On this week’s latest podcast episode, I chop it up with college football player-turned entrepreneur Josh Jones. He’s one of the few Black owners of a Tulsa-based coffee shop on America’s Route 66. #coffee #blackowned #route66
Deon Devon Osborne
@indepthwithdeon.bsky.social
Oklahoma journalist.| Biased for Democracy. | Pro-reparations | Independent |🏳️🌈 (He/him) IndepthwithDeon.Substack.com
Days after beginning its preliminary autopsy in the death of Nolan Wells, the state of Mississippi has not made its findings public as of Monday. Their own state website shows it can be performed in as little as two hours. indepthwithdeon.substack.com/p/nolan-well...
Our Executive Director Laura Porter shared with @indepthwithdeon.bsky.social : "the state having the power to kill is a very, very scary thing because it can expand, because it can be used unfairly, because the bias can impact decisions, because human beings are fallible."
The Power to Kill: Does Death Penalty Defy Democracy?
From the European Union to the Oklahoma State Legislature, leaders continue to debate where a democracy should draw the line on the state's power to take a life.
open.substack.com
Genocide is wrong anywhere, says Palestinian-American Farouq Allatar, a Tulsa resident and founder of Save The Children of Gaza. Follow In Depth with Deon Podcast for the full interview later this week.
Thoughtful analysis and reflection from @indepthwithdeon.bsky.social on the state of Oklahoma's death penalty open.substack.com/pub/indepthw...
Does Oklahoma Deserve To Kill?
In a state that leads the nation in executions, a quiet death forces a loud question.
open.substack.com
Thank you for joining the podcast!
N’Kiyla ‘Jasmine’ Thomas | U.S Senate 2026@jasmineforok.bsky.social · 8mo agoHad a wonderful time with @indepthwithdeon.bsky.social describing my experience on the campaign trail so far, among other things, but you'll just have to go watch the episode to find out. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQaI...
UPDATE: A Minnesota judge has freed a Black couple from pre-trial detention after they were accused of kidnapping federal immigration agents. Full story: indepthwithdeon.substack.com/p/judge-free...
He fell into the blades of an auger at a poultry plant and died. He was a father, an immigrant, and a contract worker on the night shift. His name was Leovigildo Ramírez Castillo — and his story should shock us all. www.readfrontier.org/stories/an-i...
An immigrant’s death at an Oklahoma poultry plant highlights dangerous conditions for workers
Current and former employees describe a punishing pace of work and questionable safety standards at a Heavener plant where recent immigrants fill a constant need for laborers.
readfrontier.org
WRONGFUL CONVICTION DAY THURSDAY. Don’t forget to mark your calendars. I’ll be your MC for this event at the Oklahoma State Capitol, where several families will highlight cases of alleged prosecutorial misconduct, racial bias and more. Hosted by HOOKED ON JUSTICE Oklahoma Chapter
Ryan Walters would rather force #oklaed students to learn fake news about the 2020 election than improve the state's 49th ranking in education. "Everything they say about DEI, it applies more to White conservatives in the Republican party more than anything.” #indepthwithdeon
As Oklahoma student math scores sit near the bottom of the nation, people like former TU linebacker-turned math tutor Donnell Hawkins fill an outsized role in preparing the next generation of leaders. theblackwallsttimes.com/2025/04/11/f...
A spokesperson for OFS told me, “Our deepest gratitude goes out to the legislators, state and local officials, dedicated partners, and supporters across Oklahoma who are making it clear that they back Oklahoma Forestry Services and its mission.” theblackwallsttimes.com/2025/04/04/o...
An Oklahoma prison tried to cremate a prisoners body before the family knew he was even dead. Now Republican Rep JJ Humphrey is working with the family of Marquiel Ross to demand an investigation and justice. #odoc #oklahomastatepen #indepthwithdeon #justice #marquielross #oklahoma #okleg
A new guide for LGBTQ+ travelers ranked 30 cities in the U.S. as safest in 2025, but not a single city in Oklahoma made the cut. Black Queer Tulsa's Daniel McHenry and Freedom Oklahoma's Nicole McAfee told me they were disappointed but not surprised. theblackwallsttimes.com/2025/03/31/o...
Republican Rep. JJ Humphrey admits his police anti-doxxing bill has gaps that law enforcement has exploited two years after I first brought those concerns to him as a journalist. Now a sheriff in Oklahoma is going after a police whistleblower. #indepthwithdeonpodcast
“The Democratic Party needs to do more than release statements, it needs to fund the fight,” Kristi Williams told me. “It’s time to stop playing defense and start protecting the people, the programs and the history that white supremacy is trying to erase." theblackwallsttimes.com/2025/03/28/t...
Trump targets National Museum of African American History
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday targeting "improper ideology" at the Smithsonian Institution's museums.
theblackwallsttimes.com
When scholars of authoritarianism and fascism leave U.S. universities because of the deteriorating political situation here, we should really worry.
"You're just a token": Dr. George Henderson says good tokens are able to open the doors "for the next one and the next one." Over a six-decade career at the University of Oklahoma, he's opened thousands of doors for the Black folks who come after him. #indepthwithdeonpodcast
In response to my reporting of a U.S. citizen being temporally detained and questioned by immigration agents because she “fit the description”, I.C.E. denies racial profiling despite numerous other cases like this against Hispanic American citizens and even Tribal citizens.
I spoke with Iliana Pacheco, a nurse and U.S. citizen from New Jersey, who says she was detained and racially profiled by I.C.E. agents who allegedly said she "fit the description" of someone who's undocumented while at a Puerto Rican airport. theblackwallsttimes.com/2025/03/19/u...
"We enslaved Black people in the 19th Century," Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Hoskin Jr. says, describing the role enslaved Black people, later known as Cherokee Freedmen, played in building the economy of the Cherokee Nation. #cherokeenation #cherokeefreedmen #indepthwithdeonpodcast
Sebastien Beauzile’s recently announced cure from sickle cell disease brings hope to thousands of mostly Black Americans who suffer from the rare disease, but the $3 million cost of the gene-editing therapy raises question about access & affordability. theblackwallsttimes.com/2025/03/18/s...
"Instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be, he has sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds." UMG has moved to dismiss Drake's lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us."
Of note: Oklahoma doesn't have a law saying you have to lower frequencies in electrical wires when winds exceed a certain speed. Gov. Kevin Stitt said live wires falling on brush led to some of the fires.
Max Bryan@mbryanok.bsky.social · 2y agoFull write-up of the wildfires from @benhabrams.com and myself. Lots of good info for those who are curious about what's happening in my state this week. www.publicradiotulsa.org/local-region...
"The Cherokee Nation existed before anyone ever heard of the United States. Before anyone invented the state of Oklahoma, there was a Cherokee Nation." Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. joins In Depth With Deon Podcast.
Public school advocates are celebrating after the Oklahoma Supreme Court temporarily blocked Ryan Walters from mandating a Bible curriculum in classrooms, but his efforts to upend the U.S. and Oklahoma Constitutions show no signs of stopping. theblackwallsttimes.com/2025/03/12/r...
International law states forced displacement is always unlawful “when it is based on policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing or similar practices aimed at/or resulting in altering the ethnic, religious or racial composition of the affected population.” theblackwallsttimes.com/2025/02/10/t...
www.reuters.com/world/africa...
South Africa defends itself against Trump and Musk attacks on land policy
South Africa defended itself on Monday against attacks on its land confiscation policy by Donald Trump and his South African-born billionaire backer Elon Musk after the U.S. president said he would cut off funding to the country over the issue.
reuters.com
Tulsa’s Tyrance Billingsley II, a son of Greenwood, is leading the transformation of Black Wall Street into a premier Black tech hub. Don’t call it a comeback. Call it Black Tech Street. #new episode drops this Friday anywhere you get your podcasts. #indepthwithdeonpodcast