Oklahoma

This new app gives a unique tour of Oklahoma’s Black history

Published

4 months ago

January 23, 2025

This new app gives a unique tour of Oklahoma’s Black history

Doris Youngblood remembers the excitement and sense of affirmation she felt as a young Black girl learning about Black Oklahomans who overcame the trials of racism and segregation to triumph as successful leaders in their communities.

As founder of Oklahoma Black Living Legacy, Youngblood and other members of the nonprofit hope to share that same excitement and pride with other Oklahomans through a new mobile app designed to educate users about the state’s rich Black history.

“This type of access to our history is important because it makes it readily available to people,” Youngblood said. “This is what Oklahoma Black Legacy is all about.”

The app will be officially introduced at a gathering set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 15 at the Oklahoma History Center, with live jazz music to be featured. Broadcast journalist Bob Dotson, the event’s keynote speaker, holds a special place in Youngblood’s heart because of all the Black history she learned watching “Through the Looking Glass Darkly,” his Emmy Award-winning documentary that aired in the 1970’s which focused on the history of Blacks in Oklahoma.

The app is designed for walking and driving tours of 31 sites in Oklahoma City, with some sites shining a spotlight on more than one person. All in all, the app tells 50 stories of historic people and places, like the mansion built by Dr. W.H. Slaughter, Oklahoma City’s first Black physician and property owner known for his generosity and love for his community. Youngblood and her husband Marq have owned the Slaughter Mansion since 2013 and they have restored the three-story structure not far from the intersection of Interstate 35 and NE 63.

Another house on the tour is that of Walter and Frances Edwards, who developed the Edwards housing addition to provide quality housing for Black families after World War II.

“We thought it was important to document these landmarks,” Youngblood said. “As people drive by, the site or significant person will pop up on a map. The map is interactive, and participants can take quizzes.”

Neighborhoods included on the tour include JFK, Deep Deuce and the Edwards Addition. Buildings will also take center stage, including the Jewel Theater, plus churches, schools and the homes and businesses of prominent Black leaders.

The app will highlight the stories of historic figures like author Ralph Ellison, civil rights leader Clara Luper, musician Charlie Christian, Dr. W.L. Haywood, haircare magnates Sidney and Mary Lyons, Dr. Charles Morgan, Dr. Gravelly Finley and musician, educator and theater owner Zelia Breaux.

Vision to highlight history

Other members of Oklahoma Black Living Legacy include James R. Johnson, Oklahoma Black Living Legacy chairman and grandson of developers Walter and Frances Edwards; Marq Youngblood, Doris Youngblood’s husband; Renita Fish-Wisby, the great-great niece of Dr. Haywood; Christian Jackson, Rozia McKinney-Foster and Marcus Young.

Doris Youngblood said their group has been anticipated sharing the app they created with the community-at-large. She said she has a background in project management and software development so she had an “inkling” of what she wanted to see created. She said an Oklahoma Historical Society Preservation Grant and other sponsors helped fund the project.

Volunteers with Oklahoma Black Living Legacy conducted the research for the app, with help from staff and volunteers at the Oklahoma History Center. The group said more information will be added to the app eventually.

Youngblood said she hopes people who engage with the app glean valuable insight into the lives of Black Oklahomans who lived, worked and raised their families with dreams of creating brighter futures.

“What I think about is how determined these folks must have been,” Youngblood said. “I mean, look at all they created.”

Much of what these pioneers created still stands. The Slaughter Mansion, Calvary Baptist Church, the Edwards Addition and the home of Walter and Frances Edwards are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

But the tour also highlights some historic sites that are gone. During visits to sites where the original buildings no longer stand, vintage photos will appear on the app, Youngblood said.

Johnson said the app is a way to help people look back at the past to gain a better understanding of their history.

“Hopefully, the children and youth that see this, they will have an image of what they can become,” he said.

“They can be anything they want to be.”

Oklahoma Black History app launch

When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 15.
Where: Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive.

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Oklahoma

WATCH: Oklahoma HC Patty Gasso, Players’ Boston University Postgame Press Conference

Published

4 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Press Room

WATCH: Oklahoma HC Patty Gasso, Players’ Boston University Postgame Press Conference

NORMAN — Watch as Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso, outfielder Hannah Coor and third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas spoke to the media following OU’s 8-0 win over Boston University after five innings at Love’s Field on Friday night.

The Sooners moved into Saturday’s winner’s bracket contest against Cal after the Golden Bears beat Omaha 1-0 on Friday.

Saturday’s contest is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

Sam Landry started in the circle, and she quickly worked through three innings. She allowed two hits and a walk, while finishing with four strikeouts.

Kierston Deal took over for Landry in the fourth and she closed out the game for the Sooners.

OU’s offense plated runs in the second inning and a pair of runs in the third.

The Sooners walked the game off with a home run by freshman catcher Corri Hicks. It was her third long ball of the season.

McEnroe-Marinas and Coor both led OU with two RBIs each, and Tia Milloy and Isabela Emerling also added RBIs to help the offensive explosion in the second inning.

Boston University will take on Omaha in the Regional’s first elimination game on Saturday night at Love’s Field.

You can also watch the press conference on Youtube.

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Oklahoma

Nuggets deliver in fourth quarter, setting up Game 7 with Thunder in Oklahoma City

Published

20 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Press Room

Nuggets deliver in fourth quarter, setting up Game 7 with Thunder in Oklahoma City

DENVER — The Denver Nuggets weren’t going down at home.

Following consecutive late-game collapses in losses to Oklahoma City, the Nuggets closed strong Thursday night for a 119-107 Game 6 win over the Thunder. The win ties the Western Conference semifinal series at 3-3 and sends it back to Oklahoma City for a winner-take-all Game 7 with a berth in the Western Conference finals at stake.

Gassed and worn down by a deep and relentless Thunder roster, the Nuggets lost Games 4 and 5 after holding leads of at least eight points in the fourth quarter of each game. They entered the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game with a 90-82 advantage.

This time, they held on for the win as Denver didn’t have to lean almost strictly on Nikola Jokić down the stretch. Julian Strawther provided a big burst off the bench, and the Nuggets got a balanced effort from their starting unit, including a strong game from Jamal Murray, who was questionable with an undisclosed illness in the hour before tipoff.

Murray sets tone while playing sick

Murray opened Denver’s scoring with a four-point play after being fouled on a 3-pointer and finished the first quarter with 11 points, quelling concerns that he wouldn’t be a factor in a closeout game for the Nuggets.

“I kind of was watching the first six minutes like is this real, can he do it?” Nuggets coach David Adelman said after the game. “That’s Jamal Murray. It’s almost like the worse it is, the better off it’s gonna be. What a tough-minded man.”

Murray cooled off and made just 1-of-5 shots in the second quarter. But he picked things back up in the third quarter as the Nuggets mounted a 32-21 run to seize control of the game.

Murray finished as Denver’s second-leading scorer with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. And he never had a doubt that he would play.

“I woke up feeling it,” Murray said. “Went to the clinic, got tested for a couple different things, was negative. Happy about that. But I was always gonna play in my mind.”

No fourth-quarter collapse this time

Playing with a shallow bench, Nuggets coach David Adelman leaned on Jokić for the entire fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 112-105 loss as the three-time MVP was Denver’s only reliable source of offense. That wasn’t the case Thursday night.

Jokić spent the first 4:07 of the fourth quarter resting on the bench as Adelman gambled that his supporting cast would fend off Oklahoma City. That supporting cast delivered. When Jokić returned to the game, Denver had extended its lead to 97-86.

The reward was a rested Jokić for the stretch run of the game, and the Thunder never challenged Denver’s lead again. A Ball Arena crowd that was previously anxious after watching Denver blow a 71-63 lead in Sunday’s Game 4 loss erupted.

“Last game I kind of kicked myself for not taking one of them out,” Adelman said of playing Jokić and Murray for the entire fourth quarter of Game 5. “Nikola seemed body-language wise like he wanted to sit for a second.

“The beautiful thing was I had four timeouts again. I know it didn’t work out last game. That does let you control your substitutions. Those guys held water to start that quarter.”

Strawther provides bench support Denver desperately needs

One of those guys who held water was little-used reserve Julian Strawther, who’d entered Thursday averaging 2.4 points in 7.3 minutes per game while making appearances in seven of Denver’s previous 12 playoff games.

Strawther was the star of the third-quarter rally that allowed the Nuggets to take control of the game that was tied at 78-78 with 3:58 left in the quarter. The Nuggets closed the quarter on a 12-4 run sparked by eight points from Strawther, whose 3-pointer with 1:37 left in the quarter was the first off the bench by the Nuggets.

He hit another with 36.1 seconds remaining to extend Denver’s lead to 88-80.

Strawther’s offensive outburst and defensive effort earned Adelman’s trust to keep him in the game for 10 more minutes in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets thwarted any hope of a Thunder rally.

Strawther rewarded Adelman’s trust with another big 3 down the stretch while playing high-leverage minutes.

“That’s the moment that you dream of when you was a little kid,” Strawther said. “Come into the game, having all the guys believe in you and find you in your spots and just being able to make an impact on the game.”

When the game was done, Strawther had tallied 15 points while shooting 4 of 8 from the field, including a 3-of-4 effort from long distance. It was the surge off the bench this Nuggets team has desperately sought late in this series.

“Julian’s gonna get credit for scoring 15 points,” Adelman said. “I thought he held water defensively, too. That was a big deal.

“You want to keep an offensive player out there. But they have to be able to handle their own on the other end and he did. We didn’t have to change dramatically defensively because he sat down, moved his feet and guarded.”

Support for Nikola Jokić

While Strawther led the bench unit, four different Nuggets starters scored in double figures. Jokić led the way with 29 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 block while shooting 9 of 14 from the field. But again, it wasn’t all on him.

Christian Braun added 23 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Coming off a 1-of-7, 3-point effort in Game 5, Michael Porter Jr. put up a considerably more efficient 10 points on nine shots while hitting 2-of-5 attempts from long distance.

It added up to a much-needed balanced effort after players not named Jokić shot a combined 1 of 15 from the field in the fourth quarter of Denver’s Game 5 collapse. Jokić spoke about his teammates after the game.

“He was amazing,” Jokić said of Strawther. “He had big points, big moments in the game. … It was a great game for him.

“I think CB played really good. Jamal played really good. Our defense was really good, I think. I think that’s why we won the game.”

The Nuggets won the game from long distance and on the boards. They shot 12 of 32 (37.5%) from 3 compared to an 11-of-40 (27.5%) effort from the Thunder. And they secured a 52-40 rebounding advantage, including an 11-7 edge on the offensive glass.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 32 points and six assists. Chet Holmgren (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Lugentz Dort (10 points) were the only other Thunder starters in double figures. All-Star forward Jalen Williams struggled from the field with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists on a 3-of-16 shooting night.

Concern for Aaron Gordon

Aaron Gordon was the only Nuggets starter to fail to reach double figures in a five-point effort. And he appeared to sustain a hamstring injury in the game’s final minutes. He clutched his left hamstring after chasing a loose ball in the game’s final two minutes and left the game with 1:10 remaining.

Adelman said after the game that he didn’t know Gordon’s injury status. Gordon said in the Nuggets locker room that he feels “OK.”

“I feel OK. We’ll see,” Gordon said of his status moving forward. “I’m gonna start the recovery process now and make sure I’m getting ready for Game 7. Not entirely sure what happened.”

Denver’s Game 7 experience edge

The series now shifts back to Oklahoma City on Sunday 3:30 p.m. ET, when the Nuggets will play in a Game 7 for a third consecutive series. They lost in the second round last season in Game 7 to the Minnesota Timberwolves and beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of these playoffs.

In fact, the Game 7 will be the seventh for the Nuggets since Murray and Jokić teamed up in Denver, dating back to the 2019 playoffs. But it will mark the first time they’ve played one on the road. They’ve won four of their previous six Game 7s.

The last time the Thunder played in a Game 7 was in the first round of the 2020 playoffs in Gilgeous-Alexander’s first season with the team. The Thunder lost that series to the Houston Rockets in the NBA bubble.

The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to face the Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals, which begin on Tuesday.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Board Advances More Than $53M in Middle-Mile Broadband Grants

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2025

Press Room

More than $53 million in middle-mile broadband expansion grants were recommended for approval this week by the Oklahoma Broadband Governing Board.

The Oklahoma middle-mile projects, recommended for approval by the Grants Review Committee, are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.

Several additional projects were recommended for approval “should funding become available.”

By provider, the Oklahoma middle-mile broadband grants recommended for approval are:

Hilliary: $40,874,734.10 for Alex, Burns Flat, Cordell, Daisy, Duke North, Duke South, Gracemont, Granite, and Talihina
Indian Electric Cooperative Inc.: $4,375,043.34 for Cleveland to Osage, Naval Reserve to Pawya, Pawya to Pawhuska, and Red Rock to Pawnee
Pine Telephone: $2,716,000 for Latimer County
Resound Networks: $1,499,818.54 for Choctaw West, Jackson-Harmon, and Kay-Osage
Trace Fiber Networks, LLC: $3,918,452.23: Asher, Garvin, and Pontotoc

Resound Networks’ Kay-Osage project was recommended for a $376,867.13 award, though the amount requested was $497,288.37.

Also by provider, those recommended for approval if future funding is available include:

Centranet, LLC: $43,215,216 for Oklahoma Star Network and Shawnee-Stroud-Stillwater
Chisholm Broadband: $6,530,472 for Alva-Medford-Tonkawa, Besie-New Cordel-Rocky, Canute-Burns Flat, Choctaw County, Coal County, Data Center Capacity, Hammon-Leedy, Jet-Nash, Lamont-Hunter, Latimer County, Magnum-Eldorado, Medford-Deer Creek, Roger Mills-Taloga, Sayre-Elk City, and Thomas-Custer City-Arapaho
Cox Communications: $3,891,218.26 for Haskell to Okmulgee, Mounds to Okmulgee, and Washington County to Rogers County
CVEC Fiber, LLC: $1,719,564 for CVEC Fiber – Middle Mile
Dobson Technologies: $1,090,935.42 for Binger to Hinton, Bristow to Okmulgee, and Red Oak to Talihina
FiberLink, LLC: $1,883,609.24 for Creek County
Hilliary: $3,733,731.68 for Stonewall
MBO Video, LLC: $14,586,343.80 for MBO Project (“MMMBOP”)
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education: $29,800,700 for Oklahoma Community Anchor Network (OCAN)
Pioneer Telephone Cooperative: $2,575,380 for Bradley/Lindsay, Cashion/Piedmont, and El Reno Middle Mile
Plains Internet, LLC: $10,195,328.00 for Middle Mile South and Plains Internet
Resound Networks: $13,103,583.50 for Beaver-Texas, Bryan-Marshall, Caddo-Grady-Canadian, Comanche-Grady-Stephens, Craig-Ottawa-Rogers, Custer-Washita-Caddo, Grant-Garfield-Kingfisher, Greer-Kiowa-Washita, Logan-Oklahoma-Cleveland, McClain-Garvin, and Woodward-Harper-Ellis
Terral Telephone Company: $3,369,294.25 for HWY 32
Totah Communications, Inc.: $1,877,727 for OK SLFRF MM Grant
Trace Fiber Networks, LLC.: $5,074,064.16 for Johnston-Bryan, Marshall County
Wyandotte Telephone Company: $12,532,608 for Wyandotte
Zayo Group, LLC: $13,991,876.18 for North Tulsa and South Tulsa

Additional information about Oklahoma broadband, including state funding resources, grants made, state-specific coverage, and more can be found on the Telecompetitor Broadband Nation webpage for the state.

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