Race and Culture

For Eric Williams, virtual church has meant dressing down and being more real. It's also meant a new chapter in a decades-long ministry soothing pain in the here-and-now: relief from hunger.

Can Kansas City make itself a place where young Black people want to stay?

That Kamala Harris was the first Black woman and also the first Asian American woman to be the presumptive nominee for vice president came as a surprise to many.

Murals on the value of Black life are set to grace Kansas City streets, a historic vice presidential candidacy gives rise to reflections on race and identity, and Kansas City music venues are embracing change to salvage the summer concert season.

The move follows an incident last month in which Loar implied a Black colleague didn't write her own speech.

The story has particular resonance to "the social arrangements that we experience today," said Edward Ball, which are a direct consequence of generations of violence against African Americans.

Looking for a way to spark meaningful conversations for families about race, the Coterie joined up with theaters across the country to present “A Kids Play About Racism.”

The Kansas City Chiefs are the last NFL team whose name evokes Native American imagery. Many are looking for the team to change their name completely. Some just want to see certain traditions done away with.

The effects of post-Civil War lynchings and racist massacres are still being felt today, a former Marine who was injured by police at a Kansas City protest tells his story, and a long-term study on unwanted pregnancy refutes claims that abortions hurt women.

In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, Kansas City activism is being led by a new generation. Justice Horn organized protests calling for social justice reform, and Roman Leapheart wants Columbia, Missouri, to rethink a statue of Thomas Jefferson.

Black Kansans are more at risk for both testing positive for COVID-19 and dying from it than white people. Experts say it's a mix between long-standing racial disparities in health care treatment and access, lack of inclusivity and a higher likelihood that black residents are working "essential" jobs.

Emily Brown runs a nonprofit in the Kansas City area. She is a black woman who wears her hair naturally. In 2016, she was invited to speak at a national…