Here’s to the State of Oklahoma

Here's to the state of Oklahoma.1
Your artificial borders are losing in the courts.2
A loss of jurisdiction is your due and just rewards.
Tribal rights and sovereignty your privilege to thwart.
Half-truths of your misdeeds you're happy to report.
Whoa, here's to the grass still growing in the heart of.3
Oklahoma, this land tells stories that you shouldn't be a part of.4

Here's to the history of Oklahoma. 
Injustice in your textbooks is read between the lines. 
The massacre in Greenwood was denied a thousand times.5 
Your land run re-enactments are celebrating crimes.6 
Monuments to theft and murder made sublime.7
Whoa, here's to the grass still growing in the heart of. 
Oklahoma, this land tells stories that you shouldn't be a part of.8

Here's to the governor of Oklahoma. 
Who likes to tout small government when it fits into his plan. 
Whose backdoor greedy compact made him feel just like a man.9 
And mask-less trips to Walmart caused the virus to expand.10 
Enemies and vetoes have become part of his brand.11 
Whoa, here's to the grass still growing in the heart of. 
Oklahoma, this land tells stories that Stitt shouldn't be a part of.

Here's to the cops of Oklahoma. 
Your guns should all be tasers so you can't confuse the two.12 
You can't protect black lives while you are screaming "back the blue." 
Regarding de-escalation, you haven't got a clue.13 
Your union's not a union. Your defunding's overdue.14 
Whoa, here's to the grass still growing in the heart of. 
Oklahoma, this land tells stories police shouldn't be a part of.

Here's to the mascots of Oklahoma. 
Your Boomers and your Sooners were criminals and thieves.15 
And the Cowboys are no better. A Western lie that we believe.16 
The racist high school mascots, a sin so many cannot see. 
From native characters in sports, our teams should all be freed.17 
Whoa, here's to the grass still growing in the heart of. 
Oklahoma, this land tells stories that you shouldn't be a part of.

Here's to the prisons of Oklahoma. 
Your mass incarceration is something to behold.18 
Private corporate interest, our tax dollars have bankrolled.19 
The school-to-prison pipeline, it really fits your mold.20 
Your criminal injustice has shredded the blindfold. 
Whoa, here's to the grass still growing in the heart of. 
Oklahoma, this land tells stories prisons shouldn't be a part of.

Here's to the Board of Education of Oklahoma. 
You had a chance to lead us. All you did was recommend. 
Hofmeister's safe proposal, its teeth you did rescind.21 
We don't know what will happen when our kids to school we send. 
Statewide distance learning is the safe way we contend.22 
Whoa, here's to the grass still growing in the heart of. 
Oklahoma, this land tells stories that you shouldn't be a part of.

Watch the video on YouTube.

1. based on “Here’s to the State of Mississippi” by Phil Ochs, 1965
2. McGirt v. Oklahoma, July, 2020 and Sharp v. Murphy, July, 2020
3. Andrew Jackson promised the Choctaw and Cherokee Nations that “As long as the grass grows and the rivers run” no white people would settle in Indian Territory. As Long as the Waters Flow (Sculpture) Allan C. Houser, 1989
4. If all promises were kept and no treaties were not broken, Oklahoma never would have existed as a state.
5. “Once taboo discussion, Tulsa Race Riot now included in state academic standards” Tulsa World, 2016
6. “Elementary School Alternative To Land Run Reenactments Offers More Sides Of The Story” KGOU, 2014
7. “Protest at OKC’s Land Run Monument peaceful” Oklahoman, 2020
8. “This Land” is a reference to “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie
9. “State Supreme Court rejects gaming compacts negotiated by Gov. Kevin Stitt” Oklahoman, 2020
10. “UPDATE: Gov. Kevin Stitt tests positive for COVID-19; recent photo shows him at Walmart without mask on” KFOR, 2020
11. “Greg Treat and Kevin Stitt ‘had an airing of grievances’” NonDoc, 2020
12. “Oklahoma officer who mistook gun for Taser charged in killing of black man” The Guardian, 2015
13. “Strategies for Building Trust Between Law Enforcement and Communities in Oklahoma” Oklahoma Policy Institute, 2017
14. “Why the Fraternal Order of Police Must Go” The Marshall Project, 2017
15. “‘Boomer Sooner’ controversy sparks debate” The Norman Transcript, 2016
16. “The Myth of the American Cowboy” Nicco Capozzi, 2018
17. “Local Native American groups hope more Oklahoma schools will change mascots” KOCO, 2020
18. Oklahoma Is the “World’s Prison Capital.” That Won’t Change Anytime Soon. Mother Jones, 2019
19. Oklahoma Moves Toward Phasing Out Private Prisons. What A Path Forward Looks Like Oklahoma Watch, 2020
20. Civil Rights and the School-to-Prison Pipeline in Oklahoma U.S. Commission of Civil Rights, 2016
21. Tulsa World editorial: State Board of Education refuses opportunity to protect children against COVID-19 Tulsa World, 2020
22. Superintendent Hofmeister did not recommend statewide distance learning for the start of the 2020-2021 school year. It is this classroom teacher’s opinion that statewide distance learning for the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year is best practice for the safety of all of Oklahoma’s students, faculty, staff, and communities.