Black Lives Matter

Wednesday marks the ninth anniversary of Michael Brown Jr.’s killing by a white police officer in Ferguson. Now, local officials and community members are urging residents to elect leaders who will protect Black lives.

It's been almost two months since teenager Ralph Yarl was shot in Kansas City's Northland when he accidentally arrived at the wrong house. The case sparked nationwide outrage and attention. But Yarl's family is frustrated with how a Clay County judge is handling the criminal case against accused shooter Andrew Lester.

A Kansas City woman's escape from an Excelsior Springs home where she was being held captive in October sparked outrage, and confirmed fears within the Black community that police weren’t taking reports of missing Black women seriously. More than a month after Kansas City’s chief of police reinstated the department’s Missing Persons Section, community organizations are still wary.

The Mayor's Commission on Reparations met for the first time on Tuesday, May 23 at City Hall. The group’s task is to study how slavery and racial segregation policies over the last century harmed Kansas City’s Black citizens in areas such as education and housing.

Sir'Antonio Brown, just six years old, was shot and killed Wednesday night in Kansas City, Kansas. Gun violence has surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for American children, according to a December report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

It's been more than a week since 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot in Kansas City. Now that the dust is settling, how are Black residents feeling and what questions are still left unanswered? Plus: Why some cities still ban a plant that helps endangered monarch butterflies.

National civil rights leaders, local activists and community leaders held a press conference and led protestors Tuesday afternoon outside the Federal Courthouse in downtown Kansas City. They showed up to decry last week’s shooting of a Black teenager after he rang the wrong doorbell in a Northland neighborhood.

Sixteen-year-old Ralph Yarl was trying to pick up his twin brothers at a friend's house in Kansas City's Northland when he rang the doorbell at the wrong home. The resident, Andrew D. Lester, is charged with shooting Yarl twice — including once in the head — through a glass door.

Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson announced the charges against Andrew D. Lester late Monday afternoon after days of national outcry.

The Black Youth Coalition Network wants to be a leading voice among Kansas City's youth. Their professional development programs and community activism is catching the eyes of Black leaders.

U.S. Senate candidate Mark McCloskey and his wife, Patricia, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Rep. Cori Bush and state Rep. Rasheen Aldridge for participating in protests that passed the McCloskeys’ home. Aldridge called the lawsuit a publicity stunt.

As a condition of their probation, Mark and Patricia McCloskey are required to provide 100 hours of pro bono legal services to organizations that provide free legal services for poor or indigent Missouri residents.