Race and Culture

Derrick Barnes felt there wasn't wide enough representation of Black people in the books he read as a kid. The Kansas City native's new picture book, “I Got You,” is his latest effort to write characters who can "just be human," he says.

The once dominant road-trip stop now has about 60 franchise stores left, including one in rural Missouri that offers a vey different menu to the one Stuckey's is traditionally known for.

Kansas City will be the smallest city in North America to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But it may not have embraced the sport at all, if not for the efforts of immigrants who fought for the beautiful game — before there were even soccer fields to play on.

Mayor Quinton Lucas convened a Commission on Reparations back in May 2023, with the goal of producing recommendations on how the city could repair harms from racism. Two years later, much of that work has yet to begin.

Businesses along Central Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, are taking a hit as customers stay home and cut back on spending. "I don’t know what will happen,” one business owner said. "It's scary."

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.

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 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.

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.

As the U.S. celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day and marks Trump's second inauguration, Kansas City activists worry the new president will follow through on campaign promises like mass deportations and clamping down on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. But they are also hopeful that people in their networks can band together and fight back.

The Palestinian American Medical Association, founded in Kansas City in 2013, works to ensure Palestinians have access to the health care they need. Since the current war began last year, their work has become even more critical.

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.