Minority-Led Stories

Blakk men are more than what you see on the 9 o’clock news, says members-only social club

Defining what it means to be a Black man is among the most important goals for a newly opened Midtown gentlemen’s club, Christina Williams explained, offering insight into what men of color are raised and called to be — but that society has often twisted into something unfair.  “It has nothing to do with color. It’s…

Carlanda McKinney, Bodify

Bodify joins Tulsa accelerator with $70K investment, ‘knocking down a lot of dominoes’

One of Kansas City’s most tenacious founders is in the midst of an intensive, six-month accelerator aimed at bringing her fashion tech startup to revenue without decreasing her ownership stake in the company. “Follow-on investment is nice, but you don’t have a company without revenue,” said Carlanda McKinney, founder and CEO of Bodify. “For me,…

Fahteema Parrish, Parrish & Sons Construction

Watch: Meet the band of local contractors behind the development of Troost Village 

Editor’s note: The following story includes the second video in a four-part series taking a look under the hard hats at the Troost Village development, a $162 million project on Troost Avenue, the city’s longtime racial dividing line. Videos in this series are expected to debut on Startland News as the project unfolds. Click here…

Brit Estes, Jhy Coulter, and Jones Goldman, Devoured

Devoured chef designs oven-baked backyard pizza concept for pop-ups and beyond

An unexpected medley of events helped Jhy Coulter realize her career as a designer needed to end for her creativity to truly shine — through food, the emerging Kansas City chef shared. “Designing for others with all these limitations was just not fulfilling for me,” said Coulter, founder of Devoured — a pop-up pizzeria known…

Cori Smith, BLK + BRWN

BLK + BRWN debuts KC’s first smart bookstore with a twist: ‘I wanted to be as Black as possible’

Kansas City’s newest Black woman-owned, brick-and-mortar bookstore in Midtown has opened its doors, but customers shouldn’t judge the operation by its cover, owner Cori Smith said, revealing an additional first for the metro that has heads and pages turning.   “There’s a technological aspect paired with each book,” explained Smith, owner of BLK + BRWN — Kansas…