Society and HBCUs: A Noteworthy Partnership

The musical introduction is by Bobby Bradford, alum of Huston-Tillotson University.

Black students. Black professors. Buildings that bear the names of prominent blacks in the community. A thirst for knowledge and culture unquenchable by any other establishment. This is a list of things one might experience walking around the campus of Huston-Tillotson University, or HT, the only historically black college/university in Austin. Since its establishment in 1881, the convergence of Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College has always stood for more than just another college because it represents the strive for excellence in the Black community.  Austin has so much racial and socioeconomic segregation (as seen through the strategic placement of Interstate 35) that it benefits from HT because of the culture, history, and opportunities it presents to not just Blacks, but everyone.

The cultural aspect of HT is also one that is of benefit to society. HT offers both sororities and fraternities that have strong roots in African American history and advancement. These sororities and fraternities, while they act as sister and brotherhoods to establish lifelong friendships, bring forth a tradition that spans back almost a century – stepping. Step shows put on by different Greek organizations throughout universities and throughout cities are to exemplify a non-academic standard of excellence. Stepping represents a non-traditional form of dance and expression highly common in the Black community that dignifies a sense of unity within Black Greek life that be seen throughout the university as a whole which trickles into the life and culture of the city.

The Passing Away of Mount Bonnell

Since ancient times, people have been continuously expanding their living space though transforming nature lands into places that are suitable for living. Nowadays, even though more and more people began to be aware of the importance of protecting nature, there are still some places that began to disappear as their environmental elements in the city vanished because of the rapid economic development. For example, Mount Bonnell, a beautiful place in Austin, is facing such threat right now as the nearby areas develop so fast that it cannot maintain its purity and becomes urbanized.        

Generally speaking, Mount Bonnell is a unique place for both local people and tourists to visit and hang out. It is free and open to anyone. Everyday, couples, old people, families, and tourists from different countries come to this highest point of Austin to get an overview of Lake Austin and downtown. Looking all the way to the city, one can see the giant buildings standing up straight like soldiers under the sky. Turning to the other side, one can see the most impressive sunset in Austin as the blue sky gradually turns red and fades into darkness, matching with the sprinkling Colorado River under the sunshine. Leaning against rocks and tress, people often watched the sunset quietly and serenely as they cannot find any words to describe.

Moreover, There are many trees surrounding the Mount Bonnell, too. Tress are like fences that separate people from the outside world. People have to walk by themselves for 125 stairs though those fences to get to the top. Maybe the symphony that the echoes of their footsteps and the songs of birds play captured them. People smiled peacefully during their walks, even though there is no excitement but rocks and trees.
There are many couples when it is time for sunset. Lying on each other's shoulders, couples share rocks near the cliff edge, leaning in to whisper to each other and listening to each other's heart. Some even make paintings and marks that symbolize the magic of Mount Bonnell. Once, there is A legend predicting a couple will fall in love on the first visit to Mount Bonnell, become engaged on the second visit, and marry on the third visit.  

But surprisingly,  Mount Bonnell used to be an important military site. In 1839, general Johnston actually used Mount Bonnell to fight and protect the laborers from attacks of Indians and Mexicans. Without the mount Bonnell, the constructing of new capitals might not be as simple as it was. Yet, this history has been long forgotten because technology now is so advanced that mount Bonnell, with only 775feet, has little significance in term of military focus. An airplane can easily fly across Mount Bonnell and deliver a fatal missile to the city of Austin.

Unfortunately, Mount Bonnell's unique nature character might face similar tendency. In the last twenty years, Austin had changed dramatically. Since 1980s, hundreds of houses were constructed around Mount Bonnell area, including the million-dollar houses beneath the cliff and that of on Mount Bonnell districts. This land has an incredible value because people can enjoy the most beautiful natural view from here. Building a house here not only symbolizes the uniqueness but also represents wealth and success. From the map of Austin, one can clearly identify its change from almost blank land into a crowded pile of buildings. Although some people may argue that those houses make the nature theme looks even better, but in the long run, this area might be filled with buildings as Austin developed. people will be forced to move out and build larger apartments when downtown can no longer hold all populations. Imagine seeing a pile of skyscrapers when one is looking at sunset, how strange and boring will that be? Therefore, eventually the construction will ruin the attractions from Mount Bonnell and fewer and fewer people will come. Hence, people will gradually turn Mount Bonnell for other purposes, since there is no point of keeping it. It may sounds incredibly imaginary, but this is actually happening.  Fewer people know Mount Bonnell now, and people pass by quickly for which the view has no difference from that of in the cities.

Will people just erase Mount Bonnell as they forget the military aspect of it?  No one can be sure about that. But it raised a larger question. How about other nature parks that are far away from downtowns? Who is going to say "no" to protect those lands when economic developments stuck by limited spaces? Is it true that nature will never remain the same as people are taking over? People seriously need to consider the environmental aspect of the city.

Whole Foods Market: A Local Dream Becomes Global

Heading north down Lamar Boulevard late one Tuesday night, the bright lights of downtown Austin light up the dark sky all around me and create the strange phenomenon of a night nearly as bright as the day. The fluorescent lighting of trendy shops and high-rise apartments guide me as I take a right onto W 5^th street and turn into the parking lot of Austin’s urban mecca of hip healthiness-Whole Foods. 

In 1978, things weren’t too great for John Mackey. The 25-year-old hippie had dropped out of college with his then-girlfriend, Rene, and was $45,000 in debt after borrowing money to open a small natural-foods store. He and Rene had just been evicted from their apartment and had taken up residence in their shop, using a hose attached to a dishwater when they needed to shower. But just two years later, things turned around for John—his store, called Saferway (a joking jab to the popular chain Safeway), was doing well and had been noticed by two other local Austinite grocers. The three became partners, and in 1980 they opened the first Whole Foods Market in Austin, Texas. 

Whole Foods’ humble origins are one of the reasons why the chain’s popularity and size are both interesting and inspiring. Going from one 12,500 square foot store to a publicly traded NASDAQ company worth more than $2.4 billion dollars and present in more then 330 locations worldwide in just 30 years is not something many can claim to have accomplished. Whole Foods’ success must be in some part attributed to the health-conscious Austin community. Not many other cities would have fostered an organic foods market as lovingly as Austin did, which in the late 70s-early 80s was just beginning to become known as a place focused on healthy living. In fact, after a large flood that destroyed the store in 1971, it was local customers who did the repair work themselves. Austin’s current most popular Whole Foods Market, located on N. Lamar, is over 80,000 square feet and 4 stories tall, and would require millions of dollars and months of construction should a flood ever come its way. However, according to the Whole Foods website, “Though much bigger in size, the store retains the charm and accessibility of our first location, with an intimate, village-style layout and passionate, attentive Team Members eager to assist our guests.”

Excerpted from the podcast "Whole Foods," available at the top of the page! 

Giving While Receiving

Giving While Receiving 

The major element that defines a city is the people who inhabit it because the diverse people and cultures tie the city together and make the city unique. In Austin Texas, it’s all about being lay back and helping one another to better the community. The people are from different places all over the world. Many Mexican immigrants come to Austin for a better life. Being in a foreign country and learning a new language is very difficult and close to impossible with no help, but thanks to programs like Any Baby Can (ABC) Austinites show off their true colors improving the community by helping immigrants with math, reading and writing, in both spanish and english, for elementary through high school levels. 

These Austin volunteers come from all over , such as, St. Stephen’s and St. Andrew’s students all the way to UT’s Spanish Society. The volunteers are connected to the community and are determined to improve it.  Not only does ABC have a literacy program, but they have programs such as: parenting education program, nurse family partnership program, healthy and fair start program, and the childhood cancer program. All of ABC’s programs are made to help and better families all over Austin. 

The difference volunteers make in people’s lives connects them more to the community and are an inspiration to others. When I first came to America, I was lucky enough to have teachers and friends that devoted their time teaching me english. They were an inspiration for me to help immigrants at ABC. In The Arrival by Shaun Tan, the foreigner coming to the unknown seems lost and confused just like people who go to ABC. But by the end of the novel, the foreigners daughter sees a young lady with a suitcase which seems lost. The little girl understands what the young  lady is going through and helps her find her way around, just how people in Austin do. Volunteering and improving the community has become a part of Austin’s culture. 

DKR is Austin

DKR without people - a rare sight

A little bit more familiar sight - DKR filled to capacity and then some

There’s no professional sports team in Austin because the University of Texas is essentially a professional franchise. Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium and Joe Jamail Field, the football stadium is one of the largest in the country with over 101,000 people. In fact, it is larger than the two professional football stadiums in Texas. Longhorn football has taken on a life of its own. According to CNN, in 2010, the program made $94,000,000 in revenue and almost $69,000,000 in profit, the most in college football by close to $17,000,000.

The construction of the new north end zone

College football is unlike any other sport because of the passion that surrounds it. College sports are so different from professional sports because each university represents that geographic region with the majority of kids going to high school in that state. The programs are much more localized than the 32 professional NFL teams. College teams also do not pay the players, so the players seem more human than the superstars of the NFL that make millions per year. Recently, Penn State has been in the news because the football program became larger than life and untouchable. This is a common fear for any big football program, and Texas football is as big as it gets.

An aerial view of DKR

The Pennybacker Bridge: Downtown Pride Spreads to Westlake

The Pennybacker Bridge, also known as the 360 Bridge, is located on Lake Austin in Westlake. Although it is not directly located in the heart of Austin, it still contributes to the atmosphere of the city. The cliff overlooking the bridge not only offers an aerial view of the bridge itself but also reveals Austin’s downtown skyline. The bridge is a brown, steel arch bridge that connects the north and south ends of the capital of Texas Highway, also known as Loop 360. Although the bridge itself is not particularly stunning, the view driving across the bridge is unmistakable one of the most scenic views in Austin.

The main purpose of the Pennybacker Bridge is to provide a way of transportation for cars to cross Lake Austin. However, the design of this bridge gives drivers the opportunity to appreciate the scenery of Austin as well. The bridge’s rustic color helps it blend in with its natural surroundings in order to emphasize the view and encourage drivers to admire. The man-made bridge does not take away from the nature that encompasses it but, in fact, draws attention to the scenery of the area.

            The Pennybacker Bridge shows the pride of Austin resident spreading throughout downtown and into suburban parts of Austin as well. Not only can those living in Austin boast about their famous trailer park food, take picture by the “I Love You” wall on SoCo, or take a trip to 6^th street, but they can also show off the breath-taking view and natural beauty of the Pennybacerk bridge.

The Pennybacker Bridge is an important part of Austin because it reveals a glimpse of the natural beauty the city has to offer. Often times, urban residents overlook natural beauty because they are accustomed to spending pleasure time in the “city scene.” This bridge allows for residents in Austin to appreciate the green, rolling hills and smooth, blue lake as a vital part of the city as well as the downtown scene. The bridge is an example of Austin’s spirit spreading not only through downtown but throughout Westlake as well.  This man-made development ironically brings out one of the many amazing locations Austin has to offer. 

Pennybacker Bridge at Dusk

Austin's Farmer's Market

The Sustainable Food Center of Austin, Texas is a non-profit organization that arranges four weekly Farmer’s markets, where vendors pay a small fee to sell their fresh and local products to the Austin Community. While organizing Farmer’s Markets they also provide a wide array of community services ranging from school gardens to their Happy Kitchen program or “La Cocina Allegre.” The Farmer’s Markets runs on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays in accessible areas around Austin for communities searching for fresh produce. These Farmer’s Markets are strong community builders that provide healthy, sustainable foods to the greater Austin.

Families bring their children to play in the designated child area filled with a foam child’s playscape.     

This is the Gardener’s Feast tent, which sells healthy, all-natural, and homemade tamales that come into your hands steaming hot with the smells of creative tamales stuffing floating off. Owner Mariana Peredes sells her tamales at the markets weekly. 

Tucked between condos and high-rises, the one-acre Republic Square Park regularly provides an escape where people can meet up with friends, walk their dogs, and attend regular movie nights and yoga classes.

Executive Director of Sustainable Foods Center, Ronda Rutledge sits at a tent filled with pictures celebrating what the program has done for the Austin Community. 

The Market provides a strong sense of the Austin community by offering a central area for Austin Citizens to relax and buy fresh, local, and healthy foods.

A Walk in the Park: The Story Of Zilker Park in a Podcast

"Long after our cities are condemned and destroyed, our parks will stand as a testament of the serenity of our weekends to distant trespassers."

-Benson Bruno

In the 1960s, Jane Jacobs, an activist interested in urban communities, theorized that parks, contrary to most municipal politicians’ beliefs, are not beneficial to a city. Jacobs wrote that parks are not useful because they do not offer a city center for diverse events and people to come together and bond the city. Jacobs, however, never came to Austin, and never saw Zilker Park, a hub of culture that gives Austin a unique flavor and soul. 

Jacobs believes that streets are beneficial to cities because they house businesses and therefore communities. However, Zilker Park is home to many small local businesses. Near Barton Springs, there is a small kayak and canoe rental place. I asked the people working there a couple of questions about the park and their work. The business had been in operation for a long time, which is a testament to Zilker's year-round popularity. The workers also had positive things to say about the variety they see in their customers. 

The boats of Zilker Park Kayak Rentals. Source: http://www.freeaustinfun.com

Zilker is indeed a diverse community. Located in the heart of the city, Zilker attracts people of all kinds. On one given Sunday, many different people were out enjoying the natural beauty the park offers. A Hispanic family celebrates a birthday at one of the picnic tables, two Chinese students from UT talk as they walk the Town Lake trail, and an elderly white couple orders food from a snack stand. Zilker’s diverse visitors prove Jacobs wrong yet again. Neighborhoods tend to house only one demographic, while Zilker has served Austinites of many varieties since it opened in the 1930s. 

Diverse group of college kids enjoy a picnic in Zilker
Source: http://thesiftedlife.files.wordpress.com

Zilker is valuable to Austin because it offers so many different activities for the Austin community. City wide events like the Kite Festival are held there, along with smaller events like soccer games and beach volleyball tournaments. Austin was named one of the top ten fittest cities in America, and Zilker Park helped create that image.  Zilker Park is home to the famous Town Lake Trail, which attracts about 1.5 million visitors a year. Every day, people in the Austin community run and bike the ten mile loop. Big fitness events like the Livestrong Bike Challenge are hosted by Zilker, and the sounds of people finishing the strenuous race for the cure could be heard all over the park. 

Another feature of the park is Barton Springs. Barton Springs is a natural spring, and people have been swimming there since the 1940s. Though the springs average a chilly 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the people of Austin come from far and wide to enjoy the springs. Barton Springs was segregated for a short period of time, but soon the spring was entirely open to all Austin citizens, illustrating Austin’s socially innovative history. Interestingly enough, one side of Barton Springs requires a fee to enter, and the other, less developed side is free to the public. Some regulars say that there is a new disparity now days, as teenagers and young adults congregate on the free entry side while families and older people prefer the calm of the pay to enter half of the springs. Despite this de facto separation, people of all varieties are here on this lovely fall day enjoying the chilly waters. 

The event that has gained Zilker Park the most fame is the Austin City Limits Musical Festival. Each fall, Zilker hosts about 90 musical performers and roughly seventy thousand music fans from Austin and beyond. Nicknamed ACL, it captures Austin by featuring local artists and selling food exclusively from local Austin restaurants, often under the “Keep Austin Weird” moniker, In the past, the festival has been criticized for not being racially diverse in the artists included in the line up. However, in recent years, the festival has diversified and invited a wide range of artists, including Kanye West, Norah Jones, Stevie Wonder and Esperanza Spalding. With it’s widening pool of genres, ACL has also attracted a more diverse group of attendees. While the high ticket price keeps some people away, most people don’t mind paying high prices to be immersed in Austin’s lively music scene. The festival also attracts a wide age range: older music fans flock to here old favorites like the Eagles while kids younger than ten can get in free with a ticket holding adult. Thanks to this policy, the park fosters an appreciation of the unique Austin music scene in people from a young age. Environmentally, the festival has tried to minimize it’s footprint by selling shirts made from recycled materials and selling boxed water rather than bottled water. Each year, the festival changes and improves, impacting Austin in a special way. The people I interviewed at the eleventh annual festival had nothing but positive things to say about the festival. 

View of Austin skyline from Zilker during ACL. Source: http://www.mymilestone.com/

Zilker Park’s most positive attribute is it’s availability to kids. Jacobs believes that kids benefit from a street focused community because it offers free space to grow and play. However, Zilker Park does just that, but in a natural environment. Zilker features a playground, which is free and open to all children. A small train called the Zilker Zephyr runs a small loop around the park every thirty minutes for a small price, which is often a favorite amongst the kids. 

The kids benefit from this environment more than they would from a city street environment because the space is designed for children and is exclusively designated for them, keeping them safe and happy. As kids turn into kids at heart, they can use other aspects of the park for recreation. Teenagers flock to the park on sunny afternoons to play pick up soccer games, throw frisbees have picnics on the grounds. Zilker is valuable to Austin because it’s useful and accessible to Austinites of all ages.

Zilker Train. Source: http://www.livemom.com/

Austinites are known for their attachments to their fluffy friends, and Zilker accommodates that special relationship by designating a “leash free” space for dogs to run around, play with their masters, meet other dogs and splash around. Unlike a city street, the park provides the perfect venue for human and animal interaction, creating a space for a largely dog loving community to convene. A strict policy on poop pick up keeps the park clean, and many Austinites and their dogs happily utilize the space. 

Austin's Scoop the Poop campaign in Zilker

Around dusk on Sunday, the park begins to clear of its visitors. In the blazing sunset, families pack up their cars, joggers down a last cup of water, and kayaks and swimmers retreat from the water. As the people of Austin leave, the grounds of Zilker Park truly illustrate their beauty. The park seems to visibly settle down from the day’s activity and return to a state of natural beauty and rest. The sunshine reflects on the water, and I am reminded of what a gift this park truly is. Every day, the city of Austin has the privilege of enjoying a natural place in many different ways, and the park is better because of it. The people who have been profoundly affected by this space have bettered it, with the creation of the playground, maintenance of the Town Lake Trail, and the countless people who have donated their time to keeping the park available to the entire community. Jacobs may have said that a street culture is the best way for a city to thrive, but looking at the grounds of the park and being immersed in the beauty of the diverse space, I have to disagree: I can think of no better way for a city to thrive than in the sunshine of the versatile and breathtaking Zilker Park.