The Tulsa Voice | Vol. 6 No. 17

A U G . 2 1 – S E P T . 3 , 2 0 1 9 // V O L . 6 N O . 1 7

T E E NAG E DREAM K ids to d ay, i n t he i r ow n words p2 0

+ MENTORING TOMORROW’S BLACK LEADERS P12

+ TEEN ART FROM QUARTZ MOUNTAIN P22

+ TEEN PREGNANCY IN TULSA P26

+ YOUR FALL FESTIVAL GUIDE P28

paradise never sounded So Good.

Tickets On Sale Now Mary J. Blige AUG 23 Pepe Aguilar Sep 5 Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo Sep 6

40th Anniversary tour

Sebastian Maniscalco Sep 12 Dwight Yoakam Sep 19 Gabriel Iglesias Sep 20 Midland Sep 21 Tony Lewis Sep 23 From the Outfield

Live Music

Friday & Saturday Nights Starting at 9 pm in 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar and at 10 pm in Margaritaville!

Visit margaritavilletulsa.com for a complete schedule.

81st & RIVERSIDE • (888) 748-3731 • RIVERSPIRITTULSA.COM 2 // CONTENTS

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

oneok field session 1 | 12pm - 3pm session 2 | 5pm - 8pm Session 2 attendees will receive a free ticket to the Roughnecks game vs. Sacramento Republic.

in partnership with THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

tickets available at mcnellie's pub locations, elgin park & beerfests.com ticket includes tastings and a souvenir cup over 80 breweries on site!

CONTENTS // 3

KIDS TODAY P20

BY CLAIRE SHERBURN, MAX LIEBERMAN, MARGO STARR, TASNEEM AHMAD AL-MICHAEL AND TTV STAFF

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // Vol. 6, No. 17 ©2019. All rights reserved.

A new generation, in their own words PUBLISHER Jim Langdon

QUARTZ MOUNTAIN MAGIC

EDITOR Jezy J. Gray ASSISTANT EDITOR Blayklee Freed DIGITAL EDITOR Kyra Bruce

BY OKLAHOMA SUMMER ARTS INSTITUTE STUDENTS

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Madeline Crawford GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Georgia Brooks, Morgan Welch PHOTOGRAPHER Greg Bollinger

P22

Teen artwork from the 2019 Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute

AD SALES MANAGER Josh Kampf CONTRIBUTORS Tasneem Ahmad Al-Michael, Cydney Baron, David Blatt, Charles Elmore, Angela Evans, Barry Friedman, Greg Horton, Jeff Huston, Lyndsay Knecht, Fraser Kastner, Max Lieberman, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute Students, Alexandra Robinson, Joseph Rushmore, Claire Sherburn, Margo Starr, Jessica Vazquez, Holly Wall

A KIND CAMPAIGN P26

BY LYNDSAY KNECHT

For youth advocates in Tulsa, promoting health is more than preventing pregnancy

The Tulsa Voice’s distribution is audited annually by

Member of

FALLING FOR TULSA P28

BY TTV STAFF The Tulsa Voice is published bi-monthly by

44 autumn festivals Bella. Digital archive print, 18x24. | NATHANIEL BLACK, PUTNAM CITY HIGH SCHOOL

FOOD & DRINK

NEWS & COMMENTARY 7 EPIC FAIL

B Y DAVID BLATT When schools are operated as profit-making ventures, the interest of students won’t come first

8 HUMANITY AND HUBRIS

B Y BARRY FRIEDMAN

Searching for Jim Inhofe

16 DELICATE DANCE

BY ANGELA EVANS Southern Italian fare takes the stage on Cherry Street

18 SINGLE SERVINGS

BY GREG HORTON Private barrel selections bring exclusive booze to T-Town

10 MORE THAN CATCHING BABIES

B Y HOLLY WALL New Midtown Midwife clinic focuses on ‘well-woman care’

12 LEADER OF MEN

B Y CYDNEY BARON David Harris continues a legacy of mentoring young black Tulsans

14 BURN BOOK

B Y FRASER KASTNER Oklahoma cannabis businesses vs. Facebook ‘community standards’

ETC. 6 EDITOR’SLETTER 38 THEHAPS 42 MUSICLISTINGS 47 THEFUZZ + CROSSWORD

MUSIC 40 TEENAGE RIOT

B Y KYRA BRUCE Graveyard Party are the young heroes Tulsa needs

41 ‘ LIQUID SWORDS’

B Y KYRA BRUCE

Bubbles and Flow pairs hip-hop and saison

1603 S. Boulder Ave. Tulsa, OK 74119 P: 918.585.9924 F: 918.585.9926

ARTS & CULTURE 34 THE BABE WITH THE POWER

B Y ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Nicole Byer on being real, telling jokes and flipping the script

TV & FILM

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

44 FORTUNATE SON

B Y CHARLES ELMORE

Send all letters, complaints, compliments & haikus to: voices@langdonpublishing.com

Privilege, race and trust are front and center in Luce

FOLLOW US @THETULSAVOICE ON:

44 BORN IN THE U.K.

B Y JEFF HUSTON Springsteen inspires a Pakistani-Brit teenager in new coming-of-age indie

WHEN WE WERE YOUNG 12 FIRST POLITICAL ISSUE YOU CARED

ABOUT AS A TEENAGER

B Y JESSICA VAZQUEZ

A U G . 2 1 – S E P T . 3 , 2 0 1 9 // V O L . 6 N O . 1 7

T E E NAG E DREAM

19 FIRST RESTAURANT JOB

B Y ANGELA EVANS

K ids to d ay, i n t he i r ow n word s p2 0

36 FAVORITE COMEDIAN AS A TEENAGER

B Y ANDREW DEACON 40 FAVORITE SONG AS A TEENAGER

B Y TTV STAFF 45 FAVORITE MOVIE AS A TEENAGER

B Y JEFF HUSTON

4 // CONTENTS

PUBLISHER Jim Langdon PRESIDENT Juley Roffers CONTROLLER Mary McKisick DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Amanda Hall RECEPTION Gloria Brooks

+ MENTORING TOMORROW’S BLACK LEADERS P12

+ TEEN ART FROM QUARTZ MOUNTAIN P22

+ TEEN PREGNANCY IN TULSA P26

+ YOUR FALL FESTIVAL GUIDE P28

ON THE COVER Andrew. Digital archive print, 18x24.

PHOTO BY BAILEY RIGBY, COLLINSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL.

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Celebrate the man, the song and the Okie From Muskogee legacy 50 years to the day on the same stage, inside the Muskogee Civic Center with special performances by Ben Haggard & The Strangers, Ricochet and more!

Tickets are true to the 1969 price of $3, $3.50 & $4, or choose the VIP Expierence for $50.

www.VisitMuskogee.com THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

CONTENTS // 5

editor’sletter

I

’m an “old Millennial,” meaning I remember dial-up internet and watching The Office in real time. I was a freshman in high school on 9/11, and I graduated from college shortly after the financial crash of 2008.

Over the last decade, my younger cohorts and I have been portrayed as entitled, industry-killing brats as we trudge through an economy that doesn’t work for us. We have 300 percent more college debt than our parents, far less social mobility and little hope that the safety net we pay into will be there for us if we ever retire.

Incoming college freshmen in the U.S. have never known a world without mass shootings, endless war and the existential threat of a planet in death drive.

Most were born in 2001, the year the towers fell, and were first

graders when capitalists blew up the world economy. The years since—including 18 of the 19 hottest on record—have brought heavier student debt, grimmer job prospects and a historic levels of income inequality crashing down on their heads.

It is, to be sure, a rotten inheritance. The real twist of the knife, though, is the animosity from the very people handing them the keys to this busted jalopy of an American life. From the Parkland activists to climate warrior Greta Thunberg, young people who dare to imagine a better world for themselves are frequently met with mockery and dismissal by adults who won’t be alive when the powder keg they’ve assembled finally goes off. “[The Green New Deal] will not pass the Senate, and you can

take that back to whoever sent you here and tell them,” Sen. Diane Feinstein scolded a group of children who gathered in her office to press the California Democrat on taking bold climate action. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years. … I know what I’m doing. Maybe people should listen a little bit.”

This issue of The Tulsa Voice features young people in their words. Guest editor Claire Sherburn, a recent Holland Hall grad who is off to J-school at Mizzou this week—go Claire!—put together a spread of stories by her peers, on topics ranging from ethical consumption to active shooter drills (pg. 20). We’ve also got a conversation with Tasneem Ahmad Al-Michael, President of the College Democrats of Oklahoma, who spoke about the

challenges and opportunities of engaging in politics before being old enough to drink.

Also inside—teen art from the 2019 Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain (pg.

22); the holistic efforts to bring quality sex education to Tulsa kids (pg. 26); and local movers and shakers on the most formative experiences of their teenage years.

This issue is our attempt to carve space in our public life for the voices and concerns of young people. It’s their turn to speak.

Are you listening? a

JEZY J. GRAY EDITOR

H A M I LTO N, H I S TO RY & HAPPY HOUR August 23 | 7-9 p.m.

Celebrate the namesake behind the hit musical “Hamilton” at Gilcrease. The evening will include a sing-along with the Tulsa Opera, revolutionary-era trivia, cocktails and gallery tours.

FREE ADMISSION gilcrease.org/events

Presenting Sponsor:

The University of Tulsa is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action institution. For EEO/AA information, contact the Office of Human Resources, 918-631-2616; for disability accommodations, contact Dr. Tawny Rigsby, 918-631-2315. TU#

6 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

okpolicy

EPIC FAIL When schools are operated as profit-making ventures, the interest of students won’t come first

by DAVID BLATT for OKPOLICY.ORG

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

I

t has not, to put it mildly, been a good couple months for David Chaney and Ben Harris, co-founders of Epic Charter Schools, Oklahoma’s largest virtual charter school.

Launched in 2011, Epic has enjoyed explosive growth. It enrolled over 21,000 students in 2018-19, making it larger than the state’s fifth largest school district.

It operates online programs statewide and three centers that blend virtual and in-person learning in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Epic’s growth has been fueled by aggressive marketing campaigns, bonuses and gifts to help recruit students, and teacher contracts with bonuses that allow its highest-paid teachers to reach annual pay of over $100,000.

This growth has now attracted intense scrutiny of its business model and operations.

In June, Oklahoma Watch reported on a lawsuit fi led by several Epic teachers alleging that the school has, for years, encouraged teachers to push for the withdrawal of low-performing students to help improve its performance measures.

A week later, an Oklahoman article revealed that over one-quarter of Epic’s students were automatically disenrolled for missing 10 consecutive school days, more than double the statewide average, a pattern that also artificially aids the school’s assessment on annual A-F report cards. Even so, Epic high school received an F in overall performance on their 2018-19 school report card, while the middle school earned a C and elementary school earned a D. Next came a press release from State Sen. Ron Sharp questioning why Epic’s blended charter school received state funding allocations for grade levels the school has acknowledged it did not provide instruction for over two years.

Then most dramatically, in July, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation fi led an affidavit against Chaney and Harris alleging them of embezzling more than $10 million between 2013 and 2018. The main accusations involve enrolling “ghost students,” some of whom are also home-schooled or attending

private schools. Epic is also being investigated by the FBI and federal Department of Education.

Chaney and Harris have benefitted through their control of Epic Youth Services, a for-profit affi liate that receives 10 percent of Epic’s total revenue to provide its management services—an amount now exceeding $11 million a year.

So far no criminal charges have been fi led and Epic has strenuously denied all accusations of wrongdoing.

Until recently, the Legislature and State Department of Education have been slow to enact appropriate oversight and accountability over Epic and other virtual charter schools, but this year saw passage of HB 1395 that will hold virtual charter schools to the same financial reporting requirements as brick and mortar schools. It also requires charter management organizations like Epic Youth Services to detail how it spends money on behalf of the school and adds some additional safeguards. We can expect the 2020 legislative session to include additional reform measures, including efforts to either abolish the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board or place it under the authority of the State Department of Education.

We are also seeing more public school districts develop their own virtual alternatives. Recently, the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration launched the Blended Learning Framework, which includes guidelines for selecting and training teachers, recommendations for identifying students likely to succeed in a blended/virtual environment, and guidelines for choosing beneficial technology resources.

High demand for virtual and blended education suggests they fi ll a need to serve students who don’t respond well in traditional classroom settings. But the lesson of Epic suggests that when schools are operated as profit-making ventures, the interest of students won’t come first. a

David Blatt is Executive Director of Oklahoma Policy Institute, okpolicy.org NEWS & COMMENTARY // 7

Humanity and hubris Searching for Jim Inhofe

by BARRY FRIEDMAN

W

e have a lot of fun here at the home office at the expense of Sen. Jim Inhofe—not that he doesn’t deserve it. His peculiar mix of buffoonery, cynicism, ignorance and truculence is positively Pavlovian. A constant facepalm, his career will be studied for years to come—that is, unless his tireless efforts in fighting against global warming solutions, basic human and civil rights for LGBTQ+ people, sensible gun control and universal healthcare don’t kill us all first.

In America these days—an America currently in the throes of constitutional and philosophical metastatic cancer—the news that Inhofe may seek re-election to the U.S. Senate is, by comparison, a mere case of Shingles. Nevertheless, if Inhofe runs in 2020, and serves a full term, he will have been our United States senator for 32 years, far and away the longest tenure of any elected leader in Oklahoma history.

Inhofe, first elected to the Senate in a 1994 special election, took in $310,000 during the first three months of this year and is well ahead of the fundraising pace of his 201314 reelection campaign, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

(Tulsa World)

In the story by Tulsa World’s Randy Krehbiel, neither Inhofe nor his staff would admit he’s running again, but that’s just a formality. Inhofe may be culturally mean-spirited, intellectually dishonest, and pretend he abhors government, but he likes vexing 8 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

butions of less than $200—in case you’re wondering whose calls get answered when the phone rings in the office.

Inhofe, as often mentioned in these parts, is off his political rocker, combining both doddering cantankerousness and evangelical goofiness.

“MAN DOES NOT LIVE BY OWNING THE LIBERALS AND TAX BREAKS ALONE.” liberals more. Oklahoma’s Senate seat is his for as long as he wants it—and it’s not like Republicans these days have a reputation for casting out the cultural and intellectual cluelessness from their midst.

Most of the $310,000 came from out of state, and 60 percent was from political action committees.

That is the sort of fundraising data that would send Inhofe into orbit if, say, a Democratic oppo-

Only God can change climate: “My point is, God’s still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.” (Market Watch)

nent raised that kind of money from outside Oklahoma. But Inhofe is nothing if not selectively indignant.

According to OpenSecrets.org, the Center for Responsive Politics, the senator loves him some big donors.

From 2015-2020, he has received $1.3 million from PACs (energy and defense are the top contributors. Our own OGE Energy Group was his second largest), $846,000 from large individual contributions, but only about $12,000 from small contri-

Even so, and for reasons that defy understanding, I’ve been wondering lately if there is something about Jim Inhofe, beyond his sloganeering and posturing, that I’m missing … that everyone on the left is missing? Is there more to this man who brought a snowball on the Senate floor to “disprove” climate change or refused to take his horse for a trot because a parade in Tulsa didn’t place “Jesus” in a big enough font on the posters?

For some answers, I called up good friend of the column Ken Neal, former editorial page editor of The Tulsa World, who has known Inhofe for 45 years.

He first started covering Inhofe in 1974, when Inhofe ran for governor (and lost ignominiously; David Boren beat him by more than 325,000 votes). Neal and Inhofe are not, in fact, friends, but after spending that much time in the same arena with someone, you tend to develop a mutual respect for each other’s game.

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

“Jim is and has been dead wrong on cultural matters,” Neal says. “His initial senatorial campaign in 1994 was ‘guns, gays and god’ and he of course is an idiot on abortion, climate change, economics, etc.”

I must interrupt for a moment.

It’s the “and he of course is an idiot on …” that makes it art.

Let’s continue.

“But he is the consummate politician, understanding Oklahomans far better than any of us,” Neal says. “Inhofe is hopelessly partisan as evidenced by his failure to stand up to Trump. He could make himself a statesman by leading the charge against this truly terrible president.”

Nothing much out of the ordinary there, but then Neal reminds us that there have been a number of Jim Inhofes through the years. There was the Inhofe who, when mayor of Tulsa, put together a consortium of local refuse operators that corrected a very poorly operated and corrupt system; there was the Inhofe who arranged a complicated deal that resulted in the low water dam; there was the Inhofe who fought for the fi rst one-cent sales tax for capital expenditure, which has been a mainstay for Tulsa capital spending since it was passed in 1980; and there was the Inhofe who helped make The River Parks a reality.

Inhofe is someone, Neal tells me, who understands you need money to build roads, which means he’s willing at times to make a deal, which is a good thing because that’s how the work of government gets done; unfortunately, he’s never willing to make such deals on things like expanding healthcare, tempering his giddiness toward the often execrable U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or his full-throated support of a racist president. Compared to the sanctimony of his colleague of many years, Tom Coburn, Inhofe was and is the more effective senator, but that bar is set pretty low and man does not live by owning the liberals and tax breaks alone.

He has had his moments, though.

After initially opposing the

findings of the effects of toxic mine tailings on the people of Picher, Oklahoma, Inhofe was convinced by experts the best thing was to shut the city down and relocate the residents.

He led that effort.

Let that sink in: Inhofe changed his mind after listening to experts on an issue.

If only it happened more often.

Inhofe remains, most notably, unconvinced by the overwhelming scientific consensus around climate change, but only a cynic would say that has something to do with the contributions he receives from energy companies.

Call me a cynic.

All that aside, what do you do with this?

When Inhofe’s son Perry died in a plane crash in Owasso in 2013, the senator’s tin-eared bombast was temporarily shelved and replaced by a kinder, gentler, humbler man—one almost unrecognizable.

In the wake of his personal tragedy, Inhofe said, “All of a sudden the old barriers that were there — the old differences, those things that keep us apart — just disappear.

It’s not just a recognition that I know how much more important this is, but they do, too. And they look out. And they realize that you’ve lost someone.

And that brings us closer together.” (HuffPost)

He was talking about the Senate. He was talking about his colleagues. He was talking about Democrats, and he was talking about then-Senate Majority Leader, Nevada’s Harry Reid.

“Harry and I ... disagree on all this stuff, this political stuff. But we were both married the same year, in 1959. And we’ve both had some illnesses. So yeah, I would say that when something like this happens, you get closer together. The differences are still there. ... But your attitude changes,” said Inhofe.

But there were those who didn’t draw nearer—his own people. Republicans.

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

It stung.

“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I seem to have gotten more — well at least as many, maybe more — communications from some of my Democrat friends,” Inhofe told host David Gregory on NBC’s Meet the Press.

“And I’m a pretty partisan Republican.”

Neal went to that memorial service for Perry.

They embraced, and the senator, according to Neal, held on.

“I don’t know how to explain it—the deep feeling we both had at Perry’s funeral. Guess just two old guys with children empathizing.”

I wrote Inhofe and asked him—not about the funeral, obviously—about policy, friendship, adversaries, and when your world view, even if just temporarily, changes. What came back was pretty boilerplate: “I think there is a lot of time and attention in Washington devoted to identifying how people are different. When you put that aside, and focus on the job I’m here to do— represent the people of Oklahoma—I find that I can deliver results by standing up for my conservative principles, but also working honestly and fairly with everyone.”

This sentiment would be begrudgingly laudable if not uttered by the same guy who questioned the loyalty of Barack Obama (“I just don’t know whose side he’s on”) and said those accusing the first black president of faking his U.S. birth certificate “have a point.”

So maybe that hug means nothing, but maybe—maybe— there’s something restorative and reassuring about it.

Were there more moments Neal would share?

There was one in particular.

“His staff once sent me a bouquet of black roses with a fake dead bird in it.”

Which is just about perfect. a

TULSA’S ONLY MODERN JAZZ CLUB DuetJazz.com

UPCOMING SHOWS

downstairs

BILL FRISELL

September 18

One of the most distinctive and original improvising guitarists of our time Brad Henderson August 21

Neutral Colors August 22

Jeremy Thomas Quartet August 23

The Zuits - Big Band Swing Dance Party August 24

Angie Cockrell * Ladies Night * Ladies get in free August 28

Blue Whale Kickoff with Jackie Tohn August 29

Chanda Graham August 31

Collective Improv with Olivia McGraw September 4

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 9

community

More than catching babies New Midtown Midwife clinic focuses on ‘well-woman care’

by HOLLY WALL

O

klahoma State University Medical Center has positioned itself as the unlikely leader in expanding midwifery care for women in Tulsa.

The hospital, a training ground for new physicians, opened a midwifery clinic in midtown in March, employing three certified nurse midwives, two of whom double as women’s health nurse practitioners.

Shaun Baranowski, who, along with Jessica Cotton, opened the practice in March (Lori Edwards joined in July), said OSU obstetricians Corey Babb and Lance Frye led the charge in encouraging OSUMC to incorporate midwifery care into its women’s health offerings.

“Dr. Frye and Dr. Babb were both advocates of midwives,” Baranowski said. “They had worked with midwives in the past and they recommended it to OSU.” The hospital’s administration latched onto the idea and approached Baranowski and Cotton last August.

The Midtown Midwife clinic, at 3345 S. Harvard Ave., is a private practice specializing in women’s health. Baranowski hopes to dispel the myth that midwives only catch babies.

“In addition to prenatal care, we do well-woman care,” Baranowski said. “We’re comfortable seeing ages 15-70, and we do the full gamut of well-woman care and basic (gynecologic) needs.”

The clinic’s obstetric patients—low-risk, healthy pregnant women—receive their prenatal care from the midwives and are guaranteed to have a midwife attend their birth at OSU Medical Center, which renovated its labor and delivery floor in 2015.

Prior to this, only one certified nurse midwife was regularly catching babies in the hospital

10 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

Shaun Baranowski (pictured) opened the Midtown Midwife clinic with Jessica Cotton last March. | GREG BOLLINGER

setting—Kim Kmita at Hillcrest Hospital South. Nurse-midwives at OU Physicians on the campus of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa mostly worked in the clinic, and only caught babies on Friday mornings, covering OU residents while they attended lectures.

“We didn’t have our own practice; we were mainly there to do the clinic setting,” said Baranowski, who practiced there before opening the Midtown Midwife clinic. “We were not able to take on private patients, and that was the hole we felt like we were missing as midwives. That’s something we love to do is make connections with our patients and see that through to fruition. That’s why we’re happy to be here.”

The partnership provides laboring women access to low-intervention obstetric care within a setting designed to accommodate any emergency that may arise.

And patients who are deemed too high-risk for the midwives to care for—those with gestational diabetes or chronic hypertension, for example—are often referred

to OSU for obstetric care.

While Baranowski recognizes that midwifery care may not be the right fit for every patient, she said it’s still a good place for many women to start with regards to their obstetric care.

“There’s still so many women who are very healthy, low risk,” she said. “Midwifery is used in about 70 percent of the world.

We’re kind of the oddball out here in the U.S. And it is financially beneficial to start with a midwife if you can, as a low-risk patient.”

A recent study in the journal PLOS One found that states that integrated midwifery care into their health systems saw improved quality of maternal care and fewer maternal and neonatal deaths.

States with the most integration of midwifery care and “improved access to midwives in all settings, were associated with significantly higher rates of spontaneous vaginal delivery, vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), and breastfeeding at birth and at six months; and significantly lower rates of cesarean section (CS), preterm (PTB), and

low birth weight (LBW) infants,” the study found.

Baranowski said the midwifery model of care focuses on listening to the patient and her desires for her birth and letting those guide the plan of care, as well as health promotion, education and prevention.

“The way the medical system is going, there’s a lot more pressure to do more, see more, get more done in a shorter amount of time, so it becomes really hard to sit on your hands and be hands off,” Baranowski said. “But that is how we were trained as midwives, that birth is a normal thing unless proven otherwise. And that’s our job, to monitor and watch and be hands off unless we need to intervene. I really like that we’re trained initially in that. In obstetrics, they’re trained to treat and to heal. That’s why they have surgical skills, too.”

And sometimes, those surgical skills become a necessary intervention, which is why Baranowski appreciates being able to care for women in the hospital setting.

OSUMC’s recently remodeled labor and delivery suites are spacious and homey, with soft colors and dark wooden cabinets hiding most of the medical equipment— equipment that can become quickly available when needed.

“You know, things happen, no matter how healthy you are or how low-risk your situation is,” Baranowski said. “We’ve seen some things where you need to get somewhere within three minutes—you need to get to a C-section. So it’s so nice to be in that comfort of a homey environment where you can do your thing but know that you can be near a C-section if you need it to save your baby’s life. I do think it’s a beautiful place and that women are truly looking for that.” a

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

HAMILTON

Celebrity Attractions August 20 - September 8 BROWN BAG IT: BRANJAE

Tulsa PAC Trust September 4

SHE LIKE GIRLS

World Stage Theatre Company September 5-8 “COUNTRY MUSIC: A FILM BY KEN BURNS” SCREENING

OETA September 7

PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE

Theatre Tulsa September 13-22

OPENING NIGHT GALA WITH RACHEL BARTON PINE

Tulsa Symphony September 14

TULSAPAC.COM

/

918.596.7111 ALL EVENTS/DATES SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 11

community

WHEN WE WERE YOUNG What was the first political issue you cared about as a teenager?

by JESSICA VAZQUEZ

David Harris is the newest Tulsa chapter president of the national mentoring program, 100 Black Men of America. | GREG BOLLINGER

Leader of men David Harris continues a legacy of mentoring young black Tulsans

DAVID HARRIS HE ARD A FAMILIAR message from his dad time and time again: Someday it will be your turn. Now, taking his turn as the newest Tulsa chapter president of the national mentoring program 100 Black Men of America, it’s a message he’s passing on.

Harris said the title isn’t about him— it’s about legacy and community. He’s a Tulsa native, Navy veteran, Booker T. grad, husband and father of four. But he said he wouldn’t be any of that without the guidance of the men who helped raise him.

“It is my responsibility to take this time to do what was done for me. To share what was taught to me by really strong men in the community about how to be a leader, how to be a pillar, how to be a strong, confident, responsible man in the community,” Harris said.

The Tulsa chapter of 100 Black Men was founded 25 years ago by Joe Williams, Eddie Evans, Jack Henderson, Ruford Henderson, Imam Farakhan and the late Revs.

Henry L. Collier and Melvin Bailey. These men saw a need for a community advocacy group championing work based on four pillars: mentoring, education, health and wellness, and economic empowerment.

Harris said the position, organization and cause are all close to his heart. “It’s about preparing these young men for their time, their season. But for me, it’s also making sure I’m doing a good job because I want to show the men in the room … that what they imparted in me worked, that it was valuable,” he said. “It’s so important to me to make sure that the work I do leaves a continued legacy of the work they’ve already done with me.”

Currently, 100 Black Men does mentoring work in eight Tulsa schools, but Harris 12 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

hopes to see that number grow this year. He also hopes to expand the work done in all four pillars.

“Health and wellness is a huge part of our organization. We’re not only going to address physical wellness but we’re also committed over the next few years to address emotional and mental health because it’s an area that’s been taboo in our community,” he said. “An example of economic empowerment is our summer entrepreneurial program that has taught young people wonderful business and entrepreneurial skills.”

This aspect of the program has led to the creation of a marketplace as a partnership with the Greenwood District, where student entrepreneurs can sell their products and apply their newlylearned skills.

While all facets of 100 Black Men of Tulsa are growing, Harris said efforts will likely still focus largely on the north Tulsa community.

“Right now it’s the area that needs the most attention. Tulsa will never be the type of city we desire it to be if one of the communities is not thriving. It is our goal to be that vehicle, to help assist in that type of energy and growth in the community,” he said.

The men who guided him, his education at the University of Oklahoma, and his work with students have all inspired in Harris a passion for culture, legacy and heritage.

It’s a work he’s proud to be doing.

“I just want to make sure that at the end of the day the work that I do leaves a legacy. That the young people that come behind us understand that they have the opportunity to be greater than their circumstances.” — CYDNEY BARON

Ahniwake Rose INCOMING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT OKLAHOMA POLICY INSTITUTE So many things—tobacco tax, voting for Clinton, Rodney King, Desert Storm. I just never knew how to get involved other than voting. So really voter registration was my first real issue. Voting as a catalyst for inclusion and voice.

Representative Regina Goodwin REPRESENTATIVE FOR DISTRICT 73 AT OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE One night when I was young, the police came knocking on the wrong door. As my mother opens the door, I am standing with her and the police already have pulled out a gun. I’m literally looking down the barrel of a gun. I’ll never forget that feeling. We have severe issues when it comes to policing and the treatment of Black citizens, and we are still working on it today.

Councilor Kara Joy McKee WARD 4 COUNCILOR ON TULSA CITY COUNCIL I co-founded my high school’s ecology club because I was concerned about climate change and humans’ interaction with other species. But my enthusiasm for political action began long before that with a campaign to remove Styrofoam trays from my school cafeteria. I’ve learned time and again to not be jaded because I don’t have to do everything, I just have to do my part.

Rosa Hernandez VOLUNTEER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT DREAM ALLIANCE OKLAHOMA - TULSA The first political issue I cared about as a teen was really just injustice as a whole. I didn’t like seeing poverty, homophobia, racism and oppression. Since I was a teen, I’ve seen all of these issues as intersectional. a

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

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THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 13

intheweeds

Burn book

Oklahoma cannabis businesses vs. Facebook ‘community standards’ Sponsored in part by

The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture

New Gallery Exhibit Opens August 20 Learn more at WoodyGuthrieCenter.org

14 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

WITH 2.41 BILLION ACTIVE MONTHLY users, Facebook is the most widely used social media platform in the world. Many businesses use the network’s vast userbase to reach out to customers, advertise and acquaint people with their products.

But Facebook’s ubiquity also creates problems, something Tiffanie Dartez has experienced firsthand. Dartez is a chef and owner of White Rabbit Medicinals, a cannabis processing company that creates marijuana-infused foods for medicinal use.

In early August, Dartez and many other Tulsa-area cannabis business owners realized their businesses’ posts were being flagged

by Facebook as violating their terms of use.

Even posts complaining about the flagging were flagged.

“They kind of did this systematically,” Dartez said. “They were flagging everybody and then they gave us one last warning: anything else posted, you’ll be shut down.”

Dartez and others were all but ordered by Facebook to stop using the platform to promote their businesses. Those that did not comply had their pages completely unpublished. The post that got Dartez booted wasn’t even cannabis related.

It’s not clear who reported the posts, since Facebook doesn’t provide that information to those it charges with violating its terms of service. Dartez suspects some have been reported by anti-cannabis activists, while others may have been targeted by competitors. But the simultaneous removal of so many cannabis pages suggests to Dartez a coordinated shutdown by Facebook itself.

It wasn’t the first time Facebook had unpublished cannabis-related business pages. In July, seven Oklahoma dispensaries sued Facebook over the same issue,

going so far as to name Mark Zuckerberg and several other executives in the suit.

Since early August, 30 other dispensaries have joined the suit. Their pages have since been restored amid the legal action, and the case was dismissed on Aug. 16.

Facebook said the posts violated their rules against promoting the use of drugs.

While cannabis is considered medicinal in Oklahoma and 32 other states, it remains federally illegal, which complicates things for the medical cannabis industry. Even though they provide a service that is vital to many, in the eyes of federal law, Dartez and her compatriots might as well be selling pot brownies out of a dorm room.

Facebook, already in the hot seat over privacy and data collection, looks to be taking a great degree of caution in what it’s allowing on the platform. This caution comes at a high cost to the users that depend on the social media giant to advertise their businesses. Dartez lost roughly 3,200 followers in two days.

“For two days we noticed a drop in orders because a lot of people reach us through Facebook,” Dartez said.

“It was shocking how much we realized Facebook had over us. It was like ‘Holy shit, [Zuckerberg] paused our business.’”

Dartez got her page back after two days, and she plans to use it in the future mainly to direct potential customers to White Rabbit’s website. She says that she and others don’t want to rely too heavily on Facebook in the future and will be branching out into other social media platforms.

“I’m still gonna stay on Facebook, but slowly phase out,” Dartez said. “I’m just playing nice … until I have a better platform to move to.” — FRASER KASTNER

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 15

citybites

Delicate dance

Southern Italian fare takes the stage on Cherry Street

by ANGELA EVANS hough Italy is roughly the size of California, it contains a multitude of gastronomic identities. Butters, creamy sauces and robust meaty entrees fi ll bellies and menus in northern cities like Milan and Parma. Palates take a more Mediterranean turn in the south, inspiring lighter and brighter dishes, laden with seafood, olive oils and rustic tomato sauces. AmericanItalian restaurants trend toward the heavier-handed fare, but Prossimo—the newest addition to the Cherry Street topography—is putting southern Italian fare on full theatrical display.

The menu is separated into what would be traditional Italian course order. In the Aperitivo column, the most audacious option is the table-side fresh mozzarella, something you’ve likely not heard of because, well, it’s not something that is really done … anywhere.

This isn’t Japanese-steakhouse level of theatrics, but the process does require a brave soul to dunk their hands into boiling water.

A bubbly young woman arrives to our table with a cart, a metal bowl of steaming water and other accoutrement. She succinctly and confidently explains the history of mozzarella, the cheese-making process and ingredients while she does her work. Wearing heat-protective gloves, she places a pile of white goo into the hot water. She sculpts and tames the stringy mess into a smooth white glistening globe. She coaxes the bubble of cheese into two fistsized orbs and places them into a dish, drizzles with a healthy glug of primo olive oil, then sprinkles with coarse salt.

This dish was the perfect opening salvo for what would be an evening draped in nuance, high-end ingredients and hightouch service.

T

16 // FOOD & DRINK

Red wine-marinated octopus with house-made sausage at Prossimo. | GREG BOLLINGER

The restaurant space has two dining areas—the side lovingly referred to as Prossima, translated as “the girl next door,” is billed as a Prosecco bar. The cocktail menu has a mix of dainty mixed beverages, a small beer selection, and a nice roster of bubbles, wines and spirits. Prossima is replete with ballerina pink pin-tucked divans near a large picture window coordinated with framed images of Italian sexpot and patron goddess of pasta, Sophia Loren. The through-line of the space is the slate gray walls, offset by swanky chandeliers and matte black banquettes which round the corner into the Prossimo space, a mirror image of Prossima minus the bar and kitschy glitz.

The Prossimo experience lends itself well to a larger party, though no more than six guests at a time per booking parameters. The menu doesn’t outright say family-style is recommended, but when dining Italian, perhaps it is implied.

The pasta courses were an edification on al dente, from chunky orecchiette coated in fiery vodka sauce, to blankets of pappardelle swimming in lavish Bolognese.

But the simplest pasta offering was perhaps the most impressive, and not just for the shock and awe from the service. The tableside Il Vero Alfredo summons the same cart and affable server, but this time she has a large wheel of authentic Parmigiano Reggiano in tow.

The server pours a sizeable portion of brandy in the hollowed-out wheel of cheese and sets it aflame with a handheld torch. Once properly mollified, she pours ringlets of fresh fettucine noodles into the boozy cheese pond, twisting and pulling the noodles like strings of a marionette.

With a final fl ick of her wrist, our maestro places the formidable nest of noodles onto a plate. A traditional butter and cream-lad-

en alfredo this is not. The nutty essence of the cheese gets a dose of complexity with the simmered sweetness of the reduced brandy. The noodles themselves were the perfect texture for this treatment— just enough chew to hold up to the twists and turns, yet velvety and supple enough for optimal Lady and the Tramp-style noodle slurps.

Main courses feature a bounty of fresh seafood, along with a few selections from the land. The expertly-prepared octopus with house-made sausage marinated in red wine, paired with roasted potatoes with bits of crusty parm is a bold option. The giant prawn with jalapeno pesto is perhaps the most intriguing, and this specimen was at the top of its weight division. The giant prawn curls around the expanse of the white plate, the roseate shell a backdrop to verdant pesto and microgreens.

Our server allows us to feast with our eyes before de-shelling the head-on Madagascar prawn for the table. Though alluring, the jalapeno pesto overwhelmed the quiet demeanor of the shellfish, seemingly breaking the rules of subtlety in southern cuisine. The prawn itself possessed understated brininess, but the texture was more sinewy than supple.

The service was the highlight of Prossimo. The team was balletic, arriving when needed, adding extra touches when necessary and without unnecessary fuss. The rigor with which Prossimo aligns with authenticity is remarkable, and the experience itself is sure to delight. Open Wednesday through Sunday starting at 5 p.m., the intimate space only accommodates 40 guests at a time, and the average table turn is two hours, so reservations are absolutely recommended and can easily be made through Open Table. a

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

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THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

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FOOD & DRINK // 17

downthehatch

Single servings

Private barrel selections bring exclusive booze to T-Town

by GREG HORTON

W

hen it’s time to pick the single barrel of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey that will be yours and yours alone, sitting across the table from you in Lynchburg, Tennessee, will likely be Randall Fanning. He’s been at the distillery for more than 40 years, and now his main job is tasting single-barrel selections with prospective customers. Choose the one you like best, and within a few months, you’ll have about three-dozen cases of whiskey on a pallet at your bar, restaurant or liquor store.

“When we first started the program, we were afraid we wouldn’t sell enough barrels to make the program worthwhile,” Fanning said. “In 2019, we’re on track to sell more than 10,000 barrels.”

Seems it worked out.

If you’re a whiskey fan and your only experience of Jack Daniel’s is Old No. 7, you owe it to yourself to try the single-barrel whiskey and rye selections. They are widely available in bars and restaurants, but those aren’t the barrels Fanning sells. His task is to choose three barrels that have passed the panel of masters’ selection process and are eligible for private stock sales.

“Forty percent of our single barrels are rejected by the panel,” Fanning said. “They will be sent back to the warehouse and they become mingling barrels for Old No. 7.”

Hal Smith Restaurant Group (HSRG) is one of the customers who buys the private single barrels from Jack Daniels. Rachel Custer, the group’s beverage director for Tulsa, said the Jack Daniel’s single barrels are divided between Smitty’s Garage and Pub W. 18 // FOOD & DRINK

Private barrel Four Roses bourbon, bottled exclusively for Pub W in Tulsa. | GREG BOLLINGER

“As with any single barrel program, the allure to customers is in the exclusivity,” Custer said.

“These are whiskies that we have hand selected for our guests, lovingly curated to be the best expressions of the season.”

A few distillers, like Maker’s Mark, will actually allow some customization in the process.

Customers use “flavored” staves to change the taste of the final product, but most distillers simply allow customers to choose a favorite barrel from among a designated number of selections.

“Am I going to tell the master distillers along the Bourbon Trail that I know their product better than them?” Custer asked.

“God no! These whiskies offer a singular experience, and one which we think is the most unique and best offering.”

HSRG also features singlebarrel bourbons from Four Roses, which, although known for being a very popular well spirit, also makes outstanding higher tier products.

“I always recommend trying them that way first,” Custer said. “Then add a couple drops of water, and finally an ice cube or a little more water. The water separates, or opens up, the liquor and creates more room for your nose and tongue to pick up more subtle flavors. Tasting should be a multi-step experience.”

Aaron Post, owner of Valkyrie, calls himself an equal opportunity taster. “Drink it like you like it,” he said. “Just make sure you use high quality ice so as not to negatively impact the taste of the whiskey.”

Valkyrie currently has a single barrel of Elijah Craig on the back bar, but a new barrel of Knob Creek Rye will be arriving late this year. “I think we’re the first in the state to do a private selection rye,” Post said. “I like the different expressions you get from rye.”

Valkyrie makes some of their stock available for local retailers, as well, including Ranch Acres and Old Village Wine and Spirits. “We like to offer it to guests as a kind of personalized experience,” Post said. “We choose the barrel based on our tastes. It’s a reflection of what we’re excited about.”

Fassler Hall, McNellie’s downtown, The Tavern and Bull in the Alley have selections from Woodford, Eagle Rare and 1792 on the back bar, according to Brian Fontaine, VP at the McNellie’s Group.

“We might be a little biased, but our McNellie’s Group barrel whiskeys are fantastic,” Fontaine said. “We send passionate managers down to taste, blend and purchase barrels of whiskey from several of the distilleries that offer this program. The trips offer our employees a one-ofa-kind learning opportunity.

The distilleries of Kentucky are national treasures, so it’s pretty cool to taste whiskey right out of the barrel in the warehouses.”

As for how to drink it, Fontain offers the following advice: “I learned from Elliott Nelson that you drink Old Fashioneds before dinner, and then on the rocks after dinner.” a

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

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EXECUTIVE CHEF, DUET My first restaurant job at a really high-end Oaxacan place in Scottsdale, Arizona, called Mezcal. I started as a hostess, then moved to bar-back. I lived on chips and salsa and sneaked tequila shots.

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THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

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SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL

SHOOTINGS SHOOTINGS SHOOTINGS SHOOTINGS SHOOTINGS SHOOTINGS SHOOTINGS SHOOTINGS SHOOTINGS

KIDS TODAY A new ge ne rat ion , i n t he i r ow n words

BY CLAIRE SHERBURN, MAX LIEBERMAN, MARGO STARR, TASNEEM AHMAD AL-MICHAEL AND TTV STAFF

MASS SHOOTINGS, SOARING STUDENT debt, a climate in crisis, and dim economic prospects are a fact of life for anyone born in the United States after 1982. But while bonded by this bleak inheritance, there’s plenty of daylight between the lived experiences of someone raised in the ‘80s and ‘90s and someone born after 9/11.

The term millennial remains shorthand for “young person,” but the oldest members of that generation, according to Pew Research Center metrics, will be turning 37 this year. They are no longer undergrads living with their parents—they are parents themselves, licensed professionals, Tulsa Voice editors, city councilors and presidential candidates.

Millennials are taking the reins and telling their stories, but what of the generation coming up behind them? To find out what’s on the minds of this new cohort, we tasked recent Holland Hall graduate and budding journalist Claire Sherburn with gathering and editing stories from her peers on a wide range of topics, from consumption to education and points in between. — TTV STAFF 20 // FEATURED

I’M SITTING IN A CRAMPED STORAGE CLOSET IN THE BACK corner of Holland Hall’s administrative offices, next to the CFO, the entire admissions department and several kids I grew up with. We’re training for the moment, should it ever come, that an active shooter terrorizes our quiet south Tulsa campus. Packed like sardines in the dark, I can’t help but wonder: How did we get here?

Since I started high school in 2015, there have been over 115 fatalities in school shootings across the country. That’s my entire graduating class, plus a fraction of the class below—dead.

You’d like to think your school is your safe place. It’s where you go every single day. You spend more consecutive hours there during the week than at home. That’s what makes the shock and bewilderment of school shootings so severe.

I have never experienced anything close to the trauma of a school shooting, and I count myself lucky. But throughout my four years at a small, private, college preparatory school in the safe bubble of south Tulsa, I became more and more aware every single day, with every headline that passed of another student—just like me, now gone—that it could literally happen to me, to my friends, to my school, in our safe place.

Now, students like me are learning to live with a disturbing new safety protocol: active shooter drills. It’s not just the standard fire or tornado drill, or even the always nerve-wracking lockdown drill; it’s learning the best hiding places in your school, the crevices and locked doors that could potentially save your life.

The first time my school presented the idea of an active shooter drill to the student body, my stomach tied itself in knots.

Despite knowing it would be a drill, it plants the instant fear in your head: This really could happen. We could be the next school in the headlines. Who would be the victims? Where the hell would I hide?

From there the thoughts run wild. Given the trauma and fear of the simulation, you can’t help but wonder if this hypothetical exercise is really worth it. Educator and writer Erika Christakis says it isn’t. Reporting for The Atlantic, she writes: “There’s scant evidence that [active shooter drills] are effective. They can, however, be psychologically damaging.”

Whitney Udwin, incoming Dean of Students at Holland Hall, sees value in the exercise, even if questions of its effectiveness linger. “Of course, doing active shooter drills is unpleasant.

We all like to think that that sort of event will never happen to us. And I can’t help but question if it would help us if there really were a shooter in our school. But having to do the drill is a reminder that it could happen and that we best not forget that.

And it is better to do the drill just in case it could help in a time of need.”

With no solutions in sight, it seems as if students will just have to learn to deal with this dark new reality: from young children, who are just learning how to color inside the lines, all the way to the angsty and acne-ridden teenagers in the upper school buildings. Finding solutions shouldn’t be a partisan exercise. Real lives are being lost while substantial action to stop these mass shootings continues to stall, and students like me go to school every single day with the fear that we might not come home. — CLAIRE SHERBURN

eating ethically

As my 2019 New Year’s resolution, I decided to take on the challenge of being vegan.

Well, pesca-vegan, meaning I still eat fish. I had already been dairy and red-meat free for around six months to experiment its effect on my acne and overall health and was pleased with how things were going, so I decided to kick it up a notch.

Consciousness around animal cruelty, waste-free lifestyles and sustainability have become a bigger part of the conversation around food in America. As a result, it’s becoming easier to eat a plant-based diet

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

student debt O

ne in five American adults carries student loan debt. Collectively, they owe an incredible $1.3 trillion. This debt is ever-increasing, and it’s bigger than both credit card debt and car loans, which is why we say there’s a student debt crisis in America. The cost of college in America is without a doubt unreasonable, and must be addressed through policy, but it’s not entirely responsible for this mountain of debt.

While we advocate for more reasonably-priced college and deep student loan reform, we must address the other causes behind this crisis: America’s lousy and outdated approach to high school and the overprescription of college.

Although many degree-holding graduates default on their loans, much of this student debt crisis is actually a college completion crisis. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, just 58 percent of students who started college in the fall of 2012 had earned any degree six years later. Most of the time, these students drop out because they can’t continually balance working to pay for school and the academic responsibilities of the schools that are designed for full time students.

Students in this situation are the most likely to end up in debt because they carry the burden of student loans without the benefit of a degree. But the fault is hardly their own. A study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that, among industrialized nations, Americans rank near the bottom in literacy, numeracy, and “problem-solving in technology-rich environments.” American public schools are much less rigorous and teachers are criminally underpaid; and, too often, sports are more emphasized than academics.

This disregard for education in America, in combination with the fact that most colleges are designed for full-time students, are important players in the student debt crisis. If we want to alleviate the problem, Americans must take education more seriously and we must question the narrative that everyone needs to go to a four-year college or university right after high school because that isn’t practical for everyone. Most of all, however, the government must be held responsible to invest in all its people—not just the rich and well-connected. — MAX LIEBERMAN

even in a meat-loving city like Tulsa. The Cherry Street Farmers’ Market, for example, has been where I have bought most of my produce this summer.

The market promotes relationships between farmers and their consumers.

For people who are and aren’t vegan, this farmer’s market is a great place to start if you’re wanting to reduce waste, support local, eat organic, and for delicious food.

For new vegans, it can be hard to find places to eat, but that’s another thing Tulsa has been scoring on. Almost every restaurant I’ve been to this year in town has had at least one vegan option. Places like Chimera Cafe, Local Bison, Elote, The Vault and Laffa are my favorite places to eat because of their delicious vegan (and fish) options. Lots of these restaurants buy from local farms, so you can keep your money in the community while improving your health and the health of the planet. — MARGO STARR

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT Q&A with Tasneem Ahmad Al-Michael, President of the College Democrats of Oklahoma HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN POLITICS? I’m one of those people who was activated after Trump was elected. I’m a DACA recipient … when the administration announced they would be rescinding the DACA program, I was asked to speak at a rally on campus [at the University of Oklahoma]. Next thing you know, CAIR and Dream Action Oklahoma hold a joint press conference, and with me being Muslim as well as somebody who’s undocumented, they had somebody to kind of connect through.

I started doing my first organizing work with Dream Action Oklahoma in December of 2017.

I was tasked with organizing about 55 young people, students, to go to the U.S. Capitol and basically we stayed there for about a week.

We protested. We met with James Lankford to talk about his immigration legislation. We were trying to push for the Dream Act. From there, I stayed in D.C. in January and February during both government shutdowns, and when we came Tasneem Ahmad Al-Michael back home and realized we weren’t going to see any form of immigration legislation being passed with a Republican-controlled government, I knew at that point we had to work on campaigns.

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR CAMPAIGN WORK? I started interning with gubernatorial candidate Drew Edmondson and congressional candidate Kendra Horn. It was Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Drew— Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with Kendra. … I would say a good deserving part of Kendra’s victory was due to the number of students we had on that campaign. We had over 40 interns … My field organizing counterpart was 22. Her manager was also 22. A lot of staff on that campaign were young people. I was the youngest at age 18.

WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES FACING YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY? Student loan debt, gun violence and climate change. … I will say the fight against climate change is the biggest youth-driven movement that’s happening right now. It’s an existential threat to all of humanity. The thing is, so many of the individuals putting our laws in place aren’t going to be around to see the most devastating effects.

WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE TO OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE LOOKING TO GET INVOLVED? Find the issues you care about. For me, it started with immigration. … I know for some people it’s a little challenging to speak out, but it’s a matter of giving yourself a chance. You’ll find that more people are willing to go along with you than you think. … There’s an organization for practically everything, and more than ever a lot of them have younger leadership at the helm. … There’s a way for you to get involved anywhere.

For even more teenage voices, check out the web version of this story at thetulsavoice.com

FEATURED // 21

Abigail Aghaebrahimi. Edmond North High School. Lola. Digital archive print, 18x24.

QUA RT Z MOUNTAIN M AGIC Teen artwork from the 2019 Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute

BY OKLAHOMA SUMMER ARTS INSTITUTE STUDENTS Since 1977, the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute (OSAI) at Quartz Mountain has touched the lives of young people across the state through intensive, hands-on training from some of the world’s leading artists. The two-week residential academy nestled in the foothills of the Wichita Mountains provides world-class training in the disciplines of acting, chorus, creative writing, dance, drawing and painting, film and video, orchestra and photography.

All accepted students automatically receive a full scholarship to the program.

The Tour de Quartz is a selection of artwork created by Oklahoma high school students during the 2019 Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain (OSAI). Each student artist is represented by one piece of artwork, which is exhibited at some of the state’s finest galleries and institutions—including a monthlong stop at the Gilcrease Museum in September.

For more information on the Oklahoma Arts Institute (including upcoming fall workshops for adults) visit oaiquartz.org. — TTV STAFF 22 // FEATURED

Kendall Terry. Casady School. Buzzin. Woodblock, 11x14.

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Bella Trachtenberg. Classen High School of Advanced Studies. Nathaniel. Digital archive print, 18x24.

Rachel Adler. Memorial High School. Wolfz. Colored pencil, pastel, 26x34.

Andrew Celedon. Macarthur High School. Bailey. Digital archive print, 18x24.

Luke Akers. Classen High School of Advances Studies. Abel. Digital archive print, 18x24.

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

Arens Elle. Holland Hall High School. Cheri 1. Acrylic, 18x24.

FEATURED // 23

24 // FEATURED

Halle Brucks. Metro Christian Academy. feyfolken. Monotype, watercolor, 16x20.

Lola Coletti. Classen High School of Advanced Studies. Abbi. Digital archive print, 18x24.

Jenna Dooling. Homeschooled. Elise. Digital archive print, 18x24.

Sheyenne Cannon. Santa Fe High School. Mesa and Balloons. Marker, colored pencil, dye, 11x14.

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Corbin Washam. Owasso High School. Bubble Rap. Monotype, 24x30.

Olivia Walker. Yukon High School. Childhood Toys. Pastel, graphite, 26x34.

Justus Miller. Homeschooled. A Hug from Dad. Monotype, 26x34.

Abel Huskinson. Bixby High School. Luke. Digital archive print, 18x24.

Parker Schovanec. Oklahoma Bible Academy. The Silos. Charcoal, 26x34.

Alyssa Wigfall. Classen High School of Advanced Studies. Canela. Monotype, 26x34.

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

EDITOR’S NOTE: TTV editor Jezy J. Gray currently serves on the Oklahoma Arts Institute Board of Directors.

FEATURED // 25

A KIND CAMPAIGN For youth advocates in Tulsa, promoting health is more than preventing pregnancy

BY LYNDSAY KNECHT • PHOTOS BY JOSEPH RUSHMORE THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED, I thought I’d been possessed by some sinister force. Cramps overtook me at school one day, wringing out the middle of my 90-pound body. “It’s like a dinosaur is laying on me,” I remember telling a friend who saw my face turn white from the pain on the floor of the bathroom at my private Christian high school. I was unable to get up.

This continued to happen at the onset of my wildly irregular teenage periods whenever they decided to arrive. The dark power of these episodes astounded me— how fast they would come, how long they would last. Once the attack started at the CD store where I worked. Once it hit while driving home from school. I pulled over and lay down in the backseat, yelling to engage muscles that might push out the hurt.

When it got worse, my mom took me to see the son of the OB-GYN who delivered me. He said I should get on birth control pills. They would regulate my periods, and very likely, I would suffer less or not at all if I took them. My mom was visibly offended by this suggestion. Birth control would encourage me to have sex, she worried. (A stranger to my sexuality, I was terrified of actual intercourse and relieved, back then, to follow the rules. I would not lose my vir26 // FEATURED

ginity until I turned 21, four months before I got pregnant with my son—a surprise.)

Are there other options? my mom asked the OB-GYN. We eventually left the doctor’s office with a prescription for hydrocodone.

The notion of birth control as shameful, even dangerous, settled in me, dissolved into my blood with the pain pills for years: out of my body, out of my mind.

“Tulsa Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy” barely fits on one line in the Main Square Towers directory list. Whoever smushed together the capital letters on the board to spell “Pregnancy” felt the pressure to make it fit. Staffers pause to catch their breath after reciting the full name of the organization at meetings. Forget about spelling it out in tiny forms on paperwork.

The Campaign’s logo deals with the heft by stacking the words like pancakes inside a red shape of Oklahoma.

In October, much to the staff’s excitement, the Tulsa Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy will announce a new name as part of a re-brand. The current one evokes a Christopher Guest movie full of sanctimonious adults wedging prosthetic bel-

lies between teenagers at school dances.

At worst, the focus on a scourge of “teen pregnancy” rather than birth control shames young people, mostly young women, for whom birth control almost worked, was out of reach, demonized as enabling sin or altogether unknown—irrelevant, maybe, in a world where mothers have children young and families greet the babies with love and lifetime care.

Young people in Oklahoma who have conceived share at least one formative experience with those who have not. They live in a state where the law does not require public schools to educate them about sex at all, except sex as a vehicle for HIV/AIDS. If a school board does decide to offer sex ed, they are required by the state to stress abstinence as the only completely effective method of birth control.

The call to arms for Oklahoma to embrace baseline sexual health education—the primary task of the Campaign in Tulsa—is undeniably serious, and very much not new. In 2017, Oklahoma had the third-highest birth rate for ages 15–19 in the nation. The number of births for youth in that age range has gone down by half in the past decade, according to the state’s health department. This improvement has

been encouraging for advocates who hope to meet schools where they are, so some useful education—any useful education—can reach students.

Tulsa County ranks second in the state for teen birth rates as of last year.

Individual schools within Tulsa’s public system can opt to teach sex education, but that’s the decision of each administration.

A recent poll of 500 Tulsans by the Campaign showed 9 in 10 adults do believe sex education should be taught in schools.

Less than 15 percent of parents, though, said they felt comfortable talking about the subject of sexual health with their kids.

Of course parents are daunted by the idea of having these conversations, says Amber McConnell, the executive director charged with re-energizing the Campaign.

But many times these parents aren’t sure if what they believe about sex and birth control is accurate. Maybe no one ever taught them.

“All across the board, adults are afraid to say the wrong thing,” McConnell says.

Full of contextual insight into the myriad challenges faced by teenagers, McConnell speaks about each barrier as an opportunity for new connection. Parents often take their children to pediatricians until they turn 18, she tells me in a bright conference August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Scenes from the Teen Pregnancy Coalition meeting at Youth Services of Tulsa on August 7.

room at the organization’s offices during a staff brainstorming session. A pediatrician is not prepared to address questions about reproductive health as a general practitioner would, but the Campaign is working on that, too.

And though religious beliefs have played a part in keeping some teens from information, the Campaign has seen leaders in the faith-based community come to the coalition work meetings they oversee. “That’s always impressive to me,” McConnell says.

Broadly empathetic and cheerfully on-message, McConnell came to helm the Campaign at the end of December. She worked before on helping students with disabilities transition to life after high school. Her fellow staffers all formally joined the organization in 2019—a fresh team. This incarnation of the Campaign is focused on promoting health in a holistic way that would benefit the larger community. This will in turn require the community’s participation, a culture shift in traditionally hesitant, conservative public school administrations and a commitment to open dialogue. The work ahead is real and vast.

Encouragement toward nurturing and safe relationships, LGBTQ+ rights and overall awareness of reproductive health issues are now inextricable from the mission to bring down those teen birth rates in Tulsa.

The Campaign trains sex educators and counsels schools whose administrations will hopefully adopt their recommended curriculum on healthy relationships and individual health before approaching the topic of intercourse and safe sex.

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

The staff also facilitates events meant to inspire the community toward attitudes of openness and concrete solutions. The most recent meeting of the Tulsa Teen Pregnancy Coalition in August at Youth Services of Tulsa was ripe with breakthroughs.

Campaign public relations director Preston Shatwell took notes from area pediatricians like Dr. Charity Pollak, who kept her laptop open as they discussed how the Campaign’s new website might best help doctors find information about the law in Oklahoma.

For example, it’s true that a minor in Oklahoma can only get a prescription for birth control without a parent’s permission if they are married, pregnant or have ever been pregnant. But Title X clinics offer confidential prescriptions, HIV testing and pregnancy screening for minors as young as 12. Many doctors aren’t sure whether they can refer their patients under 18 to these clinics without mentioning that to a parent. It’s dicey.

Pediatricians are especially used to moms or dads accompanying their teenagers to exam rooms by default. A central resource for how to navigate all these issues would be helpful, the doctors said.

Reps from the Take Control Initiative, with the plain tagline “Take control of your future,” were represented at the meeting, along with Strong Tomorrows, which supports expectant and parenting high school students in Tulsa. The harmony is felt.

Without conflating the experiences of their clients, advocates are pooling resources and intel for results.

I asked Dr. Pollak if she worried her involvement in these initiatives would cost her patients.

“We believe that women should be

able to choose when they have children, no matter what age they are,” she said.

With common knowledge comes a consensus. In the absence of common knowledge about our bodies and what we might choose what to do with them, what is our consensus?

Years before I ever had sex, I had a baby of my own. I don’t think I asked for it. Santa surprised me and many other eight-yearolds with a Baby Alive doll in 1993. Made and sold by Kenner for the first time three decades before I ever held one at my grandmother’s kitchen table in Tyler, Texas, Baby Alive was a plastic infant of ambiguous age who could, in different configurations over the years, eat, speak, blow out a birthday candle, soil a diaper, drink from a bottle, use a small toilet, burp, and cry.

My baby was one of the simpler models. She had packets of powder for food—just add water. It smelled to me like something an astronaut would eat on the moon. The bond I had with my baby, for the day I was interested, was crystallized in a private thought, the first conviction I can remember keeping to myself. It was my duty to feed her before I ate my lunch on Christmas Day. A gratifying rush of purpose replaced the need to announce this to my mom and grandmother. I imagined they would notice what a good mother I was without having to point it out. I wasn’t a natural, per se— this I understood immediately—but I was a good reader, had devoted myself to the instructions on the box and, carefully studying the ingredients, mixed the baby’s food before making my plate. No one at the table

remarked on my sacrifice. This mattered little as I felt God watching, smiling. My perpetual need for praise and food fell away. In its place was my baby who needed me, so mysteriously warm, my serious assignment.

Re-wiring all this high-stakes human behavior can seem incredibly complicated.

In preparing to write this piece, I became fixated on why the social workers and advocates employed or mobilized by the Campaign were drawn to the challenge, brave enough to attempt it in a climate where sex can still be so taboo a topic. No one I spoke with told me they’d had an unplanned pregnancy, or seen a friend through such an experience in high school.

Millie Hobgood is the outgoing program manager credited with jump-starting some of the Campaign’s new initiatives. A Tulsa native, her background is in sexual health education. Like everyone in the staff conference room, Hobgood never had a sex ed class in high school. She remembered a rogue biology teacher, though, who finished one unit with an aside. “If you have any questions that weren’t in the book, you can ask me,” she said.

She saw how many classmates spoke up, thankful an adult opened the floor to speak freely.

“It just became a passion of mine to connect people to information,” Hobgood tells me.

It’s clear the people who need information in this scenario are not just teenagers.

We all have a lot to learn about our own power to help ourselves, to undo generations of confusion. And a lot to teach others about theirs about their power to do the same. a FEATURED // 27

MAKER FAIRE TULSA Aug. 24 | Central Park Hall, Expo Square | Free admission | tulsa.makerfaire.com Artists, engineers and makers of all stripes share their innovative projects and crafty creations at the seventh annual Tulsa Maker Faire.

INDIA FEST: UTSAV 2019 Aug. 24 | River Spirit Expo Center, Expo Square | Free admission | iagtok.com Celebrate Indian culture with delicious food, colorful clothing and henna at this event hosted by the Indian Association of Greater Tulsa.

WILD BREW Aug. 24 | Cox Business Center | $65 (GA) | wildbrew.org With incredible food vendors and more than 200 beers from around the world, you can get wild while giving back to the wild. Proceeds benefit the Sutton Avian Research Center.

Falling for Tulsa 44 AUTUMN FESTIVALS As the summer sun sinks below the horizon, Green Country will soon give way to vibrant autumnal hues of yellow, orange and red. That means one thing: it’s time to gear up for fall festival season. The Tulsa area offers plenty of opportunities to celebrate the season, from homegrown music fests to cultural extravaganzas and craft beer blowouts. Here are 44 fall festivals you won’t want to miss. — TTV STAFF

FEEL GOOD FESTIVAL Aug. 25 | Guthrie Green | Free admission | facebook.com Join jazz and blues artists for an intimate gathering at Guthrie Green featuring all duo performances.

BLUE WHALE COMEDY FESTIVAL Aug. 29–31 | Multiple venues | $50–$150 | bluewhalecomedyfestival.com Headliners Michelle Wolf and Nicole Byer round out this year’s annual can’t-miss comedy bash, featuring DJ Pryor, Jackie Tohn, Rae Sanni, Matteo Lane and tons of local talent.

BURN TULSA MUSIC FESTIVAL Aug. 30–31 | Pearl Beach Brewpub | $20–35 Pull up your beach chair and enjoy music from Mike Gilliland, Flock of Pigs, Recycled Funk and more. Vendors include Gypsy.Revival, Copesettic Crafts, and Marie’s Henna Art, plus food from Linam Up Grill.

DUSK TIL DAWN BLUES FESTIVAL Aug. 30–Sept. 1 | Rentiesville | $18/day | dcminnerblues.com The name says it all—for three nights, more than 30 blues artists will hit the stage at the OK Blues Hall of Fame from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. in the historically all-black town of Rentiesville. This year’s performers include Knut Roppestadt, Kelvin ‘Mr. Guitar’ Drake, Bonnie McGee and more.

POSTOAK WINE & JAZZ NIGHT Aug. 31 | POSTOAK Lodge & Retreat | $20–50 | postoaklodge.com Deep Branch Winery will be pouring their Blind Luck Label wines paired with smooth jazz music, including performances from The Free Samples, Ana Berry with the Tim Shadley Trio, and Grady Nichols.

28 // FEATURED

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

FEATURED // 29

MISFEST

TULSA’S GREAT RAFT RACE

TULSA’S GREAT RAFT RACE Sept. 2 | Arkansas River, River West Festival Park | Free for spectators | tulsaraftrace.com Tulsa’s makeshift naval fleet will sail down the Arkansas River from Sand Springs to Tulsa’s River West Festival Park. Don’t miss the party after the race with food trucks, games, and live music from Tulsa Little Jam. BLUEGRASS & CHILI FESTIVAL Sept. 6–7 | Downtown Wagoner | Free admission | bluegrasschilifest.com Head to Wagoner for the 40th annual Bluegrass & Chili Festival with a chili cook-off and two days of music featuring Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, The Cleverlys, Edgar Loudermilk with Jeff Autry, and more.

WIZARDWORLD COMIC CON Sept. 6–8 | Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center | $35–80 (GA) | wizardworld.com Get your costumes ready for the return of the Wizard World Comic Con, featuring appearances from Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Westley from The Princess Bride (Cary Elwes), professional wrestler Kevin Nash and more.

LET IT BE ARTS FESTIVAL Sept. 7–8 | Kiefer Municipal Park, Kiefer | Free admission | facebook.com Handmade art, crafts and products abound at this festival in Kiefer.

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OKLAHOMA SCOTFEST Sept. 13–15 | Wyndham Tulsa | $10-30 (GA) | okscotfest.com Celebrating 40 years in Green Country, ScotFest brings you all things Scottish, including Highland Games competitions, whiskey tastings, and music from Celtica - Pipes Rock!, Wicked Tinkers, Seven Nations and more.

MISFEST Sept. 14 | Guthrie Green | Free (GA) – $54.50-$75 (VIP) | misfest.com Back for the second year, MisFEST celebrates women in music and empowers artists to succeed in a ruthless industry.

There will be food trucks, wine and beer and performances from KT Tunstall, Tea Rush, Yardbones and more.

BIG OM AT HOME YOGA FESTIVAL Sept. 14–15 | Centennial Park | $10-99 (Free GA) | bigomyogaretreat.com This weekend event includes yoga workshops, vendors, live music and performances of acroyoga, slackline, aerial yoga and jugglers. General admission is free, with a $10 drop-in fee for yoga classes on the Main Stage. Purchase a weekend pass for $99 to access all of the workshops and classes.

MEDICINE STONE Sept. 19–21 | Diamondhead Resort, Tahlequah | $150–2450 | medicinestoneok.com Come and stay a while at this Red Dirt camping festival. Performances include Jason Boland & The Stragglers, Robert Earl Keen, John Fullbright and more.

FESTIVAL AMERICAS Sept. 22–23 | Guthrie Green | Free admission | guthriegreen.com Celebrate the rich cultures and heritage of Latin America with dancing, art, food trucks, a tequila garden and music— including a performance by three-time Grammy Award-winners Ozomatli.

TULSA GREEK FESTIVAL Sept. 19–22 | Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church | $5 | tulsagreekfestival.com Opa!homa returns this year with traditional Greek dancing, music from The Greek Tycoons (with the guitar-like instrument the Bouzouki), and, naturally, a smorgasboard of delicious food.

ILLINOIS RIVER JAM Sept. 26–28 | Peyton’s Place, Tahlequah | $60 | illinoisriverjam.com This annual camping event on the banks of the Illinois River brings local live music to nature’s backyard. Performances include Steve Poltz, Samantha Crain, Beau Jennings & the Tigers, and more.

STONE RIVER MUSIC FESTIVAL Sept. 20–22 | Chandler | $30–60 | stonerivermusicfestival.com This scenic festival takes place on private land with lots of trees and natural beauty.

The weekend of Oklahoma grassroots music includes three days of performances, food trucks, arts and crafts.

TULSA STATE FAIR Sept. 26–Oct. 6 | Expo Square | $8–12 | tulsastatefair.com Hands down the best place to people watch, the Tulsa State Fair is back and better than ever. Can we interest you in deep-fried cookie dough, a dipped paddlecake, or deep-fried bacon mashed potatoes?

TINY PORCH FESTIVAL Sept. 21 | Owen Park | Free admission | facebook.com The inaugural DIY music festival was a hit last year. Back for seconds, this year’s event includes local food from KillerWail Barbecue and music from Nightingale, Beach Friends, Rachel La Vonne, CLIFFDIVER and more.

HALLOWEEN FESTIVAL Sept. 27–Oct. 26 | The Castle of Muskogee | $3–15 per attraction | okcastle.com Fun for the whole family, The Castle of Muskogee is open Fridays and Saturdays with fun and spooky attractions like the haunted hayride, the labyrinth of horror, and the torture chamber.

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

MISFEST: EMILY STEWARD; TULSA RAFT RACE: COURTESY; TULSA GREEK FEST: CHARLES SAMUEL

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FEATURED // 31

TULSA STATE FAIR

TURKEY MTB FESTIVAL Sept. 28–29 | Turkey Mountain | Free admission | facebook.com Trail riders hit Turkey Mountain for this two-day mountain biking event benefitting children at Oklahoma Firefighters Burn Camp, wrapping up the Tour de Dirt MTB Championship Series.

W!LD TURKEY Oct. 3 | Turkey Mountain | $150 | riverparks.org Bluegrass, bonfires, barbecue and more—don’t miss this one-night event that benefits River Parks and Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness.

WINE, JAZZ & WORLD FÊTE Oct. 3–5 | Guthrie Green & Duet | Free admission | okrootsmusic.org The second annual celebration brings jazz, reggae and folk to the Tulsa Arts District. There will be wine tastings, a Latin food fair and performance art as well.

OKTOBERFEST

BARTLESVILLE OKTOBERFEST Oct. 5 | Downtown Bartlesville | $15–50 | facebook.com Festivities and fall beer are in the cards for our northern neighbors. The $50 ticket gets you entry with unlimited drinks and a free pretzel.

NATIONAL INDIAN TACO CHAMPIONSHIP Oct. 5 | Downtown Pawhuska | Free admission | facebook.com Come celebrate the fine art of fry bread at the National Indian Taco Championship in Pawhuska. You’ll also enjoy local music, Native dance demonstrations, craft vendor booths and more.

BASECAMP CAMPING FESTIVAL

TULSA PAGAN PRIDE DAY FESTIVAL Oct. 5 | Veteran’s Park | Free admission | facebook.com Join Tulsa’s Pagan community for a day of food, fun and education. There will be classes, a silent auction, food trucks, craft vendors and more.

MCNELLIE’S HARVEST BEER FESTIVAL Oct. 5 | ONEOK Field Concourse | $35–75 | facebook.com What better way to kick off October than with a beer festival—and with representation from more than 80 breweries, McNellie’s Harvest Beer Festival is the perfect place to try something new.

BASECAMP CAMPING FESTIVAL Oct. 5–6 | Turkey Mountain | $55–70 | facebook.com Camping at Turkey Mountain is allowed once a year during the BaseCamp Camping Festival. Stake your claim to a spot.

32 // FEATURED

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

TULSA STATE FAIR: COURTESY; OKTOBERFEST: GREG BOLLINGER; BASECAMP: COURTESY RIVER PARKS AUTHORITY

MOJO FEST Oct. 5 | Studio Row | $25–95 | eventbrite.com Head on down to Leon Russell Road in the Pearl District for an event with live music, local art and delicious food. Proceeds benefit The Day Center for the Homeless and The Church Studio Music Foundation.

TULSA AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL Oct. 9–13 | Multiple venues | Admission prices vary | tulsaamericanfilmfest.com Celebrating its 5th year, TAFF focuses on Latino American, Native American, Oklahoma-based and student filmmakers.

Catch incredible films at Circle Cinema, Gilcrease Museum and more.

TULSA POP CULTURE EXPO Nov. 2–3 | Woodland Hills Mall | $20–40 (GA) | tulsapopcultureexpo.com Meet Jennifer Marshall (Stranger Things), Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), Cesar Garcia (Breaking Bad, Fast & Furious 4), and more at this annual pop culture blowout.

PELICAN FESTIVAL Oct. 10–13 | Wolf Creek Park, Grove | Free admission | pelicanfestok.com The migrating American White Pelican returns to Grand Lake every fall, and you can celebrate at this annual festival. Join the festivities, which include carnival rides, a parade, free face painting and more.

NATIVE AMERICAN FESTIVAL Nov. 2 | Centennial Center at RSU | Free admission | willrogers.com Presented in conjunction with the Will

FESTIVAL OF FREAKS Oct. 12 | FlowerCraft Co. Event Center | $5–10 | facebook.com Calling all ghouls and ghosts—the firstever Festival of Freaks is a gathering of Tulsa’s dark artists, paranormal investigators and mediums celebrating the unusual.

CHEROKEE ART MARKET Oct. 12–13 | Hard Rock Hotel & Casino | $5 | cherokeeartmarket.com More than 150 artists representing more than 50 tribes are represented at the Cherokee Art Market. One of the biggest Native art shows in Oklahoma, the festival features jewelry, pottery, textiles, paintings, sculptures and more.

OKTOBERFEST Oct. 17–20 | River West Festival Park | $7–120 | tulsaoktoberfest.org The Linde Oktoberfest brings a slice of Germany to Tulsa with scores of beers on tap in the BierGarten, carnival rides, fireworks and music from Dorfrocker, Grammy-nominee Alex Meixner, and a new brand of polka from Bavarski. Prost!

WILL ROGERS MOTION PICTURE FESTIVAL AND BIRTHDAY Oct. 30–Nov. 4 | Claremore | Free admission | willrogers.com Celebrate Will Rogers’ 140th birthday with a trip to Claremore. His films will be screened around town, and other events include the Cherokee Nation Wings Race, Pocahontas Club’s traditional wreath laying and more.

DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS FESTIVAL DE ARTE Nov. 1 | Living Arts | TBA | livingarts.org In celebration of Hispanic heritage and in honor of loved ones who have passed away, this festival will include dancing, face painting, mariachi and salsa bands, food vendors and more.

KING’S MEDIEVAL FAIRE Nov. 1–3 | Black Gold Park, Glenpool | Free admission | kingsmedievalfaire.com Hear ye, hear ye! Medieval times are coming to Glenpool. Enjoy fun costumes, reenactments, and vendors with all the equipment you’ll need to fit the part.

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

Rogers Days festival, the 23rd annual Native American Festival at RSU will include Native music and dancing, a powwow singing workshop, arts and craft workshops, Indian tacos, Cherokee storytelling and more.

for wildlife rehabilitation. There will be a silent auction, gourmet food and work for sale, including fine art, photography, turned wood, handbill ceramics and fused glass.

OKLAHOMA JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL Nov. 10–14 | Circle Cinema | TBA | jewishtulsa.org The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art and The Jewish Federation of Tulsa present films celebrating Jewish culture and creativity across a variety of genres. a

WILD AT ART Nov. 8–9 | Tulsa Garden Center | Free admission | facebook.com More than 40 artists are coming together for a two-day art show in collaboration with WING IT and Tulsa Audubon Society

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lolz

The babe with the power Nicole Byer on being real, telling jokes and flipping the script

by ALEXANDRA ROBINSON

T

he first thing to know about Nicole Byer is that you don’t know Nicole Byer as well as you think you know Nicole Byer. The self-proclaimed “busybody” has built her comedy brand on letting us into her business— listen to her podcast Why Won’t You Date Me? or watch her standup special Aggressively Adorable (included among the U.S. collection of Netflix’s Comedians of the World) and you’ll learn what appears to be a lot about Nicole’s personal life.

Byer’s frankness about her own dating experiences and sexual escapades are front-and-center in many of her projects. (See: the episode of Why Won’t You Date Me? aptly titled “Featuring the Man Whose Floor I Peed On.”) She’s quick to present herself as “thirsty,” read from her Tinder bio, and express real frustration at the garbage fire that is modern dating.

But for Byer, the act of sharing these aspects of her personal life is just a matter of fact. “I don’t know if I’m super vulnerable,” she ponders when I ask how she manages to put herself on the line for her audiences in her comedy. “You pick and choose things for yourself and things for the audience.”

If you only know Nicole from her kid-friendly comedy baking show she cohosts with chocolatier Jacques Torres, Nailed It!, you better buckle up for her set at the Blue Whale Comedy Festival.

Nicole co-headlines the festival with Michelle Wolf. She and I chatted about political jokes, vulnerable comedy and holding the power ahead of her Tulsa set at Cain’s Ballroom.

ALEXANDRA ROBINSON: For those who might be new to your comedy, what can the people of 34 // ARTS & CULTURE

ROBINSON: What’s the wildest thing that’s ever happened at a show?

BYER: A man hugged me on stage.

That was upsetting!

ROBINSON: How did that even happen?

Nicole Byer will co-headline this year’s Blue Whale Comedy Festival on August 31. | COURTESY

Tulsa expect from Nicole Byer stand up?

NICOLE BYER: Well, I talk a lot about me—I’m fat, I’m black, I’m a lady, so it’s a lot of those topics.

I’m single, so I talk about that. If you only know me from Nailed It!, it’s raunchier than that. It’s a nice fun surprise!

ROBINSON: Have you ever been to Tulsa before?

BYER: I don’t think I’ve ever been to Tulsa but I’ve been to Oklahoma. I asked if I was in the Midwest and everyone yelled at me.

ROBINSON: [Laughs] You came up in the New York UCB scene and are now LA-based. How’s your experience been touring the middle of the country?

BYER: For the most part I have good experiences! I would say before the election— because, we do live in a bubble [in LA], everyone was saying ‘Trump won’t win!’ and other people were like,

‘Well, I’m in the Midwest and I think he will.’ It really gives you a different perspective. I also learned touring that if you do political humor its very divisive, and it makes people angry! So I stopped doing that. But I do like touring—you learn how to tell jokes when you tour, because your jokes have to become universal for people on the coasts to get it, in the middle, the south, the north, you know.

ROBINSON: How does your improv background inform your stand up?

BYER: The way I write jokes is maybe a little different than other people. I come up with either a premise or a punchline and then if I come up with a punchline I improvise a premise, and try to play with it to figure out what the joke is. If I have a premise, I try to improvise the punchline until it works, and that’s the joke. I guess improv has been really great for crowd work—if people yell at me, I usually have something to say back to them.

BYER: I said I was single, and he said, ‘I’ll hug you,’ and I said, ‘I don’t want that,’ and he got up on stage and security didn’t do anything about it! Security is always very slow. People just yell things.

They’ll yell “Why Won’t You Date Me” at me, they’ll yell “Nailed It!” at me—they like to yell my resume, which is very peculiar because I was there!

ROBINSON: Your brand of comedy is so physical and so honest and so personal to your experience—and watching your comedy, you just get the sense that you’re laying so much of yourself out there for us, but you’re never self-deprecating. How do you walk the line of being vulnerable but also … not, in a way?

BYER: I don’t know if I’m super vulnerable—I’m a busybody, I like telling my business. I also don’t think any experience is just for one person. I think a lot of people go through a lot of things. You know how someone will post on Instagram, like, ‘I’m depressed,’ and then everyone is like ‘Oh my god! I thought I was alone!’ A lot of people suffer from a lot of the same things. We’re all going through it, so you pick and choose things for yourself and things for the audience.

ROBINSON: I saw an interesting clip of you—you appeared as a ‘Curvy Panelist’ on the Steve Harvey Show a few years ago

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

alongside a plus-sized model and a personal trainer. He was asking you all about a gameshow in the Netherlands where contestants guess whether a woman was pregnant or fat. There was such a stark difference between how seriously the other panelists took that moment and how hilarious you thought it was.

BYER: It is funny! It’s so funny.

Because I think everyone signed a waiver [for the gameshow]— everyone knew what it entailed.

No one was being offended by it.

I refuse to take myself seriously in aspects like that. But, you know, being fat is hard—when you go to the doctor, they say everything is because you need to lose weight, but like, truly, look through it and see if it’s something else! But I don’t know, if you want to poke fun at a fat person—everyone gets made fun of. I choose not to let people hold power.

ROBINSON: What’s the weirdest part about being a comedian in the age of Trump and this weird time we’re in?

BYER: It’s hard to poke fun at the administration when they’re doing such horrific things. It’s also not fun to keep talking about it. It’s redundant, so I like to be political in other ways. I have a couple stories about how I’ve experience microaggressions, and how sometimes white people will touch my hair and stuff—where you hear the story and you’re like, ‘Aw man, that sucks,’ and you don’t think about it as political but it is. I’m talking about the state of affairs of our country. So I try to talk about the world in a way that’s more palatable than being like, “Isn’t Trump bad?”

ROBINSON: I read a Bustle interview from about a year ago, you were talking about PC culture and audiences feeling uncomfortable about laughing at experiences that aren’t ‘theirs’ to laugh at. You said, ‘People like PC culture to be the culprit, but I don’t think we’re being PC, I think we’re trying to understand other peoples’ experiences.’ That’s an interesting space you live in with your comedy— how do you invite your audience to interact with that?

BYER: I was trying to tell fat jokes for a long time and I had a really hard time with it because people would feel bad. ‘Cause they were like ‘Ohhhh I don’t know that experience. I feel so bad, that must be terrible for her!’

So I went about it trying to write the jokes from peoples’ perspectives, like how the world sees fat people—I’m just telling my experience through the lens of you.

Whenever I think of a joke that doesn’t go well, but other comics say it’s funny and I think it’s a funny premise, I go: ‘Why doesn’t the audience think it’s funny? Oh, because it isn’t their experience.’

So then I try to make it their experience.

L A R RY C L A R K : T U L SA See Tulsa in Tulsa.

The iconic photos come home.

ROBINSON: Who are your biggest comedy inspirations?

BYER: Mo’Nique, Adele Givens, Whoopi Goldberg, Tina Fey, Jane Krawkowski, Robin Williams.

Martin Short is so funny. If you’ve never seen Clifford, you have to see that movie. I’m not kidding, it’s so fucking funny. Martin Short plays a little boy who just wants to go to Dino World. It’s maybe the funniest movie I’ve ever seen.

ROBINSON: Adding it to my list!

You’re so humble when you talk about your career but you’re clearly on your grind: You’ve got a Netfl ix special. You host approximately one million podcasts.

You’ve had a sitcom loosely based on your life. You’re constantly touring, and you host Nailed It! among so many other projects.

How do you stay on your grind and not get burnt out?

BYER: I had an acting teacher say, ‘If you can live without acting, do that.’ I like working! I don’t mind failing because you just figure out how to succeed in a different way.

And if one door closes, another door opens. That’s how doors work. a

NICOLE BYER @ BLUE WHALE COMEDY FESTIVAL Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St. Sat. Aug. 31, 8:30 p.m., $35 bluewhalecomedyfestival.com

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

JUNE 1—NOV. 10.

PHILBROOK DOWNTOWN. 116 E M.B. BRADY ST, TULSA, OK 74103

Get a new lens on Oklahoma. Acclaimed photographer, actor (My Name is Earl, Almost Famous), & skateboarder Jason Lee debuts his series of photographs taken on Oklahoma roadtrips.

O K : JA S O N L E E P H O T O G R A P H S

Larry Clark (American, b.

1943). Billy Mann, 1963.

Gelatin silver print, 11 × 14".

Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Museum purchase, 2018.1.2. © Larry Clark; Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.

Jason Lee (American, b. 1970).

Untitled, 2018. Digital print, 44 × 54". Courtesy of the artist. © Jason Lee

ARTS & CULTURE // 35

$5 PER PERSON Children 5 & under free

PERFORMERS KATE KYER - STEVE AFEMAN - JACQUIE WARDA FALCON FLIGHT FORMATION - DAVE LEEDOM CURT RICHMOND - PAUL RICHMOND - JEREMY HOLT GENE MCNEELY - RUSSELL HUSBAND

WHEN WE WERE YOUNG Who was your favorite comedian as a teenager?

by ANDREW DEACON

ACTIVITIES tethered hot air ballon rides - FOOD TRUCKS helicopter rides -BOUNCE HOUSES FACE PAINTING - STATIC DISPLAYS & MORE

Okmulgee, OK Okmulgee Regional Airport PRESENTED BY:

AN EVENING WITH

BRANFORD

MARSALIS SUNDAY, OCTOB E R 6 @ 7:30

Trever Carreon

Lauren Turner

Donald Glover. As strange as it is, my favorite comedian as a teenager eventually flew the Millennium Falcon. His 2010 Comedy Central special was one of the first sets I was able to relate to and helped me understand what comedy was as a craft. His material’s relatability immediately made him my favorite for the next few years and planted the idea in my head that maybe I could do comedy.

Thanks, Lando!

I loved watching Saturday Night Live.

I started watching it with my parents and watched it evolve through lots of cast members, but Chris Farley, Amy Poehler, and Kristin Wiig were my favorites. I would re-enact their sketches for my friends (to their dismay) and they made me want to be involved in comedy.

P.M.

T U L SA P E RF ORMING ARTS CENTER

.

Sondra Slade Mac Bryan

TICKETS @ TULSAPAC.COM OR 918.596.7111

36 // ARTS & CULTURE

My favorite comedian as a teenager was the one and only Ellen DeGeneres. I found Season One of her sitcom and her HBO special The Beginning in my mom’s DVD collection when I was 13 and watched them on repeat. She is one of my biggest inspirations and I’m pretty sure I had a huge crush on her.

My favorite comedian as teenager was Richard Pryor. He told the best stories about his family and life. I would sneak his records into my room when my parents went to sleep. I would listen closely and laugh quietly. a The above respondents will be bringing local laughs to The Blue Whale Comedy Festival, August 29-31. For more information, visit bluewhalecomedyfestival.org.

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

2019 BLUE WHALE COMEDY FESTIVAL

AUGUST 29-31 + Tulsa, OK

FRIDAY Headliner

Saturday Headliner

Michelle

Nicole

Wolf

byer from the netflix series “nailed it”

Writer for The Daily show

featuring

matteo lane

+

stand-up comedian

DJ Pryor Internet sensation

+

Jackie Tohn Star from the netflix series, “GLOW”

+

Rae Sanni Writer for “Black-ish”

Cain's ballroOm

TICKETS + PASSES ON SALE NOW! BLUEWHALECOMEDYFESTIVAL.COM

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

ARTS & CULTURE // 37

WILD BREW

Saturday, Aug. 24, 5 p.m., $65 Cox Business Center Over 31 breweries and 39 restaurants will be at this event slinging beer and food to save the eagles. This event raises money for the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center, so buy a ticket and eat and drink all you can! It’s for the birds. wildbrew.org

SOCIAL CLUB

COMEDY

Infinate Spirit Social Club presents a night of food, music, guided visualization, drawing and conversation Saturday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. This event is presented by Tamara Santibanez with live music by IMGONNADIE. thetulsaartsdistrict.org

Blue Whale Comedy Festival returns Aug. 29–31 with performances from Michelle Wolf, Nicole Byer, DJ Pryor, Matteo Lane and more—including several local acts. Single day tickets start at $50. bluewhalecomedyfestival.com

BEER + HIP HOP

HAMILTON PRE-GAME

Prairie Brewpub hosts Bubbles and Flow: a saison and hip hop experience on Sunday, Aug. 25 for only $5 a head. Read our story over the event on pg. 41. facebook.com

Do you love Hamilton? Then head over to Gilcrease for their free event, Gilcrease After Hours: Hamilton, History & Happy Hour on Aug. 23 at 7 p.m. to sing along with the Tulsa Opera, answer trivia and more. gilcrease.org

EP RELEASE

KEN BURNS DOC

Plastic Psalms release their EP at Soundpony on Thursday, Aug. 29 with support from My Heart And Liver Are The Best Of Friends and Superburner. This is sure to be a great show, don’t miss it!

KOSU hosts a screening of Country Music - A Film

by Ken Burns at Circle Cinema on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 2 p.m. before it is shown on PBS. The best part is, tickets are free and there is a mimosa bar at 1 p.m. facebook.com

FULL EVENTS CALENDAR: THETULSAVOICE.COM/CALENDAR 38 // ARTS & CULTURE

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

EVENTS Movie Nights: Dumbo // 8/21, 7:30 p.m., Gathering Place - QuikTrip Great Lawn, gatheringplace.org Essential Essays Book Club // 8/21, 12 p.m., Magic City Books, magiccitybooks.com Jason Lee Presents Rumble Fish // 8/22, 9 p.m., Admiral Twin Drive-In, philbrook.org Making Black Music, Learning Black Survival // 8/22, 7 p.m., Flyloft Movie in the park // 8/22, Movie TBD, 7:30 p.m., Guthrie Green, guthriegreen.com Modern Fairy Tales: An Evening with Bryn Greenwood // 8/23, 7 p.m., Magic City Books Movie on the lawn: Black Panther // 8/23, 8:30 p.m., Philbrook, philbrook.org Maker Faire Tulsa // 8/24, tulsa.makerfaire.com Mushroom cultivation workshop // 8/24, 5 p.m., Dead Armadillo Brewery, facebook.com Katy Trail Cleanup // 8/24, 9 a.m., Katy Trail Head 6th Annual Women’s Clothes Swap // 8/24/19, 2 p.m., Living Arts of Tulsa, livingarts.org

BACK TO SCHOOL BACKPACK GIVEAWAY Saturday, Aug. 24, 11 a.m.

Juicemaker Lounge

Terrence Ferguson from the OKC Thunder and his manager Rachelle Holdman will be at Juicemaker Lounge giving away more than 250 Under Armor backpacks full of school supplies. There will also be food, face painting, a bounce house and a DJ.

LET’S DANCE

Mojo Movement Studios hosts their third Booty Brunch Twerkshop on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 2 p.m.

There is a $20 fee for this hot workout, that fee includes the mimosa bar and full class.

I LOVE COLLEGE

Urban Outfitters hosts College Night on Sunday Aug. 25 at 6:30 p.m. . There will be music by DJ Good Ground, pop ups by Modern Mess and Nelba Jacquez, drinks, giveaways and more.

DOG DAY

In honor of National Dog Day, Inner Circle Vodka Bar will hold a National Dog Day Beauty Pageant Monday, Aug. 26 at 4 p.m. If you think your dog is the cutest in town, now’s your chance to show them off.

ART PARTY

Celebrate the end of summer with the artists that curated so many summer events at the End of Summer Bash with the Tulsa Artist Fellows on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 3 p.m. at Gilcrease This free evnt includes live performances, food trucks and ice cream.

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

Taste of Havana // 8/24, 9 p.m., Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, facebook.com

Beer bingo // 8/31, 6 p.m., Renaissance Brewing Company, facebook.com Indian Nations Artifact & Fossil Show // 8/31, The Mabee Center Sunday Concert Series // 9/1, 2:30 p.m., Guthrie Green, guthriegreen.com LA25: A 25th Anniversary Celebration // 9/2, 11 a.m., Guthrie Green, guthriegreen.com Melanie Gilman Book Launch // 9/3, 7 p.m., Magic City Books, magiccitybooks.com

PERFORMING ARTS Hamilton // 8/21-9/3, Chapman Music Hall, tulsapac.com Mamma Mia! // 8/21-9/1, John H. Williams Theatre, tulsapac.com Heller Shorts 2019: Now and Ten // 8/22-25, Dennis R. Neill Equality Center - Lynn Riggs Theater, okeq.org Tulsa Ballet II: On Your Radar // 8/23-25, Tulsa Ballet’s Studio K Theater, tulsaballet.com

COMEDY

IndiaFest // 8/24, 11 a.m., River Spirit Expo Square

John McClellan // 8/21-24, Loony Bin, tulsa. loonybincomedy.com

Soldered Jewelry Workshop // 8/24, facebook. com

Young Guns // 8/23, 8 p.m., Rabbit Hole Improv Comedy, rabbitholeimprov.com

Movie on the Lawn: The Outsiders // 8/24, 9:30 p.m., The American Legion Post 1

Tulsa Night Live // 8/24, 8 p.m., Rabbit Hole Improv Comedy, rabbitholeimprov.com

Country Music - A Film by Ken Burns // 8/25, 2 p.m., Circle Cinema

David Landau // 8/28-31, Loony Bin, tulsa. loonybincomedy.com

Sunday Concert Series // 8/25, 2:30 p.m., Guthrie Green, guthriegreen.com

Comedy Showcase // 8/29, 8 p.m., Bar 473, bar473.com

MUSED. Poetry Night // 8/25, 6 p.m., Magic City Books, magiccitybooks.com

Silly Humans // 8/30, 8 p.m., Rabbit Hole Improv Comedy, rabbitholeimprov.com

Paella - Cook & Eat // 8/25, 3 p.m., Mother Road Market

Whose Line Rip Off Show // 8/31, 8 p.m., Rabbit Hole Improv Comedy, rabbitholeimprov.com

Truth and Reconciliation Book Club: Between the World and Me // 8/25, 3 p.m., Whitty Books, facebook.com

SPORTS

Garageband 101 // 8/26, 1:30 p.m., Central Library - Digital Literacy Lab, tulsalibrary.org Native American Lit Book Club: Whereas, by Layli Long Soldier // 8/26, 7:30 p.m., Whitty Books, facebook.com Water Forum, Films & Panel // 8/28, A screening of Right To Harm and BIG CHICKEN followed by a panel discussion., 6 p.m., Circle Cinema

Tulsa Drillers vs Amarillo // 8/21, 8/22, 7:05 p.m., ONEOK Field, milb.com Tulsa Drillers vs Corpus Christi // 8/23, 7:05 p.m., ONEOK Field, milb.com Tulsa Drillers vs Corpus Christi // 8/24, 8/25, 7:05 p.m., ONEOK Field, milb.com Ultimate frisbee // 8/24, 12 p.m., Pearl Beach Brew Pub, facebook.com

Women in Horror Book Club: The Silent Companions // 8/28, 7 p.m., Whitty Books, facebook.com

Tulsa Roughnecks vs Las Vegas Lights // 8/28, 7:30 p.m., ONEOK Field, milb.com

End of Summer Bash with the Tulsa Artist Fellows // 8/29, Enjoy ice cream, food trucks and special performances., 3 p.m., Gilcrease Museum, gilcrease.org

Tulsa Roughnecks vs Fresno FC // 8/31, 7:30 p.m., ONEOK Field, milb.com

Plant Bar on the Balcony // 8/29, Design experts will help attendees make a succulent arrangment., 6 p.m., Welltown Brewing Summer Heat: Battle of the Sexes // 8/30, Two rounds of poetry competition, with a haiku battle intermission., 8 p.m., Living Arts of Tulsa, livingarts.org Eros Erotica // 8/30, 10 p.m., The Fur Shop, facebook.com EROS EROTICA // 8/31, 12 p.m., Living Arts of Tulsa, livingarts.org Drag Queen Story Hour // 8/31, 1 p.m., Magic City Books The VIP Experience // 8/31, 7:30 p.m., Mojo Movement Studio Tulsa Humane Society Animal Adoption // 8/31, 11 a.m., New Era Fine Fermentations

VISUAL ART Wondrous Worlds: Curator Tour // 8/22/19-, Gain exclusive insight into the Philbrook exhibition Wondrous Worlds: Art & Islam through Time & Place with curator Susan Green., 1:30 p.m., Philbrook, philbrook.org Local Artist Spotlight: Maria Trester // 8/22, 5 p.m., The Taproom at Marshall Brewing, facebook. com Live Drawing: Joel Daniel Phillips // 8/24-29, 10 a.m., Gilcrease, gilcrease.org Metalsmithing: Open Labs at ahha // 8/25, 1 p.m., Ahha Tulsa, ahhatulsa.org Community Conversation: Dr. Imam Imad Enchassi // 8/25, 2 p.m., Philbrook, philbrook.org Figure Drawing // 9/1, 2 p.m., Ahha Tulsa, ahhatulsa.org ARTS & CULTURE // 39

musicnotes

WHEN WE WERE YOUNG What song or album was formative to your teenage years?

by TTV STAFF

Graveyard Party are leading the way for teenage bands in Tulsa. | KATY REDMOND

TEENAGE RIOT Graveyard Party are the young heroes Tulsa needs

WHEN CHARLOTTE BUMGARNER STARTED playing shows as a solo artist, she almost never performed with people her own age.

The 16-year-old struggled to find her place in a music scene dominated by dudes and 21+ venues, but cutting her teeth onstage gave the guitarist and vocalist the confidence to start the teen band Tulsa didn’t know it needed.

Enter Karli Pool, Brinley Lasiter and Abby Redmond. Bumgarner approached the three friends about the possibility of starting a band in the summer of 2018. Three months later, the quartet known as Graveyard Party was playing their first show at Chimera as part of a concert series organized by Pure Nowhere, a San Diego-based magazine documenting youth culture across the globe.

“It was scary, but we had been practicing for a while and we had so many friends come to support,” Bumgarner remembers.

That show of support affirmed Graveyard Party’s ambition to carry on, but their relationship to the local music scene remains complicated for fellow vocalist and guitarist Brinley Lasiter. “Honestly, being a teenage and all-female band is still super intimidating. I feel like there’s this underlying pressure to impress people,” she says.

Regardless of that pressure, the band knows the value of seeing yourself represented in your local music scene. “It is so powerful to be a kid in high school and go to a show where other teens are shredding,” Bumgarner says. “Seeing that makes you feel like you can do it too.”

40 // MUSIC

Musically, Graveyard Party describe themselves as “Lisa Frank, but make it goth,” delivering cheery, danceable bedroom guitar pop with emotional and combative lyrics about the travails of high school and the complications of growing up. “It makes the confusion of not knowing what the hell is going on a lot less scary when you know there’s someone else who also doesn’t know what’s going on. I love the community it builds,” Lasiter says.

For drummer Brinley Redmond and bassist Karli Pool, bringing these songs to life onstage offers opportunities for growth and exploration—key elements, they say, for navigating life as a teenager.

“Now is the time to go out and experience these things for real,” Redmond says.

“Starting a band and playing gigs is great to find what you want to do when you grow up. Inspiration floods into every teenager’s head, why not put that to good use?”

“Do it even if it scares you,” Pool adds.

That’s exactly what Graveyard Party did, and it opened the door to a community they wouldn’t have known without taking that leap of faith.

Comparing the isolation of her solo shows to the rich community she’s found with Graveyard Party, Bumgarner stresses the importance of being heard during a time when too few are willing to listen.

“Your teen years are extremely weird and formative,” she says. “An outlet is necessary to survive.” — KYRA BRUCE

Keeng Cut

Allison Ward

HIP-HOP ARTIST

TOM BOIL

My favorite album as a teenager would have to be The Love Below by Andre 3000 of Outkast. That album was a huge risk that just so happened to work and made history. I love it and it’s timeless.

I was 16 in 2009 and was obsessed with The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga. She was the most readily available “freak” at the time—me and my friends would listen to that album over and over again. Specifically the songs “Telephone,” “Teeth,” and “Dance in the Dark.”

Mitch Gilliam BLIND OATH, LIZARD POLICE

Branjae

Slipknot’s “People = Shit” was the first blast beat I ever heard and it blew my 7th grade mind. Still to this day it is one of the most ass-beating cave man riffs I’ve ever heard, and it’s just two notes played by ding-dongs in hockey and joker masks. The power I felt from dropping a guitar down and playing that ignorant low rider slam is ineffable. And I guess it formed me into a person who isn’t afraid to cut the elitist shit and tell you I still love Slipknot.

SINGER/SONGWRITER “The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy and Monica.

Brandy Norwood was my absolute favorite.

I watched her since Thea, the show she was on while coming up. I remember this one episode where Thea was supposed to go to a Luther Vandross concert but they lost the tickets so they we’re like, ‘Let’s do our own concert!’ and then Brandy started singing and I was like ‘Mama, Brandy can sing!’ a

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

beers and super specific regional music acts. And then that way two things are getting attention and they’re bringing new demographics to each other,” he says.

Miller chose these two genres because “they’re the ones that are the most philosophically minded.”

Saison reflects the flavors of the region it’s made in, while hiphop tells the story of the region it comes from.

With that in mind, the first act booker Mitch Gilliam went after

was local rapper, Verse. Gilliam got him on the show first thing because of the rapper’s ability to combine styles from different regions. “Even though he’s from Tulsa, he has this distinct East Coast flow,” Gilliam said.

Verse, aka Derek Clark, says that East Coast flow came naturally because he grew up around boom bap, a production style prominent in East Coast hip hop during the 1990s. Clark has been expanding on this classic sound in

Tulsa for 16 years, so he’s seen the scene change firsthand. “I believe wholeheartedly that Tulsa rap has changed for the better over the years,” he says. “There’s definitely a spirit of being better together rather than ruthless competition.”

Expect to see Clark—along with St. Dominick, Mr. Burns and Mike Dee—spitting bars and sipping saisons: “I’m most looking forward to playing new music for some new faces and having a saison taste test.” a

GREG BOLLINGER

‘LIQUID SWORDS’ Bubbles and Flow pairs hip-hop and saison

by KYRA BRUCE

W

hen you think of booze and hip-hop, a farmhouse ale from Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium, might not come immediately to mind. It’s hard to imagine the Migos crew sipping on craft farmhouse ale between songs. And to be fair, the Atlanta trap scene wasn’t the target audience for this 19th-century European brew.

Saison was originally made for farm hands in the fields when the water wasn’t safe to drink, which is why it traditionally has a lower alcohol percentage. It’s dry, carbonated and sometimes made with the harvested fruits of the season, although the definitions vary from place to place and brewer to brewer.

These two worlds will collide on Aug. 25 during Bubbles and Flow: A Hip Hop and Saison Experience, when four local emcees will take over Prairie Brewpub for a night of Tulsa rap and saisons from a dozen Oklahoma breweries.

Organizer Jake Miller hopes the show will bring the craft brewing crowd into the hip-hop sphere, and vice versa. “The idea was to have super specific regional THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

MUSIC // 41

musiclistings Wed // Aug 21 Cellar Dweller – Desi & Cody – 8:30 p.m.

Duet Jazz – Brad Henderson – 8 p.m. – ($5) Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Electik Duo – 6 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – Jacob Dement – 9 p.m.

Rabbit Hole Bar & Grill – Trying To Get By, Trouble Loves Me – 9 p.m.

Soundpony – Busty Brunettes – 10 p.m.

Swamp House – Jim Sweney & Chris Campbell – 7 p.m.

The Colony – Tom Skinner Science Project – 8 p.m.

The Vanguard – Of Virtue, Revisionist, Arjuna – 7 p.m.

– ($10) Track 5. – DJ Mib – 5 p.m.

Thurs // Aug 22 Cain’s Ballroom – Koe Wetzel – 7 p.m. – ($25 - $50) Dead Armadillo Brewery – Desi & Cody Happy Hour – 7 p.m.

Duet Jazz – Neutral Colors – 8 p.m. – ($5) Hunt Club – The March Divide Lefty’s on Greenwood – Ayngel & John – 9 p.m.

Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Local Spin Trio – 6 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – Rose Leach – 9 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – DJ 2 Legit – 9 p.m.

Riffs – Weston Horn – 4 p.m.

Riffs – DJ Mib – 5 p.m.

Riffs – The Vinyl Stripes – 8 p.m.

River Spirit Casino Resort - Paradise Cove – Chris Isaak – 8 p.m.

Soul City – Don White, Steve White, Casey VanBeek – 8 p.m.

Soul City – Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat – 9 p.m.

Soundpony – My Brother and Me – 10 p.m.

The Colony – David Hernandez Happy Hour – 6 p.m.

The Colony – Seth Lee Jones – 9 p.m.

The Joint – Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot – 8 p.m.

The Shrine – The Living Deads – 8 p.m. – ($5) The Vanguard – Tyler Ramsey, Ben Kilgore, Ryan McLaughlin – 8 p.m. – ($12) Track 5. – DJ Demko – 5 p.m.

Track 5. – Alec Davis – 7 p.m.

Utica Square – Hydramatics – 7 p.m.

Vintage Wine Bar – Grammy Nominated with Mason Remel & Malachi Burgess – 8 p.m.

Fri // Aug 23 Blackbird on Pearl – RPM and Curtis Roper Band – 9 p.m.

Cain’s Ballroom – Koe Wetzel – 7 p.m. – ($25 - $50) Chimera – Downward, Greyner, Honeymoon, End on End – 7 p.m. – ($8) Duet Jazz – Jeremy Thomas Quartet – 8 p.m.

El Coyote Manco – La Reyna De Tierra Caliente, Beto y sus Canarios – 9 p.m.

Hunt Club – Dante and the Hawks Lefty’s on Greenwood – Beau Tyler & Jocelyn Rowland – 9 p.m.

Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – DJ and The Band – 7 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – Fuzed – 9 p.m.

Margaritaville - Landshark Pool Bar – Greg Dragoo – 7 p.m.

Margaritaville - Volcano Stage – Jacob Tobey – 10 p.m.

Marshall Brewing – The Lost Keys – 12 p.m.

The Max Retropub – DJ Jeffee Fresh Mercury Lounge – The Shame Album Release Show – 10 p.m. – ($5) PJ’s Pub & Grill – Zodiac – 9 p.m.

Riffs – Jacob Dement – 4 p.m.

Riffs – DJ 2 Legit – 6:30 p.m.

Riffs – Stars – 9 p.m.

River Spirit Casino Resort - Paradise Cove – Mary J. Blige – 8 p.m.

Soul City – Susan Herndon: Fighting The Forces of Evil Happy Hour – 5:30 p.m.

Soundpony – DJ A DRE – 10 p.m.

Swamp House – Pete & Jennifer Marriott – 7 p.m.

The Colony – Vinyl Happy Hour – 4 p.m.

The Max Retropub – DJ Jeffee Fresh – 8 p.m.

The Starlite – DJ Afistaface – 10 p.m.

The Tulsan Bar – DJ Good Ground – 10 p.m.

The Vanguard – Pathology, Narcotic Wasteland, Malignancy – 7 p.m. – ($15) The Wine Loft – Hifi Hillbillies – 8:30 p.m.

Track 5. – DJ Demko – 6 p.m.

Track 5. – Jason McNabb – 8 p.m.

Whittier Bar – Dachshund and American Shadows – 9 p.m.

42 // MUSIC

Sat // Aug 24 Bad Ass Renee’s – S.I.N., Drek, Let Slip The Dogs – 9 p.m.

– ($5) Bar 473 – DJ George Korkian – 9 p.m.

Chimera – Grass Giant, In’ere, Pluto Rouge, IMGONNADIE – 7 p.m. – ($5) Duet Jazz – The Zuits Swing Dance Night – 8 p.m.

Foolish Things: Bar and Biscuit – DJ Afistaface – 9 p.m.

Heirloom Rustic Ales – Dan Roark – 6 p.m.

Juicemaker Lounge – Majeste Pearson presents: The Woman Inside – 9 p.m. – ($10) Lefty’s on Greenwood – Faye Moffett – 9 p.m.

Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – The Downbeat – 7 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – Radio Nation – 9 p.m.

Margaritaville - Landshark Pool Bar – DJ Ecog – 2 p.m.

Margaritaville - Landshark Pool Bar – DJ Good Ground – 6 p.m.

Margaritaville - Volcano Stage – Jake Flint – 10 p.m.

Mayo Hotel - The Penthouse Lounge and Bar – Antry – 9 p.m.

The Max Retropub – DJ Jeffee Fresh Mercury Lounge – Red Shahan, RC and the Ambers – 10 p.m. – ($10) Riffs – Miracle Max – 5:30 p.m.

Riffs – DJ Mib – 6:30 p.m.

Riffs – Hollywood 5 – 9 p.m.

Soundpony – Eclectic Sounds with DJ $sir Mike – 10 p.m.

Soundpony – BDF – 7 p.m.

Studio 308 – Retro Rockets Summer End Splash Down – 8 p.m.

Swamp House – Susan Herndon – 7 p.m.

TAF Cameron Studios – Infinate Spirit Social Club with Tamara Santibanez and IMGONNADIE – 7 p.m.

The Colony – Chris Blevins and Damion Shade – 9 p.m.

– ($5) The Fur Shop – The Fey, Flock of Pigs – 8 p.m.

The Lodge of Saint Reborlaro – Grammy Nominated – 9 p.m.

The Max Retropub – DJ Jeffee Fresh – 8 p.m.

The Starlite – Bobby Lees – 8 p.m.

The Starlite – DJ Robbo & Friends – 9 p.m.

The Tulsan Bar – DJ Lyric of Lyrical Sounds DJ Services – 10 p.m.

The Vanguard – Proglahoma – 5 p.m. – ($10) The Wine Loft – Jesse Joice – 8:30 p.m.

Track 5. – DJ Demko – 6 p.m.

Track 5. – Asphalt Cowboys – 8 p.m.

Vox Pop Tulsa – Brad Cunningham – 7 p.m.

Sun // Aug 25 Bad Ass Renee’s – Locals 2 Legends – 9 p.m.

Cain’s Ballroom – Rodney Crowell – 7 p.m. – ($35) Guthrie Green – The Feel Good Festival: Michele Warren and “Dave Soupbone” Thomas, Basically Sax- Cheryl McGee and Dave Mooney, Cynthia Simmons and Scott McQuade, The Little Joe McLerran Duo – 2:30 p.m.

Hunt Club – Mikayla Lane – 6 p.m.

Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Steve Liddell – 6 p.m.

Los Cabos - Jenks – The Fabulous Two Man Band – 6 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – Jesse Weaver – 9 p.m.

Mercury Lounge – Charlie Overbey and the Broken Arrows – 9 p.m. – ($10) Ph House – Employer, Girls Club, Daniel(s) – 8 p.m. – ($5) Prairie Brewpub – Bubbles and Flow – 5 p.m.

Soul City – Soulful Sundays: Sarah Maud – 7 p.m. – ($7) Soundpony – East Coast vs West Coast Hip Hop Night with DJ Somar and DJ Al Compton – 7 p.m.

The Chalkboard – Steve Liddell – 11 a.m.

The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing – 10 p.m.

The Shrine – Billy Estes & The Circus – 6 p.m. – ($20) The Vanguard – Amy Helm with The Gales – 8 p.m. – ($20 - $50) Track 5. – Trett Charles – 6 p.m.

Mon // Aug 26 Cain’s Ballroom – Zakk Sabbath – 8 p.m. – ($17 - $32) Hodges Bend – Mike Cameron Collective – 9 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – Andrew Harmon – 9 p.m.

Mass Movement Community Arts – Iron Curtain, OTM, Violent Victim – 7 p.m.

The Colony – Jared Tyler Presents Saugeye – 9 p.m.

Whittier Bar – Chad Carrier – 8 p.m.

Tues // Aug 27 Bar 473 – Singer/Songwriter Night – 8 p.m.

Lefty’s on Greenwood – Jazz Night with Oliver Brown & Bates – 7 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – Travis Kidd – 9 p.m.

Marshall Brewing – TuesJay Night: Marilyn McCulloch – 6 p.m.

Rabbit Hole Bar & Grill – The Varukers, Death Squad OKC, The Shame – 8 p.m. – ($12) Swamp House – Jacob Dement – 7 p.m.

The Colony – Chris Lee Becker – 6 p.m.

The Colony – Chris Combs Trio With Special Guests – 9 p.m.

The Vanguard – Death Valley Girls, Pearl Charles, The Daddyo’s, Golden Ones – 8 p.m. – ($10) Whittier Bar – Tuesday Bluesday – 7 p.m.

Wed // Aug 28 Blackbird on Pearl – Cassie and The Swan Lake Gentlemen – 7:30 p.m.

BOK Center – Backstreet Boys – 8 p.m. – ($26 - $150) Cellar Dweller – Desi & Cody – 8:30 p.m.

Duet Jazz – Angie Cockrell – 7 p.m.

Gathering Place - The Patio – Pupchella with Beau Roberson and Rachel LaVonne – 6 p.m.

Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Nick Whitaker – 6 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – Jacob Dement – 9 p.m.

Soundpony – Honey Hounds – 10 p.m.

The Colony – Tom Skinner Science Project – 8 p.m.

Track 5. – DJ Mib – 5 p.m.

Thurs // Aug 29 Dead Armadillo Brewery – Robert Hoefling & Friends – 6:30 p.m.

Hunt Club – Ego Culture Lefty’s on Greenwood – Brujo Roots & Ellisa Sun – 9 p.m.

Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Hi-Fidelics – 6 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – DJ 2 Legit – 9 p.m.

Riffs – 80s Enuf – 4 p.m.

Riffs – DJ Mib – 5 p.m.

Riffs – Boogie Fever – 7 p.m.

Soundpony – Plastic Psalms EP Release Show with My Heart And Liver Are The Best Of Friends, and Superburner – 10 p.m.

The Colony – David Hernandez Happy Hour – 6 p.m.

The Colony – Seth Lee Jones – 9 p.m.

The Vanguard – 106.9 KHITS Dance Party with AJ McLean of Backstreet Boys – 8 p.m. – ($30 - $200) Track 5. – DJ Demko – 5 p.m.

Track 5. – Doug Stone – 8 p.m.

Utica Square – Stars – 7 p.m.

Vintage Wine Bar – Grammy Nominated with Mason Remel & Malachi Burgess – 8 p.m.

Fri // Aug 30 Dead Armadillo Brewery – Indecision Band – 6 p.m.

Hunt Club – Jack Waters and the Unemployed Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – After Party – 7 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – Brent Giddens – 9 p.m.

Margaritaville - Landshark Pool Bar – Travis Fite – 7 p.m.

Margaritaville - Volcano Stage – Jesse Alan – 10 p.m.

The Max Retropub – DJ Afistaface Mercury Lounge – Nick Schnebelen – 10 p.m. – ($5) New Era: Fine Fermentations – Nick Williams – 7 p.m.

Riffs – Dante Schmitz – 5:30 p.m.

Riffs – DJ 2 Legit – 6:30 p.m.

Riffs – Replay – 9 p.m.

Slo Ride – Chris Hyde – 7 p.m.

Soul City – Susan Herndon: Fighting The Forces of Evil Happy Hour – 5:30 p.m.

Soul City – Casii Stephan and Rachel Bachman – 9 p.m.

Soundpony – DJ Spencer LG – 10 p.m.

Spinster Records – Girls Club, Graveyard Party, Pigments – 9 p.m. – ($5) Swamp House – Bria & Joey – 7 p.m.

The Colony – Vinyl Happy Hour – 4 p.m.

The Colony – KANNA – 10 p.m. – ($5) The Max Retropub – DJ Afistaface – 10 p.m.

The Max Retropub – DJ Afistaface – 8 p.m.

The Starlite – 70s ResurXtion with DJ Mike Castle, DJ Jessy James, DJ Xylo Sesame – 9 p.m.

The Tulsan Bar – DJ Oreo – 10 p.m.

The Vanguard – The Anchor, A War Within – 7:30 p.m.

– ($10) The Vanguard – Rob Thomas, Max Frost – 7 p.m. – ($40 - $90) Track 5. – DJ Demko – 6 p.m.

Track 5. – Jason Young Band – 8 p.m.

Whittier Bar – Kelly Hafner – 8 p.m.

Sat // Aug 31 Bad Ass Renee’s – McCuin, Harnish, Dark Matter – 9 p.m.

– ($5) Duet Jazz – Chands Graham – 8 p.m.

Hunt Club – Dirt Road Detours Juicemaker Lounge – Afro Beats, Reggae and Soca with Trini Fresh DJ Mike Mike and Dj Lion The Turntablebandit – 10 p.m.

Lefty’s on Greenwood – Legendary Curt Hill – 9 p.m.

Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Radio Nation – 7 p.m.

Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somehwere Bar – Travis Kidd – 9 p.m.

Margaritaville - Landshark Pool Bar – DJ Good Ground – 2 p.m.

Margaritaville - Landshark Pool Bar – DJ Ecog – 6 p.m.

Margaritaville - Volcano Stage – Mike Wilson – 10 p.m.

Mass Movement Community Arts – For Your Health, One Finger Discount – 7:30 p.m. – ($5) The Max Retropub – DJ Ali Shaw Mercury Lounge – Ausin Meade, K Phillips, Reed Brothers – 8 p.m. – ($5) Ph House – Video Nasty vs Sinus Pressure with Blurt, Minimum Wage Assassins – 8 p.m.

Riffs – Scott Ellison – 5:30 p.m.

Riffs – DJ Mib – 6:30 p.m.

Riffs – 90LB Wrench – 9 p.m.

Soundpony – Pleasuredome – 10 p.m.

Swamp House – Tom Scott & Jim Hardcastle – 7 p.m.

The Colony – Count Tutu – 10 p.m. – ($5) The Max Retropub – DJ Ali Shaw – 8 p.m.

The Shrine – The Fabulous Freddie Mercury Tribute – 8 p.m. – ($25) The Tulsan Bar – DJ Lyric of Lyrical Sounds DJ Services – 10 p.m.

The Vanguard – Heatwave: Chiefy, SlimmCo, DismondJ, Drag Dinero, Juan Cairo, Hippie Tree, KMJ, Joe – 7 p.m. – ($10) Track 5. – DJ Demko – 6 p.m.

Track 5. – Hurry Sundown – 8 p.m.

Sun // Sept 1 Bad Ass Renee’s – Aggravated Nuisance – 9 p.m.

Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Zene Smith – 6 p.m.

Los Cabos - Jenks – The Fabulous Two Man Band – 6 p.m.

Mass Movement Community Arts – Wilted, Laundry Baskets, The Others Like Us, Spotless Mind – 7 p.m.

Soundpony – Slappin’ Sundays with Kezy Kuts – 10 p.m.

The Chalkboard – Steve Liddell – 11 a.m.

The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing – 10 p.m.

Mon // Sept 2 Hodges Bend – Mike Cameron Collective – 9 p.m.

Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Scott Pendergrass – 6 p.m.

St. Vitus – HeartWerk: Songs I Wrote Last September – 6 p.m.

The Colony – Jared Tyler Presents Saugeye – 9 p.m.

Tues // Sept 3 Bar 473 – Singer/Songwriter Night – 8 p.m.

Marshall Brewing – TuesJay Night: Warren Stewart – 6 p.m.

The Colony – Chris Lee Becker – 6 p.m.

The Colony – Chris Combs Trio With Special Guests – 9 p.m.

The Vanguard – Trembler, My Heart & Liver Are The Best Of Friends, Streets – 8 p.m. – ($10)

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

MUSIC // 43

onscreen

onscreen

BORN IN THE U.K. Viveik Kalra in Blinded by the Light | COURTESY

Kelvin Harrison Jr. in Luce | COURTESY

Fortunate son Privilege, race and trust are front and center in Luce

THE TITULAR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT IN the indie drama Luce, played by Kelvin Harrison Jr., has everything going for him.

He’s academically impressive, an all-star athlete, and the apple of his adoptive parents’ eyes. But it’s not all scholarships and rainbows in this adaptation of the JC Lee play of the same name.

Luce is a young black man who seems to be the living embodiment of teenage exceptionalism. His teammate (played by rapper Astro) compares him to President Obama. But Luce’s contribution to a class assignment raises the suspicions of his teacher, Mrs. Wilson (Octavia Spencer).

When Mrs. Wilson alerts his adoptive parents, Peter and Amy (Tim Roth and Naomi Watts), their picture-perfect idea of their son, adopted from war-torn Eritrea at the age of seven, is suddenly called into question, leading to a confrontation that leaves everyone shaken and uncertain.

For a film that uses transracial adoption as a plot device, that element is the least of the broad-stroked issues Luce attempts to tackle in its 104 minute runtime. One can’t sit through Luce without feeling like its overall thesis was cherry-picked from a weekly subscription to The Atlantic. It is the cinematic embodiment of a longreads. com article examining the conflicted perils of Ivy League students living under the microscope of social media and academic achievement.

Luce does feature an assemblage of great performances. Central to the film 44 // FILM & TV

are Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Luce and Octavia Spencer as Mrs. Wilson. Spencer and Harrison certainly elevate the film, yet even their playful cat-and-mouse histrionics aren’t enough to decamp Luce from its more stage-y aspects.

Like an overly rehearsed valedictorian’s speech trying to say too much, Luce feels encumbered with peeling back the curtain of racial tension, suburban privilege and exceptionalism. High-achieving students and the equally high expectations they’re often burdened with, bourgeois parents and the idealized image of their perfect privileged kids, teachers both adoring their engaged students all while looking upon them with an eye of suspicion that they’re certainly up to no good.

While this cinematic adaptation certainly benefits from atmospheric cinematography from Larkin Seiple and unsettling score by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury—both also contributed to Alex Garland’s heady sci-fi film Annihilation—Luce is never able to fully shake the theatricality of a play that wants to cram all kinds of themes of race, modern suburban malaise, anxiety and pathology. It’s not just the kids that aren’t alright in this release from Neon—the theatrical distribution arm of the Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse chain of cinemas—Luce offers loads to ponder while feeling like it never really had much to say in the first place.

— CHARLES ELMORE

Springsteen inspires a Pakistani-Brit teenager in new coming-of-age indie WITH HER MOST MAINSTREAM EFFORT since Bend It Like Beckham, director Gurinder Chadha anchors her latest film with a crowd-pleasing hook: the songs of Bruce Springsteen. The young man inspired by them is Javed, a Pakistani-Brit teen yearning to find himself while his immigrant family is marginalized in the U.K. blue collar town of Luton. Earnest yet conventional, the honest sentiment of Blinded by the Light ultimately wins out over its stock formula.

More Cameron Crowe than John Hughes, this late-80s set coming-of-age dramedy effectively wears its heart on its sleeve, yet every beat is exceedingly familiar. It provides all the feels, thanks to sincere performances from a strong (and mostly unknown) cast, but the dichotomy of genre clichés and genuine heart may lead some viewers to roll their eyes as often as wipe them.

That cross-cultural twist puts a fresh face on an often white-washed genre, and Javed’s obsession with a single artist (rather than rock music in general) personalizes the journey even more; but once you get past these welcome surface-level changes, the script—which feels as if it’s been watered-down through several rounds of notes from risk-averse studio executives—adheres to trite-if-satisfying conformity.

The whole construct offers a veritable checklist of tropes: the shy, studious teen unsure of his own talent; the factory worker dad who wants him to go to college rather than get silly ideas in his head; the bullies who pick on him; the rebel girl wooed by him as The Boss’s anthems give him courage; and the random collection of adults who believe in him—including a friend’s dad, a war veteran neighbor, and the English teacher who urges Javed

to embrace his voice and follow his heart.

Blinded by the Light could be a teen movie parody if it weren’t played so absolutely straight.

None of these elements are bad so much as banal. Though inspired by a true story, Chadha packages it all in warm, fuzzy artifice, with a need to spell everything out (at times literally) such as when Springsteen’s lyrics appear on-screen to make sure we get the message.

Javed’s Pakistani heritage should make the film more unique, but Chadha and her fellow screenwriters only use that to prop up two more bromides: Javed’s rebellion against his father’s traditions, and being the target of racism both “soft” (job discrimination) and hostile (neo-Nazi persecution).

There’s an unintended irony, too, in using a singer so mainstream and distinctly American as the clarion pied piper for generational revolt. Sure, Bruce’s lyrics are piercing, but it’s also a cheesy stretch that one of Javed’s most notorious acts of insurrection is to break into the school radio station to play unauthorized Springsteen tracks. (He’s nearly expelled.) Our young Boss-inspired radicals even express their prerequisite contempt for Reagan and Thatcher, so as to underscore their antiestablishment bona fides.

Blinded by the Light may be about defiance, struggle and youthful protest, but it’s all wrapped up in cozy, nostalgic wish fulfillment that rides the coattails of Springsteen’s cred. Even so, there’s no denying the film’s quixotic charms or its emotionally powerful climax, a tear-jerking moment more sincere than contrived (though it’s certainly both). It’s indicative of how the whole film teeters between schmaltz and integrity, allowing the latter to win out in spite of itself. — JEFF HUSTON

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

WHEN WE WERE YOUNG What was your favorite movie as a teenager?

by JEFF HUSTON

Kimberly Brown

Abby Kurin

FORMER FILM CRITIC FOR TULSA WORLD AND CONTRIBUTOR TO TULSAPEOPLE

DIRECTOR OF THE TULSA OFFICE OF FILM, MUSIC, ARTS & CULTURE

Pretty Woman hit theaters right around the time my friends and I were old enough to go to the movies in a big group—and it was pretty easy to sneak into R-rated movies. I think I saw this one five or six times in the theater, and I can’t imagine my ‘90s high school culture without Julia Roberts.

Easy answer for me: Legally Blonde.

I was 17 when the film came out July 13, 2001. Reese Witherspoon was solidified as my favorite actor and leading lady. The story is about evolving, blazing your own path, and females supporting females. It still rings true today.

JUNE 21-OCT. 13 Sterlin Harjo

Chuck Foxen

FILMMAKER, CO-FOUNDER AT FIRETHIEF PRODUCTIONS

FILM PROGRAMMER AT CIRCLE CINEMA I feel very lucky to have grown up in the ‘80s. Being poor made going to the movies was a very special treat. These films have a special place in my heart, and I think they were all tied to a birthday party: Flight of the Navigator (1986), Explorers (1985), Goonies (1985), Big Trouble in Little China (1986). Looking at this list, I definitely see a theme of space, exploring, and adventure in the stories, which is still something that entices me today.

My favorite movie as a teenager was The Lost Boys. This was peak “Cory(s) in my favorite movies from that era.” It was fun, funny, it had a mythology, and starred some of the coolest actors from that time.

It ended in a great ‘80s blood bath. It took vampires and put them on a West Coast pier city with comic book nerds having to save the place. What more could you ask for? a

THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

Experience contemporary art from Tulsa Artist Fellows inspired by the Gilcrease collection and grounds, and by Oklahoma’s distinct history.

The University of Tulsa is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action institution.

For EEO/AA information, contact the Office of Human Resources, 918-631-2616; for disability accommodations, contact Dr. Tawny Rigsby, 918-631-2315. TU#

gilcrease.org/taf

FILM & TV // 45

all shall be taught of the

LORD

8/26 Bible Lesson: Christ Jesus

JOIN THE FIGHT FOR ALZHEIMER’S FIRST SURVIVOR.

9/2 Bible Lesson: Man

FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST Tulsa’s independent and non-profit art-house theatre, showing independent, foreign, and documentary films.

924 S. Boulder Church & Sunday School • 10:30am Wednesday Meeting • 6:00pm Reading Room • One hour after services

At the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s®, people carry flowers representing their connection to Alzheimer’s — a disease that currently has no cure. But what if one day there was a white flower for Alzheimer’s first survivor? What if there were millions of them? Help make that beautiful day happen by joining us for the world’s largest fundraiser to fight the disease.

Register today at tulsawalk.org.

Walk to End Alzheimer’s - Tulsa Veterans Park September 21 Party starts: 7:30 am Ceremony/Walk starts: 9 am

REAL COLLEGE RADIO

Tune into Tulsa’s eclectic, uniquely programmed, local music loving, commercial free, genre hopping, award winning, truly alternative music station. @RSURadio | WWW.RSURADIO.COM 46 // ETC.

August 21 – September 3, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

THE FUZZ THE TULSA VOICE SPOTLIGHTS: TULSA SPCA

2910 Mohawk Blvd. | MON, TUES, THURS, FRI & SAT, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 918.428.7722

BRADY recently lost his owner after they passed away. Stuck outside, this smart boy stayed close to the house and introduced himself when SPCA came to rescue the owner’s dogs. This sweet goofball would do well in any home. Brady is about 2 years old.

ACROSS 1 Test versions 6 Landform with steep sides 10 Big bag 14 Kind of camera (Abbr.)

17 Was worthy of 19 The Middle East’s ___ Heights 20 Australian gem 21 ___ kwon do 22 “G” as in grocery store event?

24 Adjust 26 Wily 27 Balanced state 28 Like some organs 29 Legends 30 “S” as in Super Nintendo Entertainment System rival?

32 “Sin City” star Jessica 35 Like football footwear 37 “A rat!”

38 “B” as in ballpark souvenir?

41 Leggings brand 44 Cranberrygrowing spot 47 Encourage 48 Capital of Togo 51 Cries after stepping on Legos 52 Coke Zero, for one 53 Play about Capote 54 Clever ones 57 Use the arrow keys, perhaps 59 Ring-shaped cake type 60 Benefits of teamwork 63 Cork’s poetic place 64 “Honor Thy Father” author Gay

65 “C” as in candidate’s early concern?

68 Series of musical movements 71 Uncle Remus title 72 Become more widely approved 76 Worship 77 Flock leader 79 Many a dog has chased it in vain 80 Hoppy beer, informally 81 Null’s partner 82 Infomercials, e.g.

83 Baseball stitching 85 Green cars 87 Write “millenium” on a spelling test, say 88 Clutch 90 “F” as in football penalty?

93 Male turkey 94 Safest option 97 This, to Isabella 98 “L” as in lordly gesture?

103 Didn’t cook 106 Ways out 107 Punk star Love 109 Vampire ___ 112 Not big enough 113 “R” as in roaring send-off?

115 “Thank U, Next” singer, to fans 116 Burn soother 117 Leering person 118 Showy 119 Tiny amount 120 Lairs for bears 121 Have on 122 Whoosh or zing DOWN 1 Implores 2 Sandwich royal 3 Kind of table on a plane 4 Dancer Carrie ___ Inaba

ANGEL is a friendly young kitty.

This laid back baby would love to lounge with you, so she would do well in almost any home. Angel is about 1 year old.

5 When haroseth is eaten 6 Tropical mammal with a religious name 7 Writer Wiesel 8 Most rational 9 “Life of Pi” director 10 Oscar winner Coppola 11 Imitating 12 Hikers’ water vessels 13 Soft tissue brand 14 Really surprises 15 Hawaiian island or veranda 16 Hose holders 18 Hawk’s opposite 19 Like a light push 23 A good one is fuzzy but firm 25 Arduous journey 29 Comedian Kaplan 31 Merchandise (Abbr.)

32 Touches on 33 Truck, in Bristol 34 Pellet shooter 36 Commotions 39 Not much interest?

40 Stumper 42 Ferret’s stinky relative 43 Hole maker 44 Jolly Roger feature 45 Chances 46 Airport area 49 “Borg vs ___” (2017 tennis film) 50 Estrada of “CHiPS” 52 Antibacterial drug 55 Gratuity 56 Marine food fish 58 Copy machine insert, briefly 59 Bewilders 61 Online greeting 62 “Dear” ones

64 This evening, on a marquee 66 Acquires 67 Rio automaker 68 What Google Docs do automatically 69 Garbage can concern 70 Hard-boiled film genre 73 Argentine tennis star Guillermo 74 Eyeball benders 75 Bob Marley was one 77 Kissing in public, e.g., briefly 78 Great quantity 82 Heat transfer?

84 She led an early 20th-century crime family 86 Fret 88 Loses touch with reality 89 Cheap beer, informally 91 W or D 92 Surgical tube 93 Associations 95 Third-party account 96 Butt of jokes 98 Allow to attack 99 Ancient Greek marketplace 100 Sci-fi bot 101 Big-time criminal 102 Archipelago parts 104 Move, in Realtor lingo 105 Spin ___ (do some tale-telling) 108 Arthur Ashe’s Golden State sch.

109 ___ B’rith 110 Plays a part 111 What you used to be?

114 Game with +2 cards

The Tulsa SPCA has been helping animals in our area since 1913. The shelter never euthanizes for space and happily rescues animals from high-kill shelters.

They also accept owner surrenders, rescues from cruelty investigations, hoarding, and puppy mill situations. Animals live on-site or with foster parents until they’re adopted. All SPCA animals are micro-chipped, vaccinated, spayed/neutered, and treated with preventatives. Learn about volunteering, fostering, upcoming events, adoptions, and their low-cost vaccination clinic at tulsaspca.org.

Sweet AURORA loves attention from people. She would do well as an inside kitty in almost any home.

Aurora has had a rough life and needs a loving family that will treat her right and give her lots of affection.

UNIVERSAL SUNDAY CROSSWORD IN THE BEGINNING

By Gary Larson, edited by David Steinberg

© 2019 Andrews McMeel Syndication THE TULSA VOICE // August 21 – September 3, 2019

ROSEMARY is a sweet and gentle kitty who hasn’t always been treated very well. Since being rescued, she has healed beautifully and has maintained her love of people. Rosemary is about 2 years old would love a home of her very home that will always keep her safe!

8/18 ETC. // 47

09.06 09.07

THURSDAY

09.19

SATURDAY

09.21

CODY JINKS

8PM

BUDDY GUY

8PM

DEEP PURPLE

8PM

TURN IT ON, TURN IT UP SCAN TO PURCHASE TICKETS

Schedule subject to change.

CNENT_67806_HR_Aug_TulsaVoice_1927962.indd 1

Pleas e re cycle this issue.

8/15/19 10:36 AM