© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Forming a Black Brown Coalition

By Susan Wilson

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-702937.mp3

Kansas City, MO – African Americans and Latinos are the two largest minority groups in the United States. But recently, the percentage of Latinos nationwide has grown to 14 %, surpassing the 12% of African Americans. In the Kansas City metro area, African Americans still double the number of Latinos, that's 13% compared to 6.5%. Many African Americans and Latinos have common civil rights interests; but cultural, political and historical differences can lead to tension and misunderstandings.

A few local leaders believed that it was critical to begin to build bridges of understanding between these groups. In fact, the Urban League of Kansas City, the NAACP and the Coalition of Hispanic Organizations attempted just that and the Black Brown Coalition was born. In 2006, leaders began meeting, and many African Americans and Latinos did stand together to protest Mayor Funkhousers' recent appointment of Francis Semler to the Park Board. However, the road to consensus has been rocky. Urban League President Gwen Grant and Coalition of Hispanic Organizations President Rita Valenciano stopped by our studio to talk about their goals and the challenges of consensus building across the cultural divide.

This story was produced for KC Currents. To listen on your own schedule, subscribe to the KC Currents Podcast .

KCUR prides ourselves on bringing local journalism to the public without a paywall — ever.

Our reporting will always be free for you to read. But it's not free to produce.

As a nonprofit, we rely on your donations to keep operating and trying new things. If you value our work, consider becoming a member.