CFN
Gazette staff
So let’s look at the possible goals of Ada’s former Beautification Committee: plant some flowers, decorative street lights, keep black people out, public art. Wait. Back up. One of those seems decidedly less beautifying and slightly more … racist.

Nonfiction
Mia Cantu
Inspired by a dearth of black history education in the Sooner State, Rochelle Stephney-Roberson wrote her first book, Impact: Blacks in Oklahoma History. Published last fall, the textbook has been approved by the state Department of Education for use in state high schools.

News
Rachel Curtis
A state question appearing on the Nov. 6 ballot would effectively end affirmative action for women and racial minorities in the public sector statewide.