Lawrence Brooks IV
Race & Culture ReporterAs KCUR’s race and culture reporter, I work to help readers and listeners build meaningful and longstanding relationships with the many diverse cultures that make up the Kansas City metro. I deliver nuanced stories about the underrepresented communities that call our metro home, and the people whose historically-overlooked contributions span politics, civil rights, business, the arts, sports and every other realm of our daily lives.
Contact me at lbrooksiv@kcur.org.
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When hip-hop hit Kansas City streets, the effect was immediate. The new sound took over record stores, local high schools and underground dance parties. As the country celebrates 50 years of the art form, Kansas City honors its own contributions to the culture.
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When hip-hop first hit Kansas City streets, the effect was immediate. The new sound took over record stores, local high schools and underground dance parties. As America celebrates a half century of hip-hop, KCUR’s Lawrence Brooks IV honors Kansas City’s own contributions to the culture.
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Students, parents, community leaders and activists held a protest to support Black students in the Shawnee Mission School District after a video of a white male student verbally and physically assaulting a Black female student went viral on social media earlier this week.
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Kansas City is on the brink of breaking the all-time record of 182 yearly homicides, set in 2020. Community organizations, activists, city leadership and law enforcement are searching for answers to stem the tide of death.
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Lifelong martial artist David Muhammad has used a background in karate to launch his kickboxing practice onto the global stage. The two disciplines have fed his thirst for competitive combat, and helped him build a diverse community in south Kansas City.
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Twenty-two Kansas City-based Latino artists spent close to a year curating an exhibit called “A Layered Presence.” It is the third installment of the KC Art Now initiative to display more local work in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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Hundreds of Kansas City residents, many of whom are part of the local Palestinian community, gathered Saturday in support of Palestine and to demand an end to the Israeli occupation.
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After arriving from Chile, Pablo Sanhueza made it his mission to spread the sounds of Latin America, and create an inclusive and radical space for cross-cultural appreciation.
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The marching band and drill team’s founder, Willie Arthur Smith, is retiring after more than 50 years of entertaining crowds in Kansas City and beyond.
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Eric Devalkanaere, found guilty in November 2021 of killing 26-year-old Cameron Lamb, is appealing his conviction. As protestors rallied on the street, a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals questioned his attorneys on his version of what happened, including if Lamb was armed.