The Tulsa Voice | Vol. 6 No. 19 by The Tulsa Voice

DIVE BAR DINING P20

LOCAL BEERS FOR FALL P18 S E P T. 1 8 – O C T. 1 , 2 0 1 9

VOL. 6 NO. 19

Tulsa’s adaptive grapplers fight against discrimination P22

PORTRAITS OF LIFE IN SANCTUARY P24

paradise never sounded So Good.

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midland sep 21 tony lewis from the outfield sep 23 southern momma / cledus t judd comedy experience sep 27

The oak ridge boys oct 5 we will rock you oct 18 dane cook oct 24 theresa caputo nov 2 rascal flatts nov 7 zz Top 50th anniversary tour nov 8 i love the 90’s nov 14 Jim gaffigan nov 16

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September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

WINESDAY

AT THE TAVERN H A L F- P R I C E B O T T L E S O F W I N E E V E RY W E D N E S DAY

4 PM - CLOSE NO ST R INGS. J U S T D E L IC I O U S , H A L F - P R I C E W I N E .

TAV E R N T U L SA .C O M

THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; October 1, 2019

CONTENTS // 3

DIVE IN

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

BY ANGELA EVANS AND MITCH GILLIAM

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

P20

Munchies and magick at Tulsa’s humble watering holes

AD SALES MANAGER Josh Kampf CONTRIBUTORS Alicia Chesser Atkin, M. Molly Backes, Cydney Baron, September Dawn Bottoms, Joel Dyer, Charles Elmore, Angela Evans, Barry Friedman, Mitch Gilliam, Jeff Huston, Fraser Kastner, Mary Noble, Mason Whitehorn Powell, Alexandra Robinson, Joseph Rushmore, Damion Shade, Paul Shinn

READY AND ABLE P22

BY CYDNEY BARON

Adaptive grapplers enhance Tulsa’s Jiu Jitsu community

The Tulsa Voice’s distribution is audited annually by

WINDOWS, WALLS AND INVISIBLE LINES

Member of

P24

BY JOEL DYER

The Tulsa Voice is published bi-monthly by

Portraits of life in sanctuary

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

Vicky Chavez “crawl-races” her oldest daughter beneath the pews in the Salt Lake City sanctuary where she and her children have lived for 18 months. JOEL DYER

FOOD & DRINK

NEWS & COMMENTARY 7 WHERE CREDIT’S DUE B Y PAUL SHINN Restoring the earned income tax credit would boost low-income families

18 DRINK DIFFERENT BY TTV STAFF

8 WEIRD SCIENCE B Y BARRY FRIEDMAN

Jim Bridenstine and the final frontier

10 FACING THE DIVIDE B Y DAMION SHADE Tulsa City Council aims to repair decades of distrust in policing

12 SICK VAPE, BRO B Y FRASER KASTNER

MUSIC 40 FOOL’S GOLD B Y ALEXANDRA ROBINSON

Bad Business brings necessities to neighbors in need

15 STAND BI+ ME B Y BLAYKLEE FREED

Celebrating Tulsa’s bisexual+ community

4 // CONTENTS

John Calvin Abney turns again

41 TULSA WEIRD B Y KYRA BRUCE

Counterfeit THC cartridges and ‘vaping illness’

14 GET ON THE BUS B Y KYRA BRUCE

Tulsa’s autumn brews are less chuggable, more huggable

Local show booker makes space for the strange

ARTS & CULTURE 26 ‘IT’S A PRAYER’ B Y MASON WHITEHORN POWELL Tulsa Artist Fellow Yatika Fields on the harmony of ultra-running and painting

28 A FITTING END B Y MARY NOBLE

Cheap Thrills Vintage says goodbye

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

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30 THE SCALES IN OUR EYES B Y M. MOLLY BACKES

Learning to see the geckos of Tulsa

32 THE ART OF LISTENING B Y ALICIA CHESSER ATKIN Tulsa theatre veterans offer continuing support for local creatives

DIVE BAR DINING P20

LOCAL BEERS FOR FALL P18 S E P T. 1 8 – O C T. 1 , 2 0 1 9

TV & FILM 44 WISEGALS B Y CHARLES ELMORE

Jennifer Lopez shines in Hustlers

VOL. 6 NO. 19

34 ORIGIN STORIES B Y JEZY J. GRAY Amir Hussain talks Muslims and the Making of America

Tulsa’s adaptive grapplers fight against discrimination P22

44 RACE FOR THE PRIZE B Y JEFF HUSTON Jillian Bell’s marathon comedy has the power to change lives

ETC. 6 EDITOR’SLETTER 36 THEHAPS 42 MUSICLISTINGS 47 THEFUZZ + CROSSWORD

PORTRAITS OF LIFE IN SANCTUARY P24

ON THE COVER Adaptive grappler Crys Davis practices martial arts for fitness, community and self-defense. PHOTO BY JOSEPH RUSHMORE September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

The Industry Growers Are Blazing The Trail

MojoPoster(18x24) - Updated 9.12.19.pdf 1 9/12/2019 3:52:30 AM

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TULSA FMAC • ERIC & SHANNON GRIMSHAW • PAIN MANAGEMENT OF TULSA • DAN HOWARD AIRCRAFT SALES • DON P. QUINT & ASSOCIATES RIVERVIEW SOD RANCH • ABERSONS • CENTER 1 • BRUCE & SARA O’CONNOR • BILL RICH • DON WILLIAMS MUSIC GROUP • THE TULSA VOICE

THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

CONTENTS // 5

editor’sletter

atricia Spottedcrow was 25 when she was sentenced to 12 years in prison for selling $31 worth of weed to a police informant in Kingfisher. She had four kids and no convictions. The young mother was paroled in Nov. 2012 before being arrested again, last week, for failure to pay fees connected to the decade-old case. A lot has changed in Oklahoma since Spottedcrow was first incarcerated. For one, voters passed ballot measures to re-classify most drug charges and approve the medical sale of cannabis. Today there’s a thriving industry of (mostly white) entrepreneurs who make a handsome living selling the plant that landed her behind bars. These operators, rightfully, don’t get taken from their children and jailed. They get billboards and

business cards. They get warm profiles in media outlets like this one. A community of good Samaritans came to Spottedcrow’s rescue a few days ago, with donors collecting $3,921.97—the state-determined cash value of her freedom. But what about our neighbors whose stories don’t go viral? GoFundMe can’t carry the load for all of us. We need deep, structural reform at every level of our criminal justice system—and we need a legislature and law enforcement community with the gumption and good heart to lead it. The conversation about who we are in relation to how we are policed and jailed is one we’re beginning to have publicly here in Tulsa. You’ll find a story about that on page 10, as Damion Shade brings us up to speed on the City

Council’s efforts to engage with over-policed communities of color and repair decades of distrust. We’ve also got a feature about federal law enforcement, with a stunning photo essay courtesy of Boulder Weekly in Colorado (pg. 24). You’ll meet three parents living in sanctuary across the United States, desperate to protect themselves and their families from the “death sentence” of deportation. One of those people is Saheeda Nadeem, a mother of two, who has spent the last 16 months living in a Kalamazoo church that was once the last stop on the Underground Railroad. Also inside: hitting the mat with Tulsa’s ass-kicking adaptive grapplers (pg. 22); a history lesson on Muslims and the making of America with Dr. Amir Hus-

sain (pg. 34); scaling the Alps with Tulsa Artist Fellow and “ultra-runner” Yatika Fields (pg. 26); learning to see the geckos of Tulsa (pg. 30); dining and debauchery at three Tulsa dive bars (pg. 20); a free store on four wheels (pg. 14); the beers of fall (pg. 16); a review of the new J-Lo movie (pg. 44), and more. That about does it for now. See you in two weeks. In the meantime, remember to stay hydrated and get plenty of rest. We’ll need it to build a better world. a

JEZY J. GRAY EDITOR

He Built the Taj Mahal for Her. 1,200 years of Islamic Art. JUNE 23– OCT. 6 Unknown artist from India. Double portrait of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (1592–1666) and Empress Mumtaz (1593–1631), late 19th century. Painting: colors and gold on ivory; frame: gold, wood, and brass, 2 ½ × 3 ¼”. Newark Museum, Bequest of J. Ackerman Coles, 1926, 26.1133.

6 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

okpolicy

WHERE CREDIT’S DUE Restoring the earned income tax credit would boost low-income families by PAUL SHINN for OKPOLICY.ORG

THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

hen the Legislature ended Oklahoma’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refundability in 2016, they reduced an essential tax benefit for over 200,000 Oklahoma families. Prior to that change, if the amount a family received from the EITC was larger than the amount of state income tax they owed, that family got the difference as a refund. Now, families can claim the credit only up to the amount they owe in state income taxes. Families use these refunds to meet basic needs like food and housing, and to pay off traffic tickets, court costs and other debts. By ending refundability, we’ve raised taxes—as much as $279—on those who can least afford it: low-income parents raising children. It is time for Oklahoma to restore our EITC in the next legislative session. After that important first step, we can begin plans to increase the amount of the Oklahoma EITC. LOW-INCOME OKLAHOMANS BENEFIT LESS FROM THE STATE EITC THAN IN MOST OTHER STATES Of the 42 states with income taxes, two-thirds (29) have EITCs. The federal government created the first EITC. As states added their own credits, most states made them a fixed percentage of the federal one. Oklahoma’s EITC is 5 percent of the federal credit. Only Montana has a lower credit than Oklahoma. We are one of just four states where the credit is not refundable, and the other three of those states have credits that are four to six times larger than Oklahoma’s. Simply raising Oklahoma’s EITC to the typical national level would return an additional $433 to a married couple with a child making just under $20,000, and about $300 to other families with children. Oklahoma’s low-income families face the same struggles as those in other states. They deserve the same generosity here that they would get in South Carolina, Illinois, or any of the 23 other states which have more valuable

credits than Oklahoma. This year, six more states expanded their EITCs. All but one of these states had a credit larger than Oklahoma’s before this round of increases. FOR LOW-INCOME OKLAHOMANS, OKLAHOMA IS NOT A LOW-TAX STATE Oklahoma has the fifth-highest taxes for the lowest 20 percent of earners, according to the Institute for Tax and Economic Policy (ITEP). The average low-income household in this group (earning $12,000 or less), pays 13.2 percent of their income, or $1,584 per year, in state and local taxes. Those in the highest 20 percent by income, on the other hand, pay just 8.2 percent of their income in state and local taxes. This makes our tax system among the most regressive in the nation, meaning that low-income taxpayers pay a higher share of income in taxes than their higher-income neighbors. EITCs help states cushion the regressive nature of state taxes. RESTORING REFUNDABILITY IS A NECESSARY AND OVERDUE FIRST STEP The EITC has enjoyed strong bipartisan support at both the national and state levels. Many factors help explain this support, including the fact that the credit encourages work and reduces poverty. Further, the EITC improves mothers’ and children’s health. Efforts to restore refundability failed in the 2018 and 2019 sessions, even though the cost— under $30 million—was dwarfed by the $1.8 billion in general revenue growth in the last two years. Oklahoma can afford to restore refundability in 2020 and is overdue in doing so. Once we take that important first step, it will be time to follow the lead of other states by increasing the state Earned Income Tax Credit.a

Paul Shinn is Budget and Tax Senior Policy Analyst at Oklahoma Policy Institute. NEWS & COMMENTARY // 7

Weird science

Jim Bridenstine and the ﬁnal frontier by BARRY FRIEDMAN

efore Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States—a sad day for any sentient American who didn’t champion a head of government who chose cabinet secretaries from a loose affi liation of grifters, bagmen, incompetents, sycophants, and industry hacks— he said the following: “I’m going to surround myself only with the best and most serious people. We want top of the line professionals.” (Washington Post)

“I believe fully in climate change and that we human beings are contributing to it in a major way.” (Newsweek)

IF BRIDENSTINE IS SUCCESSFUL AT FUNDING NASA AT LEVELS NEEDED FOR SUCH AN IMPOSSIBLY WONDERFUL AND AUDACIOUS TRIP TO MARS, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS ALREADY ON RECORD AS TO WHO WILL PAY FOR IT: POOR KIDS.

Come again? “I heard a lot of experts, and I read a lot. I came to the conclusion myself that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, that we’ve put a lot of it into the atmosphere, and therefore we have contributed to the global warming that we’ve seen.” (The Hill)

Like this guy: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reportedly threatened to fire some of the nation’s weather officials if they refused to lie to the public about the projected path of Hurricane Dorian. (Vox)

Such laser-like focus on mendacity, greed, obsequiousness and contempt for government got us not just Ross at Commerce, but also the likes of Jeff Sessions, Steve Mnuchin, Alexa Acosta, Betsy DeVoss, Ben Carson, Ryan Zinke, John Bolton and Mr. Cone of Silence himself, our own tacticalpant-wearing Devon Energy stenographer Scott Pruitt. So when Trump announced in Sept. 2017 that Oklahoma’s First District Congressman Jim Bridenstine, a man whose only experience heading a space agency was running the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium, would be in charge of The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it seemed exasperatingly par for the course—or, as my friend Charlie Pierce at Esquire emailed me moments after Trump announced 8 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

the selection: “You have got to be shitting me.” Charlie’s disbelief was understandable, considering Bridenstine once said this: “Global temperatures stopped rising 10 years ago … Global temperature changes, when they exist, correlate with Sun output and ocean cycles.” (The Register)

You say “10 years,” the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says, “800,000.” Let’s call the whole thing off. Observed atmospheric GHG concentrations reached record highs in 2017, well above the levels observed in nature over the last 800,000 years, and the global mean temperature in 2018 was estimated to be 0.99 + 0.13 Celsius above the pre-industrial baseline. (IPCC)

Good thing scrappy extraction industry executives, working against all odds, thwarted both

the work of an international cabal of scientists testing Arctic soil samples and those Chinese climate hoaxers looking to corner the market on kitchen appliances. On Dec. 30, 2015, Trump told the crowd at a rally in Hilton Head, SC, “Obama’s talking about all of this with the global warming and … a lot of it’s a hoax. It’s a hoax. I mean, it’s a money-making industry, okay? It’s a hoax, a lot of it … The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive.” (Politifact)

And many of those experts now work for him. According to NASA GISS, global temperatures in 2018 were 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.83 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean. Globally, 2018 was cooler than the previous three years. Collectively, the past five years are the warmest years in the modern record. (NASA)

It was enough to make you throw your autographed copy of The Art of the Deal through your Chinese-made Hisense refrigerator. Then a strange thing happened. Jim Bridenstine, who was barely confirmed by the Senate, 50-49, almost overnight stopped being Jim Bridenstine.

Considering this is an administration that not only silences and bullies scientists, scrubs reports of information it deems politically inconvenient, and skips out on global climate warming meetings at the G-7, not to mention just generally trashing long-established scientific protocols and freedoms, Bridenstine’s sudden sobriety was refreshing and astonishing. He was becoming the adult in the room—a low bar to clear in this administration, admittedly—and doing it with perspective and a certain panache, as he did in July on CBS’s Face the Nation.

“I don’t deny the consensus,” Bridenstine said at a NASA town hall meeting.

So we want to go back to the Moon sustainably, in other words, to stay, but

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

we also want to keep our eye on what is President Trump’s goal? What is his vision? He wants to put an American flag on Mars.

A ﬂag? The leader of the free world wants to go to Mars, not for the adventure, not for the discovery, but to brand the planet as he would a casino in Atlantic City— TRUMP Mars. Bridenstine, to his credit, dialed the jingoism way back and took the high road into space. [In] those days all of our astronauts came from test pilots and fighter pilots and there were no opportunities for women. Today, under the Artemis program we have a very diverse, highly qualified astronaut corps that includes women. … [So] now when we go back to the Moon, we go with all of America. And I think that’s a great message. (Face the Nation)

Okay, it’s not Carl Sagan, but it’s not Jim Inhofe, either. Bridenstine didn’t take the NASA gig just to gut it. But this is the Trump Administration, so even if Bridenstine is successful at funding the agency at levels needed for such an impossibly wonderful and audacious trip to Mars, the administration is already on record as to who will pay for it: poor kids. The White House called on taking the initial $1.6 billion investment for NASA from the Pell Grant fund, which provides scholarships for lowincome students. (The Verge)

Nice, huh? Bridenstine began pushing back on the arrogance and the stupidity of climate deniers even before getting to NASA. Congressman Jim Bridenstine announced today that Bill Nye “The Science Guy” and CEO of the Planetary Society will be his guest at President Trump’s State of the Union Address on January 30th. … Nye responded, “I’m very pleased to join

Congressman Bridenstine at the President’s first State of the Union Address. As CEO of The Planetary Society … I have enjoyed a productive working relationship with Congressman Bridenstine on space issues.” (Parabolic Arc)

Say what you want about Nye—he can be more than shameless in his quest for media air time—but he’s also the guy who said, “The planet is on fucking fire.” That he has the head of NASA on speed dial can only be a good thing. Here would be a nice place to end the column: Jim Bridenstine, we hardly knew ye, with an added word of caution about pigeonholing your opponents. But that can’t happen—not when there are souls to save. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine gave a stirring speech on February 12 before a Christian ministry at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California.

Here we go. The event was put on by Capitol Ministries, which, according to its own website, aims to inﬂuence “every strata of government” with evangelical teachings of the Bible. Lovely. Bridenstine told the group he agrees with its goal. “I love what Ralph said earlier,” [Bridenstine said, referring to the group’s founder, Ralph Drollinger.] “We’re not trying to Christianize the US government.”

Of course not. “We believe in an institutional separation, but we also believe in influence,” Bridenstine said. “And that’s a big distinction and an important distinction, and that’s why I love this ministry.”

Actually, it’s neither—it’s the same damn thing. And who is we? This would be a good time to remind readers of the first rule here at “Views from the Plains”:

THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

We’re not all Christian, nor want to be. That Bridenstine had tap danced on the establishment clause of the Constitution, which looks askance at government officials promoting one religion over another, is unassailable. Just ask him. “The question is this: How do we get the right people to do the right thing? The way to do that is you look inside your heart and you spend time with like-minded believers in the scripture and praying and looking really for who you are.” (Business Insider)

Oh, for the love of you-knowwho. “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” That’s John Adams, second president of the United States, in case you’re thumbing through the Constitution at the moment counting the number of times Jesus is mentioned. (Let me know if you find one.) So when Bridenstine and the group say, “We believe in an institutional separation, but we also believe in inﬂuence,” that’s the con—a dog whistle so loud, a deaf Min Pin could hear it. Why is the head of NASA embracing exclusionary politics and the assertion that only Christians steeped in scripture, joined by others in like-minded navel gazing, can save a hurting nation and live full lives? Because his is a political party of Us and Them; because his is a party that wants to remind us non-Christians that we are guests in their country; because Bridenstine serves a president who thinks he’s the “Chosen One.” (Yeah, I know, he was joking. He’s hilarious like that.) And because—Adams be damned—Jesus will lead all like-minded believers to a greater truth, both here and on Mars. So don’t forget the ﬂag. a

TULSA’S ONLY MODERN JAZZ CLUB DuetJazz.com

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Wednesday, Sept. 18

One of the most distinctive and original improvising guitarists of our time

Clark Gibson September 19

Reflejos Flamencos September 20

Nolatet September 21

Rebecca Ungerman * Ladies Night * Ladies get in free September 25

Off Beat: Hilarious True Stories September 28

Collective Improv with Clark Gibson October 2

John Scofield October 3

soldout

For complete citations, visit the hyperlinked version of this article at thetulsavoice.com. NEWS & COMMENTARY // 9

community

Facing the divide Tulsa City Council aims to repair decades of distrust in policing by DAMION SHADE

n July 9, multiple officers from the Tulsa Police Gang Unit swarmed the North Tulsa Town Square Apartments in unmarked cars. The officers converged on the apartment complex and began questioning its predominantly black residents in the parking lot, demanding identification and searching an occupied vehicle despite the fact that no crime was being committed. When body cam footage of the incident was released, it became— like so many police camera clips—a sort of Rorschach test, revealing individual perceptions of race and policing in America. Everyone saw something different. Some people saw police officers simply doing their jobs, trying to keep a neighborhood with disproportionate 911 calls safe. Others saw a black neighborhood threatened by racial profi ling and over policing. “The same actions that, from the community’s perspective, exacerbated existing fears and distrust of the police, were described by the Mayor as the type of proactive policing ‘we want our officers to do,’” representatives from Demanding a JUSTulsa wrote in a public statement. Whatever the interpretation of the footage in question, there is no denying the numbers on racial disparities in policing from the 2018 Tulsa Equality Indicators report are sobering. Black juveniles in Tulsa are arrested at more than three times the rate of white juveniles. Black adults in Tulsa are arrested more than twice as often as white adults, and they are also more than twice as likely to experience police violence than their white counterparts. Policing disparities break down along gender lines as well. Women in Tulsa are arrested at a rate more than twice the national average,

10 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

D’Marria Monday speaks to the Tulsa City Council at a meeting addressing the Equality Indicators report. GREG BOLLINGER

and in 2018 women were one of the fastest-growing populations at the Tulsa County Jail. What does a community do with these facts, and how do these numbers impact people’s lives every day? These questions are at the heart of a recent series of listening sessions and City Council meetings exploring the Tulsa Equality Indicators Report. On Sept. 25, the City Council will use the questions and comments they’ve gathered from concerned Tulsans to ask a panel of community experts for recommendations to improve Tulsa policing. The series of City Council meetings seeking public comments on the racial policing disparities outlined in the Equality Indicators report have grown heated at times. There have been plenty of tears and tense moments, with Tulsans—mostly from communities of color—describing in stark detail years of perceived abuse from police. Some members of the community simply stood and turned their backs on the Council as a physical expression of the

emotions many in the North Tulsa community feel. Several people expressed a sense that they’d been abandoned by their own city government. Some described years of hurt and distrust perpetuated by negative interactions with police. “If you can be shot with a cell phone in your hand, if you can be shot with your hands up—it’s a state of war, a police state,” said North Tulsa community advocate Chief Egunwale Fagbenro Amusan. Despite opening these painful wounds, several City Councilors have expressed gratitude for this process. “We don’t need to have a conversation about who’s right. We need to have a conversation about a variety of perspectives. We need to honor them and listen to them,” City Councilor Lori Decter Wright said. “I’ve always reminded people to set our expectations. In four meetings we’re not going to undo a century of systemic institutionalized racism. We’ve started a process that I hope will continue long after these meetings.”

At the Sept. 25 meeting, a panel of local experts will discuss strategies to create more trust between communities of color and law enforcement. A key component of this discussion involves creating an office of independent monitoring with citizen oversight to create better officer accountability. One goal is to improve the justice outcomes in places like North Tulsa. Another goal is partially healing the wounds of Tulsa’s profound legacy of racial segregation and distrust. Mana Tahaie, a racial equity consultant who participated in the community meetings that started this process, remains hopeful about the potential for positive change. “As a community, I’d like Tulsa to be more literate and ﬂuent on issues of race,” Tahaie said. “I would love to see a better understanding among Tulsa’s leadership about the root causes of racial disparities—a recognition that bias lives within all of us by default, and that owning that isn’t an admission of a character ﬂaw or malice, but just an honest assessment of how our culture shapes us.” But Tahaie says real change will take more than a cultural shift. “I would like to see more robust data systems put in place at TPD so they have the tools they need to identify and mitigate bias, a more comprehensive use of force policy and a transparent citizen oversight authority,” Tahaie said. “These are some initial steps to get us moving in the right direction.” a

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING: RACE/GENDER DISPARITIES IN ADULT ARREST Tulsa PAC (Liddy Doenges Theatre), 110 E. 2nd St. Wednesday, Sept. 25, 5:30 p.m.

September 18 – October 1, 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 // September 18 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; October 1, 2019

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 11

cannaculture

The CDC has reported 380 cases of pulmonary illness associated with vaping across 36 U.S. states and one territory—including six deaths—as of Sept. 11.

Sick vape, bro Counterfeit THC cartridges and ‘vaping illness’ by FRASER KASTNER

ver the last several weeks, the worst fears of of e-cigarettes’ biggest critics were confirmed as more and more cases of “vaping illness” have emerged. Pulmonary disease linked to vaping can cause cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and fever. So far, the CDC has confirmed 380 cases of vaping illness. Horror stories proliferate in the media, such as an 18-year-old soccer player in Illinois with the lungs of a senior citizen and 50-year-old in Kansas who developed rapidly-progressing symptoms shortly after picking up e-cigarettes. Six people have died as of publication. Donald Trump announced on Sept. 11 his administration would recommend a ban on ﬂavored vape liquids that may appeal to children. Vaping illness has appeared in 36 states and one territory. Oklahoma is not one of them, but while the CDC is investigating the causes of this illness, they advise consumers to hold off on vaping. No specific compound or substance has been identified as the culprit, although some scientists have posited that vitamin E acetate, a thickening agent, could be related.

12 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

Lab results from the New York State Department of Health showed “very high levels of vitamin E acetate in nearly all cannabis-containing samples analyzed.” The department also reported, “At least one vitamin E acetate containing vape product has been linked to each patient who submitted a product for testing,” noting that vitamin E additive isn’t approved by the state’s medical marijuana program and wasn’t seen in tested nicotine products. Ellen Martucci, with Tulsa dispensary Seed Co., said testing for purity is extremely important for her when she makes purchases for the business. “When I buy cartridges to sell at my store, I am insistent on all of those test results coming to me,” Martucci said. She has even had to phase some products out of her store because suppliers could not get test results from them. “We’re in this to make a living, but we want to do it the right way and it would just be horrible to hurt someone.” An epidemic of counterfeit cannabis oil cartridges has affected some states where cannabis is legal. Many of these carts are marketed under the Dank Vapes name, among others.

In reality, these outfits are packaging companies, not cannabis companies. Anyone can buy their packaging online and fi ll them with any product, making them popular with the black market. As marijuana becomes increasingly legal and culturally accepted, the black market for cannabis has shifted toward producing cheap concentrates extracted in a variety of ways, resulting in varying purity. Legitimate cannabis companies operate under strict purity and testing regulations, which protect consumers but can drive up prices. The black market has found its niche providing cheaper products at the cost of safety—a strong case, advocates argue, for federal cannabis legalization and oversight. Independent tests on some of these counterfeit carts have found cause for concern. Many contain dangerous concentrations of the fungicide myclobutanil, according to studies by BelCosta Labs in California. When heated, the fungicide releases hydrogen cyanide (HCN), a deadly gas. Small amounts of HCN are present in cigarette smoke, one of the things that makes it so dangerous. It was also one of the main ingredients in Zyklon-B, the gas used in Nazi death chambers.

In some instances, black market concentrate producers may water down their product with various solvents to stretch a limited supply. The thinned-out concentrate is then thickened again with various agents, among them vitamin E acetate. So how are Oklahomans to know they’re getting something pure? A new set of medical marijuana regulations went into effect Aug. 29, including mandatory testing of marijuana products for heavy metals and pesticides. For Oklahoma patients, Martucci has a few bits of advice, the first being: stick to dispensaries. “I have no reason to believe that any of our dispensaries here are selling cartridges that are made on the black market,” Martucci said. She also advises shopping at a dispensary you trust that provides certificates of analysis for their products. A knowledgeable staff is also a good sign. It also helps to be skeptical of prices that seem too good to be true. A cartridge selling for $10 is probably cut with something, since it costs more than that just to make a single cart. Last, if you experience any of the symptoms associated with vaping illness, it is best to seek medical help. a

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

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THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

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NEWS & COMMENTARY // 13

community

The Bad Business bus is a pop-up shop with clothes, toiletries, books, and more— all for free to people in need. | COURTESY JESSICA SANCHEZ

Get on the bus Bad Business brings necessities to neighbors in need by KYRA BRUCE YOU MAY BE HESITANT TO APPROACH an old school bus with a spray-painted sign reading FREE STORE propped against it. But this is one instance where people are encouraged to ignore the “stranger danger” warnings of youth and hop inside. There, those brave souls will find clothes, hygiene products, walkers, books and more—all free of charge. Jessica and Ricardo Sanchez started Bad Business last January after seeing how many people in their North Tulsa neighborhood needed help. “I just wanted to be able to offer my community something,” Jessica said. “It can feel like there’s nothing you can do to help, and so I was trying to evaluate what is within my means to help those around me. Like, I’m not trying to take over the world, but what is something small that I can do to help others?” The married couple talked about having a free store but could never figure out how to make it work, since buying a storefront would be cost prohibitive. Ricardo had purchased an old school bus the summer before, which collected dust until Jessica finally connected the two thoughts. “I was like, ‘Well, why don’t we operate it out of the school bus—that way it can be like a pop-up thing and we can set it up as we have availability to … then we just put out a call for donations on our personal social media and they just came pouring 14 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

in,” she said. “We never have a shortage of donations; people are so eager to give. I swear, every time we go to an event we leave with bags.” Bad Business works with the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma twice a month to bring their free store to low income children in Tulsa Community Action Project (CAP) locations. They also set the bus up at zine fests and concerts, since they each play in a band. But Jessica said those events are more about raising awareness, and the outreaches are where they can do the most good. Since launching the project, Bad Business has provided walkers, winter gear, wardrobes, school supplies and more to Tulsa’s most vulnerable citizens. “It’s really at the outreaches where people are taking lots and lots of things, and we never stop people from taking lots of things—it’s not like you’re only allowed five items. It’s like, take what you need,” Jessica said. The couple hopes to someday turn Bad Business into a non-profit, but until then they will be set up at First Fridays, shows, events and outreaches directly helping those in need. They are currently in need of children’s clothes, so if you have some old clothes you’d like to donate, you can find the Bad Business bus outside of Tulsa Artist Fellowship’s Cameron Studios on October’s First Friday. a

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

community

STAND BI+ ME Celebrating Tulsa’s bisexual+ community by BLAYKLEE FREED

The Dennis R. Neill Equality Center is hosting multiple events for Bi+ Visibility Week, Sept. 22–28.

S E P T. 2 3 IS T HE 2 0 T H A NNU A L Celebrate Bisexuality Day, or Bi+ Visibility Day, dedicated to people who fall under the bi+ umbrella—a broad term for those who are attracted to more than one gender. And for the last five years, the bisexual+ community has been honoring the week surrounding Celebrate Bisexuality Day with a multitude of events nationwide. Daniel Clay, the organizer for Tulsa’s festivities, explained the importance of having events and spaces for the bi+ community. “People know what it means to be a gay man. People know what it means to be a lesbian,” Clay said. “Because the assumptions that so many of us are straight or gay, that you can’t be attracted to more than one gender, a lot of us just kind of go unnoticed—and because of that, the needs, the struggles that our community faces, often go unnoticed too.” The sponsoring group for Tulsa’s Bi+ Visibility Day events, Brought to You Bi the Letter B (BTYBTLB), serves Tulsa’s bisexual, pansexual, ﬂuid and queer communities—and on Sunday, Sept. 22, they’ll be serving ﬂapjacks. Pancakes with Pansexuals is a chance for LGBTQ+ members and allies to learn more about the pan community and other identities that fall under the bi+ umbrella. The celebration continues with Monday’s Mixer at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center. The meet-and-greet is an opportunity to mingle with members of BTYBTLB and learn more about the resources available. The group meets on the second and fourth Monday of every month at the Equality Center.

“If people have problems they want to share, if they just want to chat about a movie they saw, we’re an open safe space for people who fall under that bi umbrella—bi, pansexual, ﬂuid, queer, anybody that would fall under that umbrella,” Clay said. “We’re a space where we can talk nonjudgmentally and enjoy each others’ company.” Clay added the group is for people aged 18 and older. A teen group meets Saturdays at the Equality Center. There’s another chance to mix and mingle on Thursday. The group is partnering up with Dead Armadillo Craft Brewing for happy hour. The taproom just down the street from the Equality Center has an outdoor area that’s kid- and dog-friendly. Live music starts at 7 p.m. The finale of Bi+ Visibility celebrations comes Saturday at the Equality Center. The 4th annual Stand Bi+ Me party will include music, dancing, stories and refreshments. The goal, Clay said, is to be seen. “My number one challenge is getting the word out that our group exists and getting people to come participate in our events or even just come out of curiosity and show up to our support group,” he said. “We absolutely need a space for people to ask questions and share experiences and be in a place where they cannot be judged about not being sure if they’re gay or straight or trying to figure out what being ‘bi’ means,” Clay said. “That’s really important to me—that we have a space where people can come and safely ask those questions.” a

THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

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NEWS & COMMENTARY // 15

downthehatch

Drink different

Tulsa’s autumn brews are less chuggable, more huggable by TTV STAFF

t’s not quite sweater weather just yet, but fall is in the air. While many shy away from fudgy imperial stouts, boozy barleywines and spiced ales during the summer months, cooler temps call for something a little more akin to a warm hug. That’s why we’re bringing you the rundown on the city’s standout seasonal sippers at taprooms across Tulsa.

AMERICAN SOLERA BARREL AGED DILEMMA Tulsa’s boutique craft darlings American Solera may be known for bright, funky and fruit-forward ﬂavors—but don’t sleep on their imperial stouts in the cooler months. One of the brewery’s most rewarding offerings bucks the usual profi le of sour beers and hazy IPAs, opting instead for big notes of coffee, chocolate, maple and rum. This bad boy clocks in around 14% ABV, so slow and steady wins the race. WELLTOWN BREWERY OKTOBERFEST As autumn turns the leaves from emerald to ember, Welltown is here to fi ll your glass with the perfect amber brew. At 6% ABV, the downtown brewery’s Oktoberfest offeering is a malt-forward lager that is full of ﬂavor but well-balanced and easy to drink. This classic German-style lager will have you raising a stein and yelling “Prost!” in no time. PRAIRIE ARTISAN ALES CORPORATE DRESS CODE It’s no surprise the beer geniuses who bring you the renowned Prairie Bomb! have some tasty fall brews in the tanks. Corporate 18 // FOOD & DRINK

fest, available at the Renaissance taproom Sept. 25. Deutschican is a smooth Vienna Style Lager brewed especially for the festival but is available around town while supplies last. The heaping portion of Vienna malt makes the brew light and toasty, and it’s easy drinking at 5.9% ABV. Drop by the taproom at 1147 S. Lewis Ave and celebrate the season with this exemplary old-world offering.

American Solera’s Barrel Aged Dilemma is an imperial stout with notes of coffee, chocolate, maple and rum with a 14% ABV. | GREG BOLLINGER

Dress Code is a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout made with generous helpings of cacao nibs and vanilla beans. Those classic Bomb! ingredients get the barrel treatment here, lending extra layers of complexity and nuance that runs hot without overwhelming the brew. With a 12% ABV, prepare for ﬂushed faces and honest conversations. HEIRLOOM RUSTIC ALES MORNING DEVOTION Nothing says fall quite like a fresh cup of joe on a crisp morning, and the folks at Heirloom Rustic Ales have taken that to heart. Coming on tap just in time to sip and watch the seasons change, Morning Devotion is a milk stout featuring cold brew coffee and cinnamon. At 6.4% ABV, this

sippable stout is full of ﬂavor. Go ahead and have one for breakfast. We won’t tell. DEAD ARMADILLO CRAFT BREWING DUNKELWEIZEN The brewmasters at Dead Armadillo Craft Brewing have a classic and well-rounded Dunkelweizen on tap. An old-world style German beer, the Dunkelweizen is a dark copper color with a slight haze that comes from its high wheat content. This guy is on the maltier side with notes of banana and clove. Rolling in at 7.5% ABV, it’s the perfect fall festival beer. RENAISSANCE BREWING COMPANY DEUTSCHICAN Tulsa’s friendly neighborhood brewers will release a fantastic “fest bier” ahead of Oktober-

NEW ERA FINE FERMENTATIONS COCONAUT Nothing says cooler temps quite like a hearty stout. Sticking with New Era’s space exploration theme, the up-and-coming brewery is offering Coconaut, a dark and tasty concoction that’s out of this world. Clocking in at 6.1%, this American stout is aged on toasted coconut, giving the beer an underlying sweetness that’s present but never cloying. The roasted malt backbone is the perfect launching pad for Coconaut’s classic stout notes like chocolate, coffee and—of course—plenty of toasted coconut. This autumnal sipper is perfect for an evening on New Era’s generous patio, or as a complement to the restaurant’s irresistible fish and chips.

Of course, these aren’t the only fall beers to get you in the spirit. Tulsa is teeming with craft breweries that push boundaries and satisfy thirsty imbibers. The above offerings should give you a solid road map to start autumn off on the right foot. So next time you’re out with the crew with a hint of fall in the air, take a break from the usual and celebrate the season with a couple of these irresistible fall brews. a

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

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FOOD & DRINK // 19

Dive In TUMBLE DOWN THE LONG CORRIDOR INTO THE RABBIT HOLE IN THE BLUE DOME DISTRICT, WHERE YOU’LL FIND DELECTABLE DISHES FROM CHEF J.V. AND A LIQUOR WELL THAT NEVER RUNS DRY

MUNCHIES AND MAGICK AT TULSA’S HUMBLE WATERING HOLES By Angela Evans // Additional reporting by Mitch Gilliam // Photos by September Dawn Bottoms

TULSA VOICE READERS ARE ACCUSTOMED to finding stories about the hottest, newest restaurants to hit the scene— refined establishments with avantgarde menus, extensive wine lists and classically-trained chefs. For this story, however, your protagonists have traded white table cloths for ash trays, a wine list for “big ass beers,” and chefs for bartenders who might call you “sweetie” or might tell you to fuck off. For one afternoon, we sacrificed our stomachs and sobriety to uncover 20 // FEATURED

the best dive bar grub you can ﬁnd in T-town.

In stitches

Suture’s is a cherished dive bar located at 71st Street and Yale Avenue, near St. Francis Hospital. The name is homage to medical personnel who have populated the bar for 25 years, and the décor takes a jocular approach to the Hippocratic Oath. There’s medical-related ephemera sprinkled about the wood panel walls: various medical implements in shadow

boxes, a drawing of a pinup-style nurse, and the infamous ‘gyno chair’ greets guests at the front door. Above the bar, ﬂuorescent lights illuminate X-rays showcasing a variety of bones. “There’s a dick up there somewhere,” says one of the regulars who has taken up her usual spot at the end of the bar. “And Jill’s boobs are over there,” she says as she directs our attention past the pool table and stripper pole to the chiaroscuro radiograph of “Jill’s” exemplary implants. Taking heed of the wisdom that

breakfast is a critical meal, we sidle up to the bar to start our Saturday morning correctly—with a beefed-up beverage to chase away the rabid dog attack of last night. We order up the McGriddle—a “breakfast shot” that pairs up Jameson whiskey and Buttershots with an OJ back—while we play the Where’s Waldo? of phallus ﬁnding. Bartender Heather has worked here for seven years—a magick number. She happily lights a cig in solidarity with us as she shows off Suture’s features. September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

“This here is old perv row,” she says playfully as she points to a few of her longtime brunch regulars. “The gyno chair has to be the biggest piece at Suture’s,” she says. A proud Suture’s tradition involves treating birthday boys and girls to the gyno chair treatment, where a bartender will hop on top of them and pour a shot into their mouths. During the week, Suture’s opens bright and early at 7 a.m., serving breakfast and providing a well-deserved libation for third-shifters from the hospital. The menu switches gears in the afternoon to a bar-food frenzy, with the requisite loaded nachos, burgers and battered-and-fried fare. On the weekends, they extend their breakfast menu until 3 p.m., and it’s filled with brekky go-tos, like the “Good Ole’ Eggs Platter” featuring eggs “scrambled-up” and jazzed up with a confetti of diced peppers, onions and shredded cheese. The “Bisquits & Gravy” is a heaping plate bulging with split biscuits doused in cream gravy. The biscuits have a spirited crunch that holds up to the deluge of gravy, and the breakfast sausage packs a nice wallop of heat. Properly satiated and loaded, our crew of brave bon vivants heads to our next destination for a light lunch … or a “lit” lunch, if you will.

The Grandpappy of Dive Bars

Crawpappy’s has held sway over dive bar aficionados among all demographics for more than 25 years. Tucked away in a strip mall at 51st Street and Harvard Avenue, it is been the site of many liquid lunches, surreptitious cigarettes and one hell of a happy hour, and is revered for its smokefriendly interior, booming jukebox and a ﬂickering legion of televisions. It also happens to be home to some of the best shrimp and Cajun food in town. Sourced from Bodean’s Seafood right next door, Crawpappy’s peel-n-eat shrimp are only $8 for a half-pound of plump, cherubic sea bugs. And because smoking is allowed inside Crawpappy’s, one can have their shrimp and smoke their cig, too. In fact, we discovered that with a little gumption, a person can do both, simultaneously. It isn’t recommended, however, because the shrimp are velvety with a bashful brininess, so you’ll want to let your taste buds breathe. Though it prides itself on its etouffees and po’boys, the menu isn’t completely Cajun/seafood-centric. Over-the-top options, like the Chicken Fry Stack, will get your heart pumpin’ with a tender, beautifully-breaded chicken fried steak, topped with a runny egg and cream gravy, precariously stacked atop a pile of crispy-fried taters. Our group grazes on a bounty of wings, tater tots, hush puppies—honestly, it becomes a blur of sauces, wet naps, Big Ass Beers™ (24 oz domestic for $2.75!) and too many cigarettes. We bind our union with a bit of magick, egg yolk-soaked cigarettes, and sacrificial shrimp carcasses before we journey downtown. THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

(ABOVE) SUTURE’S AT 71ST STREET AND YALE AVENUE PAYS HOMAGE TO MEDICAL PERSONNEL WHO HAVE POPULATED THE BAR FOR 25 YEARS WITH DÉCOR THAT TAKES A JOCULAR APPROACH TO THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH. (BELOW) AT CRAWPAPPY’S, YOU CAN ENJOY PEEL-N-EAT SHRIMP AND SMOKING A CIGARETTE ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

Like Heather at Suture’s, our bartender Melissa has enjoyed a seven-year stay at Crawpappys. She looks like a version of P!nk that could kick even more of your ass, and attributes her tenure to the “family” vibe among her work staff and regulars. “When a regular passes away, we put a plaque on their table,” she said. One such plaque read “Dan Prickard,” duly emblazoned with his signature drink: a glass of cab with ice.

Follow the rabbit

Downtown Tulsa has its dive bars; but dive bars with food are woefully underrepresented. Lucky for us, we have Rabbit Hole Bar and Grill. Sure, you can’t smoke

inside Rabbit Hole—there’s a dandy smoke hole out back—but this Blue Dome gem hits all the dive bar requisites. That they recently booked dominatrix metal act, Savage Master, and the proprietors are direct descendants of the Yeti Lounge secures the dive designation. That Chef J.V. pumps out top-notch food in the competitive Blue Dome warrants them a serious nod in the food department. We were served by former Yeti-Tender, Andrew, and true to the magick vibe of the day, were informed he’s worked at all of owner Jonathan Robinson’s concepts for seven years. Well, he said “six or seven years,” but magick ain’t a science. Typical bar faves fill the menu, like

chicken wings, ooey-gooey cheesesteak sammies, loaded cheese fries and Chef J.V.’s famous mac-and-cheese. But dishes like the spicy shrimp and grits and the primo prime rib served on Monday nights belie the dive vibe they cultivate. While sipping on our craft beers, Chef J.V. treats us to a smorgasbord of delights. Golden-fried shrimp with a punchy cocktail sauce, creamy mac-andcheese loaded up with bacon and grilled chicken, and glazed “psychedelic” purple, golden and orange carrots are served to us on a literal silver platter. Each the perfect nibble to accompany our beers, with enough heft to bolster us for whatever the evening held for us. a FEATURED // 21

he world isn’t always welcoming to people with disabilities, but a community of Tulsa athletes are rolling with the punches and educating others along the way. Each with their own unique journey, adaptive grapplers Crys Davis, Brandon Teague and Michael Lindsay are changing the way the world looks at martial arts like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. “When you really distill it down to its core, adaptive grappling essentially means grappling that is accessible to anyone regardless of ability, or disability,” Davis said. “In some respects, everyone on the mat is a bit adaptive in their own way. Adaptive grappling is kind of an all-hands-on-deck thing. It really requires that the gym, coaches and athletes be really invested in making it a place and a program that is open to anyone. Most places are phenomenal at this, but there is still a ton of work that needs to be done.” Davis describes her journey with martial arts as winding, having started with Judo in high school. “I had looked for a home gym off and on over the years after I started using a wheelchair daily, but I didn’t anticipate how hard it would be to ﬁnd. When I found Trinity Martial Arts, I had honestly kind of given up looking,” she said. For her, martial arts is about ﬁtness, community and self-defense.

READY AND ABLE Adaptive grapplers enhance Tulsa’s Jiu Jitsu community BRANDON TEAGUE, A MEMBER OF TULSA’S ADAPTIVE GRAPPLING COMMUNITY, DOESN’T LET CEREBRAL PALSY STOP HIM FROM PURSUING HIS DREAM OF EARNING A BLACK BELT.

22 // FEATURED

BY CYDNEY BARON PHOTOS BY JOSEPH RUSHMORE September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

“That’s kind of the elephant in the room that is awkward for people to talk about. Adults with disabilities are twice as likely to be on the receiving end of physical violence as their non-disabled peers. When you start talking about kids with disabilities, they are four times as likely to experience violence. Four! That’s crazy,” she said. “Yes, someone would have to be a complete sicko to attack me, but there are truly sick people in the world. It does happen. My journey has been about empowering myself to be the least convenient target possible.” She said Jiu Jitsu hasn’t been a catchall solution—but it has dramatically changed her day-to-day life in terms of mobility and overall health. On the mat, adapting the sport to suit her abilities is challenging, but for most adaptive grapplers the struggle starts long before that. “After having been turned away at a number of places I was feeling a little bit extra aware that I was different,” Davis said. “I really worried that I would hold my training partner back, and I was startled that they didn’t seem to feel that way at all. I was absolutely ﬂoored by the Trinity coaches and their willingness to adapt and adjust and try crazy things to help me learn. Heck, Coach Hayes once hung me from the ceiling in a harness and bungee so that I could safely learn to do shots out of my wheelchair.” Davis visits new gyms when she travels, well aware that she may not be what any of the coaches or students are expecting. But that’s the point. “Many of them have never had someone who uses a wheelchair on their mats. There’s a whole community of people with disabilities who could benefit from training and some gyms—and many of those individuals—don’t know that’s a possibility,” she said. However, with each new visit, Davis must extensively research the gym. “I always look forward to going new places, but it’s always stressful. There’s a level of anxiety that comes with it, especially if the gym is in an older building. I look at as many pictures of the gym as I can find, and I ask as many questions as possible. Will I be able to park? Can I fit into the bathroom? Can I fit into the dressing area or locker room? Is there a step to get onto the mat? ... Working with new people is often really cool, though. Most people have gone out of their way to be helpful. For the most part, once I am on the mat, I don’t get treated any differently than any other athlete there.”

THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

CRYS DAVIS TRAINS IN BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU. AFTER BEING TURNED AWAY FROM MULTIPLE GYMS, DAVIS FOUND A HOME AT TRINITY MARTIAL ARTS IN PRYOR.

“NOBODY CAN EVER STOP ME FROM DOING WHAT I LOVE” Every time Brandon Teague is on the mat, his smile and enthusiasm are unshakable. He said he fell in love with Jiu Jitsu around 2005 after watching it on TV. “I love that you get to learn new techniques you’ve never seen before. You get to learn wonderful things,” he said. “I plan on doing it a long time, absolutely.” When it comes to the sport, Teague said he has a plan: “My first goal is to get a black belt, of course. My second goal is to compete in tournaments, and third is to become a cage fighter.” He hopes to get a Cerebral Palsy division added to area competitions. “One thing I’ve learned through all my struggles in my life, being born with Cerebral Palsy, I can overcome things people never thought I could do,” Teague said. “And nothing and nobody can ever stop me from doing what I love.” When asked about struggles or difficulties, Teague said nothing really came to mind. He set his mind to doing Jiu Jitsu and with the help of coach Karl Stone and his teammates, and that’s what he’s doing. Stone met Teague after a local fight and learned Teague dreamed of training in the sport himself. “I asked around in Tulsa and everyone said ‘nope,’ ‘no way,’ or ‘I don’t have time,’ but I just couldn’t say no,” Stone said. “It’s

only an hour a week out of my time, but it’s a lot to him.” Stone said yes. Now Teague’s mom drives from Tulsa to Bristow to bring him to the gym every week. “To see him in here, always smiling and pumped up … The energy he puts back into the other guys—he’s giving it all. He gets out of his wheelchair, crawls across the mat, and he’s trying. He puts his heart into it. He’s always smiling, always grateful.” Stone, a black belt, said training Teague has changed his entire outlook on the sport. “He has one arm that works normally. His other arm doesn’t straighten, his hand doesn’t open. I, too, am having to learn how to do things another way. It’s fun because I find myself in a situation using what I showed him that I would have never thought of before,” Stone said. “He inspires all of us, every time he gets out there.”

FEAR AS FUEL Michael Lindsay began training in Jiu Jitsu just to show it could be done. “I wanted to do it to prove that people with my particular circumstance can do whatever they want with enough passion and effort,” Lindsay said. “I am also a high school teacher, and in today’s world I like the notion of practical self-defense that does not rely on the power of size for efficacy.”

Every time he gets on the mat, Lindsay is at a higher risk for injury than others, but he uses that fear as fuel. “I have had a total of six major abdominal operations, and around a quarter-inch of my small intestine sticks through the right side of my abdomen at all times. I knew that I would be putting myself at risk for a major hernia or worse going in,” he said. “However, embracing that fear and finding my way through is one of the main reasons I wanted to try the practice in the first place.” He started by adding abdominal conditioning to his practice regimen then invested in a safety belt purpose-built for ileostomates with an active lifestyle. There are other measures, like advising everyone he rolls with of his condition, and avoiding some positions. But overall, Lindsay said, “I approach practicing BJJ as an absolute gift … Jiu Jitsu allows me to confront a challenging situation among the company of passionate people.” He said his training partners are respectful, accommodating and still provide intense training. “Far from taking it easy on me, they give me the opportunity to roll with them on equal terms,” Lindsay said. “They are always both sincere and understanding— and even with my circumstances, they treat me as an equal. The experience has completely changed me for the better and I am ever grateful for it.” a FEATURED // 23

VICKI CHAVEZ AND HER TWO DAUGHTERS LIVE IN A CHURCH IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. CHAVEZ ESCAPED HONDURAS AFTER HER AND HER THEN-3-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER’S LIFE WAS THREATENED.

The following feature appears courtesy of Boulder Weekly in Colorado, where editor and photojournalist Joel Dyer has been crossing the country to document the lives of people living in sanctuary in the United States. The stories below appear in the fifth installment of the ongoing project, which will culminate in a book and traveling photography exhibit. “When I started this effort in March 2018, there were an estimated 25 to 30 people in 22 states who had taken public sanctuary in churches to avoid deportation and family separation,” Dyer writes. “At that time, the best estimate for people who had taken non-public sanctuary in the United States was just over 100, but that figure was clearly just a best guess. As of July 2019, there are now 44 people in public sanctuary and the number in non-public sanctuary is even less clear. As the Trump administration’s assault on immigrants intensifies by the day, the number is likely growing.” For more information, visit boulderweekly.com. — TTV STAFF

Vicky Chavez (WITH HER TWO YOUNG DAUGHTERS) SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH TIME IN SANCTUARY: 18 MONTHS

Windows, walls and invisible lines PORTRAITS OF LIFE IN SANCTUARY Words and photos by Joel Dyer

24 // FEATURED

You can’t cut it any closer than Vicky Chavez did in January 2018. After being ordered to leave the country by ICE officials, Chavez bought plane tickets for herself and her then 4-month-old and 6-year-old daughters. She packed their few belongings, went to the airport and even checked in for the family’s deportation flight. But then she became overwhelmed by what would be waiting for her and her small children when the plane landed. In 2014, Vicky and her then-3-year-old daughter fled their home town of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a city widely regarded as one of the most dangerous and violent in the world. Vicky left her home country because she says she was experiencing sexual violence and domestic abuse. She said things were rapidly deteriorating and that both she and her daughter were told they were going to be killed. Vicky chose to flee to the U.S. because she hoped to apply for asylum— which she says she did immediately upon her arrival—and because her parents already lived here legally. Despite doing all the things her attorney instructed, Vicky and her daughter’s asylum request was eventually turned down by the courts. She says she still doesn’t understand why but suspects that her legal advice may have been flawed. After her appeals also failed, Vicky, who had another daughter in 2017 (a U.S. citizen) was ordered to leave the country and return to Honduras even though she has no immediate family, no job prospects and no way to feed her children there. And as Vicky put it so bluntly, “I knew I might be killed if I went back and that meant my children could be killed as well.” So, standing in the Salt Lake City airport waiting to board her plane to what she believed would be the death of her family, Vicky suddenly changed her mind. She asked one of the activists who had come to see her off if she would take her to a church where she and the girls could take sanctuary. That was 18 months ago and Vicky, now 31, along with her nearly 8-year-old daughter and her nearly 2-year-old daughter, who has no real memories of life outside of sanctuary, are still spending every day of their lives inside the walls of Salt Lake City’s First Unitarian Church. They live in a converted classroom. Vicky does her best to make the girl’s lives as normal as possible under conditions that are anything but. She tries to September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

always keep a good attitude and a smile on her face when around the kids. She told me the only time she lets herself be sad is when they are both asleep. Vicky has no idea how long she’ll be both imprisoned and protected within the church walls she now calls home. And while she hopes to have her case for asylum reopened at some point, she says no matter what happens, she knows she made the best decision for her children. “At least we are all together and safe, and that is more important than anything else.”

Saheeda Nadeem KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN TIME IN SANCTUARY: 16 MONTHS Saheeda Nadeem came to the United States 14 years ago on a non-immigrant visa. Her goal was to create a better life for her two elementary-aged children, her daughter, Lareb, and her son, Samad. Saheeda was born in rural Pakistan 63 years ago. Her parents helped her to gain her education and then, while she was still a teenager and sensing that her opportunities would be greatly limited if they stayed in Pakistan, her family immigrated to Kuwait, where Saheeda became a domestic servant. After years in Kuwait, Saheeda still wanted more opportunity for her children than what she had been given. That’s why she decided to come to the U.S. around 2005. Saheeda and her kids found a home in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where the woman from Pakistan would become a beloved part of the community. She is known as “Auntie Saheeda” for her decade of work with disabled adults in a group home setting and as a parental figure for orphaned refugee children relocated to the Kalamazoo area. After her visa ran out, Saheeda was granted annual deferments from deportation. But after Trump took office, ICE ordered her deported back to Pakistan, a country she has not set foot in for more than 40 years and where she has no known family or friends. The area where Saheeda is from in Pakistan is very strict in its Muslim teachings. While Saheeda is herself a devout Muslim, she fears that without having a male family member, her life will be in danger. For these and other reasons, Saheeda’s family and friends believe she may be killed if deported to Pakistan. For her part, Saheeda says she simply can’t leave her children. Sadly, her daughter, Lareb, was killed in a car wreck in 2016 just as she was graduating from college. Saheeda took comfort in visiting her beloved daughter’s grave every single day before being forced to take sanctuary in Kalamazoo’s First Congregational Church. She told me not being able to visit her daughter’s grave is the hardest part about being in sanctuary. When asked if she struggles with boredom after working so many hours prior to being in sanctuary, she smiles and says, “No, I eat three times a day and I pray five times a day. I am still very busy.” Saheeda’s son Samad is still in college and protected for now by his DACA status. He is a passionate and outspoken advocate for his mother and increasingly for all those threatened because of their undocumented status. He says if his mother is deported he will go to Pakistan with her because her life could well depend on it. But as a young man who has grown up in the United States, it is certainly not the preferred outcome for himself or his mother. As for this historic old church in Kalamazoo that has so kindly provided sanctuary for Saheeda, it is just the latest in a long history of such social justice actions. The church was actually the last stop on the Underground Railroad so many years ago. Oh, how little has changed. THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

(ABOVE) SAHEEDA NADEEM HAS A ROUTE SHE WALKS THROUGH THE CHURCH EACH DAY FOR EXERCISE. SHE SAYS SHE LIKES TO STOP AND SPEND TIME IN THIS SMALL SANCTUARY OFF THE BEATEN PATH OF THE MAIN CHURCH BUILDINGS. (BELOW) DIEGO, A PSEUDONYM TO PROTECT HIS IDENTITY, FLED HIS COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AFTER A BAD BEATING FROM A GANG. NOW WITH A 4-YEAR-OLD SON, DIEGO SAYS HE WOULDN’T BE ALIVE FOR LONG IF HE RETURNED.

Diego (PSEUDONYM) EASTERN U.S. TIME IN NON-PUBLIC SANCTUARY: WITHHELD UPON REQUEST There are many reasons why some immigrants ordered to leave the U.S. have taken sanctuary, but not publicly. In many cases it is because they will, with almost absolute certainty, be killed if returned to their countries of origin. That is most definitely the case with Diego, whose real identity, country of origin and current location in sanctuary I have agreed not to reveal. As a teenager, Diego and a close friend were walking together in their hometown when members of the MS-13 gang shot and killed Diego’s friend. Eventually, the police persuaded Diego to identify the murderers. After that, the gang beat Diego badly, injuring him and putting him in the

hospital. Diego knew that when he was released the gang would likely finish the job. It was then, lying in a hospital bed half dead, that the young man decided he would leave his country immediately and head north to the U.S. Diego made it. He started a new life for himself, got married and had a son. His marriage has since ended, but Diego is single-handedly raising his 4-year-old son who now lives with him in sanctuary. If returned to his country of origin, Diego says he would not be alive for long and he doesn’t know what would happen to his son. “I can’t take him with me into that. And I can’t just leave him behind not knowing what will happen to him,” he says. Diego has explained all this to ICE, but he was still ordered to leave. As in so many of these cases, deportation is little more than a death sentence. a FEATURED // 25

artspot

‘It’s a prayer’

Tulsa Artist Fellow Yatika Fields on the harmony of ultra-running and painting by MASON WHITEHORN POWELL

n August 29, Osage/ Cherokee/Creek artist Yatika Fields completed the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) TDS, a 145-kilometer (90-mile) trail race in the Alps with 9,100-meters of elevation change. The 2019 Tulsa Artist Fellow spoke with me from Leiden, Netherlands, where his mural at the Museum Volkenkunde, the National Museum of Ethnology, was in progress.

MASON WHITEHORN POWELL: Tell me about the race you just competed in. YATIKA FIELDS: That race was called “TDS” and it’s a part of UTMB, Ultra-Trail MontBlanc, an event that happens every year in Chamonix, France and Courmayeur, Italy. There’s seven different races that happen throughout the whole week. It’s pretty much a week-long celebration of trail running—a global running summit—so you have runners and racers from all over the world coming over here to be in these races. … And to get into these races you have to qualify by getting points and each race has different points that you need to get in. So I’ve been in the United States the past couple of years doings these different races and they’re pretty hard. They’re usually 100K or 50-mile races, and you have to finish them, then you get the UTMB points and if you get enough you can put your name in the lottery. And then if you get selected in the lottery you can get in the race. Last year, it was 70-miles and this year they extended TDS to be 90-miles with more climbing. The big race they have is UTMB, 26 // ARTS & CULTURE

Tulsa Artist Fellow Yakita Fields completed a 90-mile trail race through the Alps with an elevation change of nearly 30,000 feet. | COURTESY MAINDRUPHOTO. (INSET) Yaktia Fields is finishing up this mural at the Museum Volkenkunde, the National Museum of Ethnology, in Leiden, Netherlands. COURTESY MUSEUM VOLKENKUNDE

which is 120-miles, and they say TDS is harder than that race because of the technical terrain, it’s the more technical race of the two. And it was technical. It was really hard. POWELL: For those who don’t know, what defines an ‘ultrarunner’? FIELDS: Being an ultra-runner is anything past 26.2 [miles]—marathon distance. So, 50Ks, 30-miles, 32-miles, 50-miles, 60—anything above that is an ultra-marathon technically—but when you get into the ultra-marathon lingo and around runners: 50-miles, 60-miles, 100-miles, that’s when you really become an ultra-runner. POWELL: With this race in particular, what was it like being on those

trails in the mountains? How was that experience for you? FIELDS: It was dreamlike. Because I had never been on those trails before. I had never seen them in my life. I had never been over those mountains in my life. I had never seen that landscape ever. You go pretty deep into these places. I mean, you cross a border. You cross from Italy into France. You see new kinds of rocks. New kinds of ﬂowers. You hear different kinds of birds. You feel a different kind of air. You hear people at various checkpoints: Allez, allez, allez! Saying, ‘Go, go, go!’ in their own language. It’s not English, you rarely hear English. It’s very different. We started at 4 a.m. in Courmayeur, Italy. We took off, there’s 1,700 runners, and I wanted to get

up to the front because I didn’t want to get stuck in a bottleneck in the back. So we all take off and [I’m] running pretty fast for a couple of miles. I wanted to be in the top 100 at that point—and I was—hit the first climb and up at the top of a mountain, we all have headlamps on. You just go for it. And I looked back and I see a whole line, about a mile of people climbing in one line with headlamps. It was magical. And that’s when it just hit me, ‘Ok, this is TDS. This is the race you’ve been training for all year. This isn’t just a run. This is a race you’ve been training for. You’re in Italy. You’re doing it. You’re here.’ It was wild. Then reality hits: ‘Oh shit, better get comfortable, because I’m gonna be here running and moving for the next 30 hours. This is what you’re training for, so pace yourself.’ I don’t know, you just say, ‘Here we go.’ POWELL: Is that what it takes to complete—30 hours? FIELDS: For me, yeah. I wanted to get sub-30 hours. I think the elites finish in 22 [hours], something like that. POWELL: Could you tell me about how running is related to your practice as a painter? FIELDS: I’m still figuring it out, but I think it’s the same thing: It’s about being patient with results. It’s about being consistent to the devotion of the art—running is an art form; painting is an art form; your body is an art form; movement is an art form. These are all things that are both shared between the brush and the legs and the mind. Running is colorful; painting is colorful. Running is poetry; painting is poetry. I’ve

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

found a really eloquent correlation between the two that’s kind of hard to describe almost, but it’s about movement. POWELL: En plein air [outdoor] paintings seem to be a big part of your practice. You do a lot of those while abroad, so could you talk about that? FIELDS: Every time I come here, to Europe, I usually try to make paintings, and this is the first time I’m letting it all go out and showing it as well. I started landscape painting in 2000 with a professor from Oklahoma City University, Marty Averett, and then a group of seniors from OCU, but I was a high school senior at that time. I came to Tuscany, Italy, to study landscape painting that summer. I was 19 and it really opened my eyes up to the way color works and how looking at landscapes and painting them can train your eyes and hand to work in a different way and capture essence. Ever since I’ve been 19 to now—I’m 38—I’ve been painting landscapes. I’ve been training my eyes and hands to just capture the essence of things and the beauty of landscapes—the changing colors and the shade, the moving sun, the moving clouds. I just try to capture essences of places and paint quickly. The spirit of it, that’s what I try to capture. Because once I do that, then I train my eyes and hands to capture those things and I can go into the studio and carry that same force and that same familiarity and put it into my canvases that are stagnant, that are on the wall, but yet I still understand that movement. So that’s what the landscape paintings are about. It’s about being somewhere beautiful. It’s about sitting there for an hour or two really listening to that place, hearing every sound, smelling every smell that’s in the air, hearing all the birds, hearing all the wind, and then putting that into a painting. It makes you really familiar with the location—like no other. And it’s really cool. It’s really cool to just sit somewhere and evaluate, and kind of put all your senses to the test, and just try to capture it, and that’s better than anything. For me, that’s the most exciting thing to do.

POWELL: Tell me about some of the runs you’ve done on Indigenous lands. FIELDS: Anytime I run in the United States, I’m running on Native land, Indigenous land. … As long as I’m in the States and running and feeling the earth, then things are good. Things are good in France, in Italy, with this race. Just, I think, because I carried the prayers and words from back home, and I thought about that often, so I had that with me and carried that with me. I carried cedar with me and decorated the sling on my back that holds the poles, the quiver case, with Osage ribbonwork and two scissortail feathers on it. So, I was carrying part of Oklahoma, part of who I am with me in the race, which made me strong and move well. But running on Native land is beautiful. You think about everything that’s happened before you and under your feet. And you think of everything that’s also laid tracks down and a path for you to be here today. We’ve moved far. We’ve had to come over hardships as people from relocations with their own feet; people have died, people have cried. We’ve been challenged as a race, as a nation of people through of movement of our own legs and feet. With force. I think about these things: If it weren’t for them and their survival and resilience, I wouldn’t be here. This is the least I can do in honor of them. That’s what I think about when I run on United States land, and Native land. It’s a prayer. I grew up in ceremonies. I grew up in a way where I look at running as something that’s an extension of that. Because I know I’m at an age right now where I can do it, but it’s not always going to be like it is right now and I’m aware of that. But for right now something fun is happening within me through running. And I’m to tell a story and share something unique through it, and that involves my art as well. I’m still figuring it all out, but I’m getting hints of what it’s about here and there. Maybe I’m not supposed to fully know what it is, but just kind of enjoy it and see the world through movement like I am. a

THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

JUNE 21-OCT. 13 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

ARTS & CULTURE // 27

community

Cheap Thrills owner Kristen Casey | DESTINY JADE GREEN

A ﬁtting end

Cheap Thrills Vintage says goodbye by MARY NOBLE

alking into Cheap Thrills Vintage is both chaotic and comforting. Overwhelming yet orderly, the eclectic shop at 3018 E. 15th St. has been providing customers with a nostalgic sensory experience unlike any other shop in Tulsa since the turn of the century. The Tulsa staple just hit its 20-year milestone, but the celebration is bittersweet. Owner Kristen Casey announced Sept. 10 that Cheap Thrills will close by the end of 2019. “It’s been great to work with 15-year-old punk rock kids to 80-year-old women. I have such a range of customers. I really enjoy that because you never know who’s going to come in,” Casey said. In addition to a loyal customer base, Cheap Thrills has entertained famous patrons from

28 // ARTS & CULTURE

all over the map, including Sonic Youth, Steven Tyler, St. Vincent, Mac Miller and Ariana Grande. Casey announced the news on Facebook: “Bittersweet Birthday. The month of September marks the our 20th year and sadly the year I’ve decided to close the brick and mortar store. I will continue to buy and sell but will let the physical store go. I plan on staying open through December and will be adding more inventory to the shop over the next two months.” The comment section quickly ﬂooded with well wishes and fond memories from customers who have frequented the shop throughout the years. One customer shared they had purchased their wedding dress from the store. I spoke to Casey just one day after the announcement. Her grief still raw, Casey struggled to

find the words to articulate just how much the shop means to her. When asked why the store is set to close, there was no simple answer. In early 2018, Casey’s husband passed away tragically in a truck accident. “He was a big part of the store. I’m so reminded of him here. That and we have a young son who is super involved in sports and we are always out of town doing things. I can’t man the store like I’d like to,” Casey said. For Casey, not having day-today interaction with her customers will be the most difficult part about closing the store. “People have been coming since I first opened. … I’ve gotten to see people grow up, which has been awesome,” Casey said. Carla-Rose Branch is one of those people who’ve been frequenting Cheap Thrills since its

doors first opened. She said the store has helped her find her own sense of self through fasion. “When I would walk into the first location on 11th Street, it felt otherworldly,” Branch said. “Cheap Thrills offered me the opportunity to safely and creatively express myself and my individuality through oneof-a-kind fashion as opposed to mass-produced labels and department store finds.” While the brick-and-mortar shop is set to close at the end of December, Casey plans to bolster her online presence and continue selling her uniquely curated vintage items via Instagram and the Cheap Thrills website. “I thank all the customers for all their support over the years,” Casey said. “I’ve [met] so many great friends and people.” a

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

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ARTS & CULTURE // 29

wildlife

The scales in our eyes Learning to see the geckos of Tulsa by M. MOLLY BACKES

spent the summer learning to see them. The first one I saw was relatively large—big enough that his own shadow called attention to him as he hung out in the middle of a wall under a bright orange light. A few weeks later, taking the dog for our evening walk, I saw another. Pretty soon, I was looking for them every night. I live downtown, and though there are geckos all over Tulsa—a friend recently found one in his kitchen—the ones in question, my neighborhood geckos, live on a building around the corner from me. Looking for them has become a nightly ritual. The geckos of Tulsa are Mediterranean house geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus), and as their name suggests, they are not originally from Oklahoma. No one seems to be sure exactly how long they’ve been here or how they got here in the fi rst place, but anecdotal evidence suggests they were living in Norman as early as the 1960s or ‘70s. People theorize they escaped from a lab, were pets that got loose, or rode in on oil tankers or with exotic produce, but the likeliest scenario is they were accidental hitchhikers in boxes or shipping containers. As a species, they are incredibly widespread and can be found all over the world, from the Middle East to the Caribbean islands to the southern United States, but the individual animals are actually homebodies and will often spend their entire lives in or around a single building. In fact, scientists have suggested most gecko dispersal happens before the animals are even hatched. Mediterranean geckos have communal nests with up to 20 eggs, according to Dr. Kyle W.

30 // ARTS & CULTURE

The geckos around Tulsa are Hemidactylus turcicus, or Mediterranean house geckos, and will spend their entire lives in or around a single building.

Selcer, who spent nearly two years studying a population of them in South Texas. “The eggs are often located in boxes, which could be transported when people move,” he said. “A box containing a communal nest could carry a mini-colony.” It’s not quite accurate to call our geckos an invasive species, because they occupy an ecological niche that was previously unoccupied—which is to say that before they arrived in Tulsa, no one else was sticking to walls and eating moths. In order to qualify as an “invasive,” according to Ellen Jacquart of The Nature Conservancy, a species must cause harm. “The majority of non-native species cause no harm whatsoever, and some are even benefi-

cial,” Jacquart said. Mediterranean geckos might be considered invasive in other parts of the world, particularly if their presence pushes out native gecko species, but here in Tulsa, they are just a friendly non-native species snacking on our bugs. Like Canada geese and rodents, Mediterranean house geckos seem to thrive in humanbuilt spaces. My neighborhood colony has an ideal situation: bushes along the building’s perimeter offer shade during the day and cover at night; the painted brick walls, which happen to be gecko-colored, radiate heat when the evenings get cool; and the lights attract all manner of insects to eat. Their primary predators are cats, which are also abundant in

my neighborhood, but the geckos are quick to scurry out of sight when they sense danger. And if they’re not quite fast enough to outrun a cat, they can autotomize, or shed, their tails. (This process explains the stump-tailed gecko I once saw: It had lost its tail and was in the process of growing a new one.) I have come to believe my neighborhood gecko colony is quite large; an average evening of gecko-spotting yields five or six, ranging in size from two-inch juveniles to five-inch adults. My record for the summer is 10 in a single night. I count them as I walk, in a whisper, as I used to count deer on family road trips. Like deer hiding in the dappled light between trees, the geckos are elusive, and the elusiveness is part of their charm. A few nights ago, I looked at a wall that initially appeared uninhabited; a moment later, as if snapping into place, my vision changed and I saw there were in fact four adult geckos, hiding in plain sight. One was melting itself into shadow, another was stretched alongside a metal rail, and a third was curved around a light fi xture. The fourth was just a little face, peeking out from underneath a metal sign. I felt as though I was in a living example of one of the hidden picture puzzles I loved in my childhood, and laughed in delight. Just as with the hidden pictures, the reward isn’t in the found object but in the seeing itself. For me, learning to see geckos has meant learning to see my neighborhood through different eyes, a reminder that the world holds all kinds of secrets when we learn how to look. a

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Experience regional Mexican cultures through food, music and dance, and learn about Mexican modern art through artist demos and in-gallery talks in our exhibition Mexican Modernism: Revolution & Reckoning.

September 27 | 7-9 p.m. gilcrease.org/gah

A CASUAL EVENING UNDER THE STARS Benefiting River Parks and Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness

ARTS & CULTURE // 31

onstage

PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE

Theatre Tulsa September 14-22

OPENING NIGHT GALA WITH RACHEL BARTON PINE

Tulsa Symphony September 14

PROJECT ALICE

Portico Dance Theatre September 20-21 AMERICAN BRASS QUINTET

Chamber Music Tulsa September 22 LES MISÉRABLES

Celebrity Attractions September 24-29

Tulsa Theatre artists Machele Miller Dill and Timothy Hunter formed the Heartland Center for Professional and Creative Development to provide high-level theatre training in Tulsa. | GREG BOLLINGER

THE ART OF LISTENING

MISS NELSON HAS A FIELD DAY

Tulsa PAC Trust September 27

Tulsa theatre veterans offer continuing support for local creatives

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918.596.7111 ALL EVENTS/DATES SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

32 // ARTS & CULTURE

A PLAYWRIGHT ONCE SAID WHAT MAKES an actor great is their ability to listen. Isn’t that what makes any human great? There’s nothing more empowering than to be asked, listened to, and taken seriously—onstage or off. This summer, Machele Miller Dill and Timothy Hunter, theatre artists with deep roots in the Tulsa arts community and estimable resumes to back them up, asked some big questions of and about their craft. What do those who practice it need in order to thrive? And what does it have to give, so that others might thrive as well? They asked (complete with a community survey), and listened, and made a big move in answer. Hunter and Dill have teamed up to form the Heartland Center for Professional and Creative Development, which hopes to fill a hole in the bustling performing arts ecosystem in Tulsa by offering, among other things, high-level training in theatre for the people who put on show after show here, season after season. “A great city like Tulsa needs a place outside of a university setting for adults to learn the craft of acting,” Hunter said. As an actor who’s been part of productions from Waiting for Godot to Tulsa Ballet’s educational program Peter and the Wolf, he said he’s noticed “a lack of continued training for adults who want to hone their acting ability, or those who want to explore the craft.” “Not everyone can stop their lives and go back to school, especially for something like acting. And most people can’t afford to continue study at a higher level,” explained Dill, a prolific actor and director who for 13 years has served as Director of Musical Theatre at the University of Tulsa. “Heartland’s plans include general perfor-

mance classes along with more focused, audition-only offerings for those wanting and able to really dig in.” But it’s not just actors to whom Heartland plans to give back. Dill said building a center whose purpose is “development” means reaching outward as well as inward. Just as professional development is essential for an actor seeking excellence, creativity itself is essential for people working in totally unrelated settings. One of Heartland’s priorities is bringing the coveted “soft skills” in which theatre excels—empathy, attentiveness, working as a team, problem-solving and the like—to local businesses through trainings, coaching and consulting. With TU’s nationally respected performing arts departments on the chopping block under the university’s recent reconfiguration attempt, Dill has been a leader in conversations around the value of theatre. “I love my job and I love my students,” she said. “Many people have said I could get a job just about anywhere with my credentials. However, I believe in Tulsa and I believe in the future of the arts in Tulsa. If TU is truly not committed to arts education for future generations, then Tulsa is. “And I will create my own opportunities while I create opportunities for others,” she said. “My hope is that TU recommits to Theatre and Musical Theatre. Stay tuned.” In the meantime, the Heartland Center forms a long-needed bridge between stage and city. “Artists are the conduit to whatever connects us all and makes us a community,” Hunter said. “Art lets us be human,” Dill continued. “In fact, it requires us to be.” — ALICIA CHESSER ATKIN

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

AN EVENING WITH

BRANFORD

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THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; October 1, 2019

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ARTS & CULTURE // 33

bookworm

Origin stories

Amir Hussain talks Muslims and the Making of America by JEZY J. GRAY

ntroducing his book Muslims and the Making of America, Dr. Amir Hussain quotes Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes: “I, too, sing America / I am the darker brother.” The spirit of Hussain’s project is contained in that iconic line of verse. Muslim Americans, he argues, aren’t simply among those “darker” siblings cast from the communal table of public life—their roots in the transatlantic slave trade, globe-spanning lineages and longstanding cultural inﬂuence make them an inseparable part of this country’s family unit. Just as Hughes extended Walt Whitman’s ode to include a broader swath of America, Hussain’s book enlarges the frame of the American origin story as it exists in the popular imagination. Far from an exhaustive account of the Islamic threads of American life, Muslims and the Making of America is a targeted look at the contributions of “a few stand-ins for the many” across the playing fields of culture, from music to sports and points in between. Hussain spoke to me over the phone before his talk on Sept. 20 at the Philbrook Museum. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A with curator Susan Green, in conjunction with the ongoing exhibit, Wondrous Worlds: Art & Islam through Time & Place, on display through Oct. 6. JEZY J. GRAY: Your book begins with a great line that says so much about the project: “There has never been an America without Muslims.” Can you unpack that for readers? DR. AMIR HUSSAIN: You hear this kind of rhetoric that says, ‘Well, Muslims haven’t done anything [in America]. Muslims are newcomers. Muslims are, at best,

34 // ARTS & CULTURE

anything to America,’ that’s part of the genesis of the book. To say, ‘Let’s look at some of those contributions.’ GRAY: Muhammad Ali is a 40-foot tall example of the kind of figure you’re talking about. But who are some of the lesser-known heroes of your book, who’ve maybe not enjoyed the same visible legacy as someone like Ali? Someone like Ahmet Ertegun comes to my mind. I knew nothing about him, or really much about Muslim contributions to American music if I’m being honest.

Amir Hussain, author of Muslims and the Making of America, will speak Sept. 20 at the Philbrook Museum. | JON ROU/LMU

anti-American; at worst, they’re trying to deliberately overturn or destroy America.’ And that’s just not the case … Muslims have been here since before this country was this country. Even before the transatlantic slave trade … you have the Spanish conquistadors coming, many of whom have their own slaves … I was a kid when I saw Alex Haley’s Roots with Levar Burton as Kunta Kinte, and it was this moment of, ‘Wait—he’s a Muslim? There were Muslims who were slaves?’ Then you think, ‘Well, of course.’ You have Islam in West Africa coming in the 9th century, slaves being brought over from West Africa because of the location. Why are we surprised that some of those slaves were West African Muslims? GRAY: Given that deep history, how did we develop such a radically different notion of American Muslims in the popular imagination? HUSSAIN: I think it’s a couple of things. One is, maybe there’s some truth to the idea that Muslims are ‘newcomers.’ Because even though we have this history, a majority of us—people like me—came to

this country after 1965, after Civil Rights and changes to immigration law. So we do have a lot of recent immigrants. The other part is, we tend not to tell the full range of stories about who we are. One of the really lovely things I’ve been able to do in the last couple years is work as one of the consultants to Mr. Morgan Freeman for his show The History of God on the National Geographic Channel. We were able to have him come to [Loyola Maramount University] to give a talk … and I’m paraphrasing, but he basically said, ‘Look: I’m a black man. And if what I knew about American history was what we saw in films, I would think black people had nothing to contribute to American history.’ … You think about Octavia Spencer. When she gets the script for Hidden Figures, thinks, ‘Oh, this is a lovely story, but it’s completely made up.’ Then she realizes, no, this is a true story. Then she thinks to herself, ‘Wait a minute. I’m a black woman. If I didn’t know black women helped do the math to get John Glenn into space, why would anyone else know that?’ So when you have people say, ‘Muslims haven’t contributed

HUSSAIN: He’s one of those people who should be a household name, but a lot of people don’t remember who he was. I would say very clearly that I can’t imagine the history of America in the 20th century—not American music, but America—without Atlantic Records. And you have this Turkish immigrant Muslim who, with his Jewish partner, took a loan from their dentist and created Atlantic Records. And I think the history of America would be very different without [him]. This is the chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. … But again, we don’t think about that, even though he’s this important figure. My own hero—one of those “40-foot” people—is Kareem Abdul Jabar. I don’t think Kareem gets his due, you know? My students all think Lebron James is the greatest player ever. Generations before thought it was Michael Jordan. But there’s a guy who has just as many rings as Jordan, and more points. … [My students] vaguely remember him from the Airplane movies. They know him from the writing. They know him from the Sherlock Holmes/ Moriarty stuff. They know him for his social commentary. They saw Barack Obama giving him a

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Presidential Medal of Freedom. So here’s this amazing guy for whom basketball is probably 20 percent of his world. You know, most athletes, they retire and that’s it. They’re never heard from again. This guy is probably more famous for the stuff he’s done since he retired from the NBA than he was while playing in the NBA. And I say he’s the greatest player ever. GRAY: In 2006, Minnesota’s Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Can you talk about the history of the Quran he was sworn in on?

hensive exhibit of Islamic art ever shown in Oklahoma. What does it mean for you to give this talk in a city like Tulsa? Does it offer different opportunities than urban areas where Muslims represent a bigger chunk of the population? HUSSAIN: Oh, absolutely. But even in those places … it surprises me how many times people will say, ‘You’re the first Muslim I’ve ever met.’ … so even in larger, more diverse cities, there’s that. Choosing [Baylor University Press] was

really important to me [because] the people who need to hear this history of American Muslims are the people who may not have heard that history, may not have had that encounter. And Baylor, as a Baptist press, is able to get this out to folks in Texas and Oklahoma and Arkansas. I think the Philbrook is doing this amazing thing of showcasing Islamic art. Because people have this image, as I’ve said before, of Islam as this violent religious tradition. They don’t think about the

beauty. They don’t realize Islamic art isn’t just calligraphy. It isn’t just doing wonderful things with the letters of the alphabet. It’s textiles. It’s ceramics. It’s painting. It’s metal work. I grew up working-class poor, but you could go to museums, because museums were free back then. And you could see these kinds of things. For a poor kid, that’s how you transform the world. That’s when you think, ‘OK. The world is a much bigger place than my little small town.’ a

HUSSAIN: Yeah! That’s such an interesting thing. Thank you for that question. I was here teaching at LMU when Keith Ellison was first elected to Congress. And the practice is that all new members of Congress are sworn in together, but then they do their own photo-ops for their constituencies back in their offices. So for that he wanted to be, as the first Muslim elected to Congress, sworn in on the Quran. And this is Los Angeles—a fairly liberal, progressive town—but people went nuts. ‘You can’t be sworn in on the Quran. You have to be sworn in on the Bible!’ You want to say, ‘Actually, you don’t have to be sworn in on the Bible.’ That’s one of the things that makes America, America. We don’t have a religious test. You don’t have to belong to a religion in order to hold office. But what Keith Ellison did was great. He goes into the Library of Congress and gets Thomas Jefferson’s Quran, and that surprises people. … In 1765, before America is America, here’s Thomas Jefferson. Anyone’s gotta have him on the list of the greatest Americans … The fact that Mr. Jefferson, long before he was our third president, had a copy of the Quran. That he actually began—and this amazes me—that he actually began to teach himself Arabic. … I’m not at all saying Jefferson was a fan of Islam. He was not. He probably wasn’t a huge fan of organized religion, you know. But [he thought] ‘I need to learn about this. This is important.’ GRAY: You’ll be coming to Philbrook in conjunction with the Museum’s current show, Wondrous Worlds, which is the most compreTHE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

ARTS & CULTURE // 35

TULSA STATE FAIR Thursday, Sept. 26–Wednesday, Oct. 6, 11 a.m.–11 p.m., $10–$70 Expo Square The Tulsa State Fair is back for 11 days of food, rides, games, music and all around fun. Fill your day with music acts like Whiskey Myers, Ginuwine, Aaron Watson, lovelytheband and more. Get the mega ride pass and ride the rides until you hurl. This year Disney on Ice is also skating through Expo Square. And of course, the food. You could ﬁll an entire day walking around to every food truck getting funnel cakes, doughnut burgers or deep-fried Kool-Aid. It’s up to you how you ﬁll the “11 days of awesome” the fair delivers. tulsastatefair.com

ART AFTER HOURS

SHOW

Gilcrease After Hours will deliver another night of free night of art, cocktails, live music and more. This month revolves around Mexican modernism and offers artist demos, activities and gallery talks on Friday, Sept. 27. gilcrease.org

Whitty Books hosts an Avant Garde show booked by Weird Animal Booking and Recordings. Performances include Pluto Rouge, Inﬁnite Crustacean, Nathan Alexander Pape, Apt-get, and Without Adjectives. Read more about the show on pg. 41.

DISCUSSION

LET’S DANCE

The fourth part of the Woody Guthrie Center and Tri-City Collective’s Real Talk series, “Women! The Power of Political Change” will take place Saturday, Sept. 21 at The Woody Guthrie Center. woodyguthriecenter.org

Mojo Movement Studio is ready to teach you some club ready dance moves at Booty Call Twerkshop: Late Night Snack. For $20 you can become a twerk master, drink free White Claws and learn some new moves! mojotulsa.com

ARTSY WORKOUT

MUSIC FEST

Are you a multi-tasker looking for a morning workout and art tour? Chief Curator, Catherine Whitney will lead a two mile fun run through Philbrook’s gardens while she explains the sculptures the runners pass. philbrook.org

The Whispers, Jody Watley and Faye Moffett come together to honor Wayman Tisdale during Soul Fest at Guthrie Green on Saturday, Sept. 28. Dust off your dancing shoes and head down to Soul Fest. facebook.com

FULL EVENTS CALENDAR: THETULSAVOICE.COM/CALENDAR 36 // ARTS & CULTURE

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

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THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

ARTS & CULTURE // 37

EVENTS

PERFORMING ARTS

Movie Nights: The Little Mermaid // 9/18, 6:30 p.m., Gathering Place - QuikTrip Great Lawn, gatheringplace.org

Picasso at the Lapin Agile // 9/18-22, 6:30 p.m., Tulsa PAC - Liddy Doenges Theatre, tulsapac.com

Yoga at the Brewery // 9/18, 7 p.m., Renaissance Brewing Company, facebook.com Oil Painting 101 // Learn the ins and outs of oil painting.. 9/19, 6 p.m., Ahha Tulsa, ahhatulsa.org Tulsa Artist Fellowship: September Writers’ Project // 9/19, 6 p.m., Central Library, facebook.com

TINY PORCH FESTIVAL Saturday, Sept. 21, 3–8 p.m. Owen Park

Fifteen musicians will descend on the Owen Park neighborhood for Tiny Porch Festival, a free community event showcasing local music, food and drinks. Expect to see front porch performances from Branjae, Grazzhopper, CLIFFDIVER, Beach Friends and many more. KillerWail Barbecue will be there supplying good eats and there will be local brews at every turn. This celebration of local music, food and drink is the perfect opportunity to support your community, and it’s free! facebook.com

Movie in the Park: Aladdin // 9/19, 7:30 p.m., Guthrie Green, guthriegreen.com Tulsa Greek Festival // 9/19-22, 11 a.m., Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, tulsagreekfestival.com Garden Workshop: Simple Syrup // 9/19, 3 p.m., Philbrook, philbrook.org Flirty Grandma Embroidery 101: Next Steps // 9/20, 7 p.m., Heirloom Rustic Ales, facebook.com Texas Poet Laureate Carrie Fountain and Tulsa Artist Fellows // A night of readings.. 9/20, 7 p.m., Magic City Books, facebook.com Garden Workshop: Vegetable Harvesting & Seed Collecting // 9/20, 5:30 p.m., Philbrook, philbrook.org Muslims and the Making of America with Dr. Amir Hussain // 9/20, 7 p.m., Philbrook, philbrook.org Gilcrease Forum // Join Curator of History Mark Dolph for a discussion on Gilcrease’s newest exhibition.. 9/20, 1 p.m., Gilcrease, gilcrease.org

NATURE CELEBRATION

Celebrate monarchs’ migration stop in eastern Oklahoma on Sept. 21 at Monarchs on the Mountain. The celebration will include educational activities, tagging and releasing butterﬂies, and a native pollinator plant sale! Turkey Mountain. facebook.com

COMMUNITY

Kick off Bi+ Visibility Week with an educational brunch! Pancakes with Pansexuals at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center will celebrate all identities under the Bi+ umbrella on Sunday, Sept. 22. Read more about Bi+ Visibility Week on pg. 15. okeq.org

WU-TANG

Circle Cinema will host a celebration of all things Wu-Tang on Saturday, Sept. 28. Enter the 36 Chambers: A Wu-Tang Appreciation will consist of Mortal Kombat games, a screening of 36th Chamber of Shaolin, drink specials, chess and more. facebook.com ON STAGE

Les Misérables takes the stage at Chapman Music Hall Sept. 24–29. This classic tale of lost dreams, passion and sacriﬁce is given new life with reimagined scenery and new staging. tulsapac.com

LET’S DANCE

New Era Fine Fermentations wants to teach you to dance. The third session of Dancing on the Dock will teach attendees the lindy hop. Named after Charles Lindbergh, the lindy hop was birthed out of the jazz era. facebook.com 38 // ARTS & CULTURE

Pirouettes & Pinot // 9/19, 6:30 p.m., Tulsa Ballet - Studio K, tulsaballet.org Project Alice // 9/20-21, 6:30 p.m., Tulsa PAC John H Williams Theatre, tulsapac.com American Brass Quintet // 9/21, 9/22, Tulsa PAC, chambermusictulsa.org Tulsa Symphony Orchestra Presents: Fridays in the Loft Chamber Music // 9/27, 7:30 p.m., Fly Loft, ﬂyloft.com Peter and the Wolf // 9/27, 6:30 p.m., Tulsa Ballet - Studio K, tulsaballet.org Miss Nelson Has a Field Day // 9/27, 6 p.m., Tulsa PAC - John H Williams Theatre, tulsapac.com Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai // 9/28, 7 p.m., Tulsa PAC - John H Williams Theatre, tulsapac.com Classics - Tchaikovsky 5 // 9/28, 7 p.m., VanTrease PACE, tulsapac.com

COMEDY Comedy Survivor // 9/18, 8 p.m., The Loony Bin, tulsa.loonybincomedy.com Hypnotist Doug T // 9/19-21, 8 p.m., The Loony Bin, tulsa.loonybincomedy.com Gabriel Iglesias Beyond the Fluffy World Tour // 9/20, 8 p.m., Paradise Cove at River Spirit, riverspirittulsa.com Silly Humans // 9/20, 8 p.m., Rabbit Hole Improv, rabbitholeimprov.com

Beer Yoga at Cabin Boys Brewery // 9/21, 11 a.m., Cabin Boys Brewery, facebook.com

Crits & Giggles // 9/21, 8 p.m., Rabbit Hole Improv, rabbitholeimprov.com

Festival Americas // 9/21, 4 p.m., Guthrie Green, facebook.com

Nick Hoff // 9/25-28, 8 p.m., The Loony Bin, tulsa.loonybincomedy.com

Marshall & Fassler Hall: Oktoberfest // 9/21, 12 p.m., Marshall Brewing, facebook.com

The Southern Momma Cledus T Judd Comedy Experience // 9/27, 8 p.m., Paradise Cove at River Spirit, riverspirittulsa.com

Yoga at the (Pearl) Beach // 9/21, 11 a.m., Pearl Beach Brew Pub, facebook.com Philbrook MIX: Speakeasy // 9/21, 8 p.m., Philbrook, philbrook.org Brokelahoma with Guests and Panel //9/23, 7 p.m., Circle Cinema, circlecinema.org TYPROS Government Relations: Voter Engagement Subcrew Kickoff //9/23, 5:30 p.m., Inner Circle Vodka Bar, facebook.com

Sketchy As Hell // 9/27, 8 p.m., Rabbit Hole Improv, rabbitholeimprov.com Off Beat: Hilarious True Stories // 9/28, 8 p.m., Duet Jazz, duetjazz.com OK, So: Risque // 9/28, 8 p.m., IDL Ballroom, facebook.com Improv Pop: Our Clean Show // 9/28, 2 p.m., Rabbit Hole Improv, rabbitholeimprov.com

Life Drawing at The Lodge // 9/24, 2 p.m., The Lodge of Saint Reborlaro, facebook.com

Sketchy As Hell // 9/28, 8 p.m., Rabbit Hole Improv, rabbitholeimprov.com

Brew Yoga // 9/25, 5:30 p.m., New Era Fine Fermentations, facebook.com

SPORTS

Women in Horror Book Club: Eileen // 9/25, 7 p.m., Whitty Books, facebook.com

ORU Women’s Soccer vs Chicago State // 9/20, 7 p.m., Case Soccer Complex, oruathletics.com

Eat My Shorts: A Nimrod Reading // 9/26, 6:30 p.m., Chimera, facebook.com

TU Men’s Soccer vs Incarnate World // 9/20, 8 p.m., Hurricane Stadium, tulsahurricane.com

NT Live: One Man, Two Guvnors // 9/26, 6 p.m., Circle Cinema, circlecinema.org

TU Women’s Soccer vs Kansas City // 9/20, 5:30 p.m., Hurricane Stadium, tulsahurricane.com

An Evening with Craig Johnson // 9/26, 7 p.m., IDL Ballroom, facebook.com

Tulsa Classic: Dallas Stars vs Florida Panthers // . 9/21, 7 p.m., BOK Center, bokcenter.com

Movie on the Lawn: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory // 9/27, 7:30 p.m., Philbrook, philbrook.org

ORU Men’s Soccer vs SIUE // 9/21, 7 p.m., Case Soccer Complex, oruathletics.com

Gnome Family Fun // 9/28, 1 p.m., Ahha Tulsa, ahhatulsa.org Cabin Boys Oktoberfest // 9/28, 11 a.m., Cabin Boys Brewery, facebook.com Clary Runway // 9/28, 7 p.m., Cain’s Ballroom, cainsballroom.com Wondrous Worlds: Curator Tour // A guided tour with curator Susan Green.. 9/29, 2 p.m., Philbrook, philbrook.org Book Launch Party // Celebrate the launch of two new books by Traci Sorell. 9/29, 2 p.m., Whitty Books, facebook.com

Tulsa Hurricane vs Wyoming // 9/21, 2:30 p.m., Chapman Stadium, tulsahurricane.com ORU Women’s Soccer vs Kansas City // 9/22, 1 p.m., Case Soccer Complex, oruathletics.com TU Women’s Soccer vs Chicago State // 9/22, 2 p.m., Hurricane Stadium, tulsahurricane.com ORU Men’s Soccer vs Incarnate Word // 9/23, 7 p.m., Case Soccer Complex, oruathletics.com OKC Flyers vs Tulsa Buffaloes // 9/23, TBD, Veterans Park, tulsabuffaloes.com ORU Women’s Soccer vs Florida Atlantic // 9/26, 7 p.m., Case Soccer Complex, oruathletics.com ORU Men’s Soccer vs Purdue Fort Wayne // 9/28, 7 p.m., Case Soccer Complex, oruathletics.com TU Men’s Soccer vs SMU // 9/28, 7 p.m., Hurricane Stadium, tulsahurricane.com

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; October 1, 2019

ARTS & CULTURE // 39

musicnotes

John Calvin Abney’s newest album, Safe Passage, will be released Sept. 27. | COURTESY RAMBO

Fool’s gold

John Calvin Abney turns again by ALEXANDRA ROBINSON

he sleeve of John Calvin Abney’s Safe Passage begins with an epigraph: “I pulled the fool from the deck and saw kind days ahead.” For those unfamiliar with the Major Arcana of the tarot, Abney is giving a nod to the first card of the deck, The Fool, which he drew during a reading while working on his latest record. The card serves as an optimistic harbinger of new energy, new life and fresh undertakings. Abney’s opening line announces the work he’s come to do on Safe Passage, departing from the archetypes and expectations others have placed on the 30-yearold singer-songwriter over the years and into a space he’s created for himself. The album, to be released Sept. 27 via Black Mesa Records, is a set of mantras and meditations sung to himself in an effort to make good, to make happy, to make kind. The opening track feels like Abney’s thesis as he sings, “Healin’ scars I never understood / Now I just want to feel good.” It’s an old song he’s recorded twice with the intention of includ40 // MUSIC

ing on the past two albums, but it didn’t quite feel right until now. It’s a soft and sweet reckoning as well as a steadfast intention to pursue the most basic human desire: feeling good. “I just wanted to make a fucking record,” he said as he made me a cup of coffee in his kitchen in Tulsa. Abney recently returned to his hometown after touring and living in Norman for the past two years. We discussed the latest press on the forthcoming release—namely, about his father’s recent and untimely death becoming central to the narrative of these new songs. “God, I just want to feel normal and right. I don’t want to feel like I need to be something else all the time. I feel like I’m fighting against morphing into this thing instead of a person,” he said. On “When the Dark Winds Blow,” Abney sings: “Selfish is as lonely does / they want our ﬂesh by the pound,” creating space for the darkness of what he calls the “general, broad experiences that push against us.” And that experience, in this particular moment,

is a specific narrative around the work he’s doing—though the songs were written long before his father’s passing, Abney’s lyrics can be perceived, to the untrained listener, as premonitory. “It just cosmically and tragically happened that the day we announced the album coincided with the passing of my father,” Abney said. There is a sense of otherworldliness in the way he writes, relates, and carries himself, but it’s not as though this album was written as a response to finding tragedy in his cards—sometimes art is just art, and life is just life. Abney’s wishes for a safe passage are general, a shot in the dark to lend a bit of comfort and pass on a little light—a sentiment central to his new record. A mainstay of the Oklahoma music scene for years, Abney has been in the studio and on the road previously with the likes of Samantha Crain, Lee Bains III + the Glory Fires and countless others. In his current ongoing gig with John Moreland, Abney lends his multi-instrumental prowess. He is, in the words of Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam, the

“secret-weapon assassin” of Moreland’s band. Abney embarks on a hefty two-and-a-half-month solo tour across the country next month, which kicks off Oct. 18 at Tulsa’s own Mercury Lounge. He’s also been in-demand as a studio musician, lending his talents to projects for Carter Sampson, Annie Oakley, Beth Bombara and others. In the rare spare time Abney can fi nd, he’s drumming for the Norman-based garage rock band Poolboy and scoring short fi lms and documentaries, most recently Sterlin Harjo and Bobby Dean Orcutt’s Terlton. By turning inward and bringing the focus back on his own music, Abney brings new and comforting sounds, open-voiced chords and beach-rock vibes that soothe and serve his modus operandi: making it through to the other side safely, his wish for us all and for himself. In the meantime, he offers advice for navigating that passage: “If you find yourself turning / back the the places you’ve been / then turn again.” a

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Nathan Alexander Pape will perform Saturday, Sept. 21 at Whitty Books. | CAROLYN SICKLES

Samantha O’Hara. They don’t tune their instruments. They bang on kegs or metal pots. They scream with “queer rage.” It’s always a surprise. “Our performances are very cathartic,” Giles said. “We get to put our souls out there, be seen and heard. This isn’t music and this isn’t art. This is just us, expressing ourselves in the moment.” Barcus arranging shows and giving artists a space to express themselves and perform means the world to the artists who would have a hard time doing so on their own.

“Byron has been our number one patron, books most of our shows, and encouraged us to perform live in the first place,” Giles said. “We think that Byron is doing some really important work in Tulsa. There is a growing and vibrant avant-garde scene here and Byron is doing so much to help that scene grow.” Barcus doesn’t make much money from these shows. He does it out of love for the artists and their art. “I get the enjoyment of seeing exactly the kind of show that I would like to go to, and I just don’t think I would see it other-

wise,” he said. “I get to see people enjoy themselves. I get to try to help create something in my community that I think enriches people’s lives, that adds something to the culture and presents them with something hopefully that’s inspiring.” — KYRA BRUCE

AVANT GARDE: JAZZ, NOISE ART, GUITAR Saturday, Sept. 21, 6–11 p.m. Whitty Books, 2407 E. Admiral Blvd. $5 suggested donation

Tulsa weird

Local show booker makes space for the strange AVANT-GARDE MUSIC IS ALIVE AND WELL in Tulsa, where a vibrant cohort of restless local artists thrive on experimenting and pushing boundaries. The amount of leftof-center musical acts defies the relatively small size of the city, according to booking agent Byron John Barcus. “It’s not a big town, but people are creating very original music that’s hard to classify,” he said. “There’s something about this town that creates unique, good, challenging art. I think it’s important to put that in front of people.” Barcus started Weird Animal Booking and Recording to give these unique artists an opportunity to share their music with an audience that will appreciate it. He discovered this can be a difficult task when he played in his own ‘weird animal’ band, Ring Down. “I was trying to book other acts that were similar for shows … the first question from the venue owners was always, ‘What genre do they fall into?’ and I was like ‘Boy, they don’t.’ And I thought, well they’re kind of weird animals—and there was a meme going around of weird animals, like a rooster combined with a rhinoceros or some such and I thought, well that’s about right.” Weird Animal Booking presents another show Saturday, Sept. 21 at Whitty Books with Pluto Rouge, Apt-get, Nathan Alexander Pape, Infinite Crustacean and Without Adjectives. “I’ve worked with Without Adjectives … the expression, the intensity of their work. That’s who I’m looking for: that expression, that intensity, that artistry,” Barcus said. That expression is central to Without Adjectives’ members Emma Giles and THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

MUSIC // 41

musiclistings Wed // Sept 18 Brady Theater – Jeff Beck – 8 p.m. – ($40 - $218) Cellar Dweller – Desi & Cody – 8:30 p.m. The Colony – Tom Skinner Science Project – 8 p.m. Duet Jazz – Bill Frisell Solo – 8 p.m. – ($45) Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Steve Liddell – 5 p.m. Los Cabos - Jenks – Barrett Lewis – 5 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Jacob Dement – 9 p.m. Track 5. – Shelby Lee Lowe – 7 a.m. The Tulsan Bar – Tom and Bryan Unplugged – 7 p.m. Whittier Bar – Roselit Bone, Space Horse – 8:30 p.m.

Thurs // Sept 19 The Colony – Seth Lee Jones – 9 p.m. Dead Armadillo Brewery – Desi & Cody Happy Hour – 7 p.m. The Hunt Club – Songswappers with Jimmy Taylor – 9 p.m. The Joint – Buddy Guy – 8 p.m. Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Local Spin Duo – 5 p.m. Los Cabos - Jenks – Nick Whitaker – 5 p.m. Los Cabos - Owasso – Chris Hyde – 5 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – DJ 2 Legit – 9 p.m. Mass Movement Community Arts – Purgatory, Piece of Mind, Undervalued, Of the Mind, Shoog Night – 7:30 p.m. – ($8) Osage Casino - Thunder Bar & Grill – Tyler Bryant – 6 p.m. Paradise Cove at River Spirit – Dwight Yoakam – 8 p.m. Renaissance Brewing Company – Open Mic Night – 8 p.m. Riffs – Ben Neirkirk – 4 p.m. Riffs – DJ Mib – 5 p.m. Riffs – Scott Keeton – 8 p.m. The Shrine – Spoonfed Tribe, Lucas Parker Band – 9 p.m. – ($8) Soul City – Parker Milsap – 8 p.m. – ($15) Soundpony – DJ Burak – 10 p.m. Track 5. – DJ Demko – 5 p.m. Track 5. – Blackhawk – 8 p.m. Vintage Wine Bar – Grammy Nominated ft. Mason Remel and Malachi Burgess – 8 p.m.

Fri // Sept 20 473 – Petty Fox – 9 p.m. 473 – Roots of Thought – 8 p.m. – ($5) BOK Center – JoJo Siwa – 7 p.m. – ($40 - $70) Cabin Boys Brewery – String Theory – 7 p.m. The Colony – Vinyl Happy Hour – 4 p.m. The Colony – The Human Circuit – 10 p.m. Duet Jazz – Reflejos Flamencos – 8 p.m. – ($15) Gathering Place - QuikTrip Great Lawn – Oklahoma Night with Red Dirt Rangers and Kalyn Fay Trio – 6:30 p.m. The Hunt Club – Dante and the Hawks – 9 p.m. Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Usual Suspects – 6 p.m. Los Cabos - Jenks – Scott Pendergrass Band – 6 p.m. Los Cabos - Owasso – Weston Horn Duo – 6 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Stars – 9 p.m. Margaritaville - Volcano Stage – Chris Hyde – 10 p.m. Max Retropub – Boo Ya feat. DJ Moody Osage Casino - Thunder Bar & Grill – Scott Pendergrass – 8 p.m. Osage Casino Skyline Event Center – UB40, Ali Campbell and Astro, Shaggy – 7 p.m. – ($50 - $100) Riffs – Scott Eastman – 5:30 p.m. Riffs – DJ 2 Legit – 6:30 p.m. Riffs – After Party – 9 p.m. Soundpony – Eclectic Sounds with DJ $sir Mike – 10 p.m. Swamp House – Curt Hill – 7 p.m. Track 5. – DJ Demko – 6 p.m. Track 5. – Taria Lee – 8 p.m. The Tulsan Bar – DJ Good Ground – 10 p.m. Vanguard – Alexis Onyango, Graveyard Party, Saturdaze, Douglas – 8 p.m. – ($10)

Sat // Sept 21 473 – Table Talk – 9 p.m. Bad Ass Renee’s – Scattergun Tapedeck, Follow the Buzzards, Decayus – 9 p.m. Blackbird on Pearl – Red Handed Denial – 7 p.m. – ($12) Chimera – Charlotte Bumgarner, Alexis Onyango, Latrotoxxin – 5 p.m. – ($3) Dead Armadillo Brewery – Dan Martin – 7:30 p.m. 42 // MUSIC

Duet Jazz – Nolatet – 8 p.m. – ($15) The Hunt Club – Hosty – 9 p.m. Juicemaker Lounge – Chris Combs Trio, Tori Ruffin, Malachai MU, Chelsey Hill – 8 p.m. – ($5) The Joint – Deep Purple – 8 p.m. Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Band Camp – 6 p.m. Los Cabos - Jenks – Recommended Dose – 6 p.m. Los Cabos - Owasso – RockFish – 6 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Usual Suspects – 9 p.m. Margaritaville - Volcano Stage – Delegantz Band – 10 p.m. Max Retropub – DJ AB Mercury Lounge – Giovannie & The Hired Guns – 10 p.m. – ($10) Mother Road Market – Finnegans Awake Album Release – 6 p.m. New Era Fine Fermentations – Denise Hoey & Marcos Cruz – 8:30 p.m. Osage Casino - Thunder Bar & Grill – Rose Leach – 8 p.m. Owen Park Neighborhood – Tiny Porch Festival – 3 p.m. Paradise Cove at River Spirit – Midland – 8 p.m. Riffs – Kalo – 5:30 p.m. Riffs – DJ Mib – 6:30 p.m. Riffs – Miracle Max – 9 p.m. The Shrine – Velly Vel and Friends – 9 p.m. – ($15) Soul City – Hamilton Loomis – 9 p.m. – ($10) Soundpony – Pony Disco Club – 10 p.m. Swamp House – Bria & Joey – 7 p.m. Track 5. – DJ Demko – 6 p.m. Track 5. – Paul Bogart – 8 p.m. The Tulsan Bar – Rapper Alan Doyle – 10 p.m. Utica Square – Branjae’s Juke Joint Jive – 7 p.m. Vanguard – My So Called Band – 10 p.m. – ($12) Whitty Books – Pluto Rouge, Infinate Crustacean, Without Adjective, Nathan Alexander Pape, Apt-get – 6 p.m. – ($5) The Wine Loft Bar – DJ Sea’s Glowing Old Birthday Party – 9 p.m.

Sun // Sept 22 Bad Ass Renee’s – KC Free, P Win, Devine Era – 8 p.m. The Chalkboard – Steve Liddell – 11 a.m. The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing – 10 p.m. The Fur Shop – Dan LaMorte, Michael Terry, Maggie Crane – 7:30 p.m. – ($10) Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Clint Ingram – 5 p.m. Los Cabos - Jenks – The Fabulous Two Man Band – 6 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Brent Giddens – 9 p.m. Mother Road Market – Clint Ingram at Brunch, Booze and Beats – 11 a.m. The Shrine – Smile Empty Soul, September Morning – 7 p.m. – ($13) Soul City – Bandalier – 7 p.m. – ($7) Soundpony – Summer Like the Season – 10 p.m. Vanguard – The Standby – 8 p.m. – ($10) Vox Pop Tulsa – The Annie Oakley, Kalyn Fay, Ken Pomeroy – 5 p.m. Whittier Bar – Pleasures, Tom Boil – 8 p.m.

Mon // Sept 23 Blackbird on Pearl – Open Mic – 7 p.m. The Colony – Jared Tyler Presents: Saugeye – 9 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Andrew Harmon – 9 p.m. Paradise Cove at River Spirit – Tony Lewis From the Outfield – 8 p.m.

Tues // Sept 24 473 – Singer Songwriter Night – 8 p.m. Blackbird on Pearl – Community Jam AKA Community Sound – 9 p.m. Cain’s Ballroom – The Alchemy Tour: NGHTMRE, SLANDER, Seven Lions, The Glitch Mob – 8 p.m. – ($43 - $58) The Colony – Chris Lee Becker – 6 p.m. The Colony – Chris Combs Trio with Special Guests – 9 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Greg Dragoo – 9 p.m. Marshall Brewing – TuesJay Night: Dannie Wesley – 6 p.m. Rabbit Hole Bar & Grill – Community Sound – 9 p.m.

Sat // Sept 28

Swamp House – Jacob Dement – 7 p.m. Vanguard – Saul – 8 p.m. – ($12) Whittier Bar – Tuesday Bluesday – 7 p.m.

Wed // Sept 25 Cain’s Ballroom – Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals – 8 p.m. – ($45 - $65) Cellar Dweller – Desi & Cody – 8:30 p.m. The Colony – Tom Skinner Science Project – 8 p.m. Duet Jazz – Rebecca Ungerman – 7 p.m. – ($10) Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Daniel Jordan – 5 p.m. Los Cabos - Jenks – Brent Giddens – 5 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Jacob Dement – 9 p.m. Mother Road Market – KALO – 6 p.m. Soundpony – Red Money – 10 p.m. Track 5. – Running On Empty – 7 p.m. The Tulsan Bar – Tom and Bryan Unplugged – 7 p.m.

Thurs // Sept 26 Cain’s Ballroom – Jimmie Allen, King Calaway – 8 p.m. The Colony – Seth Lee Jones – 9 p.m. Dead Armadillo Brewery – Robert Hoefling & Friends – 6:30 p.m. The Hunt Club – Ego Culture – 9 p.m. Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Hi-Fidelics – 5 p.m. Los Cabos - Jenks – Zene Smith – 5 p.m. – Los Cabos - Owasso – Jacob Dement – 5 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – DJ 2 Legit – 9 p.m. Osage Casino - Thunder Bar & Grill – Brent Giddens – 6 p.m. Riffs – Weston Horn – 4 p.m. Riffs – DJ Mib – 5 p.m. Riffs – Pearl – 7 p.m. Soundpony – Steph Simon Presents: Lil Ayee Mixtape Release Show – 10 p.m. Track 5. – DJ Demko – 5 p.m. Track 5. – Bobby Marquez – 7 p.m. Tulsa Expo Square – Ben & Noel Haggard – 8 p.m. Vanguard – Republican Hair – 8 p.m. – ($10) Vintage Wine Bar – Grammy Nominated ft. Mason Remel and Malachi Burgess – 8 p.m.

Fri // Sept 27 Brady Theater – Kansas, Point of Know Return – 7:30 p.m. – ($50 - $122) Cabin Boys Brewery – The Cactus Slayers – 7 a.m. Chimera – Oklahoma Spotlight: Amber Owens, Tea Rush – 7 p.m. The Colony – Vinyl Happy Hour – 4 p.m. The Colony – The Dirtboxwailers – 10 p.m. Dead Armadillo Brewery – Nate Hancockand the Declaration – 7:30 p.m. The Hunt Club – Doc Fell & Co – 9 p.m. Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – The Agenda – 6 p.m. Los Cabos - Jenks – The Down Beat – 6 p.m. Los Cabos - Owasso – Nick Whitaker Duo – 6 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – After Party – 9 p.m. Margaritaville - Volcano Stage – Morgan Band – 10 p.m. Max Retropub – DJ AFISTAFACE Mercury Lounge – Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – 10 p.m. – ($15) Osage Casino - Thunder Bar & Grill – Ronnie & Randy – 8 p.m. Rabbit Hole Bar & Grill – GUTTER VILLAIN, BLOT OUT, BAD IDOLS, DUCK BUTTER – 8 p.m. Riffs – Caleb Fellenstein – 5:30 p.m. Riffs – DJ 2 Legit – 6:30 p.m. Riffs – Hook – 9 p.m. The Shrine – Jackson Taylor and the Sinners – 8:30 p.m. – ($12) Soul City – Carter Sampson – 9 p.m. – ($10) Soundpony – DJ A Dre – 10 p.m. Starlite – ResurXtion 61: Electroclash – 9 p.m. Swamp House – Charlie Redd – 7 p.m. Track 5. – DJ Demko – 6 p.m. Track 5. – Big Time Grain Company – 8 p.m. The Tulsan Bar – DJ Oreo – 10 p.m. Tulsa Expo Square – Aaron Watson – 8 p.m. Vanguard – Demon Hunter – 7:30 p.m. – ($35) Woody Guthrie Center – Steve Poltz – 7 p.m.

473 – Table Talk Reunion Show – 9 p.m. Bad Ass Renee’s – Spook, Harakiri, Arya X, Perfect Nightmare – 9 p.m. The Colony – The Dirtboxwailers – 10 p.m. The Colony – Snaps for Sinners – 10:30 p.m. – ($5) Dead Armadillo Brewery – Jared Lowery Group – 8 p.m. The Fur Shop – To Kill Porter – 9:30 p.m. Guthrie Green – Soul Fest: The Whispers, Jody Watley, Faye Moffett – 7 p.m. The Hunt Club – Mikayla Lane – 6 p.m. The Hunt Club – November – 9 p.m. Inner Circle Vodka Bar – Feenix – 10 p.m. Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – House Party – 6 p.m. Los Cabos - Jenks – Stix N Stones – 6 p.m. Los Cabos - Owasso – Maverican Goose – 6 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Zodiac – 9 p.m. Margaritaville - Volcano Stage – Brent Giddens – 10 p.m. Max Retropub – DJ Ali Shaw of 105.3 Weekend Rewind Mercury Lounge – Joecephus & The George Jonestown Massacre – 10 p.m. – ($5) New Era Fine Fermentations – Nick Williams – 8 p.m. Osage Casino - Thunder Bar & Grill – Rose Leach – 8 p.m. Osage Casino Skyline Event Center – DL Hughley – 7 p.m. – ($20 - $40) Rabbit Hole Bar & Grill – Mean Jolene, Bringer, The Daddyo’s – 10 p.m. Riffs – Miracle Max – 5:30 p.m. Riffs – DJ Mib – 6:30 p.m. Riffs – Weekend All Stars – 9 p.m. Soul City – Shaun Munday – 5 p.m. – ($15) Soundpony – PLEASUREDOME – 10 p.m. Swamp House – Pete & Jennifer Marriott – 7 p.m. Track 5. – DJ Demko – 6 p.m. Track 5. – Travis Kidd Band – 8 p.m. The Tulsan Bar – DJ Skibblez – 10 p.m. Tulsa Expo Square – Ginuwine – 8 p.m. Vanguard – Up Next Fest 2.0 – 7 p.m. – ($15 - $50)

Sun // Sept 29 Bad Ass Renee’s – Locals 2 Legends – 9 p.m. BOK Center – Jonas Brothers, Bebe Recha, Jordan McGraw – 7:30 p.m. – ($30) The Chalkboard – Steve Liddell – 11 a.m. The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing – 10 p.m. Los Cabos - Broken Arrow – Rockwell – 5 p.m. Los Cabos - Jenks – The Fabulous Two Man Band – 6 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Brent Giddens – 9 p.m. The Shrine – Blacktop Mojo, Doxy, Cyanide Hook, Firstryke, Oklahoma Alibi – 7 p.m. – ($12) Soul City – Travis Fite – 9 p.m. – ($7) Tulsa Expo Square – Lanco – 8 p.m.

Mon // Sept 30 Blackbird on Pearl – Open Mic – 8 p.m. The Colony – Jared Tyler Presents: Saugeye – 9 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Andrew Harmon – 9 p.m. Mercury Lounge – The Toasters, Scotch Bonnets – 10 p.m. – ($10) Tulsa Expo Square – For King & Country, Emily Faith – 8 p.m.

Tues // Oct 1 Blackbird on Pearl – Community Jam AKA Community Sound – 9 p.m. Brady Theater – Sublime, Rome – 7 p.m. – ($40) Cain’s Ballroom – KONGOS, Fitness, YIP YOPS – 8 p.m. – ($20 - $200) The Colony – Chris Lee Becker – 6 p.m. The Colony – Chris Combs Trio with Special Guests – 9 p.m. Margaritaville - 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar – Greg Dragoo – 9 p.m. Rabbit Hole Bar & Grill – Community Sound – 9 p.m. Tulsa Expo Square – Lovelytheband – 8 p.m. Whittier Bar – Tuesday Bluesday – 7 p.m.

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

BRADY THEATER

OCT 21

THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; October 1, 2019

MUSIC // 43

onscreen

Jillian Bell in Brittany Runs A Marathon | COURTESY

RACE FOR THE PRIZE Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers | COURTESY

Wisegals

Jennifer Lopez shines in Hustlers HUSTLERS, THE NEW FILM STARRING Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez, is the perfect antidote we need to cure the hangover from the glut of summer movies. It also works as a satisfying, sexy and entertaining palette cleanser before we are inundated with the deluge of prestige films that come with fall. Based on a New York Magazine article by Jessica Pressler, Hustlers tells the story of Dorothy (Constance Wu), a down-on-her -luck woman who turns to stripping to support her elderly grandmother. Shy and a bit stiff, Dorothy can’t quite get the cash ﬂow she’d hoped working at a high-end strip club with its wolves-of-Wall-Street clientele. The demure Dorothy is soon drawn to the charming Ramona (Jennifer Lopez), the queen bee of the club who pulls in cash from vulgarians in designer suits with both hands. It’s not long before Ramona takes Dorothy under her wing. Before she knows it, she’s living the suite life, dropping cash for designer bags and Escalades. But when the cash ﬂow dries up soon after the financial crash of 2008, Dorothy finds herself drifting away from the club and Ramona. Hard up for money (again), Dorothy lands herself back at the club (again) and it’s not too long before she’s back under Ramona’s wing. But this time, this Robin Hood and her band of merry strippers have a new con in their playbook: drugging Wall Street 44 // FILM & TV

fat cats and fleecing them for whatever amount their corporate cards can be maxed out at. (Spoiler alert: it doesn’t last.) While Hustlers may waffle a bit when it comes time for the fun to end, writerdirector Lorene Scafaria and her cast acquit themselves admirably, delivering a thrilling and delightfully entertaining ride. Watching the film, the viewer gets the sense these performers must have had a lot of fun on set. Wu plays the moral center of the crew with a shy humor, but it’s Lopez’s Ramona who steals the show. Lopez commands the screen with a charisma that has been underutilized far too often in romcom after romcom she’s been shoe-horned into. This “Jenny” is better when she’s putting a little bit of “the block” into the role of Ramona. It’s a showcase performance we’ll most certainly be talking about come awards time, and it’s well deserved. Hustlers owes a heavy debt to another rollicking good crime film: Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. Much will probably be said about this film’s homage to that classic and whether Scafaria and crew borrow too heavily, but who cares? The fact is, Scafaria, Lopez and Wu all pull it off with flying colors, taking the behindthe-curtain scintillation of mafioso excess and dressing it in 7-inch lucite platforms and a G-string while blasting Usher’s “Love in This Club” cranked up to 11. — CHARLES ELMORE

Jillian Bell’s marathon comedy has the power to change lives

IN A CULTURE JUSTIFIABLY SENSITIVE TO body-shaming, Brittany Runs A Marathon transcends that topical tightrope. It’s a funny, moving story (inspired by a real one) about a pudgy, prone-to-party New Yorker (Jillian Bell, in a breakout lead turn) who gets a wake-up call when her doctor gives her a bad bill of health. After a neighbor photographer (Michaela Watkins) encourages her to join her running club, Brittany makes it her goal to complete the NYC marathon. That’s the simple version, but the details of how that plays out are much more complicated. The Audience Award Winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Brittany Runs A Marathon beat out other crowd pleasers with layers of human complexity and even ugliness that feel-good movies often avoid. That’s especially bold for a film whose protagonist is a woman struggling with her self-image. The portrayal of Brittany is thoughtful, but the impulse would be to craft an arc for her that’s strictly sympathetic. It isn’t. A personal transformation requires more than a sprint, and Brittany has more to work through than a fitness regimen. To do so requires leaning on a network of support and letting go of toxic inﬂuences. With clever wit and unﬂinching candor, this film shows how difficult it can be to do both. Fleshing that out is a superb ensemble. Joining Brittany in the running club is her neighbor Seth (Micah Stock), and their trio of accountability has great chemistry. There’s also Demetrius (Get Out scene-

stealer Lil Rel Howery), Brittany’s brotherin-law and father figure, plus a co-worker named Jern (Utkarsh Ambudkar) with whom Brittany initially clashes but then bonds. With a super adorable charm laced with a dry sardonic edge, Bell instantly wins us over within the film’s first minute. She’s genuinely funny but uses humor as a defense mechanism. A particular tell: a jokey British accent, which she instinctively shifts to when feeling her most selfconscious. Her anxiety is internal but palpable, and it speaks to the power of Bell’s performance that even the smallest initial steps of attempting (and failing at) exercise made me emotional. The struggle is real and courage is not easily come by, but the underlying journey is universal: the need to take responsibility and ownership for your life, regardless of what your own personal challenge may be. Bell and writer/director Paul Downs Colaizzo have us rooting for Brittany every step of the way, but are also honest enough to dramatize how self-loathing can cause someone to act out in the worst ways and hurt others around them. There’s only one answer to ending that cycle: you have to let your guard down and let people in. When you do, you not only gain strength from the support they offer but you become a pillar of strength for them as well, because we all need others to believe in us when we cannot. That rich, life-giving symmetry of relationships is what Brittany Runs A Marathon is really all about, and it’ll leave you in a sobbing puddle of the most uplifting kind. — JEFF HUSTON

September 18 – October 1, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

NEVER ALONE:

How Spiritual Ideas Work in Us Monday, Oct 7th at 7 pm

October 12-13

3620 S Lewis Ave.

South Tulsa’s Largest Art & Craft Festival Saturday 8am - 6pm Sunday 8am - 5pm 10900 S Louisville Ave, Tulsa, OK 74137 Oklahoma’s Premier Handcrafted Arts & Goods

Hosted by First and Sixth Churches of Christ, Scientist christiansciencetulsa.com/lecture

Live Music Kid Fun-Zone Petting Zoo Food and Coffee Vendors & More! Benefiting Teen Challenge Adolescent Centers

For More Information Visit brushcreekbazaar.org

Sponsored By Tulsa’s independent and non-profit art-house theatre, showing independent, foreign, and documentary films.

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 THE TULSA VOICE // September 18 – October 1, 2019

FILM & TV // 45

1 4

CHEROKEE ART MARKET OCTOBER 1 2 & 1 3, 2 0 1 9

Martha Berry - “Sageeyah Gold: Honoring the Pollinators & the Humans Who Protect Them” (textile) Culture Keeper Award

Sequoyah Convention Center at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa cherokeeartmarket.com | 877.779.6977

46 // ETC.

September 18 – October 1, 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

LOBO is such a happy boy! He does well with crating, house training, and walks nicely on a leash. Lobo loves to play and is also happy to just sit while you pet him. Lobo is about 1 year old and weighs about 23 lbs.

ACROSS 1 ___ eagle 5 Take a trip? 9 Skating venue 13 Reebok alternative 19 Second-smallest Great Lake 20 Cupid equivalent 21 Cube of dos 22 Shaken instrument 23 Realtor’s private swampland pitch? 26 Lead role in “Pose” 27 Ending for elephant 28 Baby Archie’s buggy 29 Sheared female 30 “The very ___!” 32 Young grizzly 33 Mystical Hindu text 35 Wavy trig function 37 They control pupils 39 An angel plays it 41 Some fruit snacks 45 Org. with greenhouse gas data 46 Shelter for wild hogs? 50 Advice to a feline fancier’s suitor? 54 The lowdown 55 Baby sharks 57 German article 58 Kind of acid in a lime 59 Photographer Arbus 61 Assists with a heist 63 Common sunburn spot 65 Org. in the Volunteer State 66 Watch online 68 Merch 70 In-flight stats 71 Currency in Kyoto 72 Superhero creator Lee in boot camp? 76 British inc.

PRESLEY is a classic a house cat! She will happily curl up next to her person on the couch, or even on the ﬂoor. Presley has been spayed, vaccinated, FeLV/ FIV tested, microchipped, and is current on parasite prevention. Meet her at Tulsa SPCA!

79 Words to an old chap 80 German sausage 81 Have an influence (on) 85 Go in a curved path 86 “Kids ___ days!” 88 Add to the mix 90 Northern Sri Lankan people 91 Dress from Hawaii 93 ___ Mahal 95 Anthony or Ball of hoops, familiarly 96 “Toodles!” 97 Grunts of mealtime satisfaction in a sty? 100 One ticket after another? 103 Ohio city (Abbr.) 104 Tennis period since 1968 106 Kylo’s princess mother 107 Not show restraint with 110 Baseball ploy 112 Internet subset 116 IPA part 117 Billboard listings 119 Nonstick spray brand 120 Thin films? 122 Non-___ foods 123 Chef Ramsay 125 Face-to-face greeting? 129 Like pandas but not koalas 130 Norwegian capital 131 “This ___ what I signed up for!” 132 Surname akin to Rivers 133 Letter closing 134 Question answered by 70-Across 135 Brick from Denmark 136 Low-carb diet DOWN 1 Suit 2 Venue for concerts

3 Bedding and such 4 “Fo sho” 5 Geraldine who ran with Mondale 6 Robb Stark’s youngest sister 7 Weaving machines 8 Baton Rouge sch. 9 New Mexico city with a UFO museum 10 Frozen drink brand 11 Stanley Cup org. 12 Annan or Siriboe 13 Prehistoric insect preserver 14 ___ Lama 15 Financial planning inits. 16 Function where you show off your moves 17 Case for direct objects 18 Sad-sounding car 24 Harpo Studios founder 25 University of Nevada city 31 “Chopped” creation 34 Queens’ seats 36 “Can’t stress this enough ...” 38 Religious subgroup 40 Insect life stage 42 “Put a ___ on it!” 43 Maui music makers, briefly 44 99th, e.g. 46 eBay actions 47 “Yes, boss” 48 Worship from ___ 49 Part of an underground network 51 Elongated pastry 52 Removes with force 53 Digitize 56 Milkshake insert 60 Buy something hook, line and sinker

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.

PUFF is a gorgeous kitty who is shy at the shelter but a sweetheart once she warms up to you. Puff would appreciate a quieter home with an affectionate owner. She does well with other kitties and would probably enjoy a buddy to play with!

62 64 67 69 73 74 75 76 77 78 82 83 84 87 89 92 94 98 99 101 102 105 108 109 111 113 114 115 116 118 119 121

124 126 127 128

Find a date for D.A. part (Abbr.) Musical combo Play a guitar lightly Scottish rejection Grammy-winning Gloria Lakers, for one A shade covers it Authentic self Wonder Woman’s world Only country that starts with an O Surname prefix with “gerald” Criticize harshly Roof part Christmas, in carols Mufasa’s hair She dated Michael on “The Office” Part of an underground network Syria neighbor Was a tributary of Demonstrations of outrage Posterior River through France Place to get comfort food Enticingly foreshadow Texas A&M student “Can we get some AC?!” “Au contraire!” Taqueria freebie OWN property Heap What’s missing from seven answers in this puzzle Conf. section Guesstimate suffix ___ Nas X Rub the wrong way

SONY is a tiny little dude with a big personality. He loves everyone he meets and will happily seek out attention. He’s the first kitten to the door greeting people with snuggles and meows. Sony has been neutered, vaccinated, FeLV/FIV tested, microchipped, and is current on parasite prevention.

UNIVERSAL SUNDAY CROSSWORD FLAWLESS By Ned White, edited by David Steinberg

BETSY is a wiggly and affectionate Basset Hound mix. She likes hanging out inside and would love to find another couch to crash on with a gentle family. She’ll hop in your lap once she’s warmed up! Betsy is about 6 years old and weighs 41 lbs.

10/13 ETC. // 47

SATURDAY

09.21

WEDNESDAY

10.02

FRIDAY

10.11

DEEP PURPLE

8PM

BERT KREISCHER

8PM

AIR SUPPLY

8PM

TURN IT ON, TURN IT UP SCAN TO PURCHASE TICKETS

Schedule subject to change.

CNENT_67812_HR_Sept18_TulsaVoice_1927964.indd 1

Pleas e re cycle this issue.

9/5/19 11:59 AM