City Hall

City Hall:
On November 20, my government class and Muneer Awad, they director of  CAIR-Oklahoma took a visit to the Capital, to learn more about the government in Oklahoma. The first thing we did, was go to a city council meeting. Our teacher Lobna Hewedi, took the opportunity to give us the chance to explore outside of school.


There have been many people in such an early morning that day, that even the councilman was suprised.I now know why there were a lot of people because the issue is very important to people.The issue was about if homosexuals should be fired because of them being harrassed, and discriminated against others.  Kelly, another councilman, looked at slavery to say that homosexuals were not being targeted. He said that the city did not need to have this issue because their wasnt enough proof based on sexual orentation and enough evidence of them being harrassed.
Larry McAfee, was clarifying the question by asking questions, and answered all the questions that were not answered. He feels that Oklahoma does not have a problem yet, so that the issue does not have to be brung up in meetings. Peter was for gay rights. He said that people have "homophobia" which means that the gays were most discriminated for everything.
After that discussion, citizens have spoken and Muneer defended the Muslim community, and was talking about Mercy school. After one more speech, which was very understanding and emotional, we had left.

State Capitol:
We have met up with Jeannie McDaniel, reporters from the press room, and Mary Fallins secretary.
Jeannie McDaniel honestly inspired me, not only of what she said, but of how she talked to us. I paid more attention to her, because I felt that I could relate to her, and that I could ask her a lot of questions, without being scared. The questions that we have asked her, and the answers that she has answered were very interesting. We talked about education, Foster homes, immigration, and affirmative action. We asked her about these topics, because we are learning them, and also because we wanted to know what she has thought of the issues. Her answers were very understanding, and clear to understand. I also liked how she made her answers long, and interesting. However, she does not support education systems in countries, such as China, India because "it harms the creativity of children". She feels that everyone deserves to have an equal oppurtunity. She believes that the immigrants arent breaking any law, and also not hurting anyone, because they do jobs that Americans normally wouldnt do. So they are helping out the country in a way. I would meet her again, and also talk about more issues with her, because of her, i understood it very clearly.

We also went to the press room, where they write newspapers! They told us about their jobs, and one of the reported asked us "are you guys from the US?" Which was really funny, but overall, I like what they do, and they know what is going on all over Oklahoma, which is amazing. Our last meeting is with Mary Fallins secretary, she I think has a very hard job, to read all over the emails that she gets everyday, over 200. Also, she gave our class advice, and how she made it to where she is now. You never know, I might try it!

The End:
This trip overall was amazing, finding out new things, meeting new people, and seeing what really is out there. I have always wanted to do something like this, and I did! I would like to thank my awesome governent teacher Lobna Hewadi and Muneer Awad.