Reclaiming the right to jaywalk

By Mackenzie Martin

Published February 17, 2026 at 4:00 AM CST

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Organizers with the Council for United Action march at 24th Street and the Paseo in Kansas City in January 1967. 175 people formed a line across the Paseo, halting rush-hour traffic, to protest the lack of a traffic signal at the intersection. After multiple accidents at the intersection involving both pedestrians and cars, a spokesman said the marching would continue until the traffic department installed traffic lights.

Kansas City, Missouri, became the first major city in the country to repeal its anti-jaywalking ordinance, after research found that tickets were being disproportionately issued to Black men. It’s a full-circle moment, because Kansas City was also the first city to criminalize jaywalking more than a century earlier. Mackenzie Martin reports in the second of our two-part series.

This episode of A People's History of Kansas City was reported, produced, and mixed by Mackenzie Martin with editing by Suzanne Hogan and Gabe Rosenberg.

A People's History of Kansas City

Mackenzie Martin

As senior podcast producer for KCUR Studios and a host of A People’s History of Kansas City, I interview everyday people and dig through old newspaper articles to unearth stories of the visionaries and renegades who created this region. I focus on bringing the past to life, so we can all better understand the city we live in today. Email me at mackenzie@kcur.org.

See stories by Mackenzie Martin

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