We recognize some of the many human rights heroes who live among us.
There is plenty of evidence that human rights are under attack where we live. All you have to do is turn on the television news. Fear, bigotry, and hatred are a volatile mixture. We worry about the future of our nation.
Yet, there is other evidence to examine — hopeful signs that human rights are alive and well. Right here in Oklahoma, we see that the dignity of the individual person is being honored. Religious freedom is being protected. The rights of all people are being defended. We are building communities where every man, woman, and child may find equal justice, equal opportunity, and equal dignity without discrimination.
Where is our evidence?
We find it in the people of our great state. In every corner of Oklahoma — in places close to home, in the world of the individual person — we recognize the human rights heroes who live among us. They are the champions of human rights where we live.
They defend the weak. They teach justice. They inspire us by their example to recognize our own rights and to uphold the rights of others.
These are our Oklahoma Human Rights Award Winners for 2016:
Miguel Baez
Oklahoma City
Sara Zaynab Bana
Midwest City
David Brinker, MD
Oklahoma City
Dr. Lindsey Churchill
Edmond
Priya Desai, MSW
Oklahoma City
The Dialogue Institute of Oklahoma
OKC & Tulsa
Moises Echeverria
Tulsa
Rex D. Friend
Oklahoma City
Robert M. Goldman
Oklahoma City
Tom Guild
Edmond, OK
Dr. Nyla Ali Khan
Norman
Father Tim Luschen
Oklahoma City
Roberto Mendoza
Oklahoma City
Multicultural Education Institute
Edmond
OKC Artists for Justice
Oklahoma City
Allen Parleir & Elia Woods
Oklahoma City
Sache Primeaux-Shaw
Oklahoma City
Garland Pruitt
Choctaw, OK
Andrew Sartain, Earth Rebirth
Norman
Seneca Scott
Tulsa
Marjan Seirafi-Pour
Norman
Catalina Serrano
Oklahoma City
Mana Tahaie
Tulsa
Angelica Villalobos Solis
Oklahoma City
The Gordon and Pauline Wahpepah Family
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
John T. Walters
Oklahoma City
Richard Ray Whitman
Oklahoma City