June 2018

The Sheriff is running his jail without much oversight. The Tulsa County Jail Authority does nothing. The Sheriff recently tried to impose additional sanctions on interpreters that didn’t apply to other visitors such as clergy. This was seen as an effort to make legal representation more difficult.

after one year of teaching 6th and 7th graders that represent diverse racial backgrounds, it has become starkly clear to me that simply stating that we have made progress in terms of racial equality ignores the reality that many Tulsans face every day.

The City Council must hold public hearings to investigate the Equality Indicators report’s findings of racial disparities in TPD’s arrest and use-of-force practices.
It is simply unacceptable to recognize inequities without offering any action to address them.

Without partnership schools like Greenwood Leadership Academy, some African American students could end up back in low performing schools that surround Greenwood Leadership Academy. These students, especially African American students, have a higher probability of landing on the infamous school-to-prison pipeline at a lower performing school. Oklahoma currently ranks at the top in the nation for incarceration.

Oklahoma’s election year is bursting at the seams with contenders, with 794 candidates filing for public office in April, more than two dozen of whom are teachers. The candidate pool is the largest in at least 20 years.

That massive group races toward a June 26 primary, and the state’s top seat is up for grabs. In the hotly contested gubernatorial election, a runoff election is expected in August on the crowded Republican side, until one candidate receives at least 50 percent of the vote.

The future of Oklahoma will quite literally be in the hands of those who choose to pick up and fill out a ballot on Tuesday.

And fatherless homes have decimated African Americans at a significantly higher rate than any other race. Nationally it stands at 73% and while I couldn’t find a specific number for Tulsa, it is likely very close to the national trend.