Racial Equity

Andrew Bailey said the investigation was prompted by reports from Columbia residents alleging racial discrimination. His office requested public records about the use of terms like “racial equity toolkit,” “racial equity lens” and “equity” in city operations.

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.

Tara Blunt spent months asking officials at Falls City Public Schools for help as her son dealt with racism and physical abuse at school. Now, she’s sued a gutted U.S. Department of Education for taking too long to investigate.

For nearly two decades, Missouri experienced a downward trend in the number of fetal and infant deaths, but in the past few years, the number of deaths ticked up again. Nurture KC works in neighborhoods with high rates of infant mortality, reporting on causes and solutions.

Black Kansans die at higher rates of seven of nine leading causes of death than all other Kansans. Advocates say now is an important time to focus on these disparities.

Kansas City’s fencing scene boasts elite coaches and athletes from around the world — a community that traces back to school desegregation efforts. Plus, how a Wichita book collector is keeping the state’s ‘firsthand history’ alive.

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.

UM System president Mun Choi said that the Department of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, which was established after protests about racial equality in 2015, will be dismantled and moved into other offices to reduce political visibility and protect its budget.

Ebony Reed's “Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap,” co-written by Louise Story, follows the lives of seven Black Americans, tying in research about the wealth gap between Black and white Americans.

The longtime activist and community leader spent his life fighting to improve the lives of Mexican American residents in the Westside neighborhood, and was a force of nature who “transformed the community at the sociopolitical, cultural and educational levels.”

The new autobiography "Show Me Justice: The Happy Life Journey of Alvin Lee Sykes" documents the extraordinary story of the self-taught legal scholar from Kansas City. Sykes fought tirelessly to re-open several unsolved civil rights cold cases, including the murder of Emmett Till.

The Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park is the site of the former Monroe Elementary School, one of four all-Black schools in Topeka before the Brown v. Board decision. Former students will gather Saturday to commemorate the ruling's 70th anniversary.