Martin Luther King Jr.

Special Texas Edicion: Are There Any Mexican Virgins Who Wait Until Marriage?

And why do Mexicans use lard to refry their beans?

Billboards Say MLK Was GOP. Who Would've Thunk It?

Billboards in Austin proclaiming that Martin Luther King Kr. was a Republican are raising more than a few eyebrows. The billboard campaign was funded by Houston conservative activist Claver Kamau-Imani, who told Hair Balls that, despite many people's assumptions to the contrary, King was a GOP man, ... More >>

Keren Cytter's "Video Art Manual"

Artist displays her witty, eclectic and free-ranging brain at DiverseWorks.

Start the Revolution! 10 Songs About Historical Events

If you ever look at music throughout time, along with a history book -- they kind of complement each other. Some of the greatest songs in rock, R&B and rap have chronicled history both social, major news events, sports, entertainment and political. In my opinion, many times, the song is about what ... More >>

10 Best Modern Political Speeches

We'll be hearing a lot of great speeches this election season, but lets take a second to remember the true giants of political rhetoric. 10. Martin Luther King: I've Been to the Mountaintop King delivered this speech in Memphis, Tennessee the day before he was assassinated. After talking for a whi ... More >>

The 5 Best Disses of Religious Zealots in the Greatest Prayer-in-Schools Ruling Ever Written

Last week U.S. District Judge Fred Biery agreed to a settlement in a long-running case involving prayer in a Central Texas school district. His ruling got some ink, but perhaps not all it deserved, for it is a concise masterpiece of sanity that comes from one of the most turbulent, extremist arenas ... More >>

Phillip Little, 40, Pizza Driver Shot During Robbery, Bayou Body Count No. 170

Pizza driver killed in robbery.​A Domino's deliveryman was shot and killed during an apparent robbery on the south side of town last night. Phillip Little, 40, was found slumped over his steering wheel after an accident at the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Canterway, police ... More >>

Say Goodbye To Nine Houston Post Offices

Offices a-closin'​The U.S. Postal Service has announced it's thinking about shutting 3,700 locations across the country, many in small towns. But Houston would not be spared: A list of potential closings -- hilariously labeled the "Expanded Access Study List" -- shows nine sites in the city a ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Other Crushing False Quotes

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Football Legend Eddie Robinson: A Biography Wasted

​Eddie Robinson was one of the greatest head coaches in the history of college football. He overcame the misfortune of being born a black man in the Deep South during the worst years of Jim Crow to produce at Grambling one of the great programs in all of football history. He won over 400 gam ... More >>

MLK Boulevard, Houston: In Pictures

Photos by Dawn McGee​Today, of course, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It seems every American city of any decent size (and minority population) has a street named after him. Writer Rob Walker has a blog featuring pictures of MLK Boulevards around the nation. We decided to do our part.

A Protest Playlist For The March On Washington Avenue

​Saturday marks the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the huge civil rights rally in Washington D.C. where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. This rally is largely credited for helping to put enough pressure on Washington to pass the ... More >>

Common Leaves Us Hanging At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marco Torres​8:00 p.m.: There is a female behind the decks onstage. Aftermath loves seeing females who can hold it down on the 1s and 2s. She has a bedazzled Macbook and goes by the name of DJ Superstar. Go on with your bad self, girl. 8:10 p.m.: The audience is a bona fide rainbow ... More >>

A Playlist For Our Wetbacks in Arizona And For All Who Pray For Them

"It may well be that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition is not the glaring noisiness of the so-called bad people, but the appalling silence of the so-called good people."- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.​There's something so powerful about music. It gets us through life's bu ... More >>

Metro Board Meeting: Near Heart Attacks, And No One Cares What Frank Wilson Thinks Anymore

​The newish Metro board got a wild introduction to the Metro-loving public at its first meeting this afternoon, where one Houstonian got so worked up that he nearly collapsed and later was taken to the hospital. DeWayne Lark, the man that almost collapsed, was talking about the light rail construc ... More >>

The Texas Secessionist Movement Finds A Home

Photos courtesy Texas Nationalist Movement​Future generations will revere the spot. Yellow school buses -- spewing diesel, none of that bio-fuel shit-- will regularly stop there, giving the kids a slight break from their social-study classes on how Martin Luther King was a communist. For it is he ... More >>

(Very Possibly) Excerpts From The State Board Of Education's Curriculum Standards For The 2012-13 School Year

​There's been a whole lot of hooting and scorn from a nation who has watched as far-right-wingers have forced their odd, minority political views into Texas textbooks. There are some carping liberal complainers who think -- difficult as it may be to believe -- that Thomas Jefferson should be menti ... More >>

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Straight From the Sole: Thoughts on Michael Jackson's Death

You know Soledad. He's the vocalist from controversial Houston rap-metal act Daylight Coma. He's got a lot to say. Sometimes it's insightful, sometimes less so, but it's almost always said with conviction. This week, we asked him about the King of Pop's death. You're welcome to express your disdain ... More >>

Ron Paul, Bravely Standing Up Against The Iranian Revolutionaries

Photo by fixermarkCongress, which has nothing better to do than pass non-binding, feel-good resolutionsthat will have no effect, did just that today with a vote on a bill "Expressing support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of ... More >>

Remembering 1969, Part 1: Altamont, Rosemary's Baby, Santana at Woodstock and More

1968 might have been - at least politically - one of the most turbulent years of the '60s. Students rioted left - specifically, the Left Bank in Paris - and right against the war in Vietnam, while back home racial tensions escalated, especially after the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The po ... More >>

What's So Bad About That Bill White-MLK-Obama Ad, Anyway?

Ever since Isiah Carey broke the story on his Insite blog, most of the other media outlets in town have followed up with items on the allegedly offensive advertisement that Mayor Bill White took out in the Houston Defender, a black paper, for Martin Luther King Day.This is, supposedly, a terrible th ... More >>

Aftermath: The Jones Family Singers at the Rothko Chapel

Barnett Newman's "Broken Obelisk," dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr., outside the Rothko Chapel/ Image by A D Forman Note: Because Monday's performance was a religious service, no photography was allowed. Thanks to Monday's MLK Day and Tuesday's inauguration, among other reasons, Afterma ... More >>

Slideshow: Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade

Photo by Chris Gray This bright, blustery morning, Rocks Off ventured to Minute Maid Park to take in Houston's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, featuring Mixtape Messiah and Co-Grand Marshal Chamillionaire, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Rockets mascot Clutch, the mighty U of H and Willowridge ... More >>

Martin Luther King, Jr. Parades -- Take Your Pick Or View `Em Both

It takes two parades to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr, mostly because two Houston groups can't get along in the way that the Good Doctor advocated.But two parades mean twice the celebrating, and viewers got to enjoy Chamillionaire and others, all on a MLK Weekend that will never be fo ... More >>

MLK Day WonderWeek

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3rd Annual MLK Youth Parade

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Seven Ways To Tell When That Woman Plans To Drug And Rob You

It's a crime-wave that is terrorizing single, vulnerable men out for a simple night of fun on Austin's Sixth Street. Men powerless to defend themselves from their attackers. Stupid, stupid men.As the Early Show reported recently, six men have been robbed by a group of three or four women dubbed "The ... More >>

Turning the Screw: H.I.S.D., Trae, Lupe Fiasco, Prodigy, Soulja Boy, Roy Jones Jr., Ice Cube and More

“Interwoven Traditions: The Spiritual Journey from African to African-American” and “The Road to the Promised Land: Martin Luther King Jr. & the Civil Rights Movement”

Two exhibits examine the history of black Americans

“Rhapsody in Black and White”

The photography of Charles “Teenie” Harris documents the life of African Americans over 40 years

Five Songs for MLK Day

Rockets-Sonics Live Blog: Today at 1 p.m.

The MLK Day Parade

Two factions turn MLK Day into a competition

Drenched In Blog: El DeBarge Arrested? Somebody Notify Steve Guttenberg

Take a Guess

Stars and Bars

Fit for a King

Hail the King

Carrie On!

The American Idol finals inspire Beatlemania-like frenzies on the Richmond Strip

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This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Well-Dressed Rebels

Revolt of the operagoing socialites

Mighty Real

The boy who loved his stuffed rabbit too much

First and Foremost

After 21 years of arguing, Conroe still can't come up with an MLK tribute

Biggers Is Better

The inaugural exhibit at TSU's University Museum is a testament to the power of one

Drums of Injustice

Ensemble shows civil rights era through mental patients

Fecal Distraction

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