Brandy Becerra lives just north of I-40 on Garth Brooks Blvd in Yukon OK. She has put white flags on her lawn, one for every Oklahoman to die from COVID-19.
I got the pictures just in time. Later that week on Saturday, we drove past the house and most of the flags have been removed, with just a small memorial display left.
Dec 29, 2020
Yukon woman places flags in front yard to honor Oklahomans killed by COVID-19
YUKON, Okla. —
For the past few months, Brandy Becerra has turned her front yard in Yukon into a memorial to honor people lost to COVID-19.
She’s placed more than 2,000 small white flags in her yard to represent Oklahomans who have died from the disease. Becerra told KOCO 5 that she plans to continue this until the state does a better job of slowing the spread.
“I hope that this display kind of gives people an eye-opening view that it’s not just a number, these are our fellow Oklahomans that are dying,” Becerra said. “And it’s sad because every day you hear a new number come in.”
She said she started out with the smaller flags for every thousand Americans who had died from COVID-19. Becerra said, however, that with cases and deaths here at home rising, she wanted to honor the Oklahomans who lost their lives.
Becerra added that she’s had a lot of pushback about her memorial but refuses to remain silent.
“These people no longer have a voice, and I’m going to be that voice. And I don’t care if they like it or not, because it’s here and it’s going to stay and we need it to be in your face,” she said. “We need to do everything humanly possible to slow the spread of this virus because every life is important. Every life is worth saving.”
Becerra said she hopes Oklahomans continue to do their part to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“We’ve got to do better as Oklahomans. There’s an Oklahoma standard. Where is that? I don’t see it,” she said. “This isn’t left. This isn’t right. It’s not middle. It’s unity, and we need to unify and say we care about everybody.”