In a final message, Jane Goodall urged us not to lose hope, even “as we destroy…
Category: Politics
Houston’s Top Magnet High Schools Could Become Private Partnership Charter Schools, Raising Equity Concerns
Each year, thousands of students apply for a seat at one of the top performing magnet…
My University Just Taught Extremists How to Eliminate Academic Programs They Don’t Like
On October 17, Texas Christian University announced it would close its Women and Gender Studies (WGST)…
Texas Turns Its Sprawling State Police Force Into Immigration Agents for Trump
Between mid-October and early November, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and federal Immigration and…
The ‘Queen Mother’ of the Reparations Movement Gets Her Due
The image that graces the cover of historian Ashley Farmer’s new biography of Pan-African activist Audley…
Black Bookstore Owners, Government Spies, and Murder
Texas has grown a bumper crop of book authors and, with that, an ever-expanding list of…
A PRAYER for Brody & Rhys
May the world not die of bread or a lost Messiah or the oil smeared desert or a fire…
SNAP Shutdown Will Leave Texas Students like Me Hungry
The announcement on the Your Texas Benefits app reads: “SNAP benefits for November will not be…
Bail Crackdown on Ballot Ignores Mental Health Crisis, Advocates Say
Paul Barrows spends his nights half expecting a late-night call from his son, who is prone…
Fort Worth ISD Parents Fear the Same Chaos that State Takeover Has Brought to Houston ISD
Despite months of community protests, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced last week that it would…
Castle Hills Settles ‘Retaliatory Arrest’ Case for $500,000 in Win for Free Speech Advocates
Earlier this month, the San Antonio-area enclave of Castle Hills agreed to pay $500,000 to former…
Trump’s Federal Cuts Are Hitting Texas Food Banks Hard
Once a month, 79-year-old Ann Gaskill pulls her Dodge Caravan into the parking lot of the…
Editor’s Letter: Introducing Our November/December 2025 Issue
Texas Observer reader, Books. That’s right—it’s 2025, and I’m using the medium of a print magazine…
Texas Can’t Keep Up with Surge in Workers’ Wage Theft Complaints
Texas workers have long struggled with wage theft by their employers—and the state’s willingness and ability…
A New Generation of Industries Emerges in Texas from Federal Push for Mining Revival
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate,…
ICE Still Won’t Answer Questions About Prosecutor with White Supremacist X Account
Democratic Congressman Marc Veasey made an unannounced visit to a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)…
Why the City of Austin Wants Voters to Hike Their Property Taxes
It’s a tough time to be an Austin property taxpayer. Nothing seems to make sense. Maybe…
Trump’s ICE Arrested a Whistleblower Who Exposed Sexual Assault in Detention. Now, He’s Left the Country.
When immigration agents detained Douglas Menjivar in June, it wasn’t his first time. Menjivar, a 50-year-old…
‘Failures and Grift’: Gina Hinojosa Wants to Stop Greg Abbott from Making History
Greg Abbott intends to run for reelection to a fourth term as Texas governor in 2026,…
What a North Texas Pride Fest Taught Me About Today’s ‘Rainbow Panic’
At the end of the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s, a man in my hometown was…
A Night at the Screamo Bookstore
On another night, Alienated Majesty Books near the University of Texas at Austin campus might host…
Border Barriers to Harm Reduction
Editor’s Note: This story is a collaboration between Puente News Collaborative and the Texas Observer. As…
In Dallas, Organizers Mourn the Immigrant Victims of Recent ICE Shooting
On September 24, a gunman shot at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in…
A Brazilian Carpenter’s 51-Day Detention Journey from Vermont to Texas
Editor’s Note: This story was produced by Agência Pública (Brazil). You can read the original version…
Inside the Rift Between Texas Dems and a Soros-Backed PAC
On a sunny mid-July evening, dozens packed into a community center in Memorial, one of west…
‘I Got a Lot of People Believing in Me’: Robert Roberson Stares Down Death, Again
What are set to be the final days of Robert Roberson’s life will be busy. He…
Burden of Proof
Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of a series on Medicaid Estate Recovery Program collections in…
Trump’s ICE Has Arrested a Pillar of the Dallas Muslim Community. I Grew Up Hearing His Calls for Compassion.
When I saw Marwan Marouf’s face plastered on my Instagram feed, under bright red letters announcing…
How the Bathroom Bill Weaponizes Transphobia Against Public Institutions
On September 22, Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 8, Texas’ new “bathroom bill,” into law,…
Inside Tarrant County’s Dogged Prosecution of a Pro-Palestine Activist
Early last month, Raunaq Alam, a 32-year-old Bangladeshi American from the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Hurst,…
‘Make Resistance Sexy’
BLD PWR (think: build power) Day 2025 was a hectic one. Starting late in the afternoon,…
Party Discipline
In response to last spring’s student protests against Israel’s war on Gaza that roiled college campuses…
Strangest State: Cute Robots, Killer Bugs, and Cloud Conspiracies
The post Strangest State: Cute Robots, Killer Bugs, and Cloud Conspiracies appeared first on The Texas…
Texas Domestic Workers Face Trump Attack on Minimum Wage
For $8 an hour, B.O., a Kenyan immigrant who asked the Texas Observer to use only…
Austin’s Children Deserve More than a Test Score
Earlier this month, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced that 12 Austin-area schools with an “F”…
Texas History Offers Warnings amid Rash of Faculty Firings
Every day that classes are held at the University of Texas at Austin, a procession of…
Officials Said They Busted a Tren de Aragua Party. Attendees Beg to Differ.
On the night of March 31, María, a 40-year-old Venezuelan mother of four who asked that…
A Wave of School District Takeovers Could Be Coming. Some Past Interventions Ended with More Failing Schools.
Recently released state school ratings reveal that five Texas school districts are at risk of a…
News Orgs Fight to Unseal Records in the Paxtons’ Divorce Case
This article was first co-published by The Texas Newsroom and ProPublica. A group of state and national media organizations,…
How Texas Localities Have (and Haven’t) Spent Settlement Funds to Fight the Opioid Crisis
In the coming years, Texas is set to receive billions of dollars to address the ongoing…
‘I Am Not Your Enemy’
The following is excerpted from the closing chapter of I Am Not Your Enemy: A Memoir,…
The Health Penalty
The year Charles Sullivan finally started the treatment that helped manage his agonizing digestive disorder was…
‘Never Again’ at the Texas Border
On a late-April weekend, I went down to Eagle Pass to look at Operation Lone Star…
Life in the Time of Hurricanes
Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted from the first chapter of Life in the Time of…
The Arc Doesn’t Bend Itself
Editor’s Note: The following is adapted from the introduction to The Texas Civil Rights Project: How…
Twenty Years Later, Katrina Still Haunts the Gulf from New Orleans to Houston
Editor’s Note: Join us Wednesday evening for a joint event sponsored by Mother Jones, the Texas…
The Eyes of Chihuahua
For three years, Luis Mendoza has periodically gone to the same construction site in downtown Ciudad…
Embattled Texas Oilfield Waste Company Fined After Worker’s Death
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy,…
Police ‘Secrecy Grab’ Dies After Senate Refuses Uvalde Compromise
Efforts to limit police transparency by shielding some complaints from public view have failed multiple times…
Texas Legislature Passes ‘Bounty Hunter’ Ban on Abortion Pills
On Wednesday evening, the Texas Senate approved an extreme bill that, pending the governor’s signature, will…
🎶It’s His Party and He’ll…🎶
Every time Texas Democrats have a bad election (read: every two years), blame reasonably finds its…
Where the Water Reached
Editor’s Note: This photo essay is published in partnership with The Texas Tribune. I walked into…
New Texas Maps Start Game of Political Musical Chairs
After two weeks spent outside state lines—marked by a surge of national media attention and, then,…
Editor’s Letter: Introducing Our September/October 2025 Issue
Texas Observer reader, Gall. We live in a state whose top leaders have entirely, vastly, monumentally…
Racism Wrapped in Rural Warmth
Rural Texas wears a friendly facade. You know everyone, and everyone treats each other so kindly,…
Dems in Congress Are Being Denied Access to ICE Facilities. Now They’re Suing.
At least a dozen Democratic members of Congress have been denied entry to federal immigration facilities…
A Venezuelan Was Detained as a “Documented” Gang Member by ICE, Which Refused to Provide Proof
Jesús Escalona Mújicas, a 48-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker, says he was en route to work at a…
The Future of Public Education is on the Ballot in Cy-Fair ISD and Beyond
Nearly a year after Cy-Fair Independent School District (CFISD) omitted more than a dozen chapters from…
The Innocent and the Executed: James Beathard’s Long-Forgotten Story
In his East Texas hometown, James Beathard was known as an unconventional thinker—an outspoken peacenik who…
Is a Strong Latino Candidate Texas Democrats’ Only Hope?
Thirteen years ago, a young mayor of San Antonio gave the keynote speech at the 2012…
Loon Star State: Entering…
(Ben Sargent) To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section or find Observer political…
Texas GOP Says Flood Relief Is Priority. Here’s the Climate Policy They Won’t Pass.
Governor Greg Abbott’s first special session is coming to an abrupt end after House Democrats fled…
Texas Lawmakers Push ‘Massive Secrecy Grab’ to Shield Police Files
In 1998, the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) began requiring officers to fill out reports any…
Abortion Funds See Dwindling Donations as Demand and Cost Rise
When the one-two punch of Senate Bill 8—a 2021 Texas law that barred nearly all abortion…
Will a STAAR-Crossed Legislature Finally Enact Real Testing Reform?
Claudia de Leon describes her son Diego’s kindergarten class at Houston’s Helms Elementary School as “magical.”…
Strangest State: Toilet Seats, Cowboys, and a Sea of Dimes
The post Strangest State: Toilet Seats, Cowboys, and a Sea of Dimes appeared first on The…
I Came from Rural Texas to Harvard’s MD-PhD program. Now, Trump Defunded that Program.
Even lifelong Texans may not have heard of my hometown of Lindale. With just under 5,000…
U.S.-Mexico Border Militarization Fails to Stop Modern Drug Smuggling Industry
Just across the Texas border, in cities like Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo, criminal networks are strengthening…
Veterans Who Work in Texas VA Health System: ‘The Dam’s Gonna Break’
Manning the main switchboard for the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System requires skills akin to…
Can Anything Halt the Gerrymandering Arms Race?
Late Sunday afternoon, dozens of Texas House Democrats boarded a charter flight at the Austin airport…
Recovering Suzanne Césaire’s Legacy
“Everything collapses in the ripping sound of great manifestations,” wrote Suzanne Césaire in 1945. The line…
‘Shaky’ Audio Series Is a Messy, Real Look at Disabled Life
There are many words you could use to describe Nicole Tompkins, the disabled protagonist of “Shaky,”…
Loon Star State: Render unto Trump…
(Ben Sargent) To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section or find Observer political…
ICE ‘Task Force’ Agreements Expand to Galveston, Beaumont
Nearly 1.5 million Texans now live in jurisdictions where sheriffs or police chiefs have agreed to…
‘The Search Committee’ Is a Subtle Rebuke of the Border Literary Canon
The opening pages of José Skinner’s new novel The Search Committee seem to promise readers a…
Rules of the Robe
M ichael Van Deelen’s home office, on the second floor of his neat two-story house in…
Floodplains Belong to the Rivers
I’ve had it with hearing the same story over and over again—another 100-year-plus rainfall event, another…
Penned Poetry: A Formerly Incarcerated Activist’s Turn to Verse
One poem in Jorge Renaud’s new collection, The Restlessness of Bound Wrists, makes the reader question…
Loon Star State: Among the Tragically Missing…
(Ben Sargent) To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section. Find Observer political…
The San Antonio Flood of 1921 Held Lessons We Refuse to Learn
We forget what we don’t want to remember. While I understand that impulse, there are dangers…
How Trump’s IRS May Unshackle Churches from Their Political Restraints
Last week, the Family Research Council’s longtime president Tony Perkins exulted over the win the Trump…
Robert Roberson Faces New Execution Date in Controversial ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Case
Attorneys for Robert Roberson and for the State of Texas went toe-to-toe in a Palestine courtroom…
Proposed Transmission Line Threatens Texas’ Largest Reservoir
Houstonian Mike Peppercorn bought property along Lake Livingston in 2008, choosing timberland where his family would…
In Abilene, Stargate Project Puts AI Boom Ahead of Human Health
The first data center in the Stargate project—a $500 billion artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure initiative backed…
The History of Eugenics in Texas Isn’t What You Think
I’ll admit: Having grown addicted to the treats of literary nonfiction, I don’t make it through…
Poem for the Guadalupe River from a previous Mystic camper
I remember the river, flowing so peacefully and slowly you could almost miss its motion I…
‘I Think We’re Gonna Stay’: Texans Hang On in Tragedy-Stricken Hill Country
Search and rescue teams were still combing the mangled banks of the Guadalupe River Tuesday at…
In the Hill Country and Beyond, Rural Texas Counties Lack Resources for Flood Detection
Avantika Gori is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Houston’s Rice University who…
‘Disasters Are a Human Choice’: Texas Counties Have Little Power to Stop Building in Flood-Prone Areas
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan…
I Remember the 2002 Fourth of July Hill Country Floods. This Year, the Water Returned.
On July 4, 2002, my childhood home just south of Kerr County flooded after a heavy…
Climate Change Helped Fuel Heavy Rains that Led to Devastating Hill Country Flood
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy,…
Can a Great Museum City Survive the Censorious Right?
When police removed four photographs by Sally Mann from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth…
Loon Star State: What the Lege Won’t Be Doing…
To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section. Find Observer political reporting here.…
Trump’s DOGE Cuts Are Texas-Sized Disaster
President Donald Trump’s commitment to “energy dominance” would seem to be good news for the Texas…
How Republicans Are Willfully Endangering Immigrant Kids
Trudy Taylor Smith is senior administrator of policy and advocacy with Children’s Defense Fund-Texas. I want you…
‘With What Water?’
Alonso Montañez killed the outboard, and the boat swung against the scum and trash that had…
Editor’s Letter: Introducing Our July/August 2025 Issue
Partial remarks given at the 2025 MOLLY Prize Gala on May 28: Suddenly, it’s become a…
Moonlighting Midland Prosecutor Means Freedom for Samuel Sanchez
Samuel Junior Sanchez had served around 15 years of a 75-year sentence for a violent road-rage…
The Rio Grande Valley as Heart of LGBTQ+ Resistance and Joy
We were just about done setting up for our workshop at the San Benito Cultural Heritage…
Reality Winner Rebuilds in Kingsville
On April 5 at 4 p.m., Reality Winner was hustling: She’d just learned she was needed…
Can Economic Populism Win Back the Rio Grande Valley?
As a rainstorm rolled in last Friday evening, hundreds of people eagerly filed through metal detectors…
Can Economic Populism Win Back the Rio Grande Valley?
As a rainstorm rolled in last Friday evening, hundreds of people eagerly filed through metal detectors…
Dancing on Horseback
Gathered in a half circle, eight young equestrians atop multicolored horses bowed their heads for a…
APOCALYPSES: SCENARIO #267-590
air so cold breath rattles down my throat like a penny tumbling in the…
Strangest State: Snakes, Mammoths, and Explosions
The post Strangest State: Snakes, Mammoths, and Explosions appeared first on The Texas Observer.
A Caucus, if You Can Keep It
In the leadup to Texas’ 89th legislative session, the Republican leadership apparatus was under siege and…
How Trump Is Changing Higher Education: The View from UT-San Antonio
Editor’s Note: This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused…
Wrestling with the American Dream
Elham Jalak and Mustafa Pashtoon met for the first time on a flight from Kabul in…
Why I Still Believe Texas Can Be Better
When I was in college, I had to drive 35 miles from San Marcos to Austin…
‘The House Got Rolled’: Gene Wu on the Trials of the 89th Texas Legislature
The job of leading the minority party in the Texas House has long consisted, at best,…
Reefer Madness Returns to Texas with Dan Patrick’s THC Ban
Marijuana prohibition is a Texas tradition. Unless Governor Greg Abbott vetoes Senate Bill 3, the state’s…
Art Is Immortality
Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted with permission from Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration…
This Session’s Worst Anti-Abortion Bill Died, but Pro-Choice Advocates Aren’t Celebrating
For four years, maternal health experts, reproductive rights advocates, and patients who suffered under Texas’ abortion…
Texas Quietly Downsizes Border Security Spending
Without any announcement or open debate, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature passed a biennial state budget that…
I Was an Undocumented Texas College Student. I’m Not Going Anywhere—and Neither Is Our Movement.
As a proud first-generation, undocumented graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and a lifelong…
Amid New McCarthyism, the Alliance for Texas History Embraces Diverse Scholarship
Historian Nancy Baker Jones was a child when her father, who was serving in the U.S.…
Here are the New Anti-LGBTQ Bills Texas Passed into Law
Johnathan Gooch did a lot of wishful thinking throughout this legislative session. Most recently, he’s been…