It is with great pleasure that I turn my blog over to Nonnie Jules where she will tell you about her new book, “No Pedigree.” Nonnie is the founder of the RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB and the RAVE WRITERS – INT’L SOCIETY OF AUTHORS.
Giveaways: (2) e-book copies of NO PEDIGREE, (2) $5 Amazon gift cards & (1) 3-Day Weekend blog tour! Total of 5 Winners! To be entered into the drawing for either of these gifts, you must leave a comment below as well as a comment on the author’s 4WillsPub tour page.
Hi, and thanks for dropping in on Day 5 of my NO PEDIGREE blog tour! I’d like to thank Jan who is so graciously allowing me her space today so that I can enlighten you a bit more on the troubles of Oklahoma, during 2014, the time period of which this tale was written.
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7 YEARS SHORT OF 100 AND NOT MUCH HAD CHANGED
Since NO PEDIGREE was set out of Piedmont, OK beginning in 2014, I thought I’d share some additional data on the area, which will shed a much brighter light on what Baylee had to suffer through – even in the 21st century.
There were 93 years resting between 1921 when the TULSA RACE MASSACRE occurred until 2014 when Baylee arrived in Piedmont. Sadly, not much had changed.
In 2015, there was controversy over a racist chant made by a white student at a University of Oklahoma fraternity, which brought attention back on the state’s race relations.
Even today, reports show that blacks struggle in most of the quality-of-life factors in the state. Oklahoma is first in the nation for blacks to die at the hands of police officers (this data from those states reporting). Blacks are about half as likely to own a home, are more likely to go to prison, less likely to go to college and less likely to graduate.
Blacks in Oklahoma are more likely to be the victims of a crime or charged with a crime when compared to their white counterparts and other racial groups.
This atmosphere created a stressful dynamic where some in the black community worked hard to see better policing to keep their neighborhoods safe, but they also felt unfairly targeted by police, which bred mistrust.
Black students were faced with higher rates of school punishment along with higher juvenile arrest rates for violation of zero-tolerance policies. This helped to create the so-called “school to prison pipeline” by pushing these students out of school.
Even as some states shifted to lighter punishments or legalization for marijuana possession, black Oklahomans were disproportionately charged with possessing the drug.
In 2014, minorities were underrepresented in Oklahoma’s two flagship universities: The University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. Today, in 2020, this is still the case. I know this as fact, because I have a child at one of these universities.
Both universities also struggle to retain, and graduate minority students compared with white students.
Oklahoma is rich with history – much of it hidden away. I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to write NO PEDIGREE, giving me an even greater reason to dig deeper into Oklahoma’s background. I’m honored to be able to share it with you.
Racism resides everywhere, not just in Oklahoma, but, so does strength, bravery and resilience. It is up to us to decide which end of that spectrum we want to stand. Racism is not born, it is bred … and the same goes for strength … it isn’t born – it is modeled.
**Resource:** Oklahoma Watch News
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BOOK BLURB…
Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, Baylee never quite fit in… anywhere. She was taunted and teased because her clothes had no designer labels, and spit upon because her only pair of shoes had holes in the bottom. The butt of many jokes, she was excluded from all social activities, sneered at by the parents of her peers after school as she waited for the bus, watching them drive away in their fancy cars; assaulted in the most unthinkable fashion.
Having been born to a white father and a black native American mother didn’t make things any easier. In fact, that circumstance made her life ten times harder – until the day she made them all stand up, take notice, and regret every ugly word and deed they had inflicted upon her.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Hi, I’m Nonnie Jules – President & Founder of RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB {RRBC} and RAVE WRITERS – INT’L SOCIETY OF AUTHORS {RWISA}. As a writer who values the (polished) written word, it is my mission to help my fellow authors understand that their reputations as writers should be treated as rare treasure, and that the only way to be taken seriously in this business, is to ensure that your writing (no matter the forum) is impeccably written and well edited. If not, you’re just another “Joe” with a pen who was the first to raise his hand when Amazon asked, “Hey, any old Joe out there wanna publish a book? Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be good and there’s absolutely no hard work involved.”
FYI: If you don’t care what you put out into the world, you’re just a laughingstock in the literary community … and your name is “Joe.”
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Connect with Nonnie via Twitter: @nonniejules
To purchase your own copy of NO PEDIGREE, https://www.amazon.com/NO-PEDIGREE-Really-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B083SB1RMN/
To learn more about Nonnie and other ways to connect with her, please drop in on her RRBC Author Page!
To follow along with the rest of the NO PEDIGREE blog tour, visit the author’s tour page.
If you’d like to schedule your own 4WillsPub tour to promote your books in similar fashion, click HERE.
Jan, thanks for hosting me, again!
A true pleasure, Nonnie!
Your research shed light in this part of the history in Oklahoma, Nonnie. Thank you for sharing. Thank you, Jan for hosting.
I agree, Miriam! Thank you for stopping by!
You’re welcome, Jan!
I sure hope so, Miriam. I learned some things along the way – lots of things I didn’t know, either. But, I’m glad that I did take the time to dig a little deeper.
It turned out great, Nonnie.
If only more people were willing to be enlightened. Thank you for continuing to share, Non. And Jan, thank you so much for hosting.
Mar, if only…
🙂
I completely agree, Mar! Thank you for stopping by!
Nonnie, the last paragraph of your blog resonated with me. Thank you for sharing this piece with us.
And thanks to our delightful host, Jan.
Thanks, Peggy! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I’m happy you stopped by to support Nonnie, Peggy! It was my pleasure to host her!
Nice to see you in the spotlight Nonnie. I haven’t read the book yet but viewing the comments I know I need to hurry up and get to it. I think this topic has become a wake up call to a lot of the members and I think that’s a good thing.
Jan good to see you hosting.
Hi, Shirley. Thanks for stopping by. I just know you are going to love this story and can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it! It was my pleasure to host Nonnie!
Jan I read the book in one sitting. I got very worked up during the rape segment but loved the fact that Baylee got the chance to get revenge on the perpetrator. Its sad but happens throughout the history of mankind’s existence. One race forever trying to annihilate or humiliate those who are different. They never succeed but that never stops them.
Thanks, Shirley! Enjoy! No Pedigree is no-nonsense!
I’ve seen lots of wonderful reviews for your story, Nonnie, and it was interesting to get some background in Oklahoma’s history of racism. Unfortunately, racism is alive and well in many parts of the country. I think sharing information like this and educating the larger public helps. Great tour. Thanks for hosting, Jan.
Thank you, Diana, for your comment and for stopping by to support Nonnie’s tour!
D., yes, I hope to have done my part in opening the eyes of many to this ‘lost’ part of history – or shall I say, this part that some tried to cover up. Yes, It’s ugly but it happened and because it happened, we all need to know about it.
If we don’t know our history, we are destined to repeat it.
Thanks for dropping by!
You’re welcome. 🙂
Hi, Nonnie, another fascinating post! In the early eighties, I moved to Oklahoma City and was amazed by the strict racial division between black an white. There was basically a line down the center of town with blacks on one side andwhites on the other. Very rarely did anyone cross that line.
The only black men who came into the clubs on the white side were there to take care of “business,” not to watch the show.
My lawyer was black, and when I walked from my car to his office, I felt like white meat on the hoof. Lol
The drive-in theater was also on the black side of town, and when I went there, I saw very few white people walking on the streets. It just wasn’t done.
It’s amazing to me that things have not change much between then and now.
Jan, thank you so much for hosting this fascinating stop!
You are right, Rhani. It’s sad that that kind of narrow-minded bigoted thinking still exists today, but the sad reality is that it does. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and for stopping by to support Nonnie!
And it continues to be perpetuated because people who live in those neighborhoods rarely, if ever, bother to leave their small towns and learn how the rest of the world lives. They connect with only like-minded people, which keeps that mindset growing. If they ever moved to my neck of the woods (South Florida), they’d have a coronary when they see how blended our communities are. Granted, if they look hard enough, they could find sections that are segregated. That is true in all states, but I find our cultures tend to mix well with one another down here. I’m not saying racism doesn’t exist here. It does; even among one type of culture, there is racism. But the segregation is nowhere near what you described, Rhani. It’s just crazy to think that still exists today. Wow.
You are fortunate, Yvi, to live in a place that has an openness to our differences. That’s a blessing! Thank you for stopping by and supporting Nonnie today!
Yvette, you should be thankful to live in such an area as the one you’ve described. If more were like yours, what a better world we’d be living in.
Thanks for dropping in!
All I can say to this, Rhani, is WOW. What a story. I don’t think there’s a line down the center of town anymore, but, the same shenanigans are still going on.
Thanks for dropping in!
Such a tragedy that this is still going on. Thanks for hosting Nonnie’s enlightening book, I’ll add it to the TBR.
It’s a really good story, Mark. Thanks for stopping by and lending your support!
Tragedy is just the right word to describe situations such as these, Mark. Thanks so much for your support!
Ms. Jan, thank you so much for having me in your beautiful home (cough). Ooops, I must run. I’m not feeling my best and I don’t want to spread any germs around, so, I’ll be ducking in and out throughout the day. How about that?
🙂
Hi, Nonnie. Please take care of yourself. I am honored to feature you on my blog today and, of course, you can duck in and out throughout the day!
Thanks so much, Jan!
I wonder how racism started, it is indeed a global phenomena. Thanks for digging deeper into Oklahoma’s background Nonnie. Thanks for sharing Jan.
I think it would be safe to say that racism has been around for as long as humans have existed, Balroop. I’m glad you enjoyed Nonnie’s post! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
Thanks for dropping in, Balroop 🙂
I’m glad you are writing these blogs giving light to this. You are so right we aren’t born this way and it can be bred out of our society.
Thanks for hosting, Jan!
I totally agree, Denise, and it’s my pleasure to host Nonnie!
Hi, Denise! We tend to argue that people are born this way (or not) but there’s no debate in the fact that racism is a learned habit. We’re not born to do it, but we are born into it!
I enjoyed the additional information about Oklahoma provided in this post, Nonnie. You’re right, racism is still far too prevalent in the world today. Thanks for hosting Nonnie, Jan!
Hi, John! It’s my pleasure to host Nonnie! Thank you for your comment and your support!
Hi, John! Just trying to do my part to enlighten all of you, while at the same time, enlightening myself, as well.
Thanks for dropping by!