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Quotes of the Day
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“To preserve the system, we’re just begging the public to take the precautions necessary to prevent cases.”
-LaWanna Halstead, vice president of quality with the Oklahoma Hospital Association [CNHI via Tahlequah Daily Press]
“By putting this issue front and center, my hope is we can have similar discussions about education, about health, and about jobs and the economy.”
-Rep. Monroe Nichols, D-Tulsa, during Thursday’s interim study on racial relations and policing [Tulsa World]
“We were looking at a five-fold increase potentially over anything we’ve ever done historically at the Election Board, which translates to around 100,000-plus absentee requests.”
-Tulsa County Election Board Secretary Gwen Freeman speaking about demand for absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 general election [Tulsa World]
“There’s people in Oklahoma who need help and the Senate has had plenty of opportunities to pass a second stimulus package but they haven’t. They’ve completely failed at that job. Now they plan to rush through a Supreme Court justice nominee and there are still people suffering in our state and in our country. And that’s unacceptable.”
-Bradley Havenar, organizer of a protest about the U.S. Senate’s inaction regarding a second stimulus package [The Oklahoman]
“I just tell my people, if the wheels start to fall off, go find a lug wrench.”
-Stilwell School Superintendent Geri Gilstrap describing the need to improvise in the time of COVID-19 [Tulsa World]
“The pandemic is devastating our emerging economic ecosystem and placing our renaissance at risk… This has made the businesses that are the backbone of our economy that much more vulnerable to closure.”
-Quintin Hughes, an OKC business owner and board member of Northeast Renaissance OKC, speaking about the need for pandemic-related business assistance [The Oklahoman]
“We cannot give up. This is the only system we have. We gotta believe in it we, gotta fix it, change it and correct it. My charge to you all this evening is stay in the struggle. You play a role in fixing, changing and correcting every aspect of our lives.”
-NAACP president Garland Pruitt speaking to an OKC rally for justice, solidarity and voicing the names of people of color, including Breonna Taylor, killed by police in recent years [The Oklahoman]
“African Americans make up 8-9% of our state’s population, but this same group makes up 25-30% of our total incarceration rate. Mass incarceration exasperates inequality and we must address this issue.”
-Sen. George Young, D-OKC, during an interim study on the need for racial impact statements when crafting criminal justice legislation. [The Journal Record]
“One more death is one too many. And that’s why it’s important that the governor hear our voices, that the board of corrections hear our voices, that the state of Oklahoma understand why we are here, and do something.”
-Former state Sen. Connie Johnson, speaking at a rally about stopping the virus’ spread in Oklahoma prisons [The Oklahoman]
“Whatever is in those buildings, whatever is happening to the individuals and our fellow Oklahomans that are incarcerated, it’s coming back into our communities on a daily basis as these guards enter and exit those facilities.”
-Damion Shade, Criminal Justice Policy Analyst for OK Policy, speaking about the virus spread in prisons [The Frontier]
