Convenience Big Store: An impactful birthday: Happy MLK Day

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A young girl reads the inscription at the MLK statue at Hermann Park.

An impactful birthday

"If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice, say that I was a drum major for peace, I was a drum major for righteousness, and all the other shallow things will not matter." - the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

My birthday is Monday, January 15. It's also the Rev. Martin Luther King's birthday and the national holiday and day of service in his honor.

Growing up, I joked that I was destined for greatness because I was born on King's birthday. Part of me believed it.

Now, as a mom of two who is well into a career that I love, my birthday is a reflective day for me to take stock of how I'm doing and where I'm going. Am I living a life of service for others and standing for what is right as King professed? Am I teaching my children the same?

The Chronicle's new executive editor Kelly Ann Scott has said that impact is one of the measures of how we are doing as journalists. It's about the impact our work has on our readers and the community we serve. Most of us become journalists to make an impact. I surely did.

So, in many ways, King's reflections can help encourage us to make a greater impact on our communities and the world through service and humanity.

Happy MLK Day.

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Welcome back to HouWeAre.

By Joy Sewing
Culture Columnist
Joy.Sewing@houstonchronicle.com

Read this

A test well is shown as Kathy Blueford-Daniels, a Fifth Ward resident and community activist, talks about health concerns in the area near her home from the creosote contamination at the former Union Pacific Railroad site wood treatment facility shown Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in Houston. Residents had previously picketed at the contaminated rail yard on Valentine's Day, but decided not to picket as they are frustrated and tired of fighting.

Photo by: Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

City Council pumps brakes on Fifth Ward creosate relocation plan

Reporter Rebekah F. Ward has been covering the plight of a Fifth Ward neighborhood that residents say was once full of life, but now has more funerals than parties, and cancer is commonplace. Ward reports that Mayor John Whitmire and Houston City Council have voted to delay the next step in financing a voluntary relocation program for the residents living over a toxic creosate plume.

Other officials, including Council Member Tarsha Jackson who represents the impact district, have insisted that the initiative should not be stalled. "We've been talking about it since 2014. People have been dying," Jackson said.

Ward previously reported that Union Pacific cites "no cancer concerns" for the Fifth Ward community.

What We're Talking About

More than 24,000 people have voiced support for ending a Houston law against sharing free meals, according to a petition the Texas Civil Rights Project submitted to City Council. Chronicle reporter R.A. Schuetz writes that the law has become a flashpoint in the city's homeless strategy, which began issuing tickets in March to try to stop volunteers from distributing free food outside the downtown library four times a week.
As HISD upheavals return, reporter Jhair Romero takes us back to 1989, when Latino students in East End revolted and demanded change.

Our Picks

Bernard and Shirley Kinsey stand outside The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection exhibit at Holocaust Museum Houston on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 in Houston. The exhibition represents the intersection between art and history, covering the lives, accomplishments and artistry of African Americans from the 16th century through the years of slavery and emancipation to the civil rights movement and today.

Photo by: Brett Coomer, Staff Photographer

Holocaust Museum Houston welcomes monumental African American art

When Bernard and Shirley Kinsey wed in 1967, they vowed to visit 100 countries together over the course of their marriage. The couple began amassing artifacts and artworks along the way. Now, their family-owned collection of more than 700 paintings, objects is the largest survey outside of Smithsonian, writes Amber Elliott.

United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket undergoes testing at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Hair from three presidents will launch on this rocket's inaugural flight.

Photo by: ULA

One More Thing

On Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Holocaust Museum Houston is offering free admission for visitors to see The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection, a collection of paintings, sculpture, photographs, books and more amassed during the five decades of marriage between Shirley and Bernard Kinsey. The exhibition, which runs through June 23, is part of one of the largest collections of African American history and art in the world. The museum, which is located at 5401 Caroline, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.