Essay
Raise a Glass to the Class of COVID-19
What’s a Bookstore for?
Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, booksellers were facing razor-thin margins, an uncertain future, and the threat of Amazon.
The people who work in bookstores are, by and large, very brilliant. My co-workers at BookPeople, a large independent bookstore in Austin, were no exception. I ...Read More
Lessons on the Long Game from Goose Island’s Whooping Cranes
Cranes are survivors. Facing the century’s first global pandemic, they might be the sort of collective totem we need.
Word came on March 10 from my daughter’s Houston middle school: Their spring break learning trips had been canceled. For her 7th grade class, the original pla...Read More
In a Pandemic, Poor Defendants Could Pay With Their Lives
COVID-19 lays bare the fundamental inequalities that a cash bond system creates, and highlights the unsafe conditions our jails and prisons have designed.
I arrived at the Harris County Public Defender’s Office before 7 a.m. on Friday, March 13. The calls for action to stop the spread of COVID-19 had been buildi...Read More
Loneliness in the Age of Coronavirus
As a single parent, I was already struggling with loneliness. Then the coronavirus hit.
Before the coronavirus, America already had an epidemic: According to a 2018 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, one in five Americans say they often feel l...Read More
‘Cheer’ Takes an Overlooked Sport Off the Sidelines
The Netflix show about a Corsicana cheerleading squad’s journey to nationals explores an indignity I remember well from my time as a high school dancer: training for intense athletic competitions while being reduced to halftime entertainment.
My nose hovered just centimeters above the scuffed basketball court, legs folded beneath me in a perfect Z, my back flat enough to serve tea on. As a chugging s...Read More
Governor Abbott’s Campaign Against the Homeless Isn’t Just Cruel—It’s Dangerous
There’s a thin line between spreading hate, as the governor continues to do, and inciting violence.
I’m stopped at a red light next to I-35 in central Austin, waiting to cross under the highway on my drive home from work, when I see a young woman sitting on ...Read More
Why a Small Offense Shouldn’t Have Life-Altering Consequence
Opinion: Nearly 10 years ago, I was arrested and detained in jail for 45 days after failing to appear in court for a low-level, non-violent offense. Today, I’m fighting so that others don’t have to go through what I did.
Standing in San Marcos’ crowded city hall lobby this past September, I watched the faces of the city’s leaders. Dozens of residents—business owners, colle...Read More
Why I Started a Book Club in the Harris County Jail
Education programs make jails safer and reduce rates of recidivism when people reenter society.
I felt my blood pressure rising, heard my heartbeat in my ears, and tasted my mouth drying out as the heavy jail door slammed shut behind me. It was my first ti...Read More
A Chain Reaction
Luby’s is in trouble. Can the iconic cafeteria chain endure?
A Chain Reaction Luby’s is in trouble. Can the iconic cafeteria chain endure? * by Andrea Valdez November 25, 2019 A boilerplate business news headline trigge...Read More