Celebrating Black History Month

February 20, 2026
Royce Handy
No Comments
233 Views
0 Likes

This February, we’re excited to celebrate Black History Month by lifting up the stories of people, places, and organizations that have shaped Kansas City neighborhoods in powerful ways. Each Friday throughout the month, we’ll be sharing a spotlight that connects Black history to our work today through the lens of our pillars: Leadership & Governance, Planning & Development, Technology & Communications, Health & Safety, and our newest pillar, Culture, Creativity & History.

Owning, Creating, and Telling the Story:

Pioneers and futures of Black Kansas City’s Media Ecosystem

Welcome aboard the Technology and Communications Timeline train where we’ll take a ride through the evolution of Black media in Kansas City.

As your conductor, I appreciate you taking the time to travel with us. We’ll make three stops along the way, each marking a shift in how Black Kansas Citians claimed the tools of storytelling. Our final destination? The digital present, where the legacy continues.

Take your seat.

ALL ABOARD!

—

Throughout American history, African Americans have had to claim, control, and distribute their own stories. Whether because they were denied access to mainstream platforms, misrepresented in dominant narratives, or excluded altogether. In response, just like the places they worshipped, worked, shopped, lived, and played, they built their own.

In Kansas City, that legacy of self-representation continues through Black reporters, writers, photographers, broadcasters, and digital storytellers who ensure their communities are seen and heard with accuracy and dignity. Their work reflects something larger than media.

It reflects freedom. And what other way is there to capture something so elusive and so deeply felt than by telling the story yourself?

The freedom to define oneself.
The freedom to determine how a community is described.
The freedom to decide how it looks, sounds, and feels.

STOP ONE: THE PRINTED PAGE

*The Kansas City Call Staff – 1935. Photo via African American Heritage Trail*

From front porches and church pews to headlines and bylines, oral histories and community grapevines found permanence in print. The paper became the first structured pillar of Kansas City’s Black media ecosystem. Long before mainstream media recognized the value of Black perspectives, Black newspapers were central to community awareness and empowerment. Kansas City was home to several publications that served as essential spaces for news, advocacy, and cultural affirmation:

The Rising Son — Published from 1896 to 1918, this locally rooted weekly was one of the earliest papers where Kansas City Black news and issues took center stage.
The Kansas City Sun — Operating from 1908 to 1924, this weekly paper championed civic causes and highlighted Black achievements at a time when such representation was scarce in the broader press.
The Call — Founded in 1919 by Chester A. Franklin, The Call became a cornerstone of Black journalism, offering coverage that celebrated community life, supported Black businesses, and still operates till this day.

These outlets didn’t just report events; they shaped how Black Kansas Citians saw themselves, connected communities, and held systems accountable. Under leaders like Lucile H. Bluford, The Call became more than a newspaper. It was advocacy. It was accountability. It was preservation. Print journalism became one of the earliest technologies of mass communication and Black Kansas Citians mastered it to define themselves on their own terms.

*Lucille Bluford. Photo via The Kansas City Public Library*

STOP TWO: THE CAMERA & VISUAL RECORD

From laughter in living rooms to marches in the streets, the lens captured what words alone could not. The camera turned movement into memory and made sure that Black Kansas City was not only written about, but it was also seen.

As technology evolved, storytelling expanded beyond text. Along with great photojournalists like the Life Magazine pioneer Gordon Parks, or Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Moneta Sleet Jr., Kansas City had a special talent itself with William L. Fambrough.

*William L. Fambrough. Photo via The Kansas City Public Library*

Nicknamed “One-Shot Fambrough” for his ability to shoot a perfect, usable image in a single, unposed, or quick-shot attempt, Fambrough’s photography documented everyday Black life in Kansas City from the 1950s through the 1970s including protest moments. Through his lens, celebrations, businesses, faith communities, and civic gatherings were preserved in visual form.

The camera and visual record became a tool of dignity, documentation, and historical record.

STOP THREE: THE AIRWAVES

*KPRS & KPRT 65th Anniversary Graphic. Photo via KPRS*

From printed columns and captured images to frequencies and soundwaves, community voices moved from page and frame to the air. Radio carried stories beyond neighborhood borders and into every tuned-in home.

In 1950, Andrew “Skip” Carter launched KPRS, the first Black-owned radio station west of the Mississippi River. Now known as Hot 103 Jamz, it remains the longest-running Black-owned radio station in the country. This also includes their Gospel station KPRT.

Radio transformed storytelling once again. Now the narrative could be heard through music, news, interviews, and community conversations broadcasted directly into homes and neighborhoods.

Black ownership of the signal meant ownership of the message. But it wasn’t just about ownership, representation mattered also, as Black Kansas Citians were moving into bigger platforms like TV. Now enter: Lena Rivers Smith, who began her career at The Kansas City Call, later broke barriers as Kansas City’s first African American woman on-air television reporter. And not just African American but the first on-air female reporter in the city.

Television had immense influence for American homes and Smith’s presence on screen mattered. It challenged assumptions about who could tell the news and whose voice carried authority. She moved Black storytelling from community press into mainstream broadcast spaces, expanding both access and visibility.

*Lena Rivers Smith. Photo via African American Heritage Trail*

FINAL DESTINATION: KANSAS CITY BLACK MEDIA TODAY

The train doesn’t just stop in the past. (Just click on the links highlighted below and see how the story is being told today)

Today, digital platforms continue the legacy of controlling and distributing the African American story. Outlets like The Kansas City Defender, the ongoing work of The Kansas City Call, Internet based companies like Cascade Media and countless Black journalists, podcasters, and creators are shaping how Black Kansas City stories are told in real time.