Advocacy

Gwen Grant spends a lot of time uplifting and advocating for Kansas City's Black community, but what does she do with her down time? She joined KCUR's Up To Date for an installment of our series "5 Questions."

Each year, arts groups from across the state gather in Jefferson City to lobby Missouri lawmakers during their legislative session. For six students from the Kansas City Art Institute, the February trip to Missouri's state Capitol was a chance to leave the art supplies at home and become lobbyists.

Every year, Kansas City artists and students head to Jefferson City for Arts Advocacy Day, a chance to remind Missouri lawmakers about their crafts and why it should be funded. Plus: A new book on the Kansas City Royals digs up forgotten stories about the team.

DJ Yearwood, an intern for Kansas City Council member Melissa Patterson Hazley, is working to develop the KC Futures Commission, where teens and young adults would advise the government on relevant issues.

The short documentary “Renter Revolt: Housing and Human Rights in America’s Heartland," produced by TIME Magazine, shows how the tenant advocacy group has become a leading voice in the national conversation on affordable housing.

Brandon Wolf is a survivor of the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orland, and wrote the memoir, "A Place For Us." He'll speak as a part of the Grandparents for Gun Safety's 10th Annual Community Forum on October 9.

Artists have long used their work to advocate for a better world, and these Kansas City creatives think that solutions to one of today’s biggest issues — gun violence — can be found through art.

Local KSHB-TV anchor and reporter Gabriella Pagan suddenly disappeared from television last year. She told Up To Date she had to leave her career in journalism to confront childhood trauma and abuse in her past. That’s how she became an advocate for kids in Jackson County’s Family Court system.

Climate change is forcing communities in the Mississippi River Basin to deal with constant flooding on farmland and the places they call home. Plus: Missouri’s state commission designated to advocate for Hispanic communities disappeared 14 years ago, but Latino residents say there's an even greater need for it now.

Redlining made climate change worse in Kansas City, Kansas, but new generations are fighting back. Plus, why Missouri police departments have only used a fraction of the state's $2 million witness protection fund.

More residents of northeast Kansas City, Kansas, are seeing the connection between the factories in their neighborhoods and their own health problems. As one activist puts it, "People see their lives are getting harder and that alone is evidence that they want to do something about it."

Veterans were exposed to toxic air from burn pits overseas and comedian Jon Stewart and the Veterans of Foreign Wars say Congress needs to approve funds to treat them.