Classen Boulevard
OKC
© C.C. Brooks

“[I’m interested in] demythologizing, de-romanticizing America’s master narrative, the half-truth comfort stories we tell ourselves.”

-the novelist Rilla Askew, from her website RillaAskew.com

Costume Shop
Classen Boulevard
OKC
© C.C. Brooks
 

“A culture that alienates itself from the very ground of its own being – from the wilderness outside . . . and from that other wilderness, the wilderness within – is doomed to a very destructive behavior, ultimately perhaps self-destructive behavior.”

            -from “The Wilderness” by the poet Gary Snyder

Charley's Records
OKC
© C.C. Brooks

“When we write, perform, heal, or are otherwise in that creative space, we can find ourselves beyond time.”

            -the poet Joy Harjo

Hi Lo Club
OKC
© C.C. Brooks

“I went into the Maverick Bar . . . Two cowboys did horseplay by the pool tables . . . I recalled that short-haired joy and roughness – America – your stupidity.  I could almost love you again.  We left – onto the freeway shoulders – under the tough old stars . . . I came back to myself, to the real work, to ‘what is to be done’”. 

            -from the poem “I Went Into the Maverick Bar” by Gary Snyder

Hi Lo Club
OKC
© C.C. Brooks

“I stay clear of membership in any organized religion.  From my study of history, theology, and metaphysics, especially from the perspective of an indigenous person in this country, I understand that organized religion is responsible for dismantling and destroying indigenous cultures all over the Western Hemisphere.  This is still happening within our tribal nations.  Factions from organized religions are behind nearly every armed conflict currently going on in the world.  Most churches are corporate structures whose aim is to grow the congregation, to make money.”

            -the poet Joy Harjo

Mr. Pham's Mural
Classen Boulevard
OKC
© C.C. Brooks