Houston Style Magazine Vol 34 No 10

MEMORIAL PARK

S. PICNIC LOOP

MARCH 24-26 2023

FRIDAY - SUNDAY

10 AM TO 6 PM

FEATURED ARTIST DEWEY JAMES

■ 300 National & International Artists

■ 19 Disciplines of Art

■ 2 Entertainment Stages

■ Active Imagination Zone

■ Craft Beer & Wine Garden

■ Art Installations & Exhibits

■ Food Truck Park

■ VIP Hospitality Lounge

Publisher Francis Page, Jr. fpagejr@stylemagazine.com

Associate Publisher

Lisa Valadez lisa@stylemagazine.com

Managing Editor

Jo-Carolyn Goode editorial@stylemagazine.com

Social Media Editor/Videographer

Reginald Dominique reggiedominique@me.com

Sports Editor Brian Barefield brian_barefield@yahoo.com

Food Writer

Alex Jack alexandriajack1991@gmail.com

Arts Editor Kathleen Coleman kathleen@stylemagazine.com

NATIONAL WRITERS

Jesse Jackson jjackson@rainbowpush.org

Roland Martin www.rolandmartin.com

Judge Greg Mathis www.askjudgemathis.com

Erynn Haskins editorial@stylemagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Vicky Pink vhpink@gmail.com

Mike Munoz artrepreneur91@gmail.com

ADVERTISING/SALES

AdVertising emAil advertising@stylemagazine.com

Reuel Williams reuel@stylemagazine.com

Layout Editor Cameron C. Lee thisiscam6@gmail.com

Erynn Haskins e.haskins90@gmail.com

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©2022 Houston Style Magazine, a Minority Print Media, L.L.C. Company. All Right Reserved. Reproduction in whole or within part without permission is prohibited. Houston Style Magazine has a 2019 Audit by Circulation Verification Council (CVC). Houston Style Magazine is a member of the Texas Publishers Association (TPA), Texas Community Newspaper Association (TCNA), National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), Independent Free Paper of America (IFPA), Association of Free Community Papers (AFCP) and Members of Greater Houston Partnership(GHP). National Association of Hispanic Publications, Inc. (NAHP, Inc.), Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (HHCC), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Latin Women’s Initiative (LWI), National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals (HAHMP), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), and Supporters of Greater Houston Partnership(GHP)

SELMA’S MIRROR

By Jesse Jackson, National Political Writer

TheEdmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, is famed as the site of Bloody Sunday, the violent 1965 police riot that sparked a national outrage powerful enough to drive the Voting Rights Act through the Congress. This past weekend, my son Jonathan and I joined with President Biden, political leaders, ministers and veterans of that march to commemorate that terrible day.

Nearly 60 years later, in this time of toxic partisanship and venomous reactionary movements, dismay and pessimism are commonplace.

Republican leaders remain in thrall to Donald Trump and the angry MAGA movement he leads. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia echoes the pre-Civil War South calling for a national divorce, dividing red states from blue states. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis roots his upcoming presidential campaign in what he calls the battle against “woke,” with a central focus on censoring the teaching of the history of slavery, outlawing any mention of institutionalized racism, and banning books and instructions that might make any student feel guilty. Across the country, prosecutors seeking to limit mass incarceration and reform the police are charged with being soft on crime. The Supreme Court, having gutted the Voting Rights Act and turned a blind eye to partisan gerrymandering, now seems intent on outlawing affirmative action.

The return to Selma helps put all this in perspective. In my lifetime, the nation has been transformed. Hotels and restaurants in Alabama now serve Blacks and whites routinely. Public transportation is open to all. Universities

and colleges are integrated. Blacks, whites and other people of color play with and against one another on the playing fields. The U.S. military is integrated. While Republicans in the South and elsewhere have pushed to make voting more difficult, particularly targeting minorities, Blacks still vote in large numbers.

Moreover, the merchants of hate aren’t faring all that well.

Trump lost the popular vote in both of his runs for the presidency.

Trump’s hand-selected candidates lost badly in the 2022 congressional races. Georgia re-elected its Black senator, the Rev. Raphael Warnock. The numbers of Blacks, Latinos, Asian Americans and women in leadership positions continue to expand.

And of course, the younger generations – including the millennials, the most numerous of all – are more diverse, more open-minded and more liberal that their predecessors.

Part of the reason Trump, DeSantis and the far-right movements rail at the moon is that progressives have largely won the culture wars. Republicans got a taste of that after the reactionary Supreme Court majority overturned Roe v. Wade and took

away women’s right to control their own bodies.

While much progress has been made, much more remains to be done. Murderous expressions of the institutionalized racism of our ways of policing capture headlines all too often. Our public schools are sadly more racially divided than they were half a century ago.

Most important, the final stage of the Civil Rights Movement that transformed America – the campaign against poverty – remains unfinished. The divide between rich and poor is wider than ever. America fails working and poor people of all races, from cradle to grave. Our maternal health is worst in the developed world; childhood poverty and homelessness, the absence of universal preschool and after-school programs, the decline of labor unions, minimum wages too low to live on, health care too expensive to afford, retirement support too little to provide security – poverty and inequality shame the nation that calls itself the richest in the world.

Here the poisonous politics of racial division has its biggest effect. From the plantation South

to today, racial fears have been manipulated to help keep working and poor people turning on one another rather than to one another.

Dr. King’s final mission when he was taken from us was to assemble a poor people’s campaign, across lines of race and religion and region, to demand basic economic rights.

At the end of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt, in his final State of the Union address, argued that we had learned that “true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence.” This truth, he argued, had become “self-evident,” part of a new Bill of Rights, including the right to a “useful and remunerative job,” the right to an adequate income, the right to a decent home, the right to adequate medical care, the right to education, the right to “adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and unemployment.”

These rights, he argued, spell security – and security is essential to freedom and to democracy. Today, we witness the despair and the anger that comes from undermining that security. And we see once more the cynicism of politicians and patriarchs who rouse fears about race or about immigrants to distract and divide. Roosevelt’s assumption came nearly 80 years ago. Dr. King’s movement nearly 60 years ago. Now it is up to new generations to fulfill that promise and vision.

You can write to the Rev. Jesse Jackson in care of this Newspaper or by email at: jjackson@rainbowpush.org

US President Joe Biden, joined by US Representative Terri Sewell (D-AL), Reverend Al Sharpton, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King III, and fellow activists cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 5, 2023, to mark the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. - More than 600 civil rights demonstrators were beaten by white police officers as they tried to cross the bridge during a 54 mile march from Selma to Montgomery, on March 7, 1965. (Megan Ngan/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

Dozens of protesters congregated in front of HISD’s administration building to voice concerns about a rumored Texas Education Agency takeover.

Ruth Kravetz is the co-founder of Community Voices for Public Education with two children who graduated from HISD. As a former educator, she has worked with students whose families lacked the income to pay for necessities.

"There's a kid I taught, when I went to his house to visit to help him think about college, he had no electricity and the only furniture in the house was a bed, an engine block, and a chair," she said. "He did his homework by street lamp outside."

Kravetz believes the state uses standardized testing to unfairly measure kids with less resources in comparison to those who have more.

“Both sets of kids have parents who love them, but one set needs us more. And this takeover is going to exclude those kids,” Kravetz said.

Her biggest concern with the takeover is the TEA potentially closing more public schools and opening more

PROTESTERS GO TO HOUSTON ISD ADMINISTRATION BUILDING TO CONDEMN RUMORED TEA TAKEOVER

Most concerns from parents revolve around public school closures and low-income students being left out of decisions.

By PATRICIA ORTIZ / ASHLEY BROWN, HoustonPublicMedia.org

this takeover is a disingenuous one and an egregious one at this time. HISD is doing a phenomenal job. … as we currently speak, HISD has a B+ rating.”

Johnson acknowledged that there was a time where HISD needed to be taken over by TEA, but “not at this time”.

Mayor Turner said on Saturday he called TEA Commissioner Mike Morath and asked him about the rumors personally.

charter schools that might exclude low-income students from receiving an education.

Another protestor, Kourtney Revels, is a parent who lives in an area of Houston that used to be a part of North Forest ISD.

"When TEA forced HISD to absolve them, we did see a lot of school closures," Revels said. She said a takeover is unwarranted and parents want thriving schools in their neighborhoods.

“That’s what’s help with our socioeconomic state. Kids being educated and not having to leave, that’s another

fear of mine,” she said. “That our kids are gonna be bused out to the Lamars and Bellaires. If they don’t charter down. If they still allow our kids to even get in.”

North Forest ISD was absorbed by Houston ISD after the state dissolved the district in 2013.

Elsewhere, government officials spoke out against the rumored takeover. State Rep. Jarvis Johnson, Mayor Sylvester Turner and Congressman Al Green were in attendance.

“Please know that everyone that is here is on the same accord,” Rep. Johnson said. “We understand that

“‘Are any of these rumors true? Do you all intend to take over HISD?’ And the commissioner would not confirm nor deny,” Turner said. “What he did say is that there are some provisions that are discretionary for the state. And then there are some provisions that are mandatory. … So you know, there are two options, either you close the school or you take over the district, which do you prefer?'”

Turner said that there was a third option where it can be handled via the Legislature.

The TEA has yet to confirm an HISD takeover.

Texas A&M University System

Chancellor John Sharp has directed leaders of its 11 universities and eight agencies to stop asking job candidates for statements about their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in their applications.

Last month, Gov. Greg Abbott’s office sent a letter to public universities and state agencies saying that DEI hiring practices violated federal and state employment laws and barring them from hiring on factors “other than merit.” Legal experts have said the governor’s office mischaracterized the legal practices employers use when considering diversity in their hiring.

Sharp said Thursday he directed all A&M system universities and agencies to review their employment and admissions practices. He said he

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM BANS DIVERSITY STATEMENTS FROM JOB APPLICATIONS

By KATE MCGEE. TexasTribune.org

in hiring or promotion at any of its four universities. "We will continue to ensure our policies are consistent with state and federal laws, and we stand against any actions or activities that promote discrimination in the guise of diversity, equity and inclusion," Khator wrote in the email.

DEI policies.

is standardizing hiring practices systemwide by limiting faculty and staff applications to a cover letter, curriculum vitae, statements on research or teaching philosophies and professional references.

“No university or agency in the A&M System will admit any student, nor hire any employee based on any factor other than merit,” Sharp said in a directive sent to university leaders Thursday.

Texas State University System Chancellor Brian McCall shared similar instructions to the seven institutions in his system on Thursday. On Friday, University of Houston System Renu Khator followed suit when she said in a letter to system employees that the system of more than 47,000 students would also not allow the use of diversity statements

Universities and system agencies were also directed to make sure websites and printed materials related to employment and admissions practices reflect these changes. Texas A&M University has not considered race in student admissions since 2003.

Abbott’s order prompted multiple universities to make changes to hiring, particularly in the practice of asking job candidates to submit diversity statements, which are typically one- to two-page letters in which job candidates are asked to share their experiences working with diverse populations and their commitment to helping a diverse group of students succeed. Critics have characterized them as political litmus tests.

Last week, the University of Texas System announced a pause on future DEI initiatives and called for all universities in the system to review their

UT System board Chair Kevin Eltife said last week that while the system strives to promote diversity among its students and faculty, “certain DEI efforts have strayed from the original intent to now imposing requirements and actions that, rightfully so, has raised the concerns of our policymakers around those efforts on campuses across our entire state.” The university has not responded to requests for more specifics about which efforts he was referring to.

Texas A&M University in College Station had already directed departments to no longer require diversity statements in future job postings, according to emails obtained by The Texas Tribune.

Texas Tech University also came under fire recently after a conservative advocacy group criticized the university’s biology department for evaluating job candidates based on their understanding of diversity initiatives and commitment to fostering an inclusive atmosphere among students and faculty. The university said it was reviewing hiring practices within its departments to ensure other areas were not using similar criteria.

CITY COUNCIL VOTES AGAINST PAPPAS

By Jo-Carolyn Goode, Managing Editor

Money is one of the quickest ways allies can become foes. For over two decades, the Pappas family restaurant chain has considered itself a friend of Houston. However, bonds are being tested and may break in the latest battle of contract negotiations over who will reign as ‘king’ concessionaire at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport.

In one corner is the Houston-based hospitality brand – Four Families, which residents and visitors alike of the Houston area have fallen more in love with each passing year. We know them for their Texas flair, extra-large portions, and high prices. In the other corner is the not so familiar face of Areas S.A.U. hospitality out of Spain, which caters more to train commuters via airplane commuters. They are looking to gain a better footing in the US market.

The History and Problem That Started the Fight

Four Families is used to fighting for what they want in Houston, even if they must throw some shade. The company "won" the fight to sell food in Hobby Airport in 2003 after going toeto-toe with a New York based company, CA One Services. Both companies put in bids to be the airport concessionaire at Hobby Airport after a call for requests was made in 2002 to various companies.

Through the city’s procurement process, the competition for the $234 million contract was dwindled down to Four Families and CA One Services. Houston City Council was set to decide on a winner based on a scoring process where design, management, and other entities in each company’s proposals were being evaluated. But proceedings were slowed down when several questionable things occurred.

Questionable #1 : According to the Houston Chronicle, Four Families was not originally on the council’s agenda for contract consideration for weeks.

Questionable #2 : Questions swirling about how CA One Services even got recommended to make a bid for the contract delayed a council’s vote.

Questionable #3: A supposed

private investigator snooped out that Four Families had appeared to have originally beaten CA One Services after scoring evaluation.

When proceedings began to move forward again, the scoring process plus rent were reviewed, and it was determined that CA One Services was the winner of the contract since the city would stand to make more money based on their projected profits and the amount of money they would pay the City of Houston.

Four Families allegedly found out what that figure was and said they would pay the same amount. To further ensure that they would get the contract, reports have said that Four Families convinced several councilmembers to side with them over CA One Services, even though the then sitting mayor,

Lee P. Brown, was in favor of CA One Services.

CA One Services followed suit and sued the city in federal and state court. The Houston Chronicle reported that CA One Services claimed the city violated competitive bidding statutes, which prohibit a city from awarding a contract through competitive bidding. The suit also claimed the city violated the Texas Opening Meeting Act, which requires government entities to keep public business open to the public.

The city had previously negotiated a contract with CA One Services but substituted Four Families name in the contract after councilmembers changed who they were supporting. Later, CA One Services dropped the lawsuit after the city agreed to extend its contract with Bush Intercontinental Airport by four years.

Back-to-Now

The contract that Four Families, aka Pappas Restaurants, currently has with the city at Hobby Airports is set to expire. And just like in all businesses, when something looks good, others will gasp for their piece of the pie as soon as an opening looks available.

Read

CHRIS ROCK TACKLES 'SELECTIVE OUTRAGE' AND OSCARS SLAP IN LIVE NETFLIX SPECIAL

By Marianne Garvey, CNN

Chris Rock finally addressed the Oscars slap and made Netflix history on Saturday, with the platform's first live global streaming event. "I'm going to try to do a show tonight without offending nobody. I'm going to try my best, because you never know who might get triggered," Rock said as he opened his set from Baltimore. "People always say words hurt ... anybody who says words hurt has never been punched in the face."

After that quick apparent reference to Will Smith slapping him on stage at last year's Academy Awards, Rock saved his jokes about the incident until the last ten minutes of the show. "You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith," Rock said. "It still hurts. I got 'Summertime' ringing in my ears. But I'm not a victim, baby. You'll never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying ... I took that hit like Pacquiao."

Rock suggested Smith's response to his Oscars joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, was more about their relationship than him. "I love Will Smith, my whole life,"

Rock said. "I have rooted for Will Smith my whole life ... now I watch 'Emancipation' just to see him get whupped."

Smith plays an enslaved man in the period drama, "Emancipation."

"'How come you didn't do nothing back that night?'" Rock said people have asked him. "Because I got parents. You know what my parents taught me? Don't fight in front of White people."

Titled "Chris Rock: Selective Outrage," the comedian hit on a wide range of topics in the first 50 minutes of the special, including addiction, abortion, racism in America, Meghan,

Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashian family and "wokeness."

"I have no problem with the wokeness. I have no problem with it at all. I'm all for social justice. I'm all for marginalized people getting their rights. The thing I have a problem with is the selective outrage," Rock said. "You know what i'm talking about. One person does something, they get canceled. Somebody else does the exact same thing, nothing. You know what I'm talking about ... the kind of people who play Michael Jackson songs but won't play R. Kelly. Same crime, one of them just has better songs."

Tackling the country's division, Rock said, "America is in horrible shape right now."

"We got it worse than Ukraine. Yeah, I said it. You know why? Because Ukraine is united and America is clearly divided," Rock joked. "If the Russians came here right now, half the country would say, 'Let's hear them out.' We're in a bad place right now."

Rock also delved into his romantic life, saying when he noticed his pillow cases were dirty, he realized how much women do for men.

"I'm trying to date women my age, which is 10 to 15 years younger than me," he said. "Don't hate the player, hate the game. I didn't get rich and stay in shape to talk about Anita Baker. I'm trying to f--- Doja Cat."

The performance was Rock's sixth standup special and his second for Netflix after 2018's "Tamborine," directed by Bo Burnham.

Read More at StyleMagazine.com

Chris Rock speaks onstage at the National Board of Review annual awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street in March 2022 in New York City.

BREAST PAIN DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN CANCER: WHEN TO GET A MAMMOGRAM

By Cara Jones, TheBlackDoctor.Org

While anyone can experience breast pain, don’t panic: It’s rarely cancer.

Penn State Health offers some reassurance about what might cause the pain and when it might be time to have a mammogram.

“We see a lot of patients who come looking for answers that have widespread, cyclical breast pain,” says Dr. Alison Chetlen, a staff physician at Penn State Health Breast Center in Hershey, Pa.

“We usually start with reassurance, perhaps eliminating the underlying cause of the pain,” she said in a Penn news release. “Sometimes it is related to their menstrual cycle or underlying hormonal fluctuations. Is it musculoskeletal? If so, perhaps medication and a warm compress will help. Something like arthritis of the rib joints also can cause pain that mimics breast pain. In such cases, the pain is not actually coming from the breasts.”

Women, men and transgender people can each experience breast pain. Reasons vary.

“It’s extremely rare for breast cancer to be the source of breast pain,” Chetlen says. “We worry more when

we have a patient present with a lump, bloody nipple discharge, or a lump under the armpit. Breast pain is typically not the initial sign of breast cancer.”

Breast pain in men

Men can have breast pain in all stages of life. If you are experiencing breast pain, here’s what may be causing it.

Gynecomastia

Breast pain in men is typically caused by gynecomastia, an increase in the amount of breast glandular tissue caused by a hormone imbalance. With gynecomastia, abnormal growth and swelling in the breasts occur in males of all ages. The change in shape or size varies and can cause pain. Gynecomas-

tia can be a result of hormone imbalances, where estrogen increases, and testosterone decreases. Obesity and aging can also cause this condition.

“Even as boys change into men they can experience pain behind the nipple, which can be quite painful,” Chetlen says. “Ninety-nine times out of 100, it is gynecomastia, which is benign.”

Cysts

A cyst is a typically harmless lump under the skin that contains fluid or air. In some cases, cysts can become sore and can cause pain if they are located on your breasts sore and can cause pain if they are located on your breasts.

Muscle strain

The pectoralis major and minor are the two main muscles that make up the chest. Performing weighted chest exercises or putting excess pressure on the muscles can cause a strain.

Breast fat necrosis

Fat necrosis occurs when fat tissue becomes damaged. This may be a result of surgery on the breasts or a biopsy. Breast fat necrosis can produce a lump but is not cancerous.

Jogger’s nipple

While running your nipple can start to chafe against your top or vest. The chafing can cause the nipple to become sore.

Fibroadenoma

Another non-cancerous lump that can form on the breasts is a fibroadenoma, although they are rare in men. The cause of a fibroadenoma is unclear, however, most do not increase the risk of breast cancer.

Other possible causes

liver disease

heart or lung disease

heartburn medications, such as antidepressants back, neck, or shoulder injuries

Breast pain in women

Women can experience breast pain for a number of reasons including:

Cynical breast pain

Cyclical breast pain is caused by changing hormone levels during the menstrual cycle. During this time many women may experience discomfort and lumpiness

in both breasts a week before their periods. They may also experience pain that varies from mild to severe and is tender and sore to touch. The pain often goes away once a period starts.

Non-cynical breast pain

What causes non-cynical breast pain remains unclear, but it is often linked to:

a benign (not cancer) breast condition

previous surgery to the breast injury to the breast having larger breasts a side effect from a drug treatment, such as certain antidepressant drugs and some herbal remedies such as ginseng

Stress and anxiety

The pain can occur in one or both breasts and can affect the whole breast or a specific area with a burning, prickling or stabbing pain, or a feeling of tightness. This pain may come and go and can affect women before and after menopause.

Breast pain in transgender people

Hormone therapy may cause breast pain for transgender women. Transgender men may have pain in native breast tissue or in tissue left behind after a breast reduction or mastectomy.

Prevention

It is not always possible to prevent the causes of breast pain because it isn’t always clear what causes cysts or fibroadenomas.

However, some causes are preventable. Here are some prevention tips from MedicalNewsToday: avoiding high intensity chest workouts

gradually increasing the resistance of chest exercises including enough rest time between chest workouts using lubrication or protective gear for the nipple before running avoiding anabolic steroids or other drugs that affect hormones where possible

When to see a doctor

Some causes of breast pain do not require a doctor and may go away on their own.

However, pain that worsens over time, is localized to one area, interferes with daily activities or includes a lump, redness or warmth needs an immediate visit to your physician, Chetlen advises.

Read More at StyleMagazine.com

The Raspberry Rally Girl Scouts cookie, a raspberry-flavored version of the beloved Thin Mint, was always supposed to be a limited edition item. Just not this limited.

The new Girl Scouts cookie sold out in hours. Now, people desperate to try it can search eBay.

The Girl Scouts would really rather you didn't, though.

In an email addressed to a New York chapter of the Girl Scouts, local leaders said that the "Raspberry Rally cookie sold out in less than a day." The cookie "proved to be more popular than anticipated," according to the letter, which was seen by CNN.

GIRL SCOUTS' SOLD-OUT COOKIE IS AVAILABLE ON EBAY. THE SCOUTS ARE NOT PLEASED

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN Business/StyleMagazine.com - Newswire

Quickly, it ended up on the resale market. Raspberry Rally cookie packages are now listed on eBay, some for around $30 — well above the Girl Scouts' price of about $5 or $6 per box.

For over 100 years, Girl Scouts has sold cookies as a way to help members build their business skills and raise money for the group. But profits from the resale market don't go to Girl Scouts, which said it was "disappointed" that the products are now available through other vendors.

"When cookies are purchased through a third-party seller, Girl Scout troops are deprived of proceeds that fund critical programming throughout

the year," Girl Scouts told CNN in a statement. Plus, unauthorized sales can erode Girl Scouts' good cookie name.

"Girl Scouts of the USA, your local Girl Scout council, and our licensed cookie bakers cannot guarantee the freshness or integrity of cookies bought through unauthorized sites." To buy cookies from Girl Scouts directly, customers should use the Cooke Finder on the Scouts' website, Girl Scouts said.

The Scouts may be disappointed, but eBay has no plans to pull the listings.

"We strongly support the entrepreneurial spirit of hardworking local Girl Scout troops and encourage cookie-seekers to also support their local Girl Scouts,"

eBay said in a statement to CNN. "However the sale of Girl Scout cookies does not violate eBay policies."

The Girl Scouts first introduced the coveted Raspberry Rally over the summer, months ahead of the January to April cookie season. At the time, the group explained that the Rally would only be available for purchase online for direct shipment to customers a first for the organization. The online-only sales strategy is a new way to teach entrepreneurship, the group said.

The Raspberry Rally cookie sold out rapidly. Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

HHouston HBCU Alumni Association’s HBCU College Fair H

Houston played host to the sixth annual Houston HBCU Alumni Association’s HBCU College Fair. The largest Historically Black College and University Fair brought out the largest crowd in its history with 3,000 registered participated and 50 HBCUS. HBCU college fair coordinator and executive director of Houston HBCU Alumni Association Dr. Veronica Williams was excited as this was the first that students interested in music could auditions for band directors to get band and choir scholarships. The event sponsored by H-E-B, offered free door prizes and health screenings as well as the plethora of information to take that next step in one’s education journey.

H PV Girls Rocks H

Students and faculty kicked off Women’s History Month with the PV Girls Rock Awards Ceremony presented by Miss Prairie View A&M University Taverlyn Shepard. Under this year’s theme “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories,” the women of Prairie View A&M University were honored. Prior to the ceremony, students submit nominees for one of 16 different categories. The top four nominations advance to the voting round. A special highlight were the performances by the Black Foxes, Panther Dolls, Cheerleaders, Flags, and Classic Dance Ensemble. Congratulations to all the winners!

Two works by the Swiss artist

Pipilotti Rist will once again transform the Museum’s Cullinan Hall from Spring Break through Labor Day, 2023 HOUSTON—February 13, 2022—In March 2023, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, continues its ongoing series of grandscale, immersive presentations with Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest and Worry Will Vanish. This unique exhibition brings together two experiential works from the MFAH collection: Pixel Forest (2016), an installation of thousands of hanging LED lights, and Worry Will Vanish (2014), a two-channel video projection that takes viewers on a dream-like journey

THE IMMERSIVE INSTALLATIONS OF PIPILOTTI RIST:

eration and regeneration:

through the natural landscape, the human body and the heavens above.

Pixel Forest and Worry Will transform the Museum’s central Cullinan Hall from March 12 to September 4, 2023. About the Exhibition, Pipilotti Rist has been among contemporary art’s chief innovators since the mid1980s. Her work has pushed the boundaries between video and the built environment, exploiting new technologies to create installations that fuse the natural world with the electronic sublime. Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest and Worry Will Vanish also demonstrate Rist’s profound engagement in what it means to be human in the cosmic cycle of gen -

Pixel Forest (2016), which has been custom fabricated by Rist and her collaborator Kaori Kuwabara to span the vast space of Cullinan Hall, consists of 3,000 LED lights encased in resin spheres, and suspended on cables from the ceiling. Each light is controlled by a video signal so that the “forest” constantly changes, sometimes shifting in a staccato rhythm and sometimes in sinuous waves of color. Visitors can stroll throughout this environment, which Rist describes as “a digital image that has exploded in space.” She explains further: “I want to clarify that everything we look at is also always just organized light, which helps as I dissolve architecture and forms. I am interested in combining nature and technology; these are not two different things.” Installation view of Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest and Worry Will Vanish at the MFAH in 2016. Worry Will Vanish (2014), a two-channel video that runs in ten-minute cycles,

For more information, please visit haul.org/eodgala or contact Brandi Ledet | bledet@haul.org | 713-393-8783

Affiliate Host

will be projected onto the south and west walls of Cullinan Hall, taking viewers into a fantastic dreamscape where the body and nature become one. Rist’s filmed and manipulated footage is immediately enchanting, as glistening, dew-laced leaves give way to images of the body and its interior, vast oceans, and a starry sky. The accompanying soundtrack, created in collaboration with ID TK Anders Guggisberg, offers a lyrical and resonantly textured soundscape, heightening the video’s aura of wonderstruck celebration. Visitors are invited to recline on pillows and lose themselves in Rist’s cosmos.

Read more at: StyleMagazine.com

CONFERENCE

NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 2023 HOUSTON, TX

Includes:

Welcome Reception Career Fair

Empowerment & Career Development Tech Connect & Demo Day

Small Business Saturday

Pitch Competition

Community Day Youth Summit Concerts and much more

Conference Chair - Myrtle Jones, Halliburton

Dusty Baker General Manager Houston Astros

Dr Reginald DesRoches

Dr Loren Blanchard President University of Houston-Downtown President Rice University

Dr LaTonya Goffney Superintendent Aldine ISD

Dr Millard House II Superintendent Houston ISD

Dr Ruth Simmons Dr Lesia L Crumpton-Young President Prairie View A&M University President Texas Southern University

Gerald Hin

Quentin Mease Community Service Award Texas Black Expo & We All Eat Campaign

Stephen Silas Lovie Smith Head Coach Houston Rockets Head Coach Houston Texans

Black Excellence in Education

Jerome Love

PIXEL FOREST AND WORRY WILL VANISH RETURN TO THE MFAH, BEGINNING IN MARCH 2023

Kathleen Coleman, Arts Editor

HAKA and TSU Day at the Capitol

The Texas State Capitol grounds were covered by a sea of pink, green, maroon, and gray for AKA and TSU Day at the Capitol. Texas representatives from the South Central Region of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.® and students, staff, faculty, Regents, and alumni from Texas Southern University headed to Austin, TX to meet and greet with legislators about issues concerning their respective demographic.