NAACP

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.

Negro Creek runs for 6.5 miles south of 151st Street, through parts of Overland Park and Leawood, but few people knew its name until the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. An informal committee that included members of the NAACP and other community groups began exploring the creek's origin but couldn't agree on an alternative name for the creek.

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.

The position will oversee the equity measure that legalization campaign supporters boast to be the first of its kind in the nation — a microlicense program designed to boost opportunities in the marijuana industry for businesses in disadvantaged communities.

Missouri has changed its requirements for accepted forms of voter identification since the August primary and put new restrictions on get-out-the-vote efforts.

After facing little public resistance for months, Amendment 3 is suddenly under assault seemingly from all sides, leaving it fending off fierce — and at times contradictory — criticism.

Under the new law, registered voters would either have to get a government-issued photo ID or cast a provisional ballot on Election Day. The Missouri NAACP and League of Women Voters of Missouri argue it's unconstitutional, and say they'll bring the case to the state Supreme Court.

The most controversial of the bills that took effect Sunday put new restrictions on voting and voter registration, including a requirement to show a photo ID to cast a ballot.

Under the new law, set to go into effect next week, voters will be required to present a government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot for the November election. A lawsuit from the NAACP and League of Women Voter's asks for a preliminary injunction to stop Missouri from enforcing it.

Monday's lawsuit focuses on provisions of election law that prohibit compensating people for voter registration activities and “soliciting” absentee ballot applications. The law is set to go into effect on Aug. 28.

The sweeping elections bill not only contains the requirement of a government issued photo-ID to vote, it also adds restrictions to election processes like voter registration. Those against the bill say it violated Missouri’s constitutional right to vote.

An event Saturday with the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department encouraged police and community engagement, something residents say demonstrates the new chief is listening to them.