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Mo-Curious

Mo’ Curious: Black Stories Matter

With roots traced back to enslaved Missourians, Lucille H. Douglass and Oralee McKinzy are using history to help educate and heal the community.

Lucille H. Douglass (at left) and Oralee McKinzy at the Parkville, Missouri Public Library in March 2023

Missouri history happened here. Right here. On this same ground on which we live today. That includes the history of slavery and racial segregation. When we tell the story of our state’s history, often the narrative is that of white and male Missourians. The family and personal stories of women and people of color are too often neglected when the narrative is told about the making of Missouri.

In this episode of Mo’ Curious meet two Kansas City women who are teaching themselves and others about local black history, which is, of course, Missouri history.

This episode’s guests are Oralee McKinzy who traces her family back to enslaved Missourians in Platte County, Missouri, and Lucille Douglass who recalls attending Parkville’s Missouri’s segregated black school as a girl in the 1950s.

As heard in this episode of the podcast:

Dr. Jimmy Johnson in ‘History of Kansas City International Airport Land and Its People’ produced by the Kansas City Museum

Thanks for listening to Mo’ Curious. Stay curious, Missouri.

Trevor Harris's avatar

By Trevor Harris

I got involved in community radio back in 1990 and later worked in public radio. I enjoy listening to people's stories. Collecting them seemed like a logical marriage of my love of audio gathering and preserving the stories of those around me.

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