LOGO: Red Flag Press - independent Oklahoma publisher



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The story of the Red Flag: We get our name from the first Oklahoma state flag which flew from 1911-1924 (there was no official state flag from 1907-1911).

The flag was changed during the post-WWI paranoia era because of the flag's association with Socialism. We think this is a crying shame because Oklahoma's agrarian-socialist history is not shameful but rather one of our state's finest hours.







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Books we recommend...

(purchases made by these links help support Red Flag Press)


An Oklahoma I had never seen before --- edited by Davis Joyce




Alternative Oklahoma: Contrarian Views of the Sooner State --- edited by Davis Joyce




Howard Zinn: A Radical American Vision --- by Davis Joyce




Books on Trial: Red Scare in the Heartland --- by Shirley A. Wiegand and Wayne A. Wiegand




Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie (Haymarket (Paperback)) - by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz



Outlaw Woman : A Memoir of the War Years 1960-1975 - by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz



Blood on the Border : A Memoir of the Contra War - by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz



Agrarian Socialism in America: Marx, Jefferson and Jesus in the Oklahoma Countryside --- by Jim Bissett




Oil, Wheat & Wobblies: The Industrial Workers of the World in Oklahoma, 1905-1930 --- by Nigel Anthony Sellars




If you don't weaken --- by Oscar Ameringer




The 46th star: A history of Oklahoma's Constitutional Convention and early Statehood --- by Irvin Hurst




Progressive Oklahoma --- by Danny Goble



More books coming soon!



 
We proudly announce our new publication...
Oklahoma Revelator --- Cultivating Oklahoma's Radical Roots --- A People's Almanac & Cultural Quarterly







A point to prove . . .

Oklahomans have been taught they have no particular reason to be proud of themselves. We have been told we lack culture and sophistication, and that our pleasures are too simple and commonplace. We have been told our labor is cheap. We have been told our land is flat. We have been told our opinions hold no value. We have been told our heritage is obsolete. We have been told to regard ourselves as "Okies" - dirty, lazy, ignorant and exploitable. We have been taught to be ashamed of ourselves, and to imitate the lifestyles and values of the coastal, cultural elite. We have been fittted with stereotypes that just don't fit.

This site is created in the hope of resurrecting the true and noble spirit of the people of Oklahoma. This site aims to make clear the dignity and determination that nourished the hearts of Okies through hard times and heartbreak, through dust and darkness, through sweat and tears. This site proudly claims as its inspiration the unrelenting kindness and principled wisdom by which Okies governed themselves and their communities. We declare their independence as our own. We know that freedom comes only when we put our own hands in our own dirt, and that we' ll all prosper if we stick together. We wish to pass their example onto others.

For these reasons, and for those mothers and fathers who have gone before, we raise the red flag - law be damned. We stand for those who struggle the hardest, who love the longest, and endure the roughest defeats. These are the folks who teach and prove that Okies don't quit.




Politicians aren't the only outlaws who need money . . .

We are in the merchandise business only for the purposes of funding what we hope will be a print publication dedicated to providing a venue for the voices of rural Oklahomans and those others who share their values. All proceeds from the sale of merchandise go toward this goal. No one's getting rich here.







Donate to Red Flag Press - Click here
Download our information brochure to share with a friend






Normally we wouldn't encourage you to submit...

but Red Flag Press is accepting submissions for its future publishing endeavors. We are looking for work from Okie authors.

You can send your work to Rachel by email, USPS or the Pony Express, but please keep a photocopy of everything you send us. We are not responsible for any lost manuscripts.









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"Okie use' ta mean you was from Oklahoma. Now it means you're a dirty son-of-a-bitch. Okie means you're scum. Don't mean nothing itself, it's the way they say it."

        - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinback

What does it really mean to be an Okie?
Read The Grapes of Wrath

and read chapter 19 two times.


"In the souls of the people, the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage."









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picture of Kate Barnard


You may have died alone, but you live on with us.
May no one doubt the value of your legacy.



Kate Barnard (May 23, 1875 - February 23, 1930) was the first woman to be elected as a State official in Oklahoma, and the United States in 1907. She served as Oklahoma's first Commissioner of Charities and Correction for 2 terms.

She was a key player in the enactment of the compulsory education law, state support of widows dependent on their children's earnings, and statutes implementing the constitutional ban on child labor. She also was an advocate for working Oklahomans thorugh the work she did in securing legislation aimed at eradicating unsafe working conditions and the blacklisting of union members.

A bronze statute of Kate Barnard is on the first floor of the Oklahoma State Captiol. - (from: Wikipedia)













Contact

  • For information about RFP products, for submission of work for consideration, and to place orders, please contact Red Flag Rachel by email - rachel (at) redflagpress(dot)com

  • For information about this website, please contact J.M. Branum by email - james (at) redflagpress(dot)com

  • To contact us by mail or to make an order by check write to us at:

    Red Flag Press
    PO Box 49
    Norman, OK 73070
















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