‘Focus: Black Oklahoma’: 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, 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 court he was rejected because though he has tribal citizenship, he has no blood quantum and by federal law is not legally an Indian. His story is told in a newly released Audible Original documentary called Tribal Justice: The Struggle for Black Rights on Native Land, reported and written by two award-winning Indigenous journalists, Allison Herrera and Adreanna Rodriguez. The following excerpt is the fourth installment of FBOs broadcast of the documentary. We speak with Kristi Williams about Black History Saturdays and how she’s working to close education gaps in the Sooner State. From runaway enslaved African to federal law enforcement officer,...