Throwing the Book at Books in Prison
Inside Books Project volunteers have sent used books to Texas inmates for nearly 30 years. A new crackdown is threatening their work.
Profile
‘Make Resistance Sexy’
In Houston, actor Kendrick Sampson seeks to make a party out of political engagement.
A Texas Writer Tackles a Subject ‘Beckoning in the Shadows His Entire Life’
Stephen Harrigan explores his own Catholic boyhood in Texas—and the prophecy left behind by a Portuguese prophet girl—in a compelling new book.
She Fled Mexico as a Child. Now, She Teaches Migrant Kids in Tamaulipas.
“When I see a mom with her child trying to cross, it's like I see myself in her.”
A Houston Storyteller Finds the Humor in Hard Knocks
Bayou City comic Ali Siddiq turns street life and incarceration into laughs, while challenging stereotypes and provoking the occasional tear.
Taking Prison to Court: Fighting for the Right to Sleep
Michael Garrett sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice more than a decade ago, and he’s working from inside to keep the case alive.
A Paris to Marfa March for Reproductive Rights
A West Texas teenager says she’s only begun to fight for access to livesaving care.
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A Watchdog in the Water Wars
Flooding and bureaucracy drove Mary Kelleher to run for a spot on a powerful North Texas river agency board.
The Texas Observer Lives!
After a terrifying near-death experience, we live to muckrake another day.
Destiny Returns to Wolfforth
She left her conservative community to make a difference, only to find she could make the biggest impact at home.