Oklahoma Independent Media Center

Eighty-six years ago this month Oklahoma experienced one of its worst moments: The Tulsa "Race Riot" of 1921. It is a stain on our state's history -- a deplorable episode of racism, lawlessness, and corporate media irresponsibility.

Yet, as is often true of any dark tale, there is a shining story of heroism hidden behind the scenes. In this essay, a tribute is offered to the courage of Dr. Charles W. Kerr, a hero of Oklahoma's under-appreciated Culture of Peace.

The Quality of Courage
Charles W. Kerr, Peace Hero
by Bill Bryant

From a presentation delivered to the Morning Star Center for Spiritual Living -- Norman, OK; April 1, 2007

Thank you for inviting me to talk about Oklahoma’s Culture of Peace.

The May issue of Plenty Magazine features a profile of food activist Robert Waldrop and the Oklahoma Food Coop he founded.

Y’all Bon Appétit!
How a church choir master in Oklahoma staged a local food revolution.

Greg Palast, author of the new best-seller Armed Madhouse, as well as a past New York Times bestseller, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, gets interviewed by Sooner Thought blogger and podcaster, Alex.

As Alex notes, "Palast is best known in his native USA as the journalist who, for the Observer (UK), broke the story of how Jeb Bush purged thousands of Black Florida citizens from voter rolls before the 2000 election."

From TheHill.com:

By Robert B. Bluey
April 30, 2007

This is the first article in a weekly series, exclusively in The Hill, exploring the recommendations of the Sunlight Foundation’s Open House Project, which advocates online transparency in Congress.

Members of Congress are increasingly turning to bloggers as a way to communicate about public policy. Yet these citizen journalists who cover Congress lack what most mainstream reporters in Washington take for granted: access to the U.S. Capitol.

According to the Sunlight Foundation’s Open House Project, a collaborative and bipartisan effort to increase the House of Representatives’ online transparency, Congress can take several simple steps to improve transparency and foster a new spirit of openness. Giving bloggers credentials to cover Congress would be a groundbreaking way to shed light on the inner workings of government.