LOCAL Houston | The City Guide JANUARY 2016 | Page 6

LETTER
FROM THE
EDITOR

T

his is our Houston A–Z
issue. But one week into production
the attacks on Paris happened, and
a week later San Bernadino and
around the same time the failure of
HERO here at home. And all I could
think of – next to what a sad place for my children to have to live – was how can
we do this to one another? Why are we not more compassionate?

Photography by Sofía van der Dys

BEHIND
THE COVER

So one morning having breakfast tacos with Aimee Woodall of Black Sheep, talking
about all of this led to heading back up to LOCAL headquarters and scrapping the
original concept for this issue and replacing it with this diversity issue.
The faces on the cover are a mere sampling of why Houston is so special. We are
all the faces of this wonderfully, diverse changing city. And we all contribute to our
society. From being at-home mothers – you are raising the compassionate leaders of
tomorrow, teach them acceptance. To the entrepreneurs creating jobs for our growing
population – look at the middle-skills gap.
I love Houston’s openly all-inclusive attitude. We are all human; we were just born
into different circumstances and that can’t be controlled. Those of us born into a world
where we worry about a Facebook post have the responsibility to aid those worrying
about their next meal.
We are living in a tumultuous time on this planet, but we can’t lose faith in humanity.
We couldn’t have pulled this issue off without the support of Black Sheep and a special thank you to Associate Editor Ida Sameri.
This issue is dedicated to Dr. Keith Fredericks. Dr. Fredericks lost his battle to cancer
last month. He was my optometrist since I was 7. But he did more than make sure I
could see all the beauty in the world: he showed by example how to be kind. He
didn’t care where you came from and if you could even pay for your eye exam, he
just cared that you were comfortable.

Carla Valencia de Martinéz
Editor-in-Chief

6

L O C A L

| january 16

IN A MATTER OF DAYS WE WERE ABLE TO CONTACT AND GET ALL OF THE COVER SUBJECTS TO
TAKE 15 MINUTES OUT OF A MONDAY MORNING
TO COME AND BE PHOTOGRAPHED UP CLOSE
AND IN PERSON BY PHOTOGRAPHER CODY BESS.
ALL SHOWED UP HAPPY AND READY TO GIVE THEIR
PORTRAITS THEIR ALL AND WE COULDN’T BE HAPPIER WITH THE RESULTS! THE EVENING BEFORE THE
PHOTO SHOOT WE WERE ACTUALLY SHORT ONE
OF OUR NINE PEOPLE AS KEIJI HAD NOT REPLIED.
HE GOT BACK TO US IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
PHOTO SHOOT, AND AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT, HIS
OFFICE HAPPENED TO BE AT THE CORNER OF
WASHINGTON AVE. LITERALLY ACROSS THE STREET
FROM OUR STUDIO. SO AS I EXPLAINED WHAT WE
WERE DOING OUTSIDE IN FRONT OF THE STUDIO,
KEIJI WAS ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF HIS CORNER OFFICE WAVING AT ME. I HAVE TO BELIEVE
THIS ISSUE, THESE PEOPLE AND THEIR STORIES
WERE ALL MEANT TO BE.