Norma Martinez

There are nearly 26,000 people experiencing homelessness in Texas. With limited or no access to everyday hygiene products or information on how to protect themselves from contagion, this population is at a high risk for COVID-19. A Washington Post reporter recently visited one of the largest homeless shelters in the country to profile a worker putting herself on the frontline to help this vulnerable population.

Then, two border communities have conflicting public responses on how to control the spread of the coronavirus in the shared region.

Bars closing, social gatherings limited to 10 people, restaurants restricted to take-out only, visitors banned from nursing homes — COVID-19 has dramatically disrupted life in the U.S. 

But life along the U.S.-Mexico border and in bicultural communities is grappling with their own set of challenges. From El Paso to the Rio Grande Valley, reporters from across the region have been examining the unexpected social, cultural and health challenges that have emerged as officials try to act swiftly to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Poet Laureates are government-appointed figures whose voices not only promote poetry, but often reflect and speak to the current sentiment of the country. In 2012, San Antonio became the first Texas city to name its own poet laureate.

The city’s current Poet Laureate, Octavio Quintanilla, wraps up his two-year term this year.

The works of two San Antonio-area artists are elevated to a national stage by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

Texas Public Radio’s Dominic Anthony and Jack Morgan profile the iconic artists and their lasting legacies.

Many in the industry have known for decades people of color are not represented enough in literature and the publishing world, and that concerns writers across the country. Over 12,000 people are expected to attend a major writing conference in San Antonio next week. 

Two local authors weigh in on the controversy surrounding diversity in the world of writers, and what it means to host the Association of Writers and Writers Program (AWP) in a city with a 25% illiteracy rate.

Editor’s Note: Insensitive language frequently used in the mid-20th Century is included in this story.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that racial desegregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Some school districts were not swayed by Brown v. Board of Education and found ways to discriminate. 

Mexican-American students in Driscoll, Texas, were purposely held back to avoid “retarding” the white students. Students with Spanish surnames were made to take first grade for three years. It didn’t matter how fluent they were in English, or if English was their primary language. As a result, Mexican-American students were graduating from high school in their early 20s.

Labor leader and activist Dolores Huerta fought alongside Cesar Chavez to unionize farm workers, but her life in activism didn’t end at the picket line.

She continues to work for the working poor, women, and children, through the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Huerta was recently the guest of honor at an event hosted by the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The name of Dolores Huerta is often spoken in the same breath as that of labor rights icon, Cesar Chavez. Huerta looks none of her 89 years. Wearing a bright red blazer and black pants, her diminutive figure was larger than life when she spoke to a sold out breakfast Tuesday for the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.