Our Current
Projects

Focus: Black Oklahoma is a monthly hour-long news and public affairs program relevant to African American and communities of color statewide.

Focus: Black Oklahoma explores issues that shed a positive light on our community and examines topics that are unique to Oklahoma's communities of color that are often ignored.

Focus: Black Oklahoma broadcasts monthly on KOSU and KWGS, both National Public Radio affiliates. KOSU airs every third Sunday at 3 p.m. and the following Friday at 1 p.m. on 91.7 FM in Oklahoma City, 107.3 and 107.5 FM in Tulsa, 88.3 FM in Stillwater, 94.9 FM in Ponca City, and on KOSU.org.

KWGS airs the fourth Thursday of the month at 12 p.m. and the fourth Friday at 8 p.m. on 89.5 FM in Tulsa and publicradiotulsa.org.

Teen Talk is a monthly dialogue series driven by students. It aims to help teenagers understand the various ways in which racial hierarchy has been ingrained in our society and its ongoing impact. One of the key objectives of the program is to promote racial healing and relationship building. Overall, the Teen Talk program is a valuable initiative that addresses important social issues, promotes dialogue and understanding, and empowers teenagers to become active participants in shaping a more inclusive and equitable society.

Real Talk: Voicing the Margins is a series of live, curated conversations that address critical issues affecting marginalized communities, including people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and economically disadvantaged citizens. Real Talk provides a platform for these often voiceless communities, giving them the opportunity to share their perspectives and stories.

"The Story of the Small Giant" takes viewers into the world of citizen journalism. The documentary features Focus: Black Oklahoma, a trailblazing radio program spotlighting marginalized and rural communities throughout Oklahoma. Crafted by University of Tulsa alumni and former Focus: Black Oklahoma intern Daryl Turner, this film offers an inside look at the people, efforts, and passion behind the radio program’s success.

Tri-City Collective and Focus: Black Oklahoma are conducting three oral histories of Black rodeo legends (e.g., Marcous Friday), preparing three short form Focus: Black Oklahoma segments telling their stories, and producing a one-hour podcast (one 20-minute segment for each rodeo legend). Photographs taken at one Black rodeo will be used for a photo exhibit, including a traveling exhibition at various Black rodeos during the 2025 season.

Tri-City Collective Executive Director Quraysh Ali Lansana works with local groups to provide Racial Healing Circles. People from diverse backgrounds come together to connect their shared humanity through storytelling. It is a safe, brave, and responsible space—a place where people recognize they have more in common than different. It is the beginning process of dismantling our biased belief system through a shared humanity perspective.

In partnership with Leadership Tulsa’s Changemakers and the Opp, Focus: Black Oklahoma team members held a highly successful, two-day podcast workshop during spring break in March 2024. Twelve students from area high schools learned how to interview, write, edit, record, and produce a podcast on a topic of their choosing. Tri-City Collective plans to replicate this workshop for other groups as funding becomes available.

The Greenwood map is being built for the purpose of accurately depicting the breadth and scope of the Black Wall Street district prior to 1921, the destruction to the Greenwood area during the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, and Greenwood’s growth and rebuilding over a span of time. The project will create a comprehensive visual tool for people—especially those living and working in the Greenwood area–to gain a sense of the community in the past. The map will allow a website user to scroll through each year and view, street by street, block by block, building by building, what existed in that place and when. It will be the first time in Tulsa’s history that this information will be cross-referenced and displayed on one visual, digital exhibit.

The Greenwood Legacy Children's Book Series aims to create books that highlight the significant contributions of four Black Oklahomans who lived in the Greenwood District during the 20th century. The books will be written and/or curated by Quraysh Ali Lansana and Carlos Moreno, both published authors. The Oklahoma Hall of Fame Press will publish the books. The first two books of the series will delve into the lives of Greenwood Legends Buck Colbert Franklin, an attorney who played a pivotal role in the rebuilding of Greenwood after the Tulsa Race Massacre, and Eddie Faye Gates: Educator and activist who served on the initial Tulsa Race Massacre Commission and created the most significant oral archive of Massacre survivors and descendents.