St. Louis Beacon

Friday
Mar 12th
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  • Meacham Park residents demand changes in mediation agreement

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    Posted 9:50 a.m. Tues., 03.02.10 - For nearly two hours Monday night, officials and leading citizens of Kirkwood explained a mediation agreement they had reached last month and beseeched the crowd of about 100 people in a Meacham Park church to let go of the racial discrimination of the past and move ahead. But the meeting ended with Harriet Patton, the most prominent leader in Meacham Park, rising to challenge statements made by the officials.

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Visit an ongoing discussion on progress being made at racefrankly.org
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  • Despite occasional dissonance in school district, music teacher brings racial harmony to classroom

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    Posted 10:20 a.m. Fri., 02.19.10 - Patrick Jackson of Kirkwood High is one of the region's top-notch school orchestra teachers. For many students, Jackson is the only African-American teacher they have had in the Kirkwood schools. At times Jackson has felt that that Kirkwood administrators have treated him disrespectfully. But, in his class, race is invisible. This is a glimpse into the promised land of racial harmony where Jackson succeeds daily despite the school district's past failings on racial equality.

  • Talk it out: Students in St. Charles talk about race and assumptions

    race100.gifPosted 4:30 p.m. Fri., 02.21.10 - Steven Gibson had no idea what to expect. In the past, events put on by the Cultural Diversity Club have drawn as many as three people. Gibson, a junior at Francis Howell Central High School, got a nice surprise Feb. 17. More than 50 people gathered at FHS in Cottleville. The teachers, administrators, parents and students from surrounding schools came to a discussion about race.

  • At Kirkwood High, racial progress is marked by both success and frustration

    kirkhighschool100.jpgPosted 11:15 a.m. Wed., 02.17.10 -  The relationship between Kirkwood and Meacham Park plays out daily in the public schools, where decades of attention to race-related issues have yielded both success and frustration. At Kirkwood High, black students have improved their graduation rate and now take more AP courses. But the number of black teachers has shrunk to two, and some faculty complain about disrespectful treatment.

  • Kirkwood's Journey: Police, Meacham Park try to rebuild frayed relationship

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    Posted 10:40 a.m. Mon., 02.15.10 - The main focus of Kirkwood's new racial mediation agreement is improving the difficult, sometimes deadly relationship between the mostly African-American Meacham Park neighborhood and the mostly white Kirkwood Police Department. But Meacham Park leaders doubt the proposed steps will resolve their complaints that police bully neighborhood residents. And police officers remain wary in the aftermath of three officers' killings by Meacham Park residents.

  • Kirkwood's Journey: A city united or divided?

    Posted 4:02 p.m. Thurs., 02.11.10 - During the months after the Feb. 7, 2008, Kirkwood City Hall killings, several hundred residents gathered every couple of months to discuss how to achieve greater community understanding and healing. Now, two years later, the Beacon asked residents about race relations in Kirkwood, the soul-searching that followed the City Hall shootings and what the discussions achieved.

  • Kirkwood's Journey: City attorney looks at his remarkable survival

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    Posted 10:25 a.m. Wed., 02.10.10 - Two years later, Kirkwood City Attorney John Hessel still dreams about the night two years ago when Charles "Cookie" Thornton burst in Kirkwood's City Hall and went on a shooting rampage. Hessel is still not sure why he was able to escape. To say that Hessel feels lucky to be alive is an understatement.

Voices

  • Russian ice dancers slip on Aboriginal 'tribute'

    Posted 10:45 a.m. Mon., 02.22.10 - The performance was replete with stereotypes so often used to depict "savages." Kira Hudson Banks is not claiming that the pair intended for the performance to be offensive, but that does not preclude it from being experienced as such.

  • Five tips for raising racially aware children

    Posted 10:14 a.m. Mon., 01.18.10 - Many parents seem to be afraid that talking about race with children will instill racial bias rather than eradicate it. Professor Kira Hudson Banks says the opposite is true. We are not inserting ideas into their heads when we are intentional about teaching race.

  • Some of the core issues that separated Lincoln and Douglas still resonate

    Posted 1:49 p.m. Mon., Oct. 26 - When Lincoln and Douglas came to face each other in the final debate in their campaign for a seat in the U.S. Senate, the air was rife with controversy and crisis not altogether unlike the realities of our day. The Alton debate is a window into our own world, and the broad issues at Alton are strikingly similar to what Barack Obama and the Congress face today.

  • How can St. Louis support its creative class?

    Posted 10:15 a.m. Tues., Sept. 29 - A gathering at the downtown Left Banks Books about a Livable St. Louis brought out questions about zoning laws, bike routes and incorporating the arts into building projects. Margaux Wexberg Sanchez, who recently moved back to St. Louis, sees the interest and the discussion as positive, but asks: How does this translate to paychecks for creative people.

  • Teachable moments happen too often

    Posted 9 a.m. Mon. Aug. 10 - A lawyer and a professor at Saint Louis University Law School heard the story of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates and was sorry school wasn't in session so she could use this teachable moment. But she has no shortage of teachable moments to use - from her own family.

Join Us

Corner Pocket Writing Workshops - The Missouri History Museum supports the Urban Artist Alliance for Child Development in offering a series of teen writing workshops. Students will be able tp explore a variety of writing styles using the RACE: Are We So Different? exhibit as it's basis. Participants must be between the ages 12 and 17 years. Workshops are limited to 20 students. Writing samples are required before entry. Send samples via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or by fax (314) 454-3189 or by mail to Missouri History Museum, CEE, PO Box 11940, St. Louis, MO 63112.

Feb. 6, 13, 20, 27, 10 a.m. to Noon, at the Millstone Learning Center. Free, but call for reservations (314) 361-9017.

Human Race Machine - With this unique experience, viewers are allowed the opportunity to see themselves as another race. The Human Race Machine lets us move beyond our appearance and contemplate a deeper human connection.

Sat., Jan. 16 through Sun., Feb. 28, Daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tues., 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Macdermott Grand Hall. Free.

Teens Make History - Local teens perform FREE play based on St. Louis history entitled Sticks and Stones.

Feb. 6, 13, 20, 11:30 a.m. at Lee Auditorium. Free.

Theatre in the Museum - Find out what happens when two friends have their first real conversation about race in this FREE 20-minute program Race to the Finish.

Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.; Tues., Feb. 2, 9, 16, 23 at 2 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 6, 13, 20 at 2 p.m. at Lee Auditorium. Free.

Talking Circles - In this facilitated discussion on Native American tradition all participants are invited to reflect on their experiences with race as a factor in their lives and community.

Tues., Feb. 2, 9, 16 at 6 p.m. Sat., Feb. 6, 13, 20 at 2:30 p.m. at Lee Auditorium. Free. First-come, first-served basis, limit of 19 participants.

 
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Read all the stories in the Race, Frankly project

Race. Are we so different?

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In January 2010, the Missouri History Museum welcomes the special exhibition RACE: Are We So Different? Organized by the Science Museum of Minnesota, the exhibition explores the science of human variation, the history of the idea of race and the contemporary experience of race and racism in the United States.

In preparation for the exhibition, the Missouri History Museum, in conjunction with the St. Louis Beacon and KETC/Channel 9, will present monthly programs and content addressing issues related to race in the region and nation-wide. While the programs will vary in format, each one promises to be thought provoking.

Kirkwood's Journey

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This is a series on Kirkwoodians' efforts to understand how race affects their city and what role it might have played in the City Hall shootings two years ago. Read stories about Kirkwood's Journey . The series is part of the Beacon's Race, Frankly project.

In the Fishbowl

Video by Kristen Hare

Francis Howell Central students go inside the fishbowl to answer questions about race from their peers. See a larger version of this video and read the story .

Voices

  • U.S. education has to stop rewarding mediocrity
    Beacon Columnists

    Posted 6 a.m. Fri., 03.12.10 - As international assessment of educational achievement shows that U.S. students scored below average. R.W. Hafer says one change that's needed is to demand excellence, stopping grade inflation.

  • Police and local control: two views, one place
    Beacon Columnists

    Posted 9:42 a.m. Thurs., 03.11.10 - M.W. Guzy is confused by the Post-Dispatch. It wants the legislature to free the city police from the control of a state board whose members are appointed by the governor, then merge an assortment of locally controlled departments and place them under the supervision of a different state board whose members are also appointed by the governor.

  • Effort to enact a "percent for art" dies an undeserved death
    In the News

    Posted 12:35 p.m. Wed., 03.10.10 - The success of Citygarden is one reason for the resurgence of the idea of setting aside a "percent for art" on public projects and private ones covered by TIFs or tax abatement. Lana Stein laments that, once again, developers (this time joined by the mayor's office) won the votes to kill the plan.

Beacon Roundtable

 
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The Lens

  • Finding Alice

    alice100timburton.jpgPosted 10:35 a.m. Mon., 03.08.10 - Tim Burton's treatment of "Alice in Wonderland" is just the most recent in a long line - a line dating from 1903.

Lawscoop


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Barroom Conversations

The St. Louis Beacon sponsors weekly conversations on race, related to the publication's year-long special coverage of issues and situations related to race in the St. Louis region. The lightly-moderated discussions begin with a specific topic, but like all good conversations, veer off in different and rewarding directions. The general topic now is "Finding Common Ground." The Barroom Conversations begin at 7:30 p.m. every Monday in the Half-Pint Room, to the left of the lobby at the Schlafly Brewery and Taproom at 22nd and Locust. Everyone is welcome.
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In St. Louis, race affects virtually every important aspect of community life. Yet it’s difficult to talk productively about race. Race, Frankly invites you to look at race with fresh eyes.

The Missouri History Museum, the Beacon and KETC/Channel 9 have partnered to create a yearlong series of events, in-depth articles and video pieces.

Read stories in the series.

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