2019 Oklahoma Conference Of Churches Day At The Legislature

Representative Munson accepting award from Reverend Fleck

The Oklahoma Conference of Churches hosted its annual day at the Oklahoma Legislature on February, 25, 2019.  The Reverend  Shannon Fleck welcomed the attendees  and said that it has been an event that has been taking place for more than three decades.  She introduced Senator George Young of Oklahoma City   who spoke of how honored he was to participate in the gathering  and how such meetings constitute “democracy   in action as citizens meet with their elected legislators  He told of how former House Speaker Kris Steele was present and would be the keynote speaker   in the forum and would give a presentation  that will detail the ongoing  efforts to improve the Oklahoma criminal justice system.
Steele  currently serves on the Oklahoma Parole Board and as executive director of the Education and  Employment Ministry . At his direction, a paper was distributed to the attendees  that demonstrated that Oklahoma has the   highest incarceration rate in the nation. He said that Senator  Young represents the best of Oklahoma and that he was responsible for the initial reforms that liberalized the state’s drug possession laws. “We are   here today because  we believe in second  chances and grace and  mercy”, Steele stated . He thanked the attendees for their willingness to believe in hope and said  that it takes courage to do so.
Oklahoma  doesn’t  have more criminals than other states, but  its  high  female   incarceration rate is driven in large part  by domestic violence and  domestic  abuse, and  more than 60 %of female inmates  in the state have been victims of it and other forms of trauma, and that they do  not  receive  the treatment they need to adequately  deal with those traumas,   which often leads  to antisocial behavior on their part. We are not doing enough to address these  pathways to female incarceration, Steele said.
The more we spend on incarceration  the  less  money we have to spend on education, the former speaker said, but he went on to assert    that “We are  now  starting to reap the rewards of the seeds planted by groups such  as the Oklahoma  Conference of Churches. And voters approved measures that mandated that people with  mental health issues relating to drug abuse are offered services”
A  panel discussion on the subject of criminal justice reform followed   that included Oklahoma County District Attorney  David Prater who spoke of his support for background check for those who wish to purchase  firearms in Oklahoma. He said that before  he became  a police officer he had  had 80 hours of training in the use of firearms, and continuing such  education during his years on the force.  “Weapon retention” is now an important part of the curriculum in the police academies, and Prater expressed concern  that the proposed  policy of allowing open carry in public places  in Oklahoma would be  perilous  for public safety and that there would be a danger  of people who are openly carrying firearms  having  them  forcibly taken   from them and possibly being used against them and others who may be present.
Public policy analyist  Damion Shade  told the attendees that  the Oklahoma   Court system  that relies on funding from fees from offenders will eventually be found unlawful by court of lawful  jurisdiction.  The current system in which the state’s district attorneys  rely  in large part from funds from those that they prosecute constitutes a conflict  of interest that is of dubious legality as a result  He also lamented the fact that   80% of criminal  defendants are indigent, but  the system relies on them for funding  through  fines and costs assessed.   Lack of access due to mental health and  substance  abuse  services is harming  rural white citizens of  the state.
An award was bestowed on Representative Cyndi Munson, who was the first Asian- American elected to the Oklahoma Legislature,   and Reverend Fleck told the attendees that she had won the award due to her courageous advocacy on behalf of the less fortunate  in  a variety of areas including the criminal justice system. In accepting the honor Munson told of how she is guided by her deep religious faith which motivates to work on behalf of the underprivileged.

Nominees For Oklahoma Main Street Awards

Restored soda fountain at Foster’s Corner Drug in Perry.

Transformational Mural  in Durant

“Every seven seconds another German soldier dies in Stalingrad,” was the message in German that was  heard from loudspeakers that the Russian defenders had put in place during the epic battle that took place for control of that city in 1942 and 1943 during the Second World War.
And in recent months visitors to downtown Claremore, Oklahoma have been the recipients of a less grim message from a series of loudspeakers that play a variety of music that fill the area with sound. That development was the result of a program put in place by the Claremore Main Street program  that was known as “Music on Main” that is the nominee for an award that will be bestowed by the Oklahoma Main Street Division of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce in Oklahoma City, and it and the other nominees  from other communities around the state are a reminder that not all of the renovation and innovation that is ongoing in Oklahoma is confined to the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas.
The Duncan Main Street has transformed the bland silver traffic boxes that line its downtown by placing images from that community’s history on them and also oversaw the  cleansing of a benches that are in place there.
In the early 1980’s,  Judge Kenneth Reed of   Noble County in Perry , told a young attorney about the occasion on April 12, 1945   when he left his law  office on the town square and went to the adjacent Foster’s Corner  Drug Store, which was founded shortly after the opening of the Cherokee Strip 1893,  for a late lunch at that establishment’s  soda fountain. When he returned, he found his secretary crying hysterically. When he asked her what had happened she replied  “President Roosevelt  has died.” And due to the  painstaking renovation and research  done by the Perry Main Street patrons can now sit at a restored   soda fountain at Foster’s Corner Drug  and enjoy a décor and atmosphere  that  is comparable to the one that  the future  judge enjoyed  on that memorable  day.
Many of the nominees involve painted murals of the type that are increasingly found throughout the nation.  The community of Durant has completed ten murals in its downtown area, and it has  been reported that some individuals took selfies of themselves in front of those works of art when they were still being painted and many more have done so after they were completed and that those selfies are  now found throughout Southern Oklahoma and North Texas. One of those murals  is titled “Transformational Mural” and  is somewhat  reminiscent of the colorful work of American  artist Peter Max  that was popular in the 1960’s.
The parties who will judge the nominees are scheduled to meet later this month, and their findings will be announced at a Main Street dinner that will be held later this year.

OLFC Gathering At The Chickasaw Community Center In OKC

Oklahoma Lawyers for Children  held its Winter gathering  at the Chickasaw Oklahoma City  Community  Center on 39^th Street in Oklahoma City on February 15,2019. The  attendees were welcomed by Tsinena  Thompson, the executive director of OLFC, who thanked them for their attendance and their willingness to provide volunteer legal representation to children in the juvenile courts. She also thanked the Chickasaw  Nation for its cooperation with OLFC and allowing it to utilize the Chickasaw  Oklahoma City  Community Center. The program began with a  panel discussion by a group of individuals who are affiliated with organizations that work with children who spoke of the services that they provide. Jim Priest of Sunbeam Services told of how  that organization provides services to families in need including  counseling services for children.  He told of how the myth of the  durability of children has been questioned  in recent years, and said that children who experience trauma and told the attending volunteer attorneys that they can contact him at any time to seek his assistance.
Sara Rahhal  of Northcare  told of how that entity provides services for  children and  families  throughout the state of Oklahoma, and that includes  crises counseling  They also provide “wraparound” services for children who that includes a variety of different treatments for children that need them.  They also offer  programs for children in DHS custody who are in the process of aging out since they have reached their 18^th birthday.  Palomar Services works  to assist  victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Anden Bull of that organization told of how  it officially  opened   two years ago, and how the programs it offers have benefitted families and young people.  Susan Stewart of Family Builders explained  that that  agency works to end family violence and offers a successful  incarceration deterrent for both adults and children. “ Oklahoma leads the nation in what is known as “adverse childhood experiences,” Stewart said, but that efforts are  now being made to address that problem. She spoke of how grandparents who are raising grandchildren are often empowered by that experience and develop more self confidence as a result, and that Family Builders has programs that provide guidance to those grandparents. “Hope for the future” exists to assist children in foster care, Clotiel Howard told those present, and  told of how  it  provides a safe environment for parents to visit with their children during visits  that benefits both the children and their parents
Amanda Mitten of the OU Health Science Center On Child Abuse and Neglect  addressed the attendees on the subject of childhood trauma and treatment for it.  She provides treatment to traumatized children from the age of 3 to 18. The Center provides training to counselors  throughout Oklahoma through a grant for the Oklahoma Department of Mental  She differentiated between trauma as natural, such as illness and  accidents and loss of loved ones,  and human made, such as violence and abuse.    Children who are traumatized who have a tendency towards mental illness tend to suffer from it as a result. Level of support children have through their  community and family   often determine  how resilient they are and whether or not  they can overcome the trauma inflicted on them. The children she treats who have a strong social network often have quick recoveries from such  trauma  Children’s behavioral responses  to trauma include   avoidance, hyperarousal, and  the continued  experiencing of  the  traumatic event.  There are often also  negative cognitive impacts that it make it difficult for such  young people to trust others, including those who are seeking to help them. Failure to address these issues often result in misdiagnosis, Mitten said,  and  that those  children are often  labelled as suffering from attention deficit disorder or bipolar condition and are placed  on medication for those disorders that do not improve their condition. Licensed mental health professionals  can perform trauma assessments  on children who concerned individuals believe may have been traumatized.  The assessment can be done at Oklahoma Child Trauma Assessment Centers. The therapist estimated that 80% of young people who receive the appropriate treatment are  vastly improved.

Gopuram Indian Restaurants In OKC

Early last month the New York Times published an article written by one of its premier food writers, Brett Anderson,  that detailed how an Indian restaurant, the Saffron Nola, that is located on the trendy Magazine Street in the food obsessed city of New Orleans has created a new  version of the gumbo that  New Orleans and southern Louisiana are  famous for. The owner of that establishment, Arvinder Vilkhu, was quoted as saying that he  first became acquainted with gumbo decades ago when he interviewed for a chef’s position in a New Orleans  hotel, and concluded that it could be improved by the  addition of  some classic Indian ingredients such as curries and spices, and that he told his family years ago that “if we ever have a restaurant we must have curried gumbo.” A photo showed some of the different spices that are placed in that unique  dish. It was further reported   that that  Indian influenced concoction is much in demand at Saffron Nola, and that it  is “bright with ginger, turmeric, and cilantro.” Whether or not those additions were also the result of a shrewd marketing strategy on the part of Vilkhu was not revealed. But it seems that Oklahoma City’s premier Indian eatery, “ Gopuram, Taste of India,” has resisted the temptation to venture out of the flavorful fare that the Indian subcontinent is historically  known for. It has been reported recently that chicken tikka  masala  has  in fact replaced fish and chips as the most popular dish in the United Kingdom,  and judging by the line in place on the Gopuram’s buffet before that particular dish it has developed a following in Oklahoma’s capital city as well.  Gopuram  currently has two locations, one at 412 S. Meridian off of Interstate 40, and the other is located at 4401 W. Memorial across from Mercy Hospital, and it appears  that they both  offer substantially the same fare that originated in northern and southern India. As a result of the British colonization of much of the African continent, Indian traders and laborers and their families were a presence there, and  visitors to Africa today often express surprise by the number of businesses and restaurants that are operated their by people of Indian descent. And both Gopuram  locations frequently host  African immigrants  who can be heard speaking in accented English and often conferring with one another in their native languages.
In the early days of what has become known as the “Bollywood” film industry of India, before it had attained the professionalism by which it is known today, it was reported that characters on screen would often break into song and dance routines   that were not related to the plot of the film they were appearing in, and some foreign critics wondered if the actors in question were possibly under the influence of strong drink. And the  Meridian location includes a bar that dispenses a wide variety of  beers, wines, and liquors from India that may explain the sudden and spontaneous  merriment of those actors  that includes a strong brew that’s label bears the iconic  name “Taj Mahal.”