A tribute to our friend, Raul Reyes Jr.

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“When are we going to become the Dallas we keep talking about?”

This was one of Raul Reyes Jr.’s catchphrases. The first time I heard him pose this question was in early 2020 at a preliminary meeting for what would become Dallas Free Press. Some people in the room were stuck on the details, but Raul, as always, wanted to make sure we didn’t miss the big picture.

And for him, the big picture was always West Dallas. He grew up here, raised his family here, and poured out his life for the community. His oft-repeated question challenged the notion that we live in a “world-class” city. How could that be when he and his neighbors still had to fight every day, just to survive?

Raul died unexpectedly Tuesday, leaving an unfillable hole in West Dallas. The night before, he was at a community meeting — one of thousands he attended over the course of his life.

The founder and president of West Dallas 1 was the ultimate coalition builder, always bringing people to the table and trying to create harmony among dissonant voices. He knew his neighbors didn’t always agree with him or with each other, but he continually emphasized that “we have to work as one.”

“West Dallas, 75212, comes first,” he would preach. In the face of rapid gentrification, his biggest fear was that West Dallas would end up just like Little Mexico — no more than an obscure plaque stating “We were here.” If West Dallas neighbors let the powers-that-be pit them against each other, “that’s it — we gone.”

The only thing he prioritized above his “West Dallas family” was his immediate family. In recent years as he struggled with health issues, he reflected on why he had devoted his life to West Dallas, and it boiled down to the legacy he would leave his children: Raul, Dahlia and Reagan. “All of this,” I remember him telling me, “it’s for them.”

His family will host services to celebrate Raul’s life starting next Tuesday, March 5, with visitation from 2-8 p.m., a eulogy at 5 p.m. and a Rosary at 6:30 p.m., all at Calvario Funeral Home. Then on Wednesday, March 6, is an 11 a.m. chapel service at Calvario followed by the procession to Calvary Hill Cemetery.

Dallas Free Press will host its own tribute to Raul at Mama’s Daughters’ Diner on Irving Boulevard. Please join us for a cup of coffee next Tuesday, March 5 at 10 a.m., to raise a toast to the man who regularly held court from the back corner.

“The diner” is where Raul first invited Dallas Free Press into his community. “We need you in West Dallas,” I remember him telling me. “We need the record.” I met him there time and again over the last five years, sometimes for a dose of wisdom, others for a gentle reprimand, but always for the good of West Dallas.

We miss you already, my friend. Thank you for dreaming big and for inspiring us to dream with you. It breaks our hearts that you will no longer be with us to usher those dreams into existence, but please know that the work will continue.

As you always reminded us, “Only through change can progress be made. Let’s begin …”