For decades, Candace Wicks has seen the good the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center can do.
Some of her first memories of the 10.5-acre South Dallas campus are volunteering with her church to hand out free meals to the area’s unsheltered community — a service she says is “just one of the many” examples of the center’s critical work.
But she said she has watched the center also make do with limited resources.
“I like to say — and it has been quoted several times — that ‘we make bricks out of straw’ here,” said Wicks, a vice chair appointed to the center’s advisory board, which she has served on for nearly 10 years. “This is one of the most underappreciated locations in the city.”
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Wicks thinks that is starting to change: On Thursday, she joined a crowd on the campus to celebrate a $2.5 million earmark to benefit the center — federal funding that will go toward improving the facility and kickstart work before a forthcoming renovation approved by Dallas voters this spring as part of a $1.25 billion bond package.
The campus, originally called the Crossroads Community Center, opened its doors in February 1969 as the city’s first multi-service community facility. The Dallas City Council renamed the facility after Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1975.
Since then, the center has become a hub for services and educational and cultural enrichment in South Dallas. It was the venue for nearly 30 events and hosted nearly 200,000 visitors last year, according to a report from the center’s advisory board.
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U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, paved the way for the $2.5 million earmark. The earmark to the South Dallas center was the largest allocation the first-term representative directed as part of the fiscal year 2024 Appropriations Bill.
Crockett, whose district includes South Dallas, said her office received requests for more than 70 projects seeking funding in fiscal year 2024. Her staff reviewed the proposals and made recommendations based on the parameters set by the Republican-led House.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua (left) reacts towards towards Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, during an event, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Dallas. Rep. Crockett presented a check representing $2.5 million to Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Dallas as part of the Community Project Funding her office secured within the Appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2024.(Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)
The bill passed earlier this year.
“I looked for spaces in which I felt, ‘if we don’t do this, I don’t know that this gap will get filled,’” Crockett said in an interview. “The MLK center is kind of one of those that falls into a bit of a unique category … I was concerned the gap may not get filled.”
Wick said that upcoming improvements to the center include accessibility enhancements.
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Nearly four years ago, Wicks fell ill with a life-threatening sickness that resulted in sepsis. She survived, but the harsh treatments took a toll on her body. She now uses an electric wheelchair — something that has changed her perspective using the center.
“Not to say that I wasn’t already aware, but it’s changed how I view it,” she said. She added that she saw the $2.5 million earmark as “a prayer answered.”
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua, who represents District 7, where the center is located, described the earmark as “more than an investment in a building.”
“It’s an investment in the future of South Dallas,” he said.
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Something I have come to realize is that if you are a Dallas Cowboys fan around the age of 40 (a little room for flexibility at the top) or younger, you have only gotten the bad in this. Your friends, family, co-workers, etc. all tease you and mock you when your team loses and for the majority of your life, for all of your adult life, that has been the case.
You get the treatment that fans of the Los Angeles Lakers or New York Yankees get in terms of meme-ability but without any sort of hardware to make crawling through the mud worth it. Consider that each of those teams are dealing with droughts of their own, the youngest of which was born when Dallas’ was already 14 years old.
It is for this reason that when CeeDee Lamb said following Monday night’s loss that teams are looking to “embarrass” the Cowboys that I found it interesting. I’m not here to act like playing the Cowboys “is so and so’s Super Bowl”, but I do put some stock into the idea that opposing teams smell blood in the water so to speak and know that a domination against America’s Team lives a little bit louder than most. Consider all the fanfare that the New Orleans Saints picked up earlier this season as a recent example.
These are just my two cents though so I was curious how someone who has actually been in those shoes/cleats feels about the whole thing. Thankfully I had an opportunity to talk to former New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz earlier this week and asked him about the idea among other things.
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You can watch our conversation here:
Cruz’s Giants team won the Super Bowl 13 years ago when Dallas’ drought was already 16 years old (I’d imagine Jerry Jones bought them a brand new Mercedes for the occasion). They famously defeated the Cowboys in an NFC East title game in Week 17 at MetLife Stadium, the first of three in a row that Dallas would lose to each of their division rivals. I lived those three years like every one of you and still cannot believe that they actually happened in that exact way.
The Murphy’s Law of who the Cowboys are speaks for itself in that what can go wrong will and while Cruz didn’t exactly agree with that particular sentiment, he did note that playing the Cowboys comes with a little bit of extra motivation. He added that playing for the Giants brings with it a big stage in and of itself, an objectively true statement, and said the right things about how you want to embarrass anybody you play because it’s the NFL.
Whatever the case you can add Cruz to people who at least partially share the sentiment that CeeDee Lamb offered on Monday night. The whole thing is depressing and it is hard to know when it will end.
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Cruz and I discussed a variety of things, including his recent partnership with Captain Morgan and a particularly sweet new crewneck.
Starting November 22, limited quantities of the Captain Morgan Crewneck will drop on KidSuper.com. Miss the drop? You’re in luck – Captain Morgan is unlocking access for fans 21+ to score the coolest merch of the season. Head over to FollowTheCaptain.com, and while you’re there, dive into a world of hidden clues and surprises, because you never know what Captain Morgan has in store as we gear up for Super Bowl LIX.
Our thanks to Victor Cruz and Captain Morgan for the time.
When Brock Purdy took over as the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Trey Lance was left without a spot. That led to a trade with the Dallas Cowboys, who sent a fourth-round pick to the 49ers for the former North Dakota State quarterback.
Adding Lance wasn’t a bad idea on the surface, since he was the No. 3 overall pick in 2021. The problem was that Dallas gave up a fourth-round pick when it appeared there were no serious contenders for Lance.
The trade doesn’t look any better given the fact that Lance is sitting on the bench while Cooper Rush starts in place of an injured Dak Prescott.
MORE: Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy comments on Giants’ release of QB Daniel Jones
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Despite this, Stephen Jones believes the team made the right move. While speaking on 105.3 The Fan, he even said they would do the trade again.
Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones on @1053thefan when asked about getting the return on investment in trading for Trey Lance:
“Yeah, we’d do that again. He’s a top tier pick. A guy we had at the top. Dak (Prescott) was coming up for contract. We wanted to take a look at a good, young…
Ironically enough, the Cowboys said repeatedly that adding Lance had nothing to do with Dak Prescott. Now, Jones is admitting that was a factor in their decision.
Dallas also never truly gave Lance an opportunity. He was the inactive third quarterback all season in 2023, with Rush playing in garbage time games. Not only did they get no look at him during his first season with the franchise, but he’s now only played in spot duty.
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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images
Lance has completed 4-of-6 attempts for 21 yards with one interception. He’s also picked up 17 yards on three attempts.
Such a low usage proves the coaching staff doesn’t believe Lance has the ability to be a starter. Even so, Jones would do the trade all over again.
— Enjoy free coverage of the Cowboys from Dallas Cowboys on SI —
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The Stars had the best road record in franchise history last season.
Looking back, it’s difficult to pin down exactly why.
Obviously, this is a good team and had the second-best overall record in the NHL, so the 26-10-5 mark away from home was a big part of that. But as they try to follow that up this season and are off to a 4-4-0 start on the road, there is no real magic formula they can return to.
“We just have to play our game, it doesn’t matter where we are playing,” said Duchene. “You guys always look at the home and road and think there’s something to it, but there’s nothing to it to us.”
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The Stars have an 8-2-0 record at home, including one “home” loss in Tampere, Finland. Last season, they sometimes struggled at home, including a 4-6 mark at American Airlines Center in the playoffs. So how is it they are having such a great start this year?
“It’s hard to say,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said when asked about the issues on the road. “It’s like our home record this year. It’s not like we’re doing anything different, we’re just winning games. When I look at our road games this year, we’ve played some really good teams.”
Among the road losses are Florida, Winnipeg and Washington – three of the top 10 teams in the league. That’s important as they head out on a three-game road trip with contests against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. Both are traditional Eastern Conference powers.
“It’s a great test,” DeBoer said. “In the next five games, we have Colorado, Winnipeg, Tampa and Carolina, top teams in the league. So those are great tests for us.”
That can be a huge portion of the midseason for the 12-6-0 Stars.
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“I think it can be a turning point,” said goalie Jake Oettinger. “We’ve had an up and down start. Our record is pretty good but I don’t think we’ve played our best yet. These are some great tests on the road.”
Did Oettinger have an explanation for posting an 18-6-2 road record last season?
“Personally, for me, you need to be able to weather storms and close out games,” Oettinger said. “Those are all things we can get better at this year.”
Doing it now would be ideal.
“I always think we have our best against some of those top teams,” said Duchene. “We love that challenge, because those are the teams we’re going to need to beat if we want to achieve our ultimate goal.”
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And as for finding specific reasons for wins away from home? Well, the reasons are pretty much the same no matter where you are.
“Hockey is hockey,” Duchene said. “We have a great game plan. I’ve talked about how well-coached we are. We know what the recipe is for ourselves and we make adjustments to whoever we’re playing. We’re well prepared and it’s up to us as players to execute.”
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