Tag: South Dallas
Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Museum reopens, honoring Dallas’ first Black woman elected to school board
The Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Museum recently reopened on Wendelkin Street in South Dallas. Honoring the legacy of Mrs. Kathlyn Joy Gilliam, the museum showcases the civil rights leader’s life story featuring original furnishings, photos, and artifacts in the home she lived in for 35 years.
Neighborhood-led protest ends South Dallas-Fair Park PID ‘tax’
The South Dallas Fair Park Public Improvement District is coming to an end. Property owners of neighborhood homes and businesses advocated against extending the PID for another seven years, saying they didn’t feel the additional tax burden translated to tangible community benefits.
South Dallas real estate company works to keep the community in community development
Ferrell Fellows' business model is simple: She buys off-market properties in South Dallas in need of serious repairs then renovates these homes, preserving character and history. They become residences for first-time homebuyers, long-term rentals for people not ready to take that leap, and shared housing for people she comes across in her community work, everyone from single parents to immigrants to prostitutes. Fellows believes everyone deserves a dignified way to live.
Q&A with Tabitha Wheeler Reagan: District 7’s New Plan Commissioner
South Dallas District 7 has a new plan commissioner — Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan. She will join 14 plan commissioners to hear zoning cases and make recommendations to the City Council.
Fair Park First hopes partnering with Sunny South Dallas Food Park will create a welcoming space for Black neighbors
Desiree Powell hopes that the food park can be a living example of Black excellence and history in South Dallas. That’s one of the reasons she decided to partner with Fair Park First.
Watermark wants a zoning change for its South Dallas church in the historic Pearl C. Anderson School. Neighbors want to know: Why?
Watermark submitted a proposal to the City of Dallas for a new planned development district (PD) for the almost 10-acre space on July 12 — less than two weeks before it held its second community meeting.
A new public safety project in Mill City may be a solution to the city’s 311 problem
A task force on safe communities is spending $150,000 to help clean up nearly 600 vacant lots in Mill City, with the goal of cutting crime along with the grass in the neighborhood.
Park South YMCA swim team enjoys year-round swim
Last year, Madel Perez coached the Park South YMCA Sharks into a fifth-place victory in the regional competition. What made this such a remarkable win was that the South Dallas Sharks were one of the few teams with a diverse group of students.
‘Where do you go on Saturday morning?’ How a zoning plan could make way for new businesses in South Dallas
Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan, the co-chair of the South Dallas/Fair Park Area Plan Task Force, says the neighborhood’s PD 595 deters new businesses from coming into South Dallas. PD 595’s initial goals were to police alcohol sales and prevent gentrification, she explains, but she and the task force believe the zoning needs to be updated — still protecting the community, but encouraging local entrepreneurs, too.
Dallas Free Press seeks a journalism pathway coordinator to work with high school students
Dallas Free Press is looking for a journalism pathway coordinator to work with students in South Dallas and West Dallas on writing, storytelling, civic engagement, media literacy and critical thinking skills that would benefit them no matter what career they choose.
New Malcolm X Plaza hopes to provide a solution to gun violence in South Dallas
South Dallas’ newest summer attraction resides along South Malcolm X Boulevard, sandwiched between Marburg and Southland streets. Once a vacant parking lot next to a DART bus station, Malcolm X Plaza is now a multi-use gathering space for family and friends with a broader goal, organizers say, to improve public safety on one of the […]
Goal of MLK Food Park, now in Fair Park, is ‘welcoming’ South Dallas residents and people of color
Phase 4 of the month-long food park aimed to create a community environment for South Dallas residents and businesses of color.
Froswa’ Booker-Drew resigns her post as ‘the great connecter’ between the State Fair of Texas and South Dallas-Fair Park neighbors
A bombshell dropped on South Dallas this week when Froswa’ Booker-Drew announced that her last day at the State Fair of Texas would be next Friday, April 15.
Groceries in a SNAP: Amazon provides free delivery to EBT customers
Already, 65,000 people in DFW are enrolled in Amazon’s SNAP delivery program, but the company found that people who live in “food deserts” weren’t using the service, so launched a new outreach program Jan. 1.
Diane Ragsdale: A lifetime of community organizing in South Dallas
The Hon. Diane Ragsdale, who will turn 70 this year, has spent her entire life in South Dallas. Her story has been shaped by the neighborhood and, likewise, she has shaped her neighborhood in significant ways. She’s still fighting some of the same issues that led her to run for Council, and as a registered nurse, she approaches the systems as she would her patients — a belief in preventative medicine that will treat the underlying causes, not just the symptoms.
Cornerstone Baptist’s profitable nonprofit grocery store ‘creates dignity’ in South Dallas
Southpoint is proving to be a miracle in this sparsely populated South Dallas neighborhood between Al Lipscomb and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards. Access to healthy, affordable food has been among the top concerns for residents here.
Singleton United/Unidos: The new neighborhood on the block
Janie Cisneros credits her neighborhood-based activism to serendipity. She is the leader of Singleton United/Unidos, a newly established neighborhood association in West Dallas, fighting for clean air and the removal of the long-standing roofing shingles plant, GAF, from her residential neighborhood.
Is the City of Dallas going to save the Save-U-More grocery store in southern Dallas?
Highland Hills fresh foods grocery store, Save-U-More, struggles to stay open and widen the food desert gaps happening in South Dallas.
Tried GoLink yet? DART extends South Dallas pilot through Jan. 21
DART’s GoLink program is to easily get riders to a nearby rail station in areas where bus routes are scarce. Still, leaders found there was a significant need for more accessible transportation within the neighborhood. DART's Golink Pilot service is a curb-to-curb model being measured for its success in neighborhoods until January 21st.
Dallas Free Press is hiring a development manager
Dallas Free Press is seeking an adept communicator who is highly organized to build strong relationships with potential major donors, funders and corporate sponsors.
South Dallas nonprofit Miles of Freedom features and funds incarcerated artists through ‘Arts of Oppression’ exhibit
Art comes in many forms and the ‘Arts of Oppression’ exhibit conveys that art is not limited to paintings or drawings, but extends to things like music, dancing and many other things which can be accessed if incarcerated individuals have access to resources.
A parking lot symbolizes the State Fair of Texas’ racist history
Historians and journalists have documented — and today’s staffers recognize — the State Fair of Texas’ racist history. In the early 1900s the fair hosted one “Colored People Day” per year. It was discontinued in 1910. On a Wednesday in fall 1923, Ku Klux Klan Day drew some 160,000 Klansmen to the fairgrounds for the initiation of the “largest class in the history of Klandom,” according to the flier, which included an application for membership on the back. Negro Achievement Day launched in 1936. Each year on Oct. 14, Black fairgoers were admitted inside the gates.
Local newsrooms, universities and nonprofits join forces to focus on affordable housing in Dallas
The key partners on the project say affordable housing is a topic none of them has been able to consistently address on their own — but it’s a vital, systemic issue demanding greater response.
The State Fair of Texas is trying to remedy past injustices to South Dallas via its urban farm
It’s a tragic irony that the largest agriculture promoter in the state, the State Fair of Texas, is surrounded by a food desert, the neighborhood of South Dallas.
A South Dallas artist residency aims to ‘capture the now before the future’
John Spriggins, manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center, launched the Juanita J. Craft House Artist in Residency to provide artists with studio space to create work that “capture[s] the immediacy of the moment where historical neighborhoods are rapidly changing due to socio-economic shifts."
Dallas Free Press launches a journalism pathway, seeks a coordinator
Dallas Free Press has launched a journalism pathway from Dallas high schools to Dallas newsrooms, starting with efforts to educate high school students. We are looking for a part-time journalism pathway coordinator to work with students in South Dallas and West Dallas.
People need jobs. Nonprofits need volunteers. Socialwyze’s solution is hourly wages for good work.
The for-profit company connects nonprofits with unemployed individuals who can earn hourly wages by doing community benefit work.
New grocery store reflects Cornerstone church’s belief that ‘South Dallas deserves beautiful things’
A new neighborhood grocery store in South Dallas is part of Cornerstone Baptist Church's overall vision for a healthy community.
Laying out food pantries like grocery stores gives choice and can lead to healthy habits
Aunt Bette's food pantry at St. Philip's in South Dallas is set up like a grocery store to provide choices to hungry neighbors. This can create the kind of positive psychological environment conducive to healthy consumer habits, experts say.
Black and Brown ‘Lit Lab’ library opens in Bonton’s Bridge Builders
Bridge Builders, a nonprofit in the Bonton neighborhood of South Dallas, has recently opened a Black and Brown library called the Lit Lab. The library’s purpose is to showcase only Black and Brown authors and characters in hopes that the children can have a relatable experience while reading. Tracy Lindsey, director of the kids program, […]
Cornerstone Baptist Church is opening a grocery store to address food insecurity in South Dallas
In an effort to address food insecurity in the community, Cornerstone Baptist Church is opening Southpoint Community Market, a neighborhood grocery store that will sell fresh and affordable food.
Vaccine hesitancy, not availability, now South Dallas’ largest barrier
Now that anyone who wants a vaccine can get one, the challenge is overcoming barriers such as internet access needed to register for the vaccine and transportation needed to get to appointments, plus the even more daunting barrier of trust.
Drive-by parade honors Bobbie Blair, 51-year early education teacher with ChildCareGroup
Bobbie Blair, lifetime early education South Dallas teacher is honored with a drive-by parad as she retires from 51 years of teaching at ChildCareGroup.
Live broadcasts, robotics team coming to Thompson, Dunbar schools
Paul L. Dunbar and H.S. Thompson schools in South Dallas received grants to support innovation in areas like leadership, technology, STEM.
Two fires char Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Museum in South Dallas
A couple doors down from the corner of Driskell and Wendelkin streets in South Dallas is what used to be a beautiful historic landmark, the Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Museum, now completely damaged from two intentionally set fires.
After the storm: Resources for South Dallas neighbors
Dallas Free Press has compiled a list of resources for South Dallas residents in the aftermath of the winter storm.
How some South Dallas families are navigating the pandemic
For many families in South Dallas, COVID has forced them to choose between sending their kids to school and facing financial and health risks, or keeping them home and dealing with isolation and learning loss.
Nearly five high schools worth of Dallas ISD students are MIA
Dallas ISD high school, middle school, and elementary students have missed days of school. Authorities presented a plan to address this.
‘Transformational’ news on South Dallas’ historic Forest Theater coming in February
“I’ve never seen the marquee light up before,” noted Elizabeth Wattley in a September 2019 podcast about CitySquare’s restoration of the historic Forest Theater. As a child, the theater was an icon Wattley knew well, and even though the Forest was unoccupied in much of Wattley’s remembrance, she still recognized it as “a landmark and a […]
Dallas: We need your input on news consumption and local media coverage
This Dallas Free Press survey will inform our community journalism efforts in South Dallas and West Dallas, and help our launching-soon local media collaborative determine its focus topic.
Zoning vs. small business: Three South Dallas stories
“The more things that we bring in that keep our residents in our community spending their money here, the more we create that ecosystem of a sustainable economy that is going to give back to this community, instead of all of our dollars being spent elsewhere,” says Councilman Adam Bazaldua.
Questions answered: South Dallas Fair Park Public Improvement District (PID)
Dallas Free Press recently asked questions about the South Dallas Fair Park PID to try to understand how these tax dollars are benefitting the neighborhood, and how COVID might be impacting the work.
South Dallas leaders press DART for curb-to-curb transportation service
A community survey showed that 45 percent of the people in the South Dallas zip codes of 75210 and 75215 don't have cars. Community leaders want to bring DART's GoLink service to the neighborhood.
