Posts Tagged ‘Kansas City’

From Kenya to the USA: Visiting family and friends and learning his/her/ourstory September 4, 2022 27 Comments

In this letter from Nairobi, Kenya, I share pictures and stories from a month of travels to six states in the USA, beginning in Ocean County, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and continuing to magical Brooklyn, New York. In Virginia, friends and I visit Emancipation Oak at Hampton University and “Hearth Memorial to the Enslaved” [...]

Lucy Jacobs Stewart: Midwife extraordinaire of Liberty, Missouri February 28, 2022 1 Comment

Lucy Jacobs Stewart (1850s – 1939) is part of a long tradition of midwifery in Missouri and among many guiding hands in the tapestry of life in Liberty. Neighbors sent for Granny Stewart, as she was called, to assist laboring women. We do not know how many babies she caught, but she was a trusted member of the community and was consulted on a variety of family issues, at a time when 50% of births in the United States occurred at home, assisted by a midwife.

Journeying through his/her/ourstory: From Florida to Kansas City October 2, 2021 11 Comments

Does knowing history change history? In the form of an illustrated letter to family and friends, I take the reader on a journey through time. Determined curiosity leads me to encounters that reveal what I was not taught at school. I believe we become more humxn when we connect: with those who came before, with [...]

Chadian Sister Engages Kansas City Youth about Peace and Justice August 17, 2020 No Comments

A woman meets young people from various backgrounds – at a U. S. university. She is African, from Chad. The students, eager to learn about her life, ask probing questions. She tells them about the war, her flight, her refugee status, her experiences in West Africa and Algeria. In turn, she discovers that they are still [...]

African American Women in the Suffrage Movement: Then, Now, and Forever July 14, 2020 No Comments

Kansas City, Missouri, July 11, 2020 – Clay County African American Legacy (CCAAL) Inc. and the League of Women Voters of Kansas City/Jackson-Clay-Platte counties co-organized a panel discussion on African American Women in the Suffrage Movement. Originally planned as an in-person event with a brunch in March 2020, due to covid19, it was held on [...]

Immigrants We Get the Job Done February 2, 2017 No Comments

At a recent Women’s March in Kansas City, at Washington Square Park, I saw a woman holding a sign saying “Immigrants We Get the Job Done.” I have found this to be true, especially ever since I graduated from the University of Kansas in political science and started my professional life working in refugee resettlement [...]

Garrison School Cultural Center holds fall open house November 7, 2016 No Comments

Dr. Cecelia Robinson will be busy for the next few days as she dons her historian hat and works at finalizing gallery spaces in the Garrison School Cultural Center. Robinson is the historian for the Clay County African American Legacy Inc., but her love of history — and Clay County’s in particular — is a passion to which she has devoted more than 30 years of her time and energy.
Her efforts and those of some William Jewell College students and a few others will be on display Wednesday, Nov. 9, at a fall open house tour that begins at 6 p.m.

Nedra Bonds: The angry quilter September 25, 2016 No Comments

I recently visited the Quindaro neighborhood, along the Missouri River, in Kansas City, Kansas, USA with a friend. We paid silent homage to the folk who saved part of the historic village from being turned into a landfill. Read more, much more, in this BBC story, Nedra Bonds: The angry quilter. Nedra Bonds explains what motivated her to turn the family tradition of quilting into a platform for political protest.

L’élaboration de stratégies efficaces April 25, 2016 No Comments

Les prix A. Philip Randolph ont été distribués le 15 avril 2016, au Centre du patrimoine culturel Bruce R. Watkins à Kansas City, USA. Lors de la cérémonie de remise des prix, Patricia Jones, présidente de la section de Kansas City de l’Institut A. Philip Randolph, a partagé des histoires de ce pionnier de l’organisation des travailleurs. Dans les années 1920 et 1930, Randolph a aidé à organiser les porteurs et les femmes de ménage travaillant sur les wagons Pullman de chemins de fer de l’Amérique et a créé le premier syndicat dirigé par les afro-américains. Plusieurs des prix cette année ont été faites aux églises dans la région de Kansas City qui ont fourni des espaces de réunion pour les travailleurs et organisateurs du mouvement ouvrier.

Crafting Effective Strategies No Comments

The A. Philip Randolph awards were distributed on April 15, 2016, at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and Museum in Kansas City. In the 1920s and 1930s, Randolph helped organize America’s porters and maids working on the Pullman railroad cars and created the first African-American-led labor union. Many Pullman maids and wives, daughters, and sisters of Pullman porters were members of the Ladies Auxiliary which shaped “public debates over black manhood and unionization, setting political agendas for the black community, and crafting effective strategies to win racial and economic justice.”