Commentary
My Week With the 16th Circuit Court
I remember a joke told by famous black comedian Richard Pryor. It went something like this: “If you are going downtown [to court], looking for justice, that’s what you will find, just us. The emphasis was on how unfair the justice system is for blacks. Indeed, growing up as young black male, without knowing my…
For Openly Gay Clergy, the Goal Is To Keep the Momentum
The Rev. Donna Simon says being a female member of the clergy sometimes is tougher than being a gay member. And Rabbi Javier Cattapan says his professional difficulties have more to do with being an immigrant from Argentina with an accent than with being gay. Those are signs of the welcome reality that many religious…
Privatizing Westport Sidewalks Is About Protecting Lives
As a frequent patron of Westport, I understand when business owners want to take action to make it a safer place. Westport is a center of what is Kansas City’s vibrant nightlife. Its reputation has taken a hit this year due to violent people committing criminal acts using firearms. Primarily, these acts have taken place…
Mickey’s Empty Seat
On Saturday, Jan. 6, our special projects reporter, Mike McGraw, passed away after a brief battle with cancer. “Mickey,” as he was known to us, was 69. He came here to Kansas City PBS after “retirement” from a stellar journalism career. He won a Pulitzer Prize, our profession’s highest honor, during his 30 years at The Kansas…
View Could Bridge Divide Between Christians and Jews
The normal weekday lunch-hour crowd has collected at Michael Forbes Restaurant in Brookside. Old friends laughing, business folks talking deals. Well, normal except at my table. I’m with religion scholar Mark D. Nanos. I’ve asked him here to explain himself. And Nanos, a Kansas Citian who’s been stirring up the world of biblical scholarship for…
Let’s Not Quiet the Conversation
Sexual harassment isn’t something that just happens in Hollywood, in the halls of Congress, and major television networks. It happens close to home, no matter where home is. This past week, a local actress friend posted about a Kansas City theater writer/producer who harassed her by private Facebook messages. She posted screenshots of his…
Hospital Chaplains Deliver Spiritual Care
Right from birth, this baby was sick, in trouble. “Her mother immediately asked for prayer and was very optimistic,” Kathie Knehans, then a chaplain at Children’s Mercy Hospital told me. So Knehans prayed with the family. And even when no family members were present, Knehans, now retired, visited the child and prayed. When the still-hospitalized…
Purge In Turkey Worries KC Emigres
The brutal, imperious reaction of Turkey’s dictatorial government to a failed coup attempt last year has turned life into a nightmare for most, if not all, Kansas City-area residents of Turkish nationality. “I don’t know of anyone here from Turkey who is not affected,” says Selahattin Aydin, executive director of the Dialogue Institute of the…
What If I Told You That Kansas City Is Not A Racist Community?
What if I told you that Kansas City is not a racist community? Instead, I tell you that Kansas City is a great city, with a lot of great people. It is also inhabited by a miniscule number of racially divisive people that come from all ethnic backgrounds. Terrelle Pryor, Sr., wide receiver for the…
Singers Extend Range Beyond Their Own Faith Tradition
Elizabeth Birger is Jewish, but she is also a professional musician with a love for all kinds of religious works, which is how she ended up singing with a Christian church choir in Wichita some years back. At one point there she was asked to prepare kids to sing in an upcoming worship service. The…