Every once in a while, Hightower gets himself out of Texas and into the great blue yonder—and this past weekend, he was in Oklahoma, meeting up with Senator Fred Harris, New Mexico Democratic Party rabble rouser Marg Elliston, and artist Alan Stone. With Martin Scorcese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” having just been released a couple weeks ago, a lot of eyes are on Oklahoma right now, and rightfully so.
Oklahoma is a nexus of populist history; it’s also home to a history of violence against Native nations and Black people. Yet, its not-so-distant past is the story of Woody Guthrie, farm radicalism, the Green Corn Rebellion… and Fred Harris’ own upstart, upset victory for a US Senate seat, beating the oil-money establishment in a grassroots, multiracial campaign that carried every rural county in the state! Also, Oklahoma today includes a culturally rich, diverse people embracing a resurgent progressivism, and positive vision for the future. The political cognoscenti who deplore “red” states should get behind those who’re creating the change in those states!
Hightower also pointed out to us that all over the country, we find these often-small or out-of-the-way museums and monuments that surprisingly catalog populist history in our very own regions. We thought of some of the more well-known ones, like the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. But what are some others in your area?
With that, our team thought we’d share some of the photos from Hightower’s trip, and some more resources to check out.
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