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Kansas City's Black Mothers Are Exhausted With Worry

By Steve Kraske,

Published April 26, 2021 at 12:23 PM CDT

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Kansas City Star reporter Mará Rose Williams with sons Trey and Jordan.

As Black men continue to die at the hands of law enforcement, Black mothers reveal the dread, the worry, and now the anger they live with every day.

If either of Mará Williams' sons are late returning home, anxiety immediately sets in. "I’m wondering: Where is that boy? Did he get into a wreck?" she writes in the Kansas City Star. "Having Black sons should not have to be a burden we bear from the moment they are born."

Mará Williams, education reporter at the Kansas City Star
Gwendolyn Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City

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Steve Kraske

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.

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Zach Wilson

As Up To Date’s senior producer, I construct daily conversations that give our listeners context to the issues of our time. I strive to provide a platform that holds those in power accountable, while also spotlighting the voices of Kansas City’s creatives and visionaries that may otherwise go unheard. Email me at zach@kcur.org.

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Mackenzie Martin

Mackenzie Martin is a senior podcast producer at KCUR Studios and host of the podcast, A People's History of Kansas City. Contact her at mackenzie@kcur.org.

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