For Immediate Release
July 10, 2012
Contact: Wallace Collins
405-427-3366
Human Rights Alliance Holds Second Meeting

 

On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Universal Human Rights Alliance held their second meeting at the Oklahoma City campus of Langston University.  On the agenda was the election of officers and work on a mission statement for the newly formed group.  The primary focus of the OUHRA is to replace the various committees and commissions that gave a voice to many minority groups in Oklahoma.  These committees and commissions were eliminated by Republican Governor Fallin and the Oklahoma legislature last session.

 

The new officers elected were:  Chair, Wallace Collins; Vice Chair,  Marguerite Leon; Secretary, Pedro Martinez; and Treasurer; Sean Cummings.  All were elected by unanimous consent of the body.  After the elections were held, the new Chair, Collins, related a story of support from the original Senate author of the Affirmative Action bill from decades ago, former State and U.S. Senator, Fred R. Harris.  Harris, originally from Lawton, told Collins that he was strongly in favor of the formation of the new group, and very pleased that it has been organized to take up the slack left by the elimination of the Affirmative Action; Human Rights; Native American Affairs; Asian Rights; Hispanic Rights; and other committees  or commissions that gave representation to minority groups in Oklahoma.  Senator Harris, who is a past Democratic Presidential candidate, stated that he believed it was a mistake to eliminate these vital committees and commissions.  Harris, who is currently a professor at the University of New Mexico, also promised to personally visit with the OUHRA in the future.

 

The next meeting of the Oklahoma Universal Human Rights Alliance is scheduled for Monday, August 13, 2012, 11:30 to 1 P.M. at the Oklahoma City campus of Langston University, 4205 N. Lincoln Boulevard.  The “brown bag luncheon” will feature more organizational work, plus a focus on the group’s opposition to State Question 759.
###