kansascitydefender

Independence Residents Fight a $6.6 Billion Data Center as Monday’s Tax Break Vote Looms

This article is the first release of Power Grab: A Kansas City Defender investigative series on data centers and the communities paying the price for the AI boom. The piece includes reporting ...
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“There Was No Warning”: Nobody Wants to Call the Storm That Hit Wyandotte County a Tornado

Around 3 a.m. Wednesday the hail came, and it filled the whole dark, no space between one strike and the next, a single unbroken roar on the roof above me and the windows. I live on the second floor ...
The Kansas City Defender

How to Win Funding: A Letter to Black-Owned Businesses From KC G.I.F.T.’s CEO

Brandon Calloway has heard more than three hundred pitches and helped move more than two million dollars into Black-owned ...
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The Country Club Plaza Is Getting Bought by Rich Texas Oil Tycoons, Continuing Its Racist Legacy

The sale of Kansas City’s iconic Country Club Plaza to Texas investors shines a spotlight on our city’s apartheid foundation and ongoing systemic racism. Is this a missed opportunity for reparative ...
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Hundreds Of Students Walkout, Occupy School & Chant “Free Colby” After Black Student Suspended For Standing Against Racist & Sexual Violence

KANSAS CITY, MO – Hundreds of students at Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Missouri, participated in a mass walkout and protest against the school’s failure to protect students from sexual ...
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After Decades, Kansas City Finally to Remove Downtown Statue Honoring Slave-Owner & Genocidal Settler, Andrew Jackson

In a monumental stride towards progress, Jackson County has voted to remove two statues which honor infamous slave-owner and fierce advocate of the genocidal Indian Removal Act, Andrew Jackson. KANSAS ...
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“Cut the Check”: In Groundbreaking Move, KC Mayor Quinton Lucas Appoints 13 Members to Historic Reparations Commission, Includes KC Defender Editor & KC Defender High ...

KANSAS CITY, MO – In an unprecedented move by Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, 13 Kansas Citians have been appointed to serve on a historic commission that will study the process of reparations for ...
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BOMBSHELL VERDICT: Jury Confirms Corruption and Retaliation at the Highest Levels of Kansas City Leadership

As Kansas City’s most powerful unelected official, Brian Platt has built his career on lies, retaliation, corruption, targeting Black employees, women, and whistleblowers who dared to challenge him.
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“Black Neurodiversity: Breaking Systemic Biases”

Understanding the intersectionality of neurodivergence and the Black experience is crucial in recognizing the often ignored challenges faced by Black neurodivergent individuals. Dr. Nora Ekeanya, a ...
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School Hate Crime: Racist Kid Yells “N Word” While Attacking Black Girl, Breaks Her Nose And Hospitalizes Her. Black Girl Gets Suspended

SHAWNEE MISSION, KS – In a shocking hate crime at Shawnee Mission East High School, a Black girl and student was viciously attacked by a white male student. The assault left her hospitalized with a ...
kansascitydefender

Kansas City: Inside America’s Nuclear Weapons Capital, As It Builds the Newest American Bomb

His hands did the work. Maurice Copeland was a tool and die supervisor at the Kansas City Plant for the last twelve of his thirty-two years there, and for most of that time he passed chemicals he did ...
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“The People Took on the Billionaires, The People Won”: Kansas City Rejects Billionaire Stadium Tax in Historic Victory

KANSAS CITY, MO – In a historic victory and demonstration of collective power, the citizens of Kansas City have rejected a proposal that threatened to exploit the everyday people of Kansas City in ...