PODCAST · news
Focus: Black Oklahoma
by KOSU
Focus: Black Oklahoma is a news and public affairs program covering topics relevant to the African American and BIPOC communities statewide. The show seeks to inform the public through stories and interviews, engage the community through lively discussion, and spotlight local artists and creators.
Episodes
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Episode 69- Osage language immersion school, absentee ballots, & more
A difficult chapter is unfolding for Osage language preservation in Oklahoma. The Osage language immersion school in Pawhuska, a program created to help a new generation learn and carry forward the language of the Osage people, is closing its doors. The decision has sparked questions about the...
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Notarizing Democracy - A Notary's Notes on Notarization
This is a short piece taken from our podcast "Notarizing Democracy: Why Oklahoma Makes Absentee Voters Take an Extra Step" which you can listen to on demand at KOSU.org, the NPR app, NPR.org, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is our second quarterly Snapshot story for 2026. We took you to…
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Episode 68-Owasso quarry fight, Cherokee Nation elder nutrition, & more
In Owasso, two quarries are seeking special exceptions to allow limestone mining in land currently zoned for agriculture. It is proposed to be located only 425 feet away from some residents' homes. A group of locals has banded together to fight against the encroaching quarries and push for policy...
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Notarizing Democracy: Why Oklahoma Makes Absentee Voters Take an Extra Step
This special episode of Focus: Black Oklahoma, Notarizing Democracy: Why Oklahoma Makes Absentee Voters Take an Extra Step is our second quarterly Snapshot story for 2026. We took you to the Admiral corridor for the first installment, when we explored Mental Health on the Margins. This time, our...
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Episode 67-America 250, invisible disabilities, Clara Luper, & more
Recently, the United States marked its 250th birthday and celebrated the Fourth of July. While many Americans reflected on the nation's founding ideals of freedom, liberty, and independence, for others, the holiday raised more complicated questions. FBO’s Roma Carter explores the varied meanings…
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Walking the Margins - Before They Are Recognized
This is a short piece taken from our podcast "Walking the Margins: Mental Health & Housing Precarity Along Admiral" which you can listen to on demand at KOSU.org, the NPR app, NPR.org, or wherever you get your podcasts. A motel room. The interstate. Winter wind. Days of walking with no plan but…
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Spotlight Interview-Rocky Dawuni
This interview was taken from "Episode 66-Freedmen exclusion, Tulsa Food Not Bombs protest, & more" of Focus: Black Oklahoma. Music can entertain, inspire, and spark change—and few artists embody that power more than Rocky Dawuni. Born in Ghana and celebrated around the world, Dawuni blends...
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Episode 66-Freedmen exclusion, Tulsa Food Not Bombs protest, & more
A court ruling affirming tribal authority over hunting and fishing rights on reservation lands has renewed conversations about sovereignty, citizenship, and belonging; It has also raised concerns among Freedmen descendants who remain excluded from certain tribal rights and benefits, including...
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Walking the Margins - There's This Idea
This is a short piece taken from our podcast "Walking the Margins: Mental Health & Housing Precarity Along Admiral" which you can listen to on demand at KOSU.org, the NPR app, NPR.org, or wherever you get your podcasts. A motel room. The interstate. Winter wind. Days of walking with no plan but…
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Walking the Margins - No One Is Talking about This
This is a short piece taken from our podcast "Walking the Margins: Mental Health & Housing Precarity Along Admiral" which you can listen to on demand at KOSU.org, the NPR app, NPR.org, or wherever you get your podcasts. A motel room. The interstate. Winter wind. Days of walking with no plan but…
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Episode 65-Ghana maternal healthcare, somatic therapy, FIFA World Cup costs
1:19 Bringing a child into the world should not come at the cost of a mother’s life. Yet in Ghana, many women continue to face significant challenges in accessing quality maternal healthcare. Behind the statistics are real stories of women, families, midwives, and healthcare workers navigating...
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Walking the Margins - We Are Animals
This is a short piece taken from our podcast "Walking the Margins: Mental Health & Housing Precarity Along Admiral" which you can listen to on demand at KOSU.org, the NPR app, NPR.org, or wherever you get your podcasts. A motel room. The interstate. Winter wind. Days of walking with no plan but…
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Episode 64-Student journalism, mental health, somatic therapy
1:25 Telling the truth is becoming more complicated—and more costly. Across the country and around the world, journalists are facing growing pressure for simply doing their jobs, and in the midst of it all, student journalists are stepping into an increasingly fraught landscape. What does it mean...
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Walking the Margins: Mental Health & Housing Precarity Along Admiral
Walking the Margins: Mental Health & Housing Precarity Along Admiral A motel room. The interstate. Winter wind. Days of walking with no plan but to witness life on the street. Nick Alexandrov set out to report on mental health along an extended-stay motel corridor in Tulsa. What he found was a...
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Episode 63-Enid's Hispanic community, Turning Point USA in Tulsa, menopause
2:01 In communities across the US, questions about immigration enforcement and civil rights grow louder. For many Hispanic and Latino families, those questions are paired with something more personal—fear. Venson Fields takes us inside a community forum where frustration, uncertainty, and...
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Episode 62-Alzheimer's, homelessness, Tulsa's World Stage Theatre Company
00:50 For many families, Alzheimer’s doesn’t arrive all at once—it creeps in through forgotten names, missed appointments, and the quiet heartbreak of watching someone you love slip away. In the Black community, the disease hits harder and earlier. Zaakirah Muhammad has a story about...
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Episode 61-Pancreatic cancer, homelessness, college athletics
1:11 A 2016 study published in The Journal of the Oklahoma State Medical Association found that pancreatic cancer was the fourth most common cause of cancer death in Oklahoma from 2008 to 2012. FBO’s Zaakirah Muhammad examines why this cancer hits Black communities harder, what warning signs…
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Episode 60-College journalism, breast cancer inequities, Clara Luper's legacy
2:02 In part two of her look at the growing wave of attacks on free speech across college campuses, Nico Berlin takes us inside the story of the Maneater, the University of Missouri’s printed newspaper which switched to a digital only platform in May 2023 after nearly seven decades of…
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Episode 59-SNAP benefits crisis, UCO student press freedom, & mental health cuts
1:33 Focus: Black Oklahoma’s Venson Fields turns our attention to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits crisis. Tens of thousands of families across the state are still feeling the ripple effects of the government shutdown—not in abstract political terms, but in their...
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Episode 58-Book bans, budget cuts, & Indigenous community wellness
1:03 As the world celebrated a new ceasefire agreement in Gaza, other conflicts continue to rage across the globe, including in Sudan. In January, then Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared the Sudanese military and allied militias were committing genocide. What does this have to do with...
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Episode 57-Restricting speech on campus, Mom Congress, Chef Kulture, & more
2:27 As the war in Gaza approaches its two year mark, criticism of Israel and support for the Palestinian population has ignited debates over free speech in the United States. Universities have become nexuses of protest against US support of Israel in the conflict, and the federal government’s...
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Episode 56-prison whistleblower, Tar Creek Superfund cleanup, Tulsa homelessness
1:53 Sex scandals and whistleblowers routinely make national headlines, but for years one Oklahoma whistleblower’s report has been swept under the rug. Dr. Whitney Louis was fired in January 2023 from her job as a prison psychologist at the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center in Taft, after she...
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Episode 55-Ban the Box, Tulsa's youth curfew, AmeriCorps budget cuts
1:41 For people convicted of a crime, punishments can extend beyond time behind bars. They can lose the right to vote, own a gun, or lose access to certain career fields- and with colleges and universities screening for criminal history on admission applications, they can lose access to higher...
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KOSU's federal funding has been eliminated. How you can help
Despite a valiant effort by KOSU listeners and public media supporters nationwide, Congress has voted to rescind $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This money had already been promised and budgeted for at KOSU and public media stations across the country. Losing it is...
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An urgent message from KOSU
In the next few days, the U.S. Senate will consider a package that would devastate many public radio stations by clawing back two years of previously approved funding. At KOSU, it would significantly impact our ability to provide emergency alerts and Oklahoma news. You can help by calling Senator...
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Episode 54-Greenwood Trust, MarQuiel Ross, veterans on new military policies
00:49 This past month, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols announced the creation of the Greenwood Trust, a $105 million private fund dedicated to repairing and restoring the Greenwood District—site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. In an address rich with history and a call for shared courage, Nichols...
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Episode 53-homeschooling, Silicon Savannah, Park Avenue Thrift
For decades, homeschooling in the U.S. was largely associated with white, religious, or affluent families. But as Danielle A. Melton reports, a growing number of Black families are turning to homeschooling, seeking a more rigorous, culturally relevant education for their children. In our...
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Episode 52-real change, moral courage, new 'Culture and Music' series
It’s rare to hear someone call hope a “bad strategy” but Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly doesn’t sugarcoat the truth. In a conversation with Focus: Black Oklahoma’s Anthony Cherry, the Wayne State University Black Studies, political economy scholar, and author of Black Scare/ Red Scare: Theorizing...
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Episode 51-Latino concerns, harm reduction, Black rights on Native land
Fear is rising as politicians nationwide target immigrants with their Trump-inspired rhetoric and policies. KOSU's Lionel Ramos reports Oklahoma’s Latino immigrant community has been stirred into a panic. Translations in this story were voiced by Sierra Pfeifer. To read more about this legal…
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Episode 50-Enid affordable housing, Tulsa fitness movement, protecting girls in Kenya
In the fall of 2020, Michael Hill, a Black citizen of the Cherokee Nation, woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone banging on the windows of his home. He called police for help, but the police arrested Michael in his own front yard. When trying to get his case heard in tribal...
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Episode 49-mental health, Black History Saturdays, Bass Reeves' legacy
Recent studies have shown increasing suicide rates in the United States, particularly among Black youth. Experts in Oklahoma advocate for addressing cultural norms that prevent at risk youth and their families from seeking mental health treatment. Dawn Carter has details. In the fall of 2020,...
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Episode 48-Monroe Nichols, medical gaslighting, Black rodeo culture
In November, Monroe Nichols was elected Tulsa’s first black mayor. On December 2nd, Nichols was sworn into office at the Cox Business Convention Center where he outlined his vision for the city over the next two years. Cory Ross has more. In the fall of 2020, Michael Hill, a Black citizen of the...
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Episode 47
On November 5th, Monroe Nichols was elected Tulsa’s first Black mayor in the city’s 129 year history. FBO’s Jamie Glisson followed Nichols and his team for the day. In the fall of 2020, Michael Hill, a Black citizen of the Cherokee Nation, woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of…
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Oklahoma at the Republican & Democratic National Conventions 2024
Dueling Visions for Oklahoma & the United States at the 2024 RNC & DNC In this special episode we reflect on the distinct political climates of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions held this year. In this special episode we highlight the contrasts of the two events: the RNC's urgent...
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Greenwood Rising: The Rise of Black Wall Street
Greenwood Rising: The Rise of Black Wall Street is a new full-length motion picture that was released October 11th on the Fawesome and Future Today streaming platforms. This movie centers on O.W. Gurley, a visionary and trailblazing businessman whose hard work laid the foundation for Tulsa’s...
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Episode 46-Oklahoma Muslims, Bibles in classrooms, Tulsa mayoral race
On October 8, an Oklahoma City man who was born in Afghanistan was charged in federal court for an alleged terror plot. 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi faces one count of conspiring to conduct a terrorist attack, according to an affidavit filed by the FBI. While the story has made international...
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Episode 45
Opposition to Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters continues to grow, including among some Republican lawmakers. Allegations of abuses of office also continue to mount. Attorney General Gentner Drummond has now ordered an emergency opinion for Walters to immediately release security funds…
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FBO coverage, as of August 2024, of the allegations surrounding the Family Center for Juvenile Justice -Podcast Only Release
The Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice, or FCJJ, was raided on Friday morning July 12th. Investigators with several law enforcement agencies spent an entire day and night removing boxes and electronic equipment from the Center, located at 500 W Archer St. in Tulsa. Investigators have...
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Episode 44
Tulsans will head to the voting booths on August 27th to choose a new mayor in a non-partisan, general election. Two-term incumbent mayor G.T. Bynum has declined to seek re-election to a third term in office. This segment covers some of the seven mayoral candidates' remarks at two recent public...
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Episode 43-Tulsa juvenile center, Langston University, BMX Olympian
1:09 The Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice, or FCJJ, was raided on Friday morning July 12th. Investigators with several law enforcement agencies spent an entire day and night removing boxes and electronic equipment from the Center, located at 500 W Archer St. in Tulsa. 11:21 In...
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Kamren Larsen-Team USA BMX Olympian Interview
We are releasing this interview ahead of the full podcast so fans and fans-in-the-making will have time to listen before the Paris 2024 Olympic BMX Racing events, which begin on August 1st and finish on August 2nd. Tulsa bid Kamren Larsen, the first Black BMX Olympian, farewell in style. Although...
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Episode 42
In May, Governor Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 4156, the controversial immigration legislation, into state law. The United States Justice Department reacted quickly by keeping its promise to file a lawsuit deeming the measure unconstitutional under the Supremacy clause. Proponents and opponents...
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Episode 41
The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, considers a new way to alert the public when adults go missing. The tool looks a lot like the Kasey alerts that launched five months ago as a way to address the Missing & Murdered Indigenous People, or MMIP, crisis in Oklahoma. Both are similar to…
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Episode 40
After Oklahoma voters decisively passed State Question 802 in 2020, mandating expansion of Oklahoma's Medicaid coverage to low-income citizens similar to the Affordable Care Act, Governor Kevin Stitt has worked to privatize the joint federal and state run healthcare program. As SoonerCare...
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Women's History Month-Maternal Mortality Rates & Doulas-Podcast Only Release
This is a podcast special episode that combines three segments of our ongoing coverage of health inequities, especially as it relates to Black and Brown women. In the first story (originally aired on episode one in January 2021) Dr. Autumn Brown speaks with women who have experienced the trauma...
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Episode 39
The United States has been at the forefront of the global war on terror for more than two decades. Now one Oklahoma lawmaker, District 19 Republican State Representative Justin Humphrey, proposed House Bill 3133 seeking to expand that conflict by introducing a bill to designate people of Hispanic...
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Episode 38
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid program, or FAFSA, is undergoing significant changes, resulting in a critical need for college counselors. High School counselors help navigate changes which are vital for students facing the complexities of college admissions and financial aid.…
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Episode 37
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt's recent executive order aims to cut state funding for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) personnel, sparking debate about the future of these programs. Shonda Little speaks with Oklahoma Democratic Chair Alicia Andrews and Jacob Rosecrants- Oklahoma House of...
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Episode 36
Lee Anne Bruce Boone takes over as the new director of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission amid challenges of inadequate funding and tackling 'dark money' in politics, a concern highlighted by her predecessor Ashley Kemp and Democratic leaders. Shonda Little has details. Carlos Moreno introduces us to...
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Episode 35
People across the country of all religious faiths and cultural ethnicities are rallying in support of a ceasefire in Palestine. This month, Oklahomans Against Occupation held two events in an effort to raise awareness about the tragic battle for Gaza. Here’s Britny Cordera. In a landmark ruling...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Focus: Black Oklahoma is a news and public affairs program covering topics relevant to the African American and BIPOC communities statewide. The show seeks to inform the public through stories and interviews, engage the community through lively discussion, and spotlight local artists and creators.
HOSTED BY
KOSU
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Focus: Black Oklahoma have?
Focus: Black Oklahoma currently has 94 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Focus: Black Oklahoma about?
Focus: Black Oklahoma is a news and public affairs program covering topics relevant to the African American and BIPOC communities statewide. The show seeks to inform the public through stories and interviews, engage the community through lively discussion, and spotlight local artists and creators.
How often does Focus: Black Oklahoma release new episodes?
Focus: Black Oklahoma has 94 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Focus: Black Oklahoma?
You can listen to Focus: Black Oklahoma on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Focus: Black Oklahoma?
Focus: Black Oklahoma is created and hosted by KOSU.
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