[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="1079" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Black is Beautiful [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Black is beautiful  /ˈblak iz ˈbyü-ti-fəl/  phrase. - Black people are beautiful.  See also.   Black people, the 1960s Black is Beautiful movement[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Interview with Melissa [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Tell me about yourself. What’s your background? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]So I was born in Wiesbaden in Germany and I'm a military brat, so moved from Germany to the States a couple of times. My family finally settled in Kansas when I was 13, so I've been in Kansas and Missouri ever since then -- traveling from Leavenworth to Lawrence then KCK and now in Kansas City, Missouri. So being here in the United States was definitely a culture shock for me, coming from Germany. One, coming from military bases where there was so much diversity and then two, even in Germany the dynamics of race are different. And so in Germany I was, I wasn't...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="1069" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Do The Right Thing [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Do The Right Thing  /do͞o T͟Hə rīt THiNG/  phrase. - the title of a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. The story explores a Brooklyn neighborhood's simmering racial tension, which culminates in violence and a death on a hot summer day.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Interview with Korea [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Tell me about yourself. What’s your background? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]My name is Korea Gleason-Kelly...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="1142" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] My History is Now [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]My History is Now  /mī ˈhist(ə)rē iz nou/   phrase . - 1: an individual’s intrinsic link to the past, present, and future. 2: the idea that every action has historical significance. 3: to urge someone to make the most of the present time.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column width="1/6"][/vc_column][vc_column width="4/6"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_separator type="normal" color="#ffffff" thickness="3"][vc_empty_space height="90px"][vc_column_text] During college, my grandpa wrote a note to motivate me to keep going. At the end of his message he wrote, “Some things don’t come over night.” That last line really stuck with me. I couldn’t wait to ask my grandpa the questions I’ve asked so many others these past few months. He has a wealth of knowledge. I don’t dive into that wealth as much as I should. We sat down one late Sunday evening to talk of many things. My grandpa and I. Two sides of the same coin. Him, the past. Me, the...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="519" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Do The Right Thing [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Do The Right Thing  /do͞o T͟Hə rīt THiNG/  phrase. - the title of a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. The story explores a Brooklyn neighborhood's simmering racial tension, which culminates in violence and a death on a hot summer day.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Interview with Lisa [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Tell me about yourself. What’s your background? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Well, I'm originally from Moberly, Missouri, which is a really small town in Missouri. We moved to St. Louis when I was about 12 or 13 years old. And then I went to Clark Atlanta University, graduated with a mass communications degree, mass media arts degree, and I started my television news career in stations in St. Joseph, Missouri, then Decatur, Illinois, and then, ultimately, Kansas City, which was a city that I really wanted to move to. I fell in...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="1018" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Black Excellence [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Black Excellence  /ˈblak ˈek-s(ə-)lən(t)s/  phrase. - 1. viewing Black people or Black culture as an excellent or valuable quality. 2. the celebration of a Black individual or group when they do something outstanding or extremely good.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Interview with Nyla [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Tell me about yourself. What’s your background? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Okay. Well, my name is Nyla Foster. I'm 31 years old. I was born and raised in Kansas City. I identify as a Black woman of trans experience. Professionally, I’m a youth case manager, a community organizer, and an artist. I also have a softer side of me,called Angel Iman, where I do trans performance and compete in pageantry. And I am the current Miss Black Trans International. The Black trans international pageantry system is a pageantry system that is bridging the gap between advocacy and pageantry and we advocate for Black trans...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="928" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Freedom is Never Given [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Freedom is Never Given  /ˈfrēdəm izˈnevər/ ˈɡivən/  phrase. - a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. extracted from King’s letter from Birmingham jail, 16 April 1963. The whole quote states, "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." See also. Civil rights leader Malcolm X similarly states in a 1965 speech, "Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it."[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Interview with Dr. Carpenter [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Tell me about yourself. What’s your background? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]I am Dennis Carpenter. Man, who am I? Where am I from? I'm a Georgia boy at heart. I have spent my entire professional career working in the field of education. That's been important to me because I know those of...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="969" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] We Shall Overcome [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]We Shall Overcome  /ˈwē ˈshal ˌō-vər-ˈkəm/  phrase. - a gospel song which became a protest song and a key anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. The song is most commonly attributed as being lyrically descended from "I'll Overcome Some Day", a hymn by Charles Albert Tindley that was first published in 1900.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Interview with Carlos [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Tell me about yourself. What’s your background? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]I'm Carlos. I'm 47 years old. I’m born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. I am a IT professional. I've been in several industries working in IT and IT support roles. I am a graduate of Vatterott college -- a 4.0 student. I have five children -- three by my belated wife and two in St Louis. I'm really proud of my kids. My youngest is 13. My two next would be my two 20 year...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="630" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] We Are Divine [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]We are Divine  /ˈwē ˈär də-ˈvīn/  phrase. - 1. a group of individuals that are supremely good. 2. People relating to, or proceeding directly from God. [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Interview with Glory and Joy [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Tell me about yourself. What’s your background? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Glory: So, my name is Glory Kathurima I am 30 years old. I currently live in Omaha, Nebraska and have lived in Nebraska for...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="882" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Black is Beautiful [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Black is beautiful  /ˈblak iz ˈbyü-ti-fəl/  phrase. - Black people are beautiful.  See also.   Black people, the 1960s Black is Beautiful movement[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Interview with Aisha [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Tell me about yourself. What’s your background? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]I was originally born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. I have two parents and I have four brothers and sisters, I am the middle child of five. And I grew up there, studied English at Rhodes college and got a bachelor’s of arts in English. And then I moved on to Indiana University in Bloomington and I got my MFA in creative writing with a focus on poetry. And from there I taught English in St. Louis, Missouri. I have a lot of family there, extended family, my mother was born and raised in St. Louis -- my father was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee...