Zach Perez
Community Engagement ProducerNews is only useful when it addresses your questions and concerns. As KCUR's community engagement producer, I speak directly with diverse communities in our region to help our newsroom understand what matters to them. Through this communication, I ensure your questions and concerns are thoroughly addressed by our coverage.
What should KCUR be talking about? Who should we be talking to? Let me know. You can email me at zjperez@kcur.org or message me on Twitter at zach_pepez.
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Despite its long history of valuable service to the community, recent challenges within the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council have cast doubt on the future of the organization and the residents of the neighborhood. Now, past and present generations of leadership are working to rebuild faith, and instill hope in residents of this east side community. -
Además de su celebración anual del Cinco de Mayo, la Central Avenue Betterment Association- CABA (Asociación para el Mejoramiento de la Avenida Central) organizó la “Manifestación Por El Bien de Todos”. La demostración tuvo como objetivo destacar y apoyar a la creciente población de residentes mexicanos de la zona en medio de un ambiente político cada vez más hostil hacia los latinos en Estados Unidos. -
In addition to its yearly Cinco de Mayo celebration, the Central Avenue Betterment Association organized the “Good Of All People’s Rally.” The demonstration aimed to highlight and support the area’s growing population of Mexican residents amid an increasingly hostile political environment for Latinos in America.
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KCUR invited Congress members from Kansas and Missouri to answer questions from constituents about what's happening in Washington. Despite multiple invitations to each of the area’s federal elected officials, just Democratic Reps. Sharice Davids and Emanuel Cleaver II chose to attend. Here's what we heard. -
Students in the Kansas City area are grappling with keeping their grades up and losing friends after the COVID-19 pandemic upended their lives. A group of students at Guadalupe Centers High School spoke with their peers about how that impacts their mental health. -
28-year-old Natalie Zarate spent two decades working towards becoming a citizen after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally as a child. Except now she worries that the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to crack down on immigration and end birthright citizenship could endanger her and her family. -
Después de una redada muy difundida en un restaurante mexicano en Liberty, Missouri, a principios de este mes, los defensores y abogados de inmigración se apresuran a educar a los dueños de negocios sobre sus derechos al tratar con las autoridades federales de inmigración. Algunos dueños de negocios en las comunidades latinas y de inmigrantes enfrentan un creciente temor entre los clientes y el personal. -
After a highly publicized raid on a Mexican restaurant in Liberty, Missouri, earlier this month, immigration advocates and attorneys are rushing to educate business owners on their rights when dealing with federal immigration authorities. Some business owners in the Latino and immigrant communities are facing a growing fear among customers and staff.
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Robert Galicia, an immigrant from Mexico City and a Chiefs fanatic, started hosting tailgates at Arrowhead Stadium in a school bus in 2013. He's grown those tailgates into a successful business, the "Red Machine," which has helped him to find community and a sense of belonging in the U.S. -
What does it take to feel like an American — and to be treated like one? Several communities, including in Kansas City, shared their perspectives on the immigrant experience.
