Higher Dimensions – Black Wall St., Charismatic Empires, and Divine Media (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast) (Spirit and Power S2 Ep. 4

On April 16th of 2021, Clay Clark, a far-right conspiracy theorist and self-proclaimed “alpha toxic male,” from Tulsa, Oklahoma held his first “ReAwaken America” tour—an event that began in Oklahoma as a protest against COVID-19 restrictions and quickly grew into a nationwide platform for nationalism, so-called “patriotic streetfighters,” and prophetic politics. 

In the buckle of the proverbial Bible belt, Clark created a cavalcade of Trumpian support, attracting actor Jim Caviezel, former U.S. national security advisor, Michael Flynn, Eric Trump, son of President Donald J. Trump, and many more Republican luminaries. 

When you think of international media hubs, you might think of Los Angeles, California, or New York City. When you think of places that are political powerhouses, Washington, DC, is an obvious choice. This week, Dr. Leah Payne speaks with award-winning journalist and professor Caleb Gayle and Dr. Daniel Isgrigg about a media center and political force that may not be top of mind: Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Long known for its oil wealth, Black Wall Street, and the 1921 massacre, Tulsa is also an unappreciated epicenter of the global Charismatic and Pentecostal movement. It’s a city where televangelists built empires, where charismatic theology shaped politics, and where spiritual power and political influence are deeply intertwined. 

But how did a landlocked city known for oil become a transnational hub for charismatic media making and far right political action? Find out on the Season 2 finale of Spirit & Power.

Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/spirit-and-power-s2-ep-4-higher-dimensions-black-wall-st-charismatic-empires-and-divine-media/

 

Woman, 105, leads lawsuit seeking reparations for 1921 Tulsa massacre

A group of Oklahomans, led by 105-year-old woman, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday demanding reparations for the 1921 Tulsa race massacre which saw white mobs burn down a thriving black neighborhood and kill hundreds of people.  The lawsuit alleges that the massacre, one of the worst acts of racial violence in US history, still overshadows the neighborhood of Greenwood, and that racial inequality in Tulsa today can be traced back to the events of almost 100 years ago. ....
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/01/tulsa-massacre-1921-oklahoma-lawsuit

Republican Group Relentlessly Dunks On 'Disheveled' Post-Rally Trump In New Ad - HuffPost

The anti-Trump Lincoln Project targeted the president's lackluster turnout in Tulsa, Oklahoma with a Jurassic Park-inspired attack ad.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lincoln-project-trump-tulsa-attack-ad_n_5ef15639c5b6af94211185e1

‘I don’t kid’: Trump says he wasn’t joking about slowing coronavirus testing - POLITICO

Administration officials have scrambled in recent days to clean up the president’s remarks from his weekend rally in Oklahoma.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/23/trump-joking-slowing-coronavirus-testing-335459

Decoding the Grotesque Symbolism of Trump’s Tulsa Rally | Vanity Fair

....And then there was this, Trump's biggest Q "drop" of the night, an escalation that should concern us all: Biden, he said, will "subsidize late-term abortion and after-birth execution." After-birth execution. This is Pizzagate rhetoric straight from the president's mouth, a pillar conviction of QAnon, the remarkably widespread belief among his supporters that Democratic elites traffic children, ritually kill them (cue Protocols of the Elders of Zion again), and even eat them. The first time a Trumper told me Democratic elites practice cannibalism, I dismissed it as fringe. By perhaps the fourth or fifth time, I understood cannibalism to be part of the mythos, a minority belief within Trumpism but a potent one in that it validates as "moderate" the belief that the Clinton-Obama–Biden axis merely abuses children.
This obsession with what is done to the bodies of children by Democrats is, like the rape fantasies with which Trump has taken to lacing his rally speeches, grossly sexualized. It is the most violent pedophilia of all, projected onto Trump's enemies. It allows his followers to wallow in the most grotesquely taboo thoughts and to relish the revenge they'll take on those whom they imagine actually committing such horrors. And it's an escalation of the any-means-necessary methods of abortion-clinic bombers. If you really believe abortion is murder, isn't assassination justified? Take that view up (or down) a notch: If you really believe Democrats are raping and eating children, what punishment would not be merited? What rage would not be righteous? The Trump rally—the collective voicing of such fantasies, their sanctification by way of the flag and, implicitly, the cross—is the ritual by which Trump remakes the American dream into a fetish for revenge.....
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/decoding-the-grotesque-symbolism-of-trumps-tulsa-rally

TikTok Teens Reserved Trump Tulsa Tickets With No Plans to Go - Bloomberg

U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday hosted a fraction of the expected supporters. Some of the no-shows may have been teenagers who decided to RSVP with no intention of attending.....
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-21/tiktok-teens-reserved-trump-tulsa-tickets-with-no-plans-to-go

Tulsa Fire Department says Trump rally attendance was about 6,200 | TheHill

Fewer than 6,200 people attended President Trump's campaign rally at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday night, well below the arena's capacity of roughly 19,000, according to the Tulsa Fire Department. Andrew Little, the department's public information officer, told The Hill that a fire marshal recorded the tally at around 7:30 p.m., noting that the figure applied to scanned tickets from the event. The number did not account for members of the media, campaign staff and those in box suites.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/503781-tulsa-fire-department-says-trump-rally-attendance-was-about-6200

Revealed: ex-Tulsa detention officer who shot black man has record of alleged racist behaviour

Christopher Straight was charged with manslaughter after fatally shooting Carlos Carson in a motel parking lot
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/19/tulsa-shooting-carlos-carson-christopher-straight

'Baby Trump' balloon appears in Tulsa ahead of rally, raises more than $10K to restore historic church on Black Wall Street | TheHill

A giant inflatable baby caricaturing President Trump was on display on a rooftop in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday ahead of his evening rally, with "Baby Trump" raising more than $10,000 to restore a historic church on Black Wall Street.
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/503737-baby-trump-balloon-appears-in-tulsa-ahead-of-rally-raises-more

In 1921, a white mob burned 'Black Wall Street' down. We still feel that legacy today

On Saturday, Trump is holding a rally near the site where vigilantes killed hundreds of people to suppress black wealth....
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/19/tulsa-1921-massacre-trump-violence-legacy

Bloomberg, at site of 1921 Tulsa racial massacre, vows aid for African Americans - The Washington Post

Mike Bloomberg, criticized by some for racial insensitivity as NY mayor, visited the site of a racial massacre Sunday and acknowledged white privilege helped him succeed....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mike-bloomberg-at-site-of-racial-massacre-vows-aid-for-african-americans/2020/01/19/90780cd0-3aa3-11ea-baca-eb7ace0a3455_story.html

HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ depicts a Tulsa race massacre that was all too real. Hundreds died - The Washington Post

HBO's 'Watchmen' depicts a Tulsa race massacre that was all too real. Hundreds died.
The 1921 rampage was one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. Now the city is investigating whether long-rumored mass graves exist.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/10/21/hbos-watchmen-depicts-tulsa-race-massacre-that-was-all-too-real-hundreds-died/