Creating Community at Fulton Street - Onikah Asamoa-Caesar

02/19/20 • 64 min

Welcome to Tulsa Talks presented by Tulsa Regional Chamber. I’m your host Tim Landes. I’m thrilled to share this conversation with you. The voice you heard kicking this off is my guest, Onikah Asamoa-Caesar. She’s the founder of soon-to-open Fulton Street Books and Coffee located in the Heights, which is just northwest of downtown Tulsa. Onikah’s story is incredible. We shared it in our February issue in a great feature written by Jessica Brent. If you haven’t read it, visit TulsaPeople.com and search Fulton Street.
After reading the article, I wanted to dig deeper and Onikah was down to reflect more on the first 30 years of her life and how it led to her opening the bookstore this spring. She was born in New Jersey, moved to California and entered the foster care system. That took her to Mississippi before she returned to California for college. From there she traveled the globe and then attended John Hopkins. She joined Teach for America and chose to come to Tulsa. It was not a great initial experience. As you’ll hear, it took her leaving Tulsa to realize she missed it and wanted to come back and make some change.

Now she’s close to becoming a first-time mother and opening her first business, as her husband Kojo Asamoa-Caesar makes a run at representing Oklahoma’s First Congressional District.

I’m thankful for Onikah being so open about her experiences and the challenges she’s faced along the way. I have no doubt she’ll find success in creating a space for community and conversation for Tulsans.

A note, it was a very busy day in our offices when we recorded our conversation, so at times you might hear some faint background chatter from a big project happening nearby during our chat.

Following that story, city editor Morgan Phillips shares her experience adopting a new family companion through the Pet Adoption League. It’s been nearly eight years since I adopted my best friend from the organization, and it’s great to hear they are still creating furever homes in Tulsa.

Closing out the episode, The Voice’s Kyra Bruce shares a song from the indie-psych rock trio, Zunis.

Alright let’s get this going.

This is Tulsa Talks.

Now she’s close to becoming a first-time mother and opening her first business, as her husband Kojo Asamoa-Caesar makes a run at representing Oklahoma’s First Congressional District.

A note, it was a very busy day in our offices when we recorded our conversation, so at times you might hear some faint background chatter from a big project happening nearby during our chat.

Closing out the episode, The Voice’s Kyra Bruce shares a song from the indie-psych rock trio, Zunis.

Alright let’s get this going.

This is Tulsa Talks.

Previous Episode

Bringing Hollywood to Tulsa – Abby Kurin

Welcome to Tulsa Talks presented by Tulsa Regional Chamber. I’m your host Tim Landes. There’s been a lot of news lately about legendary director Martin Scorsese coming to northeast Oklahoma to film Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s just one of many movie and television productions to film in our area in recent years, and there are more to come. The voice you just heard a moment ago is Abby Kurin. Abby plays a significant role in bringing movies like Killers of the Flower Moon to our area. She’s the executive director of the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts and Culture or FMAC for short. In this conversation she explains how her office helps bring Hollywood to Tulsa.

We recorded this conversation a couple days before she headed off to Sundance to take part in one of the biggest film festivals to occur in America. It’s where small independent films and documentaries are screened for movie distributors and critics to get the process going toward showing it them on big screens across the country. The hope is a movie will start there and finish at the Oscars.

Abby went to support the city and state’s efforts to recruit more projects, but also to cheer on a movie called Minari, directed by Lee Isaac Chung. It’s a 1980s set tale about a Korean-American family struggling with their new life in rural Arkansas. It was filmed here, last year. Minari took top honors winning Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize. That’s a big boost as it begins its campaign toward next year’s Academy Awards, and it’s a big win for Tulsa and FMAC.

Abby and I discuss many more victories her office has had and what they’re hoping to achieve as they continue to recruit more blockbuster productions to our city and state.

I had a great time getting to know Abby and chatting with her about movies and pop culture. She’s passionate about her work and that can only mean good things for all of us, who love movies, music and the rest the arts.

Following that conversation, The Voice’s Kyra Bruce shares some insight on local punk band Soaker and their new song, “Rat Face.”

Let’s get this going.

This is Tulsa Talks.

Next Episode

Tulsa’s public art boom – Case Morton, co-founder Clean Hands Army

Welcome to Tulsa Talks presented by Tulsa Regional Chamber. I’m your host Tim Landes. My guest is Case Morton, co-founder of Clean Hands Army.

Nearly a decade ago, a group of artistic friends decided to launch a business. One of their early projects was painting a couple of murals in downtown, including the Woody Guthrie Center.

Today they have more than 35 murals across Tulsa. Their work sparked a public art revolution in the city and now there are paintings on business walls all over the metro with more popping up every week.

Clean Hands launched the Habit Mural Festival that will host its fifth annual event in April. There are Clean Hands stickers, shirts and hats. They’ve promoted musicians and are now partners in the long-running Easter Island Music Festival.

Case grew up in Tulsa and graduated from East Central High School, where he says he was a “greaser.” He reflects on how those years shaped who he is today. He then went on to gradute from Northeastern State University and returned to Tulsa. He realized he wasn’t happy with the corporate lifestyle he found himself in, so he bolted to Hawaii where he lived for months without spending a dollar.

As you’ll hear in this conversation, even though he boomeranged back to Tulsa, he’s rarely here for an extended period of time. He splits his time between here and his home in Vancouver, Canada, when he’s not traveling the globe. Wait till you hear how many countries around the world have a Clean Hands sticker displayed on a wall or light post.

I’ve been a fan of Clean Hands since I learned about them in 2012, yet I knew very little about how they operate as a business. So I was excited to sit down and learn more from Case. As you’ll hear, they operate the business like it’s a hobby. Case says they are not driven by money or profit. Everyone involved in Clean Hands has other business ventures that allows them to have fun with this operation.

They continue to do murals for companies and private commissions. They continue to experiment and have fun, and we all get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Great stuff.

Following that discussion, The Voice’s Kyra Bruce shares a conversation with Allison Ward of the band Tom Boil. They discuss the its formation and why every song on their album is named after a dinosaur, including the single “Pterodactyl” that closes out this episode.

Let’s get this going.

This is Tulsa Talks.