KC Blacks Look Back Over Long, Hard Road

Article provides an overview of the experiences of African Americans in Kansas City since the mass "Exodus Movement" from the deep South in the 1870s. Demographic statistics are given about blacks in the metro area, along with information about general social conditions (segregation, employment and educational opportunities, etc.) and how they have changed and to some extent improved over the decades here. Several prominent local African Americans and related community organizations are referred to or interviewed, including Bruce Watkins, Emanuel Cleaver, B. Watkins, Chester Franklin, and Leon Jordan.Earl Thomas was "a noted local educator;" Herman Johnson was "a former Missouri state representative from Kansas City;" Yolande Meek-Wilson was "a lifelong Kansas Citian and owner of Mrs. Meek's Mortuary;" Thomas Webster was a Kansas City sociologist; Julia Hill was "a former president of the Kasnas City chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People;" Walter Davies was "assistant superintendent for instruction for the Kansas City, Kan., school district;" Harold Holliday, Sr., was "a fiery opponent of civil injustice as a state legislator;" and Bernard Powell was "a local community activist who told blacks that their homes could be 'ghettos or gold mines."