Category: South Texas Stories

Community, South Texas Stories, Texas

Anime Fans flood first ever Star Con

David Phillips

Local artist group The Starving Artist Collective held Star Con, a one-day anime convention, at Portland Community Center on Sept. 5. The convention’s opening ceremonies began with a performance by the Corpus Christi Taiko Club. Throughout the convention, attendees could attend a Warhammer 40k speed-painting contest, a concert performance by Chrysalia, and a martial arts demonstration. While the convention hosts originally planned to have a One Piece TCG tournament, it was cancelled before the convention started. The convention concluded with a cosplay stage walk, first for kid cosplayers followed by adult cosplayers. Corry Berryhill won first place for the kid’s…

South Texas Stories, Texas

Corpus Christi local attends San Japan: South Texas’s largest anime + gaming convention.

Alondra Alonzo

On Labor Day weekend I got to see thousands of real-life anime, comic, and gaming characters being cosplayed, from down the streets to a packed convention arena for San Japan, South Texas’ largest anime and gaming convention. San Japan 17, held in downtown San Antonio at the Henry B. González Convention Center, had a final tally of 37,587 attendees for all three days. I attended with one of my closest friends, Jackie. We had previously attended Corpus Christi Comic Con 2026 together, and our mutual interests in anime and cosplay had us excited as we counted down the days to…

Community, South Texas Stories, Texas

Texas Rising Leads Park Clean Up

Webmaster

A recent city park cleanup hosted by Texas Rising had attendees questioning what changes could improve the park’s infrastructure. Last April, the Del Mar and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi chapters of Texas Rising adopted Doddridge Park through the city’s Adopt a Park program. The park is located at the intersection of Doddridge Road and Ocean Drive and runs along the bay. The groups host monthly cleanups every second Thursday of the month. Multiple volunteers had to dodge large potholes, or park in neighborhood streets to reach the park. Texas Rising Advocacy Field Organizer Jazymene Evans said the park’s parking lot…

Community, South Texas Stories

A Danza Prayer for Freedom

Victor Herrera

Local indigenous teacher of Mexica culture and traditions Adalberto Zanes was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month and now his community is meeting in danzas to pray for justice. On Sept. 13, the group performed seven ceremonial danzas over the course of two hours in the South Texas heat at Carroll Lane Park to pray and advocate for Zanes’ release. Zanes is the leader of Kalpulli Ehekatl Papalotizin, which translates to Venerable Butterfly of the Wind, a dance group that performs traditional Mexica indigenous dances which are considered forms of prayer. Many of the group members have been…

Community, South Texas Stories, Sports

Women rooted in faith gather in Corpus Christi

Isabella Skinner

Community initiative She’s Rooted hosted its first event, “Prayers & Pilates,” at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center on Aug. 20, featuring vendors and a guided Pilates class, with Church Unlimited present to take prayer requests and pray over the event attendees.  The event was announced on Instagram and TikTok on July 27, with the event initially supposed to take place at Cole Park. Attendees were required to RSVP.   Within 24 hours, She’s Rooted met a 500-person cap on RSVPs, prompting a venue change from Cole Park to the Ortiz Center in order to accommodate the new group size.  Flash forward to the event itself:…

Community, Featured, Features, South Texas Stories, Texas

Beyond Sex : Coastal Bend Kink Weekend

Victor Herrera

A three-day convention held in Corpus Christi this summer sought to educate, entertain and create shared community around one central unifier: kink. The event, Coastal Bend Kink Weekend, took place August 14-16 as a safe space for like-minded individuals to engage with a variety of kinks, attend educational lectures, and see physical demonstrations on how to best practice a particular kink safely and consensually. The evening hours featured entertainment and the Play Space, a dungeon area where people could engage in their kinks openly, though with strict rules: no cell phones, no one under 21 years of age, and perhaps…

Community, Drama, Entertainment, South Texas Stories, Theater

Beyond the stage: Robyn Valentine builds community through drag

Arianna Rios

A federal judge ruled Aug. 25 that Texas’ restrictions on certain drag show performances were unconstitutional. The ruling pauses the enforcement of Senate Bill 12, which restricts certain sexually oriented performances on public property or in the presence of minors, and had been temporarily in effect since March while the case was being appealed. For Corpus Christi drag performer and show producer Robyn Valentine, the challenges surrounding drag extend beyond legislation and into the local entertainment industry. “It has been more challenging to find venues willing to work with us,” Valentine said in a June 19 interview. “They’re afraid of…

Community, South Texas Stories, Texas

Texas Democratic Convention: Bernie Sanders speaks on the importance of solidarity

Priscilla Barba

The three-day Texas Democratic Convention had appeared to be the largest Democratic party hosted in Corpus Christi, Texas. The weekend was finalized with a speech from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders has been the senior U.S. Senator from Vermont since 2006 and is the longest-serving independent member of Congress in U.S. history. Since his early career in the civil rights movement protesting segregated campus housing, Sanders has fought for the middle class and equality. Sanders’ speech covered topics surrounding wealth inequality, healthcare costs, housing affordability, and the urgency for political and voting participation. The Hilliard Center arena was filled with…