Dismantling Racism: A Toolkit for Parents
Join TulsaKids and OSU-Tulsa for a Facebook Live Series with Quraysh Ali Lansana

In August, Quraysh Ali Lansana, a poet and professor at OSU-Tulsa, joined TulsaKids Magazine for a weekly Facebook Live series designed to help parents understand systemic racism and how to address it with their children. OSU-Tulsa and TulsaKids Magazine rebooted the Dismantling Racism series in October 2020 as a monthly series. Watch past videos and learn about upcoming events below.
Watch upcoming live streams on OSU-Tulsa‘s or TulsaKids Magazine‘s Facebook page.
Upcoming Events:
February 17, 2021: “Opal’s Greenwood Oasis”
Skip Hill is a mixed-media visual artist in Tulsa, Oklahoma whose art is in public and private collections throughout the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. His early inspiration for making was established in childhood through a love for reading and when his father introduced Hill to the collage works of Romare Bearden (1911 –1988). Beyond his artistic innovation, Bearden’s activism and commitment to the Civil Rights Movement influenced Hill’s commitment to using art and art education as a vehicle for affirming positive personal and social change. That commitment and inspiration is at the heart of his process and in every line of the illustrations for Opal’s Greenwood Oasis.
Past Events:
Session 1: Racism 101
Session 2: Teens Talk about Racism
Session 3: Racism Toolkit
What’s At Stake? Diversity and the Election
Quraysh Ali Lansana and Betty Casey moderate a panel discussing the upcoming election and how it will affect the lives of local families. Panelists include Andee Cooper, who has a son with disabilities; Hannah Middlebrook, who has a transgender daughter; and K. Luna, a Latina college student. Watch this informative discussion here.
National Day of Mourning: What You Don’t Know About Thanksgiving
Quraysh Ali Lansana and Betty Casey are joined by members of the Native American community to discuss the origins and common misconceptions of Thanksgiving.
About the panelists:
Elisa LeSieur: Elisa LeSieur is an Academic Counselor and Pre-Collegiate Coordinator for OSU-Tulsa and member of OSU’s Native American Faculty and Staff Association (NAFSA). Elisa grew up on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin, where she spent the entirety of her childhood and a large portion of her adult life. Now living in Tulsa, she works with students from different backgrounds and always tries to encourage them to embrace their heritage.
Anissia West: Anissia West is an educator and equity consultant. She serves as the Coordinator of Student Life and Engagement for the Tulsa Public Schools district and provides equity centered school design and intercultural development coaching for organizations locally and nationwide. Through her work, she aims to build bridges toward healing and reconciliation.
It’s Not Just Christmas: Honoring All Holidays
Date: Wednesday, December 16, 12 p.m.
Local religious leaders join Quraysh Ali Lansana and Betty Casey in discussing representation during the holiday season.
About the Panelists:
Rabbi Lillian Kowalski: Hailing originally from Albany, NY, Rabbi Lillian (Lily) Kowalski was ordained in May 2019 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, CA. She holds an MA in Jewish Education from the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at Hebrew Union College, and a BA in Judaic Studies, Music (Cultural Studies), and Women and Gender Studies from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA (outside of Boston). Her published graduate school work focused on the intersection of the creative arts and sacred texts as well as the power of language in influencing our relationships. Her work both before and during graduate school numbers a dozen different Jewish organizations in different areas around the country, from New York and California to Washington (both state and DC) and Arizona. She currently serves as one of the Rabbis and Director of Education at Temple Israel here in Tulsa, OK.
Rev. Amy Venable: Rev. Amy Venable is a native Tulsan, and a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School. She studied French and International Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, and spent a year abroad at the Université de Caen in France. She has a Master of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology at SMU in Dallas. She was the Senior Pastor of St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church in Norman, Oklahoma, for seven years, and served as Primary and Middle School Chaplain at Holland Hall School here in Tulsa. She is now Minister of Pastoral Care at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa. She has ridden her bicycle across the state seven times on Oklahoma Freewheel, and loves to be in plays. She welcomed her sister into her home from the National Tour of “Frozen” eight months ago, when the tour had to shut down and all of the pit musicians and actors were sent home. She’s grateful for the companionship during this pandemic time.
Orisabiyi Oyin Williams: Kristi Williams a.k.a. Orisabiyi is the great great granddaughter of Creek Freedmen, 1874 Supreme Court Justice Jesse Franklin (Dawes #1567) and also the great granddaughter of Cherokee citizens Lillie Vann (Dawes #2736) and Abraham “Abe” Mayberry, a World War 1 Veteran.
She is a community activist/advocate/organizer, political consultant and campaign manager for Tulsa’s District 1 Councilor Vanessa Hall Harper as well as author of Healing Me for Me, published in 2015.
She serves as Chairperson of the Greater Tulsa African American Affairs Commission and is a member and organizer of the 1921 Tulsa Mass Graves Investigation Committee. Her previous affiliations as the Chair to Tulsa’s Coalition for Social Justice spearheaded the efforts to rename the Brady District in Tulsa, Oklahoma and prevailed.
In 2014, she was awarded, “Community Activist of The Year,” from the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. She has been a featured speaker for YWCA’s Stand Against Racism Campaign, Embrace Yourself Foundation as well as a panelist for race relations and activism/advocacy.
She has worked with Lebron James Spring Hill Company and CNN Films documentary, “Dreamland: The Rise and Fall of Black Wall Street.” And is currently working on a documentary with PBS about Greenwood. She remains driven and encouraged to speak out against injustices on all fronts.
Beyond “I Have a Dream”: Discussing Martin Luther King, Jr.
Date: January 21, 2021
Dismantling Racism: Online Toolkit for Parents
About Quraysh Ali Lansana
Quraysh Ali Lansana is author of twenty books in poetry, nonfiction and children’s literature. Lansana is a Tulsa Artist Fellow, Writer in Residence and Adjunct Professor at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, and a former faculty member of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and The Juilliard School. Lansana is executive producer of KOSU/NPR’s Focus: Black Oklahoma, and his forthcoming titles include Those Who Stayed: Life in 1921 Tulsa After the Massacre and Opal’s Greenwood Oasis. He is a member of Tri-City Collective.