West Dallas mom appointed to city’s new environmental commission
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“I’ve always had a heart for justice, and I love to root out injustice.”
This statement is the heart of community journalist Shardae White’s interview with Esther Villareal, a West Dallas mother, teacher and gardener who recently was appointed to the city’s new environmental commission by District 6 Councilman Omar Narvaez, who represents our neighborhood.
Villareal lives, coincidentally, in Victory Gardens, and when she’s not rooting out injustice, she’s rooting out weeds from both her home garden and from the West Dallas Multipurpose Center’s community garden.
Villeareal believes her neighbors in West Dallas are tired of environmental racism.
“And they’re stepping up. They’re getting courage, and they’re getting tools, and they’re being empowered to stand up and say, ‘No longer are we willing to raise our children next to factories belching out smoke 24/7 and noise pollution.’ “
Read the full interview.
Lea la historia en español.
Next Wednesday, L.G. Pinkston High School students will enter their new campus on Greenleaf at Bickers for the first time, and the old Pinkston on Dennison and Hampton will fully belong to the West Dallas STEM school.
This year the school houses only seventh- and eighth-graders, but next fall, preschoolers, kindergartners and first graders will join them. West Dallas families have priority admission to the school, but any families who want their children to attend must enter the Dallas ISD lottery by Jan. 31.
The school has been years in the making, and is a joint effort by Dallas ISD, Southern Methodist University’s Simmons School of Education, Toyota USA Foundation, and — all three partners emphasize — the West Dallas community.
Read the full story.
Lea la historia en español.
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Keri Mitchell has spent 20+ years as a community journalist, including 15 years dedicated to community and civic journalism at Dallas’ Advocate magazines. She launched Dallas Free Press in early 2020 with the belief that all neighborhoods deserve reporting and storytelling that values their community and holds leaders accountable.
Mitchell says she is energized by “knowing our work is making an impact — listening to people, telling their stories with strong narratives paired with compelling data that leads to change. I also love spending time in our neighborhoods and with our neighbors, learning from them and working to determine how journalism can be part of the solution to their challenges.”
Mitchell is proud to be the winner of multiple awards during her journalism career including: Finalist in Magazine Feature Reporting (2018) and Finalist in Magazine Investigative Reporting (2017) from Hugh Aynesworth Excellence in Journalism, Best Feature Story (2011) from Texas Community Newspaper Association and Best Magazine Feature (2011) from Dallas Bar Association Philbin Awards.
Areas of Expertise:
local government, education, civic issues, investigative and enterprise reporting
Location Expertise:
Dallas, Texas
Official Title:
Founder + executive director
Email Address:
keri@dallasfreepress.com
