This past month, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols announced the creation of the Greenwood Trust, a $105 million private fund dedicated to repairing and restoring the Greenwood District, the site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. In an address rich with history and a call for shared courage, Nichols described the fund as the city’s next step in righting past wrongs and investing in a more just and equitable future. Let’s listen to this historic moment.
A young man locked up for a minor probation violation is dead—his body battered, and his family left in the dark. The case of MarQuiel Ross, a 24-year-old from Tulsa, raises serious questions about a broken prison system and the deadly consequences of a culture of neglect and mismanagement. Jeremy Kuzmarov has details.
In the conclusion of our broadcast of Tribal Justice: The struggle for Black Rights on Native Land (full story can be found on Audible.com), we hear about Michael Hill, Cherokee Freedman who was arrested by the Okmulgee Police in the fall of 2020. He fought to have his case transferred to tribal court because he's an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation. After all, this was right after the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision, which returned criminal jurisdiction to tribal nations in Oklahoma when they involve Native people-like Michael. But Michael's case was complicated-because of his status as a Black man with no blood quantum, his case did not qualify to be transferred. In this series, we've been exploring how centuries old laws have impacted people like Michael, and his brother Mikail, who was murdered in 2016. His case was transferred out of state court even though, like Michael, he is an enrolled Cherokee Freedmen. Listen as Allison Herrera and Adreanna Rodriguez conclude the story.
In the first months of President Trump’s second term, the phrase "constitutional crisis" has routinely made headlines, but for United States military veterans it’s not just another media buzzword. Across the country, a new movement has formed to give veterans a public forum to address concerns about the erosion of the federal government’s system of checks and balances and civil rights established by the U.S. Constitution. One town hall meeting was recently held in Enid. Venson Fields has the story.
Tulsa City-County Library’s, or TCCL's, annual summer reading initiative "One Book, One Tulsa" is in full swing. With the goal of promoting literacy and community conversations, the novel This Great Hemisphere by author Mateo Askaripour has been selected for the program. G. Vickers speaks with the author and brings us details on the program.
Focus: Black Oklahoma is produced in partnership with KOSU Radio & Tri-City Collective. Additional support is provided by The Commemoration Fund & Press Forward. Our theme music is by Moffett Music.
Focus: Black Oklahoma's executive producers are Quraysh Ali Lansana & Bracken Klar. Our associate producers are Smriti Iyengar, Jesse Ulrich, & Naomi Agnew. Our production interns are Alexander Evans, Jordan Sinkfield, Jessica Grimes, and Roma Carter.
