Reparations

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a day off for many people in Kansas City. But for leaders in Black communities, it's a chance to connect to something bigger and encourage better support for African Americans.

Mayors in Kansas City and St. Louis have ordered studies into the impact of slavery and segregation on present-day inequities. Missouri had 114,931 enslaved people on the eve of the Civil War.

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.

The bill, Reparations NOW, calls for $14 trillion to Black Americans as compensation for slavery and Jim Crow.

A state program is meant to help Nebraskans who have been raped, abused, assaulted, or family members reeling from the death of a loved one. It’s helping very few of them, a Flatwater Free Press analysis shows.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has appointed 13 members to the city's new commission on reparations, which is tasked with looking into reparations for slavery and discrimination for Black residents. They're focusing on a few specific impact areas, including housing, economic development and criminal justice.