On The Vine: You got a story to tell?
You know what... I don’t have a lot to say today. Strange, I know.
I don’t know if it’s being engulfed by the grind at work, getting back out into the world thus having less time to sit and ruminate about the ills and frustrations of the world. But there’s nothing specific at the moment I’ve been able to latch onto.
So I’m going to do something different this week. I want to hear from you. What’s been swirling around in your head? What questions do you have? What topics and, or events have recently captured your interest?
Let’s engage, have some conversations. Shoot me an email: cewilliams@kcstar.com.
Around the block
Kansas City tenant activists detail ‘proposal for a better world’ at rousing rally
KC Tenants has, for the better part of two years, fought with pen and protest for the rights of tenants and the unhoused in Kansas City who too often find themselves suffering at the unjust hands of housing systems.
Last Saturday, at a rousing rally — verging on festivus — leaders from KC Tenants introduced a proposal for a People’s Housing Trust Fund, a plan to give power to the people, and as the group says, “ensure that people come before profit.”
The Star’s Cortlynn Stark, friend of The Vine, writes:
As the Kansas City Marching Cobras made their way through the parking lot, filling the air with the beat of the drums, the crowd of around 300 cheered. “Get it brother, get it,” one woman said...
KC Tenants’ proposal to solve Kansas City’s housing crisis demands oversight from tenants, dedicated revenue and innovative programs. Under the proposal, tenants would have power and oversight over the Housing Trust Fund, meant to encourage developers to build more affordable housing or simply rehabilitate low-income housing already in existence.
Funding for the People’s Housing Trust Fund would be divested from sources including the police department and developers. And the proposed programs would protect tenants’ rights, keep them housed and build power.
In case you missed it...
Why do so few KC teachers want to teach the truth about Black history in America?
One year after his death, family honors slain Kansas City 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro
Roger Golubski wasn’t the only alleged rapist in KCKPD, but DA ‘declined to prosecute’
Photos: Kansas Citians celebrate at Saturday’s Pride on the Vine
Food insecurity linked to gun violence. In St. Louis, Black farmers work on a solution
There’s an iconic Tupac interview — the man had many, but... — in which he astutely details how a community’s tune changes from singing, or asking politely for things purposefully kept from them, to resembling the more gritty, often ferocious approach to taking what they want/need that Tupac himself embodied in rap. The example he uses in the interview is hunger — food, locked away behind a door with people on the other side begging to get in.
It’s a metaphor, and for so many things, sure. But the fact that he uses something so simple, so intrinsic to make a powerful point speaks volumes. And it sticks with me when thinking through this story.
Hurubie Meko writes for The Star:
Researchers say a host of factors contribute to a city’s gun violence problem — what they define as deficits in social determinants of health such as income, housing, healthy living environments and quality education. And food insecurity...
The problems facing areas that experience gun violence are many, Lewis acknowledges, but he has also seen the impact that food can have.
“I’ve seen the difference in kids when they get a meal and when they don’t get a meal, how they behave and how they focus in school,” he said. “So I truly believe that’s all connected.”
Nearly 70% of the city’s 271 homicides last year occurred in low income census tracts without access to a grocery store or supermarket for at least half a mile, according to a Kansas City Star analysis of federal data and police reports.
Lawsuit by Cameron Lamb’s family is one of several pending against Kansas City police
Family members of Cameron Lamb this week sued the board that oversees the Kansas City Police Department and the detective who fatally shot him in 2019 as he sat in a pickup truck in his backyard, The Star’s Luke Nozicka wrote.
It is now one of several lawsuits pending against the police board or department members. The lawsuits stem from accusations of excessive force and alleged beatings, among other things.
Attorneys for Lamb’s family noted that other past excessive force claims have lead to large settlements.
That includes $725,000 paid out to settle a lawsuit brought by a 15-year-old boy who, during a 2019 arrest, suffered a gash on his head, as well as broken teeth. A sergeant, Matthew Neal, has been charged with felony assault in that case.
Beyond the block
Bill Cosby accusers and their attorneys express outrage and betrayal over his release from prison
Bill Cosby was released from prison Wednesday after Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned his 2018 sexual assault conviction, sighting his due process rights being violated in the case.
It’s safe to say the news was shocking.
CNN’s Amir Vera wrote:
The reaction from accusers and their attorneys to Wednesday’s announcement is in stark contrast to the elation many of them felt in 2018 when the comedian was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004.
“Today’s majority decision regarding Bill Cosby is not only disappointing but of concern in that it may discourage those who seek justice for sexual assault in the criminal justice system from reporting or participating in the prosecution of the assailant or may force a victim to choose between filing either a criminal or civil action,” Constand and her attorneys said
Don’t miss this...
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America’s First Black Billionaire Wants His Reparations Check, Now
For the culture
It’s summer movie season y’all, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Not only is it safe for those fully vaccinated to be back out in the world doing the things we missed and loved — for me that’s spending two hours getting lost in a world sitting in a dark theater. But it’s also been blistering hot. Maybe it’s carried over from my time in New York and L.A., but when it’s hot, the movie theaters start calling my name.
And the offerings are getting good: “In The Heights,” “F9,” the latest romp from A24; “Zola” (pictured), “Black Widow” in a week and more to come as the summer rolls on.
Check it out...
‘Summer of Soul’ Review: In 1969 Harlem, a Music Festival Stuns
Marvel’s Black Widow gets the spotlight she deserves, only to have it stolen from her by her co-star
How Hollywood Translated The Epic Poetry Of The Viral ‘Zola’ Thread
fin
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This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 1:39 PM.