The Kansas City Defender

The recent closures of Soiree, The Krave, and Privee — Black-owned restaurants that each became a staple of Kansas City’s evolving food scene — leave a clear void that can’t be ignored, said Ryan A. Sorrell. An initiative to help save local culinary should-be hotspots in similar danger wraps this week, but the work to promote and preserve the city’s Black-owned eateries can’t end there, he continued. “We are in a crisis for Black restaurants right now, and that’s what Black owners have told us,” said Sorrell, founder and executive editor of The Kansas City Defender. “A lot of restaurant owners felt that some of the existing initiatives were more nationally-based rather than locally-based, so we wanted to fill that gap.” The Defender organized Black Feast Week Oct. 1-14 as a two-week celebration to bring awareness to Black-owned restaurants and what they offer.

The Kansas City Defender?and RJI today launched a new resource for journalists:?The Defender Handbook. The handbook provides a practical guide to creating a community-centric and digital-first media organization. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ghUd59uG. Save the date: Join us on Aug. 28 for a webinar where we'll walk you through the handbook and show you how to use it in your newsroom and work.

Outstanding resources from Ryan A. Sorrell and The Kansas City Defender via Reynolds Journalism Institute. "Primarily crafted for Black media workers, this handbook holds value for any media worker dedicated to using narrative and media for liberation. We will begin with tactical strategies and implementable frameworks, covering everything from language guides to shifts in framing philosophy. Our hope is that this will be a resource demonstrating that alternative, fugitive paths have always been the revolutionary core of Black cultural production."

My archive, {B/qKC}, is officially featured on the KC Streetcar! ????? This public installation is so symbolic: this is just one block down from where Black gay bar Soakie’s used to be! Let this be, both, a beautiful reminder of our Black queer elders and a harrowing call-out of Kansas City’s Power & Light development (and subsequent gentrification). Available for viewing now at the Power & Light Northbound stop. thanks Art in the Loop! Shoutout Zach Frazier for designing this. Thanks to The Kansas City Defender for continuing to be a vehicle for my wild ideas! Happy pride and happy archiving!!!!!!! Another win for KC's inaugural Black queer archive. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/g_4wPsSh

Thanks The Kansas City Defender for a thorough and objective presentation of the information needed for Jackson County election on Tuesday - with links to supportive and opposing stadium funding support and school board candidates by district. Good and helpful work! https://lnkd.in/gXkNUe2J