African Americans

Bruce R. Watkins Drive took three decades to build, and resulted in the destruction of 2,000 homes and the displacement of thousands of Black residents. Kansas City officials and longtime residents hope a new federal grant can reconnect the neighborhoods torn apart by Highway 71, but mending old wounds won’t be easy.

The Kansas City Police Department created an independent missing persons unit in 2023. Two years later, the department reports progress in its effort to solve missing persons cases. But many in the Black community say the numbers mask impatience and frustration over a lack of attention to cases that drag on for decades.

The leader of Kansas City Parks & Recreation wants to transform Hope Lodge in Swope Park into a regional gathering place for indigenous people. Before integration, the site hosted a residential camping program for Black children.

A retired Kansas City fire captain is on a yearslong mission to honor every firefighter in the department's 157-year history who has died in the line of duty. Plus: A Kansas cemetery holds the stories of Black "Exodusters" who moved north after the Civil War.

Homeownership is a path to generational wealth, but many Black families have struggled to own their own homes. Habitat for Humanity Kansas City found a way to help. Plus: In Missouri and across the country, plant libraries that could help fight climate change are in danger of funding cuts.

Spanning venerable favorites and creative newcomers, wings and vegan fare, Caribbean and crab, you'll want to explore these Black-owned restaurants, cafes and more around Kansas City, as picked by local diners.

Karen E. Griffin's upcoming exhibition, "Because of Black History Month," opens this Sunday, Feb.16, at Englewood Arts in Independence. The show includes abstract pieces and art quilts that portray her ancestors' odyssey from Africa to America.

The exhibit includes 135 handmade antique dolls — some that were made by enslaved people — and about 60 period photographs showing dolls, children and adults posing for the camera. But not everyone involved in the Kansas City showing is completely comfortable with it.

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.