African Americans

A University of Missouri professor spent years listening to insects — hear how his work is influencing other researchers. Plus, a 117-year-old African American church in Parkville is getting much-needed restoration work thanks to the National Heritage fund.

A 117-year-old historically-Black church in Missouri is getting much-needed restoration work thanks to a grant from the National Heritage fund — and a crew of about a dozen volunteer builders.

In the last few decades, urban schools in Kansas City have not kept up with other schools in their ability to offer high-level courses in computer science and coding. The nonprofit WeCode/KC has been providing primarily minority students access to education in a variety of tech areas for five years, in an effort to address this aspect of the digital divide.

A new report estimates that 1.7% of Missourians over 18 can’t vote because they have felony convictions. That rate is more than twice as high for Black Missourians, who are also disproportionately incarcerated.

Expected to open in the historic Boone Theater in February 2026, the attraction will celebrate Black Americans' contributions to the film industry. The first class of inductees — including Oscar Micheaux, Harry Belafonte and Janelle Monáe — all have Kansas City ties.

Angela Wildflower grew up in Kansas City, Kansas, and has since gone on to perform in Broadway productions and popular television series. She plays the iconic jazz singer in "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill," which runs through Oct. 27 at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

Derron Black is running as a Republican for the first time for a Missouri Senate district in Kansas City's urban core. He says local Democratic leadership has failed to get his community what it needs, and that voters are ready to look elsewhere for help. Plus: What Missouri voters should know about the 2024 races for secretary of state and treasurer.

Ebony Reed's “Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap,” co-written by Louise Story, follows the lives of seven Black Americans, tying in research about the wealth gap between Black and white Americans.

After 18 months of renovations, the historic Westport home will serve again as a center for stories from the old western frontier. 'We need to tell the story of enslavement and the Native American tribes that were affected by the settlement,' one historian says.

The Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign of Weston, a small nonprofit dedicated to documenting the untold stories of Weston's Black forebears, held its first Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee in 2021. Since then, the small river town just north of Kansas City has become a destination for regional Black history.

The festival's second year kicked off this week at the Screenland Armour theater in North Kansas City. This year’s mission is to celebrate Black filmmakers from Missouri whose work explores contemporary and historical social issues.

In "My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future," author Alice Randall pairs her deep knowledge of the genre with her personal experience in the industry to document the often-untold stories of country's Black founders.