Central Texas top stories for May 09, 2023. Rents fall in Austin. Tenure bill up for debate. Pet safety heads to the legislature.
black lives matter
Texas county may shutter its library before it returns banned books to the stacks
Attorneys for a man convicted of fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in Austin in 2020 are asking for a retrial – a request that comes after Gov. Greg Abbott asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to review the conviction.
The debate over school vouchers, or a variation called education savings accounts, has just passed by the Texas Senate. Are there parallels with a decades-old debate over charter schools in Texas?
In Llano County, after a federal order to return books with LGBTQ -and race-related content to library shelves, commissioners today take up whether to close down the library system altogether.
Also: What could be a new tipping point in offshoring jobs.
Phil Allen, Jr. (Ep. 6, 2023)
On this week’s In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses the historical role of photography in the quest for racial justice with Phil Allen, Jr., filmmaker, justice advocate, and author of The Prophetic Lens: The Camera and Black Moral Agency from MLK to Darnella Frazier.
Solomon Jones (Ep. 28 2022)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses the origins of the Black Lives Matter Movement with Solomon Jones, award-winning columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, morning host at WURD Radio in Philadelphia, and author of Ten Lives, Ten Demands: Life and Death Stories, and a Black Activist’s Blueprint for Racial Justice.
Shani M. King (Ep. 17, 2021)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with University of Florida law professor Shani M. King, and author of Have I Told You Black Lives Matter. Dr, King is also Director of The Center on Children and Families and Associate Director of The Center on Race and Race Relations at the University of Florida.
Texas Standard: September 16, 2020
Despite less money and name recognition than the incumbent, some think MJ Hegar has a strong chance of making political history in November. Many political analysts think air force veteran and teacher M.J. Hegar has the best chance of reclaiming a seat in the US senate for Texas democrats for the first time in two decades. Also what losing a newspaper means for a Texas town, a teachers’ struggle to wear a Black Lives Matter mask at school, and 80 million unrequested ballots sent to voters? A Politifact check of that claim by the president and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: August 31, 2020
Election day now almost 2 months away, and new battles forming over who in Texas gets to vote where and how. The Texas Secretary of State’s office threatens legal action over Harris county’s plan to send absentee ballot applications to every registered voter in the county, we’ll have the latest. Also a mass shooting in Odessa one year on, and the effort to hold the seller of the firearm legally accountable. And Daron Roberts on athlete activism and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: July 28, 2020
COVID-19 cases are plateauing in the Lone Star State. But that’s not the end of the story, we’ll have the latest. Also, how Texas A&M is strategically positioned to mass produce a COVID-19 vaccine. And how racism also occurs within communities of color. Plus Disaster declarations after Hanna and what the governor is doing to restore the Valley. And neighbors trying to remain neighborly. How the U.S. and Mexico share the waters of the Rio Grande River. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: June 17, 2020
One size fits all does not work for Texas, so say the mayors of nine cities imploring the governor to help them get Texans back to safety guidelines. El Paso mayor Dee Margo, one of the signatories to a letter to governor Abbot tells us why he and his colleagues are asking for the power to get more people to wear face coverings in the fight against COVID-19. Also Texas student athletes leverage their power for social change. A look at how their latest moves fit into the larger picture. And is purple the new orange? Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Protest and Change
Demonstrations for Black Lives Matter over the past few weeks have already led to changes in policy and in society, yet as Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss in this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, keeping up momentum for reform after the protests can be challenging.
Texas Standard: June 9, 2020
The latest chapter in the civil rights struggle and the young people at the center of it demanding change. As mourners gather in Houston to honor George Floyd, we hear from some of the voices of a younger generation who grew up hearing stories of Reverend King and the freedom riders, and now find themselves at the heart of another inflection point in the push for racial equality and justice. Also, Facebook posts and Tweets showing solidarity? A call now for action: what it means to be a real ally amid demands for reform. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard : June 8, 2020
What began as protests over George Floyd mark something larger: a shift in Texas and nationwide over the use of police power. A closer look today on the Texas Standard.
In cities in Texas, as elsewhere, demonstrations against the inequitable use of police force sparks calls for defunding and or dismantling police departments as we have known them. We’ll look at the use of police force in demonstrations across Texas and demands for change.
Also, the nexus of demonstrations and a global pandemic.
Plus a profile of the man whose killing sparked this historic moment.
Texas Standard: June 1, 2020
Texans across the state join nationwide protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd, as officials try to control nighttime looting and violence. In cities large and small, peaceful protests over police brutality devolve into violent clashes, vandalism and mayhem over the weekend. And the governor calls in state troopers and national guard troops. We’ll survey the state of the state, now officially declared a state of disaster. Also a look at why some social justice activists see police contracts as central to a solution. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: August 16, 2016
Texas politicians have to disclose how they’re spending on campaigns unless they’ve bought a campaign in a box. The lid comes off today we’ll explore. Plus more than just the facts: new research shows how race and social media combine to shape perceptions of events like the recent Dallas police shooting. Also, a beer battle coming to a head…why Texas craft brews are battling the big dogs in court. And dig this: 7 very famous skeletons and how their celebrity tells us about much more than the distant past. And a personal journey from the Bayou city to the executive mansion, takes center stage. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: August 3, 2016
The state attorney raised concerns about laws being broken. She was fired and offered money not to sue. Now her story’s coming out, we’ll explore. Plus: days from now, Texas is set to put to death a man who didn’t actually kill anyone. We’ll hear why. Also, as the media spotlights a scuffle between Donald Trump and a gold star parent, one Texas soldier starts a conversation about the quiet struggles faced by most military parents, we’ll talk to him. Oil slips back below the 40 dollar a barrel mark: some sense a saudi strategy to put the boot on Texas. And are there really two Mexico’s? We’ll do the numbers and much more, don’t touch that dial, it’s Texas Standard time:
Texas Standard: September 18, 2015
Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter- maintaining the peace as groups converge on the Texas Capitol. Also, the glass ceiling in college athletics- what’s preventing women from reaching top posts at top universities? Plus, the story behind a new safe haven for survivors of modern day slavery …And Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings- so many music legends from one place, what’s in the water out there? Texas’ next musician laureate, Joe Ely, explores the mystery of the panhandle ramblers. All that plus the week in Texas politics, its Texas Standard Time:
Race In America
Race in America
This month’s episode recognizes Black History Month by bringing together several scholars for a discussion of race in contemporary America. As we look back on 2014, we celebrate the achievements of African-Americans, but we also find racial inequality and abuses of power and privilege that continue to endanger and oppress non-white Americans. We must also ask ourselves: Where are we, as a nation, in our ongoing debates regarding race? Among other inquiries, host Rebecca McInroy asks these In Perspective discussants which conversations about race are most productive to pursue.
The Discussion
Cherise Smith is a professor of art history and Director of the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. Smith reminds us that while the effects of racial discrimination are very real, race is also a social construction that gets piled onto other issues of power and identity, including gender, class, and education.
Rich Reddick is a professor of educational administration and Faculty Director for Campus Diversity Initiatives at UT Austin. Reddick argues that we need to have more general conversations about race, rather than rely on reactionary discussions, in order to help us work through and understand ongoing institutional racism.
Eric Tang is a professor of African and African diaspora studies and Asian American studies at UT Austin. For Tang, race is a set of practices, which assign values and power to certain bodies based on individual daily life, as well as policy. He brings to our attention the significance of race in how Austin has changed over time.
Regina Lawrence is a professor of journalism at UT Austin and author of The Politics of Force: Media and the Construction of Police Brutality. For Lawrence, conversations about race begin with a shared language and a greater sense of empathy—something she finds lacking in discussions driven by social media where earnest conversation can be foreclosed by a culture of shaming.
What’s your perspective?
Race is a sensitive issue in this country to say the least. It is a complicated social construction that keeps us divided through institutionalized means, via the daily reproduction of social conventions, and via the easy reliance on harmful stereotypes. While we engage in this discussion during Black History Month, it is clear that race impacts all our lives regardless of how we might identify and regardless of how others categorize us. When we understand race in relation to power and privilege, we begin to see how it plays out in our daily experiences. How does race impact your daily life.