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February, 2001
WHAT KIND .OF BIRD CAN'T
FLY?
By MOC
We stand around, perplexed, and Jesse Jackson asks again:
"What kind of bird can't fly"?. The light dawns, and in unison all
ofus milling around the booking room smile and call out "Jailbirds!
Jailbirds can't fly". Jesse heads back into the men's holding cell,
takes up position at the collect-call-only telephone, and resumes
his pursuit of a moratorium on the death penalty. It was the only
piece of whimsy we saw while he was here.
January 200 I has been a dreadful month for Oklahomans who
feel that the death penalty is immoral, counterproductive and cruel.
Yet, as in all terrible times, there have been moments fine and
gratifying. Even when we can find little else good to say about this
state, we have to acknowledge that Oklahoma offers abundant
opportunities for activism.
And many very wonderful people. A peaceful and dedicated
group of activists have been organized against the death penalty
here for years. There have been protests and vigils at multiple
locations on each execution day; there are letter writing campaigns
to iegisiators, and newspapers and outreach to those on death row
and their families. Meetings and mailing lists and organizational
chores and prayers. They have done wonderful work, expanding
their numbers and changing minds, eroding the bizarre Oklahoma
belief in vengeance .... They have laid a bedrock of protest and
conscience on which an eventual moratorium - and eventual ban
- on the death penalty will be based.
Meanwhile, the State of Oklahoma,- the Governor, the Attorney General, the Pardon and Parole Board- who not once, since
Oklahoma resumed executions in 1990, have granted clemency and
reduced a death sentence - escalated the violence and scheduled
an orgy of executions - twice a week forover four weeks .... And so
the movement ratcheted up its protests as well.
Suddenly, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was coming to town to
protest the upcoming bloodbath. He came on January 4th, and we
were ready. Hundreds of us met and rallied at the church across
Martin Luther King Boulevard from Mabel Bassett Women's
Prison, and from there we marched a couple of miles down
to Fairview Baptist Church on Seventh Street. We were
pretty funny-looking at first, starting off as a ragtag bunch,
needing only a few staves to look exactly as if we were
marching on the Bastille- then Jesse rolled up, straight from
the airport, pulled into line in front ofus, got out and started
walking with us. I have to think it was from his considerable
expertise and on his advice that word went down the line that
we should march in an orderly fashion, about seven abreast,
and fifteen strides or so apart. Soon we looked like quite a serious,
Volwne 19 Number 02
Herland Sister Resources
determined, respectable bunch. At Fairview Baptist we had a
spirited rally, with many good speeches. Jesse mentioned the
possibility of Civil Disobedience, and promised to return. Many
ofus went home that evening with interesting and new ideas in our
minds.
Monday January 8th, some of us met and shared our visions
of CD- some were very much for it, some still reluctant, all open
toward the possibility. (continued inside)
SAY
''I LovE You''
WITH FLOWERS
You can send Valentine flowers and make a
contribution to the Herland Legal Defense Fund.
Just order your Valentine flowers, plants or fish in
a vase from Leafit to Us and they will donate 25%
of floral sales to the Herland Legal Defense Fund.
Please place your order by Februar}' 7.
To order call Leafit to Us, 912-8724 and tell
themyousawitin The Voice. Pleaseplaceyourorder
by February 7. Area-wide delivery is available.
February Events
Saturday, February 10th, 5:30 p.m.
Herland Supper Club meets at Herland.
Sunday, February 18th, 4:00 p.m.
Freefall Concert at Mayflower Church,
just west of NW 63rd and Portland. No
admission.
Saturday, February 24th, 6:30 p.m.
Potluck Dinner at Herland. Afterwards,
some will be going to Rocky Horror at
Carpenter Square Theatre (call 2326500 for tickets).
Sunday, February 25th, 1:00 p.m.
Training for Library volunteers.
www.herlandsisters.org
2312 N.W. 39, OKC, OK 73112
ably touched by his kindness, even while images of Spencer Tracy
and old movies crept in, and responded- how could I not? - "God
Tuesday, January 9, Jesse returned. He protested and vigiled
bless you!" .
and sorrowed with us at the execution of Eddie Trice. Only
It was very cold and rainy, a steady drizzle. My fine support
vengeance was served by the execution of Eddie Trice, venperson had brought me an orange poncho, so if you ever see
geance and the furtherance of violence.
pictures of this night, you will recognize me as the very dry and
The next scheduled election was for Thursday, January 11,
comfortable - great pumpkin. We spent over an hour in the rain,
2001. Wanda Jean Allen: an African American lesbian with no
thoughnotfrommeanness-thepolice, mostofthembornwellafter
impulse control who had killed two lovers. She was sentenced to
the Viet Nam war, let al one the days ofsit-ins, had no idea what was
die after chasing her loverto the police station and killing her there.
going on and how to process us. There were three stalwarts of the
Hardly an act of premeditation. A total of$800 was spent on her
movement ahead of me, Bill and Bea and Tom, who were handdefense, to a lawyer who told the judge he lacked the skills and
cuffed from the get-go, while my hands were free - until we were
experience to make a capable death-penalty defense, and asked to
finally put in the vans for the ride downtown - then their handcuffs
be replaced. (He was not). Wanda Jean' s death by statecameoffandminewenton. I undersanctioned homicide might have
stand that Reverend Reed and I
been less mourned had she been a
were the only miscreants dangercold-blooded calculating murderer,
Do you value mercy over vengeance?
ous enough - all right, unlucky
but it would have been protested
enough- to have to ride downtown
Do you believe that when we return evil for evil, we are
no less.
with our hands in plastic restraints
all degraded?
And so, on Wednesday, Janubehind our backs. Two good things
Do you believe that it is wrong that some of our fellow
ary IOlh, between the executions of
from my experience, however - it
citizens, in order to keep their jobs and put food on their
Eddie Trice and WandaJeanAllen,
seems
to have cured my left shoultables, are required to tie fellow human beings to a
several hundred people gathered
der rotator-cuff problem, and I got
gurney and kill them?
at Fairview Baptist Church-thank
quite a nice little hand-cuffbruise at
Do you believe that it might be obscene to put to death
you, Reverend John Reed! - and
the base of my thumb that I am
a person whose entire defense cost $800, less probably
heard from many leaders of the
thinking ofmemorializing in tattoo.
than the inauguration dress of any First Lady or a big
protest community.
The final
There were twenty-eight ofus
screen tv?
speaker was Jesse Jackson, who
in lock-up that night, fourteen
Do you think that "an eye for an eye" probably leaves the
had indeed returned; and when he
women, fourteen men - plus our
whole world blind? And that executions create an encalled for those willing to risk arsupport people standing by for our
tirely new group of grieving families?
rest by blocking the driveway at
collect calls and the lawyers comMabel Bassett, to symbolically stop
If you answer yes to these questions, you might want to
mitted to springing us in time, if
call the Governor at 4051521-2342 and ask him not to kill
the transfer of Wanda Jean Allen
need be, to get to work the next
anyone else in your name.
to "Death Row at McAlester, more
morning. A very fine army. Somethan a score of people stepped
one I spoke to recently who is thinkforward. All of them were well
ing about "crossing the line"
aware that they would certainly be arrested.
wanted to know if he
could take a book in with him - Sure,
Arrangements were made for support people to take our cars
I told him, but you won't read it, the joyous experience is in being
home, feed our dogs, and so on, and then we lit out of there,
with the wonderful people in with you. Bea and Bill. Two outanother rag tag bunch, hightailing it by car for Mabel Bassett to
of-town women -yep, more outside agitators - Diane and Sala, who
let Wanda Jean Allen and the world know that we refused to be
spent all night in lockup; Gerarda, Patty and Beth, Birdie and Mary
complicit in her slaying.
and Margaret, Sherry and Larieta Michelle and her husband with
•••
the broken leg; Ted. Roger, John, Tom from The Earth, Adam from
"Stop! Do not cross this line. Ifyou cross this line you will
college and Lydia from another life! Welcome home Lydia!
be arrested." We surged forward across the invisible line, eager
Cleophus and Arthur, Sean, Stephen, Lorse, and Roger, and Jesse.
to make our statement. This was a very civilized and well
A couple of ministers, a couple of Greek Orthodox brothers, an
coordinated protest; we had informed them that we were coming,
Episcopal Bishop' s daughter, some Catholics, lots ofMethodists,
so there was a plentitude of police and paddy wagons (and
Bud Welch' s sister, an acknowledged Atheist, several old married
television cameras) waiting for us, and civility all around. I tried
couples, a widow, some lesbians - what a great bunch we were.
to march up the little hill toward the prison, but the police officerin-charge held me back to wait for "my" arresting officer, my guy
. . ... they kept passing me by and taking others, and I began to get
Individual. couples or family counseling .
impatient. "Just wait, just wait", the officer in charge kepttelling
Accessible rates. Call for a Wednesday
me. Finally a young officer heading our way took my elbow and
evening appointment. Jo L. Soske, Phd, LPC,
led me off, and so help me Great Spirit, the chief cop leaned in to
me as I left and murmured "God bless you". I was immeasur-
What Kind of Bird Can't Fly (continued from pg. 1)
Page 2 Her/and Voice February, 2001
Not counting Jesse, Diane and Sala, all ofwhom spent all night
inside, the last ofus got out at about 3 :30 a.m. Our faithful lawyers
were waiting, thank you Rex, Doug and ofcourse Opio, Oklahoma's
new Little Giant During that time we were fingerprinted three times,
mug shot twice, asked about our medical needs and thoughts of
suicide and/or harm toward others, taken and returned to our sex/
segregated holding cells - on the outside of which was a handlettered sign, "protesters only". They really treated us very well,
if not particularly quickly; and the Sheriff was never long out of
sight. In one memorable moment in the booking area an officer told
me I was going to be patted down -which I was, hands against the
wall, feet apart - up and down and places I' d've just as soon they
didn't go- but only after they had told me to hand my voluminous
winter coat to a friend - you guessed it, the coat was never
searched.
•••
The next evening Wanda Jean Allen was strapped to a gurney
and executed by the State. Since Wanda Jean's death we have lost
many more. Each of them was unnecessary, useless, wrong,
hurtful, painful, devastating to family members, devastating. There
are over one hundred people on Oklahoma' s death row - the death
of each of them is cruel and unusual punishment inflicted on not
only them but their families, friends and loved ones. How long?
How long, in the pursuit of an elusive, illusive, fraudulent "closure" are we going to kill people in the name of God?.
0
IN
Re\'IE\V
by Jill Gamer
One ofmy favorite new CDs is Kasey Chambers, The Captain.
While I don't love the entire CD, there are enough good songs, and
a lot of potential, to keep me listening.
Chambers hails from Australia and has been embraced there
by both pop and country fans. Her music in the U.S. has mainly
been marketed as alternative country, which certainly isn't all bad.
That label gets applied to a lot of people whose music does not fit
into what's being played on the radio today, and Chambers fits that
category somewhat. One of my favorite lines I read about her is
''you begin to suspect she's Gillian Welch without the death trip."
And it's kind of true!
Herland Board of Directors:
Laura Choate
Jacqueline Gatewood
DTH
Ginger McGovern, Treasurer
Pat Reaves, Co-Chair
Jerri Schaben
Denise Smith
Judy Walden
The Voice is published by: Herland Sister Resources, Inc. 2312
The Voice is offered as an
N.W 39th, Oklahoma City, OK 73112.
open forum for community discourse. Articles reflect the opinions
of the author and not necessarily those of Herland Sister Resources.
Unsolicited articles and letters to the editor are welcomed and must
be signed by the writer with full name and address. Upon request,
letters or articles may be printed under a pseudonym or anonymously. Subscriptions to The Voice are free upon request although
a donation is requested to meet publication and distribution costs.
As a teenager, Chambers fronted the Dead Ringer Band that
also consisted ofher father, mother Diane, and brother Nash. They
won several awards and put out two albums. Her brother Nash
played on and produced The Captain. Her father also played on the
album and has been touring with her.
At24 years,old, and with her first solo album, Chambers already
won the ARIA (Australia's Grammy's) award for Best Country
Album, been nominated for Best Female artist, and won two Golden
Guitar awards in 2000 for Album of the Year and Best Female
Vocalist.
Both Buddy and Julie Miller join Chambers on separate tracks
on this CD, and those are my two favorite songs ('These Pines' with
Buddy Miller and 'The Captain' with Julie). Buddy'sbeautiful guitar
playing and voice is featured on 'These Pines', a song about an
emotional void couched in terms of a physical longing. "Well i don't
talk 'cos I'm trying to listen, To the wind take me home through these
leaves, But it's quiet and don't hear nothing, Cos the wind doesn't
blow through these trees." Julie adds a wonderful harmony to the
title track, and makes an already good song that much better with
her sweet voice.
'Southern Kind of Life' is also a standout on the CD. By
southern she means the south of Australia, but the song is beautiful,
and universal. "Yeah I was a south bound child, Yeah I had a small
town life, But I turned out alright in the north, Livin' that southern
kind oflife."
'The Hard Way' and 'Last Hard Bible' are probably the most
country ofthe songs. 'The Hard Way' has the typical country timing
and is something you could two-step to. But it's catchy without
being too simple. 'Last Hard Bible' is the song that really got my
attention the first time I heard Chambers on the post-country station
on digital cable. She starts out the song acappella and takes you
back to the old time country of groups like the Carter Family and it's
just a great song.
There are a couple ofsongs that don't do her songwriting talent
justice, most notably 'You Got the Car.' She could have done much
better with lyrics like "You got the car and I got the break, I've had
as much as I can take" and "All the kings horses and all the kings
men, couldn't put me back together again." But I can certainly
forgive her for that because the really good songs on this CD make
up for the weaker ones.
A Special Bonus Edition of The Captain has been released. It
has 5 new songs including 2 newly recorded duets with Paul Kelly
and Uncle Bill, a song by her favorite singer songwriters Fred
Eaglesmith (who was just at The Blue Door) and Matthew Ryan, a
version of Neil Finn's 'Better Be Home Soon' and Ben Harper's
'Another Lonely Day." I was already thinking of getting this new
bonus release, but my decision has been clinched since I just
cracked my copy of The Captain when I dropped it.
Ifyou haven't already, listen to The Blue Door Music Show on
Sunday nights from 7-9 on KRXO because they've been playing
some of Kasey Chamber's music. Greg Johnson said last week on
the show he had received a phone call about her possibly playing
the Blue Door. And while it's a small place for her to play, he had
a good point when he said, "Just because she's big everywhere else
doesn't mean she is in Oklahoma."
l:l
Her/and Voice February, 2001 Page 3
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