An Old Friend In Distress

Running through the dead trees: "Enjoying" Memorial Park means watching the sadtorture of oaks

The signs of destruction at Memorial Park are impossible to miss.
Photo by Bill Van Rysdam
Trees are marked for death and ...
Photo by Bill Van Rysdam
the heavy machinery is in heavy use.
Photo by Bill Van Rysdam
It's stumps and anything but ...
Photo by Bill Van Rysdam
the Memorial Park scenes everything is used to experiencing in Houston.
Photo by Bill Van Rysdam
Photo by Bill Van Rysdam
Photo by Bill Van Rysdam
Photo by Bill Van Rysdam
Photo by Bill Van Rysdam

A dear old friend of mine is not doing well these days. I'm speaking of one of the largest urban parks in the United States, Houston’s Memorial Park.

This year’s historic drought has severely impacted much of Texas and Memorial Park has not been immune from its effects.

I often like to go for a run around the Seymour Lieberman Exercise Trail (a 2.93 mile run that is used by nearly three million health fanatics every year). You could not help but see the telltale orange tag on numerous trees that needed to be removed.

The gaping holes I saw were much worse than I ever imagined. It was as if an insane maniac with a chainsaw, hell bent on destruction, was let loose to do appalling damage.

I'd read the stories on CultureMap detailing how the Houston area is expected to lose 66 million trees due to this year's drought, 10 percent of the 660 million trees in the area, how Memorial Park could lose up to 80 percent of its trees itself. But the full impact of this did not hit me until I finally saw what the park looks like with the trees cut down.

The gaping holes I saw were much worse than I ever imagined. It was as if an insane maniac with a chainsaw, hell bent on destruction, was let loose to do appalling damage. These trees have survived hurricanes, ice storms and high winds, but finally succumbed to lack of water. More than 5,000 Memorial Park trees (mostly red oak and pine) are already scheduled to be taken down and removed.

During a recent run, I thought of the history the trees were witness to. Before becoming a park in 1924, the area was known as Camp Logan and was the site of a horrific riot in 1917 that resulted in the deaths of four soldiers and 16 civilians. In the end, a total of 19 men would be executed, and 41 were given life sentences.

It’s hard to imagine such violence took place where people now seek tranquility from the big city hustle and bustle.

Thankfully, the trees have also seen happier moments such as Arnold Palmer winning the 1957 Houston Open Golf Tournament (collecting a purse of $7,500), at the 18-hole Memorial Park Golf Course which opened back in 1936, along with countless picnics, family reunions, art festivals and people simply seeking refuge in a little bit of nature.

So where do we go from here? Henry David Thoreau said it much better than I ever could when he wrote these words in A Succession of Forest Trees:

"Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders."

I, for one, hope we have faith in new seeds and that future generations can expect new wonders for one of Houston’s magnificent gems.

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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.”