March 14, 2025
Mural Honors Two Extraordinary Black Women –Judge Zinetta Burney and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
If you’ve passed by the corner of Almeda Road and Ruth Street in the Third Ward lately, you may have noticed something new. A vibrant mural on the side of The Den cigar bar graces the street corner with the faces of legendary Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Judge Zinetta Burney. It’s the second mural Houston Southeast has sponsored as part of Up Art Studio’s Big Walls, Big Dreams Festival. The first was on the side of the old Alfreda’s Soul Food and features portraits of John Biggers, Barbara Jordan, Pastor Lawson, Mae Jamison, and Judson Robinson.
“Public art has the power to uplift neighborhoods and engage communities,” says Up Art Studio’s co-founder Elia Quiles. She and her husband Noah Quiles started the consulting and curating company 13 years ago in Houston but now do public art projects nationwide.
For this work, muralist Devona Stimpson was chosen to depict the duo, who were chosen by the district based on their vast contributions to the community.
Longtime activist and justice advocate Zinetta Burney passed in 2024 at the age of 83, leaving a legacy of justice for women and people of color. She founded the first African American woman-owned law firm in the U.S. in Acres Home. A native of the Third Ward, Judge Burney was also a justice of the peace and sat on many boards, including the University of Houston Board of Regents. She was a stalwart advocate for her community who often represented clients for free when they couldn’t pay.
Friend and former law partner Algenita Scott Davis was thrilled with the depiction.
“The mural is phenomenal,” she says. “They look like they could just walk off that wall. It’s fitting that there is a mural of her and Rep. Jackson Lee.
Sheila Jackson Lee was only 74 when she died of pancreatic cancer in 2024. She began her political career on Houston’s City Council and was a municipal judge before being elected ass Representative to the 18th Congressional District in 1995. Among her many fetes were being the lead sponsor on the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act and introducing legislation for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
Her widower Dr. Elywn Lee attended the unveiling of the mural on February 28.
“Sheila, ‘The Congresswoman’ as she was called often, though known as a national and international social justice warrior, never forgot her Houston home, nor Third Ward where she resided,” he recalls. “In addition to doing the wholesale tasks of bringing millions of dollars and resources home to the city, she did the retail unknown things like visiting countless individuals when they were sick or ensuring that a relative could get out of jail to attend a funeral, or a spending 45 minutes convincing a mother that she should allow her children to vaccinated. The family is honored by this mural tribute, and we know that Sheila would be especially proud, as we are, that Sheila shares the mural space with Judge Burney, a friend and another trailblazing female leader who shared her passion for making a difference.”
by Marene Gustin
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