drove to Lee’s office in Brooklyn, but the meeting wasn’t exactly what he expected. The…
