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Central Standard

Seg. 1: Indigenous Women's Leadership. Seg. 2: Poet Aisha Sharif

Segment 1: Indigenous women's leadership in the Heartland.

With the election of the first two indigenous women in Congress, including Kansas' 3rd District representative Sharice Davids, we look at what leadership means for indigenous women in our area and how that leadership develops within our community.

  • Carole Cadue-Blackwood, 2018 Parent of the Year, National Indian Education Association
  • Gaylene Crouser, executive director, Kansas City Indian Center

Segment 2, beginning at 28:50: Local poet's recent book has the type of honesty that 'gets you uninvited to family reunions.'

Poet Aisha Sharif reflects on her life growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, as an African-American Muslim woman. She examines themes of belonging — to a family, a community and faith — in her first book of poetry, To Keep From Undressing. A party to celebrate the release of her book will be at the El-Scari Harvey Art Gallery on Friday, February 1st, at 6:30 pm.

People don't make cameos in news stories; the human story is the story, with characters affected by news events, not defined by them. As a columnist and podcaster, I want to acknowledge what it feels like to live through this time in Kansas City, one vantage point at a time. Together, these weekly vignettes form a collage of daily life in Kansas City as it changes in some ways, and stubbornly resists change in others. You can follow me on Twitter @GinaKCUR or email me at gina@kcur.org.