Celebrating Black History Month: Alicia Andrews, first African-American leader of an Oklahoma political party

Alicia Andrews, born in Oklahoma City, became the first African-American of Oklahoma's Democratic Party, the first black leader of any political party in June 2019.  She graduated from OU with a degree in psychology, and worked in Corporate America, focusing on organizational design and process engineering.  She established a real estate practice in Tulsa, where she is today.

Drag Queen Story Hour - lovely ladies reading to children!

No obscure message here.  Drag Queen Story Hour is just that: Drag queens reading books to children in libraries, schools and bookstores.  As Harmonica Sunbeam says, kids are attracted to color and splashy things, so even if the story doesn't hold their attention, the drag queens do. 

Not only are they reading to children, creating a thirst for knowledge, they give the kids a safe place to learn about accepting people who are different from they are, explore themselves, help to prevent bullying, all while learning.

Starting in San Francisco, Drag Queen Story Hour events are taking place all over the country, including redder-than-red Tulsa, Oklahoma!


Read more at their website here:

Oklahomans elect a gay woman to the state senate!

I honestly did not think I would see the day that an openly gay person would be elected to any public office in Oklahoma.  But Senate District 37 in the Tulsa area elected Allison Ikley-Freeman, a lesbian who is married, to the state senate.  Way to go, Tulsa County!

However, according to ShareBlue.com, she is the third openly gay person to serve in the Oklahoma State Legislature.  Senator Al McAffrey and Representative Kay Floyd already serve.

It appears that Ikley-Freeman being a lesbian is down-played in the Oklahoma media.  Why is that?  Can we believe that those good ol' boys and gals think that it did not play any signficance in her election?  Could it be that they are finally accepting gays into politics?

Nah.  I'm sure they just don't want anyone to find out that a gay woman was elected.  Or that she is a Democrat.  Or that she wasn't endorsed by anybody yet still won. 

How is Brian O'Hara feeling this morning?


https://shareblue.com/oklahoma-elects-gay-married-woman-in-a-district-trump-won-by-39-points/
http://tulsabeacon.com/senate-candidate-a-democrat-is-married-to-another-woman/
https://ballotpedia.org/Allison_Ikley-Freeman
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/democrats-hopeful-oklahoma-legislative-seats-stake-51139896
http://newsok.com/the-latest-democrats-add-to-win-column-in-deep-red-oklahoma/article/feed/1513336?articleBar=1

More Oklahoma schools closing, eliminating teachers, because the House cannot pass a budget

Once again, our fearless leaders in the Oklahoma House of Representatives rejects a revenue package that “would have injected $342 million into next year’s budget”.  The package would have given Oklahoma teachers a whopping $1000/year raise.  It would hardly make a difference to teachers but it is better than nothing.  However, since the package failed, teachers will get nothing.

Now, school districts across the state are forced to make more major cuts to their budgets.  Enid school board has slashed next year’s budget by $1.8M.  Tulsa plans to close three schools to cut $12M, by consolidating five schools and eliminating 37 teachers.  Woodward and Muskogee are eliminating summer school and reducing staff to save $1M.  Fort Gibson is delaying hiring due to a $400K reduction in their budget.

House Bill 2414 includes a provision for gross production tax on oil and gas wells, but it only applies to new wells and will not affect next year’s budget.  Other proposed tax hikes were on cigarettes and gasoline, putting the onus on Oklahoma citizens to fix the budget.

Nothing is changing.  Legislators are still more concerned about oil and gas, and not education and students.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-school-districts-move-on-cuts-without-clear-budget-picture/article/5549452

http://newsok.com/facing-massive-budget-cuts-oklahoma-house-rejects-revenue-package/article/5549409?homePageWidget=1

Tulsa police officer shoots, kills unarmed black man

I'm usually supportive of the men in blue but this time, after watching this video, I'm not.  From what I saw, the unarmed man with his hands in the air was tasered BEFORE he was shot.  He was on the ground when someone claims shots had been fired.

I know there are two sides to every story but what possible motivation could this policewoman had to fire a gun at an unarmed, incapacitated man?

Anybody?

Tulsa World: "Surely Oklahoma has reached the tipping point now" - I seriously doubt it.

Ginnie Graham, columnist for the Tulsa World, wrote in today's issue that Oklahoma has reached a 'tipping point' or if not, is close to one. I don't share her optimism because there doesn't seem to be any indication Oklahoma politicians are going to change the direction they're headed. Down the toilet, where the minds of state officials reside.

Where are we going and why are we all in this handbasket?

Graham lists what the Oklahoma State Senate accomplished in one week:
1. Cutting $110M from the education system

2. Passing a Republican-sponsored illegal abortion bill, so "lawmakers are purposely passing bad laws to attract costly lawsuits"

3. A grand jury found that corrections officers were told “to Google” how to execute prisoners.

4. The parole board refused mercy for a man serving life without parole for selling an ounce of cocaine.

5. Passing bills to “adjust” the earned income tax credit, eliminating or reducing a break for about 200,000 poor, working families

6. Calling for the impeachment of President Obama and other federal officials and want a “religious” exemption on where people can take a piss.

Oklahoma politicos certainly does not have their constituents interests in mind, only their own.

Ginnie Graham: Surely Oklahoma has reached the tipping point now: Oklahoma sure had one embarrassing week. The state has to do better than what our elected lawmakers are giving us.

Oklahoma court: Sodomy Law not applicable when victim is unconcious. What could possibly go wrong?

Just when you think Oklahoma couldn't get any more stupid, they surprise you.  Sometimes, it's more shocking than surprising.  Oklahoma's highest court ruled:

"...the state's forcible sodomy law doesn’t apply when the victim is intoxicated or unconscious."

Seriously?

The ruling came from a court case in which a 16 year-old girl was at a party where people were smoking marijuana and drinking in 2014.  Her blood alcohol level was later determined to be 0.341, which is more than 4 times the legal limit.  A boy at the party gave her a ride home, but she was so drunk, she was taken to the hospital (by whom?)  When she came to, the staff at the hospital were conducting a sexual assault investigation.  The boy's DNA was found on her leg and around her mouth. The boy said she agreed to oral sex but the girl didn't remember anything.

Tulsa County prosecutors charged him with rape but the trial judge dismissed the case.

“Forcible sodomy cannot occur where a victim is so intoxicated as to be completely unconscious at the time of the sexual act of oral copulation,” the decision read.

What could possibly go wrong?  Yesterday, I was afraid of just being shot.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/27/oral-sex-rape-ruling-tulsa-oklahoma-alcohol-consent?CMP=fb_gu

http://oklahomawatch.org/2016/04/23/appeals-court-sodomy-law-doesnt-apply-to-cases-with-unconscious-victims/?mc_cid=21d51d9dc5&mc_eid=382675e0e7