Inspirational Flight

U.S. Navy Blue Angels to fly over Houston in tribute to healthcare workers

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will fly over Dallas-Fort Worth on May 6.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Blue Angels

In a show of national solidarity, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels will fly over Houston on Wednesday, May 6. The flyover is part of a series of events the squadron has been doing around the United States over the past two weeks, dubbed America Strong, in a salute to honor healthcare workers, first responders, and other essential frontline workers as they combat COVID-19.

The local flyover will start at 12:30 pm in Montgomery County. From then, the Blue Angels will fly over the city of Houston, parts of Sugar Land, Katy, and Cinco Ranch areas then east and north into Jersey Village — and then southeast back over downtown and toward Galveston County. It will then move south to New Orleans. For a complete map of the flyover, click here.

The entire flyover will last a total of 35 minutes, so it's a blink-or-you'll-miss-them kind of event. Spectators are encouraged to watch the flyover from home in order to maintain social distancing practices.

The Blue Angels had been joined by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds on some previous flyovers during America Strong, but that squadron will not be part of this flyover. They will, however, participate in the upcoming Bell Fort Worth Alliance Air Show, taking place October 17-18 at Fort Worth Alliance Airport.

The Blue Angels are based at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. While the primary goal of America Strong is to show support for areas hard hit by coronavirus, the flights also fulfill critical training requirements the team, as pilots must have a minimum number of flight hours to maintain proficiency.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”