Welcome to Dallas South Blog!!!

Welcome to the Dallas South Blog, a forum dedicated to the discussion of all thing south of the Trinity River in Dallas, Texas. Although most of my blogs will focus on Southern Dallas, i.e. South Dallas, Oak Cliff, and West Dallas, there’s also room for discussion of the Southern suburbs. So Lancaster, DeSoto, Duncanville, and Cedar Hill may also be in the mix.

Having grown up in East Texas, my family and I made plenty of trips to the city; Big D, D-Town, The Metroplex. I got to know the city pretty well, at least the parts that surrounded Red Bird Mall. Weekend excursions during my high school years led my friends and I to prominent destinations like Kiest Bazaar, Big T Bazaar, Shamrock Skating Rink, the aforementioned Red Bird Mall, and the mother of them all: The Grambling-Prairie View Football Game at the State Fair. Throw in a yearly trek to Six Flags, and this was my view, my experience, my understanding of Dallas.

Upon Graduation from Texas A&M University in the late 90’s. I was eager to get a job and move to Dallas. Once I got here, I quickly realized how narrow and limited my view of the city really was. There was so much to see and do, I rarely made it to those parts of town that meant so much to me only 5 years before. The Galleria, North Park Mall, Dallas World Aquarium, Iguana Mirage, and Park Avenue, all got some of my newly earned cash, as well as my free time. But the glitz and glamour could not hide the fact that Dallas was divided, literally. I realized, as many have, that the Trinity River serves as a physical, and psychological barrier between the two sections of town. The world that I knew in Dallas South, was different than what I was experiencing in the North.

Over the last 9 years, I have had a growing interest in what politicians refer to as “The Southern Sector.” Most locals mistakenly refer everything south of downtown as South Dallas. They make no distinction between South Dallas, Pleasant Grove, West Dallas, North Oak Cliff, South Oak Cliff and the various neighborhoods that make up this part of town. With the majority of the city’s African-American population living in these very communities, it has been all too easy for the city to delay and renege on promises to develop the south. I hope that bloggers throughout North Texas, and throughout the country will weigh in on the topics that we discuss, as many of the nation’s urban centers are experiencing similar problems.

Finally, this blog will not be a place devoted to complaining and finger pointing, but rather a forum to increase awareness, purpose action that ultimately leads to positive outcomes. I will discuss the great progress being made by individuals, groups, schools, and businesses; stories not reported on the nightly news or in the papers. Our black youth in these communities (especially our black boys), are disproportionately at risk of dropping out of school, contracting sexually transmitted diseases, and receiving harsher judgments from the legal system. If we as Black Citizens of Dallas, don’t work to save them, I can promise you this: NO ONE ELSE WILL. So enjoy the Dallas South Blog, and let’s work not just to make noise, but to make a difference.

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1 Response

  1. Thelclardy says:

    Shawn, I would like to publicize our Best Southwest Bar Association’s legal clinic on April 28 from 9:00 – 12:00 noon at Church of the Disciple, 220 S. Cockrell Hill Rd., DeSoto, TX. It’s free and open to the public. Attorneys from our area will discuss family law, wills and estate planning, personal injury, consumer law, etc. to name a few. Please publicize. Thank you. Thelma Clardy, Attorney at law, 972-298-6001

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