We like big buses

Transit Boyz aim to make METRO "cool" with dope lyrics and Avenue Q-style plushpuppets

If you, dear reader, haven't heard about the "Bayou City's little masters of Hip Hop," please allow us to inform.

The Transit Boyz are three baby-faced children of METRO employees, who lip sync alongside a trio of puppet Doppelgängers to Beastie Boys-esque raps about the benefits of public transit.

The campaign, which is simultaneously adorable and awful, is an attempt to "reach out to the next generation of transit riders and promote public transportation."

Ch-Chilly Chad, Jack Jack and Cool Hand Liam — fondly known as "The Boyz" — touch on ADA-compliant bus doors, METRO HOT Lanes and Nintendo games in their small catalogue of rhymes, and make bus transportation sound cool with such lyrics as,

Yeah, we like big buses
and we cannot lie
Cause the money that we save
Ain't pie in the sky

Watch the video above (there's also a giant panda involved), or check out more here, and let us know what you think.

Thanks, Queen Bey

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

Beyonce Super Bowl

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.”

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