Recently, the United States marked its 250th birthday and celebrated the Fourth of July. While many Americans reflected on the nation's founding ideals of freedom, liberty, and independence, for others, the holiday raised more complicated questions. FBO’s Roma Carter explores the varied meanings of America's 250th anniversary, examining how Indigenous and Black communities engage with the nation's past, commemorate their own histories, and envision a more inclusive understanding of what freedom and citizenship can mean.

Not every disability can be seen. While wheelchairs, service animals, and other visible markers often shape our understanding of disability, millions of people live with conditions that are largely invisible to those around them. Their stories challenge us to rethink what disability looks like and remind us that not all struggles are visible to the naked eye. Zaakirah Muhammad has the story.

Trauma doesn’t just live in our memories—it lives in the body. For many Black people, generations of stress, survival, and systemic harm are carried in muscle, breath, and nervous systems long after the moment has passed. Somatic therapy asks a different kind of healing question: not just what happened to you, but what is your body still holding? Alana Mbanza continues her coverage on somatic therapy and why reconnecting with the Black body is a powerful, and often overlooked, path toward restoration and wholeness.

What does it mean to live in a place that was never meant to feel like home? Across the country, extended stay hotels have become a last resort for individuals and families navigating housing instability. Behind those doors are stories often overlooked: of stress, isolation, resilience, and the quiet toll that instability takes on mental health. For those living on the margins, where access to care is limited and community can feel out of reach, how do people cope—and what support truly exists? Nick Alexandrov gives us a look at Mental Health on the Margins. This Quick Hit is a segment from a special episode of Focus: Black Oklahoma, which is part of a larger quarterly effort from Oklahoma Media addressing mental health. Find the rest of the quarterly stories and more coverage from Tulsa Flyer, The Oklahoma Eagle, KOSU, La Semana, and The Frontier at tulsaflyer.org.

History often reaches us through textbooks, photographs, and commemorations. But sometimes, the most powerful connection to the past comes through a voice. We turn to rare audio recordings of Civil Rights icon Clara Luper, and her daughter, Marilyn Luper Hildreth, as they reflect on their experiences in the Oklahoma City Civil Rights Movement and the convictions that drove their activism.

Focus: Black Oklahoma is produced in partnership with KOSU Radio & Tri-City Collective. Additional support is provided by the Commemoration Fund & Press Forward. Our theme music is by Moffett Music.

Focus: Black Oklahoma's executive producers are Quraysh Ali Lansana & Bracken Klar. Our associate producers are Jesse Ulrich & Naomi Agnew. Our production interns are Roma Carter, Jess Grimes, & Anna Wilson.

You can visit us online at KOSU.org or FocusBlackOklahoma.com & on YouTube @TriCityCollectiveOK.

You can follow us on Instagram @FocusBlackOK & on Facebook at Facebook.com/FocusBlackOK.

You can hear Focus: Black Oklahoma on demand at KOSU.org, the NPR app, NPR.org, or wherever you get your podcasts.

https://linktr.ee/focusblackok