Austin, TX
War & Treaty Call Out Cotton Plant Found in Festival Dressing Room: 'It Just Shouldn't Happen'
The War & Treaty have spent the last year gracing award show stages, garnering Grammy nominations, and even earning their first-ever platinum single. But for artists of color in the country and Americana space, success and acclaim doesn’t mean escaping the litany of microaggressions and racist assumptions built into these spaces of the music industry.
Last weekend, before performing at the Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Festival in Austin, the husband-and-wife duo encountered a startling sight in their dressing room: a cotton plant. The plant was simple green room decoration, but in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the duo discussed the ways in which the plant represented a larger issue of predominantly white spaces in the industry failing to make artists of color feel welcome or safe.
“We went back and forth, wondering if we should speak out on this incident,” the band said on Instagram, after the story’s publication. “Ultimately, we knew this issue was bigger than just us.”
In a statement to Rolling Stone, festival organizers apologized for what they called “an honest mistake.”
“We are disheartened that the artists were ever uncomfortable at last weekend’s event,” the statement reads. “There was no purposeful harm intended, and we sincerely apologize. Their concern was met with immediate action, including a heartfelt in-person apology, removal of the decor and a personal conversation with the artists by event organizers.”
In the interview with THR, Michael and Tanya Trotter detailed the cycle of emotions they were forced to feel after encountering the cotton plant.
“Anger is what I felt,” said Michael, a veteran. “Disrespect is what I felt. Sadness is what I felt. Sadness not just because of what that plant represents to people that look like me but sadness for myself because I am a son of this country.”
For Tanya, the daughter of a sharecropper, the thoughtless room decoration served as a harmful reminder of her family’s past. “ It’s not my position to educate anybody on what cotton is and what it represents in this country,” she said. “It just shouldn’t happen.”
Left unsaid is that of the ten artists playing the main stage over the two-day music festival, the War & Treaty were the only non-white artists amidst a lineup of white acts performing blues, soul, and rap. A representative for the Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Festival did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
The decision to speak out weighed on the group, now signed to a major label, that has developed a reputation (once they’ve tried to shed) of being feel-good cultural bridgebuilders ever since their 2018 debut Healing Tide. “We’re not the kumbaya cats that people may want to paint on us,” Michael Trotter told Rolling Stone in 2020. “We intentionally wanted to focus on healing with Healing Tide, but we might’ve given off the wrong impression in saying that we are the healers…We are the most hopeful cats.”
More recently, the band released its latest single, “Called You By Your Name,” a bluesy rave they performed last month at CMA Fest.
The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport just announced that Checkpoint 4 is finally open for general screening. Here’s what that means for upcoming travel plans.
The airport revealed the news in a Monday afternoon social media post. “Checkpoint 4 is now open at AUS for general screening,” the post reads. “Head to the far west side of the terminal for faster, easier access to gates 22 and up.”
AUS called the news “another step toward a more comfortable airport experience.” Travelers can find directions to Checkpoint 4 on the airport’s online map. It’s near popular concessions Vino Vino, Tacodeli, and Antone’s.
The airport also posted on Friday an alert about a detour that will run from Feb. 24-25, 11 p.m.-7 a.m. During that time, there will be an overnight roadway closure due to Yellow Garage construction.
Note that rental car returns and rideshare/taxi pickups should use the Red Garage entrance. Rideshare, taxi, and rental car pickup locations will be the same. Drivers should follow all detour signage and staff directions.
The airport is currently working on a multi-billion dollar expansion project that will allow it to keep up with regional growth and routinely shattered passenger records. Last year, the airport served a total of 21.6 million arriving and departing passengers, and added four new nonstop destinations and 21 new nonstop services.
Eventually, the expansion project will result in 32 new airline gates, a new concourse, Concourse A redevelopment, expanded airline ticket counters, new amenities, a larger baggage claim hall, a centralized TSA security checkpoint, and a mobility lounge.
If approved by City Council, the expansion project cost could rise to over $5 billion as the scope continues to be refined.
Get ready to park it. Over the next 10 weeks, patrons at participating Downtown businesses will be eligible to receive free or discounted parking as part of the Downtown Patron Parking Pilot.
The partnership between the Downtown Austin Alliance and Austin Convention Center is meant to boost accessibility to nearby businesses during the convention center’s redevelopment.
Visitors will be able to receive two hours free (or discounted parking for longer visits) at Second Street Garage and Fifth Street Garage all day Sunday-Thursday and until 4 p.m. Friday + Saturday.
Participating businesses include Antone’s Nightclub, Revolución, Nica on 4th, El Cockfight, Elephant Room, The Creek and The Cave, HokkaiSan, Skipjack Oyster, Speakeasy Austin, and Sunset Strip Comedy Club. See the full list.
AUSTIN, Texas – The numbers are in, and the 2026 Cupid’s Chase 5K held on Valentine’s Day set a participation record both locally and nationally.
Start of the Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
CBS Austin Chief Meteorologist Chikage Windler served as the Honorary Chair of the Cupid’s Chase 5K.
CBS Austin’s Chikage Windler served as the Honorary Chair for the Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
After helping to start the race, she also ran it.
CBS Austin’s Chikage Windler with Community Options Executive Director Rebecca Tisthammer at the Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
The 3.1-mile race benefits Community Options, Inc., a nonprofit that supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Austin’s Community Options Executive Director Rebecca Tisthammer says the race proceeds are used to host celebrations for individuals, like parties to bring together host homes, group homes, and community support agencies. They celebrate holidays, have social outings, and take field trips.
CBS Austin’s Chikage Windler with Asa, one of the individuals served by Community Options. Asa helped give out medals and awards to Cupid’s Chase 5K finishers. (photo: Chikage Windler)
Tisthammer says, “It’s important for individuals with disabilities to not be isolated in their sub-communities, but to be able to find a place in their larger society and to feel needed, wanted, and capable.” Several people being supported by Community Options helped distribute medals at the race. One individual named Asa greeted runners at the finish line and helped with the awards ceremony.
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Tisthammer explained that “for him, being a part of the bigger community was such a valuable experience. All day, he had a purpose, and he had a chance to feel useful and included.” She adds, “He and the other individuals who got to help that day left with a deeper sense of belonging and connection. That’s what the race was really about: bringing that need into awareness.”
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
This year’s Austin race was held on Valentine’s Day, with 365 runners and walkers braving the damp weather at Camp Mabry.
The start of the race was wet enough that some participants used umbrellas to stay dry. Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
The route led runners and walkers past several historic military aircraft on permanent display at Camp Mabry.
The race route gave participants the chance to run beside the historic military aircraft lining the track at Camp Mabry.{ } (photo: Chikage Windler)
It was a record field locally and nationwide, with over 17-thousand participants in Cupid’s Chase races across the country.
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Next year’s race is set for February 13th, 2027. The Austin race will once again be held at Camp Mabry.
Cupid’s Chase 5K (photo: Chikage Windler)
Learn how to volunteer or support Community Options, Inc.: https://www.comop.org/
Find out more about Cupid’s Chase: https://www.comop.org/cupidschase/
Cupids Chase 5K (video: Chikage Windler)
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