OKC COVID-19 report: Data shows masks work
COVID-19: They said it
"At this afternoon's governor's briefing one of the graphs they presented showed the difference in new cases between communities with and without mask ordinances. The data clearly showed that masks work and they help to slow the spread of COVID-19."
— From last Thursday's Oklahoma City COVID-19 Daily Situation Report. The city council will vote Tuesday on whether to extend Oklahoma City's mask ordinance to Dec. 7. Statewide, Oklahoma reported new daily case records Friday and Saturday.
Holt, Oprah converse
Oprah Winfrey sent copies of Isabel Wilkerson's New York Times bestseller "Caste" to business, education and political leaders, including Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, and invited Holt to take part in a podcast episode to discuss the book.
Holt began by noting how he ran on a promise to incorporate the city's diversity into City Hall decision-making. The leadership structure he inherited, he said, "favors the dominant caste." His remarks, edited:
"As an elected official, I come at it from, 'What is the best path forward to get public support for change?'
"I've always talked about this essentially as an issue built around race. Sometimes that can feel overwhelming to people because race feels like something that nature gave us.
"I don't even have to worry about that if I shift the conversation to caste. Caste is very clearly made by humans and what humans have created, humans can dismantle. ...
"I don't think this is just a minor change in terminology. I think it's a way of conceptualizing this challenge that makes it easier for regular people to see a path forward. God didn't give us this system.
"And I think that's helpful. A caste system runs counter to a very widely held presumption in our country that we have economic mobility, that the American Dream is based on the idea that everybody can ... succeed.
"When you frame it as a caste system, as a challenge to that economic mobility, as a challenge to that American Dream, it really moves people.
"In our city, race and also geography, segregation, become another symptom of this. ... Getting to the real problem is caste.
"Just because we, me, David Holt, did not create that system doesn't mean that I'm not benefiting from it.
"We all have an obligation to undo this, even if we inherited it. We are not freed from that obligation just because we are not the original creators."
Indigenous Peoples Day
Holt, a member of the Osage Nation, was scheduled to read his third Indigenous Peoples Day proclamation Monday at Oklahoma City University's annual observance. This year's observance is a virtual event, from noon to 12:30 p.m. The program includes presentation of a gift to the university by d.g. smalling, the artist whose painting, "The Grand Buffalo," hangs in the mayor's office.
Of note: Monday's other events include a "Sovereignty After McGirt" round table on the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, at 6:30 p.m. on the IPDOKC Facebook page, co-sponsored by organizations including Black Lives Matter OKC and ACLU Oklahoma.
Present/absent
The mayor and all eight city council members attended the Sept. 29 meeting.
Calendar
The city council meets at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Find the agenda and instructions for dialing in under the Government tab at okc.gov.
• The quarterly report of the financially troubled Riversport Foundation is on the agenda. The foundation manages the city's MAPS 3 whitewater park.
• The council will consider designating Oct. 26 as Intersex
Awareness Day. Sponsors are Ward 2 Councilman James Cooper and Ward 6 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon.
• The council could direct the city attorney's office to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a controversial panhandling ordinance. A federal appeals court in Denver ruled in August that the ordinance is unconstitutional.
• The council is expected to allocate about $50,000 in federal CARES Act funds to the Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park foundations for COVID-19 expenses.
Calendar: Voter countdown
• Free notary services for mail-in voters, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Saturday, Mayflower Congregational Church, 3901 NW 63. Drivethrough or walk-up.
• Free notary services for mail-in voters, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 5024 N Grove Ave. Meeting Room A.
Learn more at the Oklahoma State Election Board, ok.gov/elections, or call your county election board. In Oklahoma County, call 713-1515. For notary events: Email nonprofit VOICE Education Fund, okciaf@ sbcglobal.net. League of Women Voters: okvoterguide.com or lwvok.org. The election is Nov. 3.