OKLAHOMA CITY – From a reporter’s notebook, items in the world of news:
On June 24 Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt presided at the swearing-in ceremony for new officers of the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women.
Officers slated to begin their official duties on July 1, the beginning of the state’s fiscal year, include Victoria Woods, incoming chair 2021- 22; Molly Wehrenberg, vice chair; Shondra McCage, finance officer; Dr. Nyla Khan, advisory council chair; and Delores Runnels, immediate past chair.
The event took place at the Oklahoma Judicial Center on N. Lincoln Boulevard, near the State Capitol.
• • •
Speaking of Dr. Khan, one of the new commissioners, I cherish our exchanges, dating back to our first encounter at a June 2019 event hosted by the Dialogue Institute of Oklahoma City. I have often mentioned her new book, Educational Strategies for Youth Empowerment in Conflict Zones: Transforming, not Transmitting, Trauma” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021).
Dr. Nyla’s book, available in hardback and digital format, continues to garner favorable notice. Dr. Diana J. Fox, Professor of Anthropology, Founder/Editor Journal of International Women’s Studies, Bridgewater State University, has commented:
“Blending the intellectual rigor of a strategy of comparison, with the passion of a compelling personal narrative … this book is a clarion call for the collective societal healing of generational trauma. Nyla Ali Khan’s new book delves into the pedagogy of healing and liberation from trauma, beyond the paradigm of a near-exclusive focus on the West. Harnessing a decolonial lens, Khan weaves together insights from trauma theory, largely informed by Holocaust studies, with testimonial accounts of the horrors of war, sexual violence, and the victimization of otherized minority groups, calling on our collective empathy and morality to ‘actively work to rehabilitate those who have witnessed or encountered acts of barbarity or savagery.’ Focusing in particular on the ‘the heterogeneity of the identities and histories of children’ suffering from mental and emotional trauma, she rejects “the propagation of sentimental political discourse that iconizes” trauma victims, instead offering an urgent and necessary lens – as well as paving a path – to healing and building flourishing democratic societies.”
• • •
For more than a year, Ellyn Novak Hefner guided news coverage for The City Sentinel (a community newspaper in Oklahoma City) focusing on Oklahoma’s STABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) program. STABLE accounts were already a wonderful mechanism for the support of special needs children, young adults, and their families. Now they are an even more robust policy option for families.
This spring the Legislature approved and Governor Stitt signed a measure making STABLE accounts have equal tax benefits to an Oklahoma college savings account ... providing another reason for Oklahomans with disabilities to save.
I previously reported on and applauded this important reform.
I am appreciative of the leadership Ellyn provided for this cause – including her indispensable role in The City Sentinel’s coverage and advancement of this worthy cause.
Editor’s note: Patrick B. McGuigan has served as editor for The City Sentinel, an independent, non-partisan, and locally owned newspaper based in Oklahoma City.
• • •
One of my U.S. history professors at Oklahoma State University, back in the day, was a white guy named Jim Smallwood. We were not close but he taught me some history. I enjoyed his teaching and writing.
I once asked Dr. James Milton Smallwood why he had focused on Black History. He said it always interested him – and there was a need for teachers familiar with the Black American experience, so he gravitated toward that work. Sort of an entrepreneurial motivation that fed into his noble intentions
With personal interest in and knowledge of Cherokee and African-American history, Dr. Smallwood focused much of his scholarly work on the Reconstruction era in Texas.
I was fortunate to have a white guy from Texas who, back in the day, taught me a lot of the truth about history, including Black History.
• • •
Columnist Neil Patel recently sketched one of the great moral challenges for American citizens in the modern age:
“As a society, we are growing increasingly self-interested. Citizenship brings responsibility beyond self-interest. ... The social and cultural segregation in our country is directly contributing to the coarseness of our national culture and politics. We no longer just disagree in America; we vilify those who don’t share our views. ... When you have little interaction with those who don’t share your background or beliefs, it’s easy to view them as caricatures. It becomes easier to demonize or marginalize them. This results in the sort of fissures we have in America today and the normalization of summary political violence; we’ve all seen it. Left to fester, these dynamics lead to the downfall of societies.”
I could not have said it better myself, although I’ve tried.