Hometown Glory

Don't disrespect the number: Why it's great that Houston is still No. 4

The Fab Four, of course

Sad, pathetic number four. If Houston was in the Olympics, it wouldn't get a medal or a trip to the podium. If we were a network, we'd be airing The Jay Leno Show. If Houston was a Baldwin, it would be Stephen.

Ouch.

Despite much anticipation and 14 percent population growth since 2000, the latest estimates show Houston has failed to overtake Chicago as the third most populous city in the country.

But if one is the loneliest number and bad things come in threes, maybe it's better to just sit back and enjoy being near (but not at) the top.

After all, four is a mystically significant figure.

According to numerology, as a four Houston is serious, honest, responsible, practical, a hard worker, and capable of creating systems and order. (We'll agree with all but that last bit.)

There are four seasons, four essential elements, four noble truths in Buddhism, four horsemen of the Apocalypse, four rivers in the Garden of Eden, four states of matter and four dimensions of space-time.

Comics have the Fantastic Four, The Beatles were the Fab Four, and great numbers of the population are currently standing in line to own an iPhone 4. Four rules.

Don't believe us? Throw a barbecue on the Third of July and see if anyone comes. They won't. Because regardless of when the Declaration of Independence was signed (that would be July 2, 1776, to be exact) this is a nation that lives to love the Fourth.

As as the perennial No. 4 city, we love it too.

The Fab Four, of course

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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.”