About the Cover
There are several bands who have gone by the name Ghetto Blaster (a slang term for a boombox or portable audio player for audiocassette tapes and/or CDs), and one of them was from right here in OKC a little over 20 years ago. The OKC band Ghetto Blaster included Lydia Taylor, Justin Hogan, Wes Chase, Lisa Woods and Richie Hayes.
Here’s some insight from Lydia Taylor on the moment behind the photograph on this month’s cover, from a live “Bloody Valentine” show at Green Door in February 2004:
So for this show I rented the dress from Masquerade, the costume shop on Classen. Fake blood everywhere!! And they let me return it haha! I also thought it was a good idea at the time to throw “blood” soaked tampons at the audience.
Inspired by L7 of course
Bonus Content
When we asked folks in the UMA Facebook group for more information on Ghetto Blaster, we ended up getting to chat with some of the band members themselves! They added insight into what we already had, plus shared with us photographs from other gigs and audio recordings you can’t find anywhere else:
Band Camp Album
Live Recording
A Local Civil Rights Icon You Should Know
by Granny Anarchy
If you Google "first sit-in," your result will be February 1, 1960 in Greensboro, NC. Even the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C credits North Carolina as the start of this nonviolent civil rights action.
Cynical note by Jackalope: Perhaps because the Smithsonian has those barstools?
But it was earlier, on August 19, 1958, that Dunjee High School history teacher Clara Mae Shepard Luper and her students sat at the counter of Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City, quietly asking for service in protest of segregation.
Luper became the advisor of the OKC NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Youth Council in 1957. She and the Council wrote and staged a play called "Brother President" about Martin Luther King Jr. and his nonviolent message. They took the play to New York City; the contrast between the less blatantly segregated North and the Jim Crow South further inspired them to peacefully resist racial discrimination.
After 15 months of planning and attempts to communicate with Katz Drug Store in writing, Luper took her daughter, son, and students to the lunch counter at 200 W. Main Street. They ordered drinks but were refused service. Luper, her children, and her students continued to sit while a crowd gathered and they were jostled and jeered at. They persisted despite being yelled at and spit on. Three days later, Katz desegregated its Oklahoma City location, and its corporate office directed stores in other states to do so also. This was the first civil rights sit-in, and its success spawned others in the area - and eventually the more nationally known February 1960 sit-in in North Carolina.
The Oklahoma City Council eventually ended discrimination citywide with an ordinance put into effect just before the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and Luper continued to be a force in the movement. She participated in the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Selma marches, where she was injured on "Bloody Sunday." She also organized a Oklahoma City sanitation strike in 1969. Luper was arrested 26 times while peacefully protesting for civil rights. Luper taught for 41 years at Dunjee, Northwest Classen, and John Marshall high schools. She also ran for Senate in 1972, hosted a radio show between 1960 and 1980, and founded Black Voices Magazine - now America's Voices.
(her book “Behold the Walls” is worth checking out via the library)
In November 2025, a set of bronze statues was unveiled just north of the historic site of Katz Drug Store. Luper, students, and a recreation of the counter are featured, along with an empty stool allowing visitors to sit and reflect. Oklahoma City sculptor LaQuincey Reed is credited with the statue of Luper herself, while New York's StudioEIS spent years working with Luper's daughter Marilyn Luper Hildreth and other sit-in students on the lunch counter. There was also consultation by sculptor Ed Dwight. The plaza itself was funded through private donations; Oklahoma City's Journal record reports there was "support from a tribal nation, sports figures, business leaders and community members," making it a true collaborative effort.
Mere weeks after the unveiling, each statue face was vandalized with scratches; the total number of damaging marks was over fifty. Restoration expert Steve Roy said that some were damaged so deeply that part of the repair process involved welding rather than more general surface repair. However, after two days, the plaza was able to be reopened. There are security cameras facing the statues, and there have been no reports of other incidents - in fact, Roy mentioned the positivity of grateful passers-by.
So if you find yourself near Main and Robinson in downtown Oklahoma City, you might want to walk by and take a look at the invincible spirit of Clara Luper, who has left a lasting legacy.
"I knew I was right, because somewhere I read in the 14th Amendment, that I was a citizen and I had rights, and I had the right to eat. Within that hamburger was the whole essence of democracy. If you could deny me the right to eat, you could deny me the right to live or work where I want." -
Clara Luper
Want to learn more? Join Dr. Karlos Hill for “Before Greensboro Why the 1958 Katz Sit-in Matters Nationally” on Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. at the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library.
photo by Granny Anarchy
An Opinion from the Lost and Found Department
by Yphrum Leachim
It is said we go through life searching for the other half of our soul.
One day my soul shattered.
I no longer wait for someone to put it back together, just someone to hold the pieces so I don't lose anymore.
VENUES
89thStreet
8911NWesternAve(OKC) 89thstreetokc.com
BeerCityMusicHall 1141NW2nd(OKC) beercitymusichall.com
BlueDoor
2805NMcKinleyAve(OKC) bluedoorokc.com
BlueNote
2408NRobinsonAve(OKC) okcbluenote.com
Bookish
1005NW36thSt(OKC) thebookishshop.com
Criterion
500EastSheridanAve(OKC) criterionokc.com
Core4Brewing 7NLeeAve(OKC) core4brewing.com
DiamondBallroom
8001SEasternAve(OKC) diamondballroom.com
FactoryObscura 25NW9thSt(OKC) factoryobscura.com
GrandRoyale 1749NW16thSt (OKC) instagram.com/grandroyaleokc
JonesAssembly 901WSheridanAve(OKC) thejonesassembly.com
OKCider 705W.SheridanAve(OKC) okciderco.com
Opolis 113NCrawfordAve(Norman) opolis.org
ThePetShop 1529LinwoodBlvd(OKC) thepetshopokc.com
Ponyboy 423NW23rdSt(OKC) ponyboyokc.com
ResonantHead 400SW25thSt,SuiteA(OKC) resonanthead.com
Resonator 325EMainSt(Norman) resonator.space
TheSanctuary 1012NIndianaAve(OKC) facebook.com/thesanctuaryok
51stStreetSpeakeasy 1114NW51stStreet(OKC) 51stspeakeasy.com
TowerTheatre 425NW23rdSt(OKC) towertheatreokc.com
TheVenue 1103NorthVilla(OKC) thevenueokc.com
ZooAmp 2101NE50thSt(OKC) okczooamp.com
by Zoe
Monthly Collaborative Playlist
month’s prompt: Saddle Up (it’s the Year of the Horse!)
Ask for a collaborator link, send us your picks for either playlist, or drop us a line via IG (@MetroSpecialCollections), FB (the OK UMA group & Metro SCR page), or email at Oklahoma.UMA@gmail.com
Art From the Inbox
Lately I've been using wood I find around big trash day as canvas. I've been cobbling together my trash art inspired by Rauschenberg, De Kooning, and Dubuffet. My latest piece started by toning gessoed wood with walnut husks, to make it look vintage. I noticed a female figure in the outline and filled it by cutting up last winter's monoprints. Not sure if I ate with this one, but it was so much fun to make!
"Leonardo
Words" by Matthew Hanna
AMA Roadies Edition
Sushi. Full stop.
I do sometimes spoil myself with London Fog Matchas, but I think the best way to show oneself kindness is to truly take care of oneself. That means not overindulging in retail therapy! Instead, know when to step back from stressful situations (including social media), consume the nutrition that fuels your body best, and get adequate exercise and rest. (It also helps to have a good support network.)
-Granny Anarchy
Unlimited daily treat beverages and drawing during meetings. -la pêche punkette
I’m learning to listen when my body asks for something (rest, a brain break, wearing headphones to block out noise and/or add music) instead of pushing through anyway. It turns out all those little things add up, and being nice to yourself is worth it. Also, b-movies and silliness.
-Jackalope
audhd silly goose
-Zoe