How we’re uplifting the voices of 8 Black activists around Kansas City in new project
At the suggestion of a friend, I met with Johnny Waller late last year over coffee at Equal Minded Cafe, a cool coffee shop and meeting space on Troost Avenue in Kansas City. I was blown away by this man’s story of perseverance, redemption and service.
Waller, who holds several degrees from area colleges and universities, told me that as a teen he had been shot in the head while hanging out with a rough crowd on the streets of Omaha, Nebraska. Later he was arrested on drug charges there and finally spent several years in prison. But it’s what happened when he got out that led him on the path to becoming an advocate for the formerly incarcerated and an activist when it comes to changing legislation, policies and minds. Waller is all about creating opportunities for what he calls “our returning citizens.”
Right away, I thought, people need to know more about Waller, what he does, and why. So I invited him to participate along with seven other Black Kansas City activists in the second season of Voices of Kansas City, a community-conversation collaboration between The Star and KKFI Kansas City Community radio station.
Each of the voices we highlight — including Waller’s story — will be published by The Star in a question and answer format to capture the conversations in their own words. Their exchanges with Star journalists also will air at 6 p.m. Wednesdays for the next four weeks on KKFI 90.1 FM. radio.
Voices of Kansas City originally was created by The Star in partnership with KKFI and Kansas City GIFT (Generating Income for Tomorrow), a Black-founded nonprofit that supports Black-owned businesses.
In the first season, Star reporters focused on Black-owned small businesses and interviewed eight business owners. They included a teacher turned author who has written books with characters who are Black and brown like most of her students, a young health care worker who during the pandemic left her job to start a small moving company, and an urban farmer who turned a parking lot into a small farm on the southwest corner of Kansas City’s Historic Jazz District near 18th and Vine streets.
The owner of Equal Minded, the coffee spot where I met Waller, was also among the featured businesses.
Today we are launching our second season of Voices. In this season, using print, video and radio broadcast platforms, we are giving the mic to Black grassroots activists like Waller.
The Star is partnering again with KKFI, an independent, noncommercial nonprofit and volunteer-based community radio station. Our mission to amplify more Black voices with this project aligned well with the station’s mission to reflect the diversity in our local communities and provide a broadcast that gives voice to the voiceless. Because the station has such a broad audience, working with KKFI gives us and them an opportunity to reach audiences we otherwise might miss.
Interviews with each activist will be done by Voices hosts: yours truly, Mará Rose Williams, The Star’s assistant managing editor for race and equity, and J.M. Banks, The Star’s reporter for culture and identity issues.
The project is part of a promise we made more than three years ago.
After publishing the “Truth in Black and White” project in December 2020, in which The Star apologized for decades of poorly representing the stories and voices of Black community members, we said we would commit to more projects that properly highlight those voices and stories.
Voices of Kansas City is one of those.
Yes, it’s a move that potentially helps attract more readers to The Star and listeners to KKFI. But introducing new voices to readers and radio listeners across the Kansas City region is also a community unifier. And then there’s this: Business owners who were featured in the first Voices said it gave them exposure and confidence.
“It’s an honor,” said Damesha Cook, owner of Dash Delivery Services, one of last year’s featured businesses. “No one has ever reached out to me and offered me such an opportunity. It meant a lot to me.”
Cook’s business is in its third year. After being featured in The Star and interviewed on KKFI, Cook was contacted by several residents of an Overland Park senior living area. They told her they needed furniture moved and worried about who they might let into their homes. But they liked Cook’s story and trusted her because they met her on the radio and in the pages of The Star.
Also, Cook said that since Voices she has purchased a 6-foot box truck, increasing her business fleet to three vehicles. And the big news is that her business growth put her in the right economic spot to, with the help of Habitat for Humanity, move with her three children out of their one-bedroom apartment into a two-bedroom house.
Cook says she was also inspired by the other Voices stories. She said she wants her business to expand in a way that, “I can be helping the community.”
We connected with a variety of organizations and attended a lot of community events to meet the grassroots activists for this year’s Voices project. But we were introduced to Cook and the other business owners last year by GIFT CEO and co-founder Brandon Calloway, who also has said he was thrilled to have been part of the project’s first season.
“I think it is good for the city to see and hear about the gems we have here,” Calloway said.
I couldn’t agree more with Calloway. That’s exactly why we are investing in a second season of Voices and bringing to the Kansas City region more stories about the lives and work of people whose voices are not often given a platform.
Nominate a neighbor
We are planning future Voices of Kansas City seasons and want to hear from you about the Kansas Citians who you think more folks in the metro area should know about.
We are looking for individuals or groups who are making a positive impact on our community. Maybe there is a teacher in your child’s school who is changing their approach to learning. Or a neighbor who is rallying everyone on the block to support each other when times are tough.
We are especially interested to hear about individuals or groups who come from backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented by The Star.
Have questions about this effort? Reach out to Mará Rose Williams, The Star’s assistant managing editor for race and equity issues, at mdwilliams@kcstar.com.
