Urban Summit Kansas City

06/10/2026

LAST SATURDAY, WE GOT FIRED UP. THIS FRIDAY, WE GET READY TO VOTE.
📅 Friday, June 12, 2026
🕣 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM
📍 Morning Star Community Center — 2525 E. 27th Street, Kansas City, Missouri

If you missed last Saturday's 19th Annual Urban Summit Conference, you missed one of our most powerful gatherings yet. More than 200 community leaders, clergy, activists, elected officials, candidates, and concerned citizens gathered under the theme "Power to the People: No Vote, No Hope."

Health Forward Foundation CEO Qiana Thomason challenged us to understand that community power is built through civic engagement and political participation. Then Rev. Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant — the faith leader who organized the Target boycott — brought the house to its feet with a passionate call for economic resistance and community accountability.

The Fireside Chat featuring young activists and emerging leaders challenged elected officials, exposed growing voter distrust, and made clear that young people are not disengaged because they don't care — they're disengaged because too many leaders have failed to earn their trust.
So what are we going to do about it?

This Friday, Urban Summit moves from inspiration to action. Board Members Gayle Hill-Suber and Gloria Westbrooks will present "Everything You Need to Know About Voter Registration" — critical information as we approach the August Primary and November Midterm Elections.

Then join our Mini Town Hall featuring candidates seeking to represent you:
Donna Peyton — Incumbent Jackson County Legislator, 2nd District at-Large
Carla Fields — Candidate, Jackson County Legislature, 1st District at-Large
Justice Horn — Candidate, Jackson County Legislature, 1st District at-Large
Dr. Susan Wilson — Candidate, Jackson County Legislature, 3rd District at-Large
Tony Van Trece — Candidate, Missouri State Representative, District 23
Byron Townsend-Candidate, Jackson County Legislature, District 4

Ask about the corrections system. Property tax assessments. Outside agency funding. Statewide policy. Bring your questions — democracy only works when citizens show up.

✊🏾 Power to the People. No Vote. No Hope.

06/10/2026

✊🏾 The 19th Annual Urban Summit Conference is a WRAP — and what a day it was! 💙🤍

*Power to the People: No Vote. No Hope.* wasn't just a theme — it was a movement that filled every corner of The Gathering KC on June 6th.

We are still on cloud 9 from all of the support! 🙌🏾

We are deeply grateful to everyone who made this day possible:

🎤 **Our Keynote Speakers** — Thank you for bringing your wisdom, your fire, and your truth to our stage. You set the tone for everything that followed.

🪑 **Our Panelists** — The conversations you sparked were real, raw, and necessary. Kansas City needed to hear every word.

🗳️ **Jackson County Executive Candidates** — Thank you for showing up, facing our community, and being accountable. This is what democracy looks like.

🤝🏾**Our Sponsors** — None of this happens without your investment in our community. Your support means everything.

🏢 **Our Vendors & Resource Partners** — From employment opportunities to voter registration, you showed up and showed out for our people.

👏🏾 **Our Attendees** — YOU are the reason we do this. 19 years in and the energy in that room reminded us exactly why Urban Summit exists.

The work doesn't stop when the conference ends. See you in the community. 💪🏾

🌐 www.urbansummitkcmo.com



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Swapped the 🤝 for 🤎 to keep the brown skin tones consistent throughout. Ready to post!

06/10/2026

‘Auntie’? White man disrespects one of KC’s most revered Black women | Williams
When a candidate for Jackson County executive referred to CEO and president of the Urban League as auntie, she was appalled. From Mara Williams:
Read more in the full story: bit.ly/4orAzHC

06/06/2026

19th Annual Urban Summit

06/06/2026

05/27/2026

This week's Urban Summit convenes our Prospect Corridor Public Safety Task Force for a timely conversation on recent progress and the urgent work still ahead.

For months, residents, neighborhood leaders, law enforcement, city officials, and community stakeholders have met consistently to address public safety and quality-of-life challenges in the corridor. Our work is producing results — but it's not finished.

United Market Grand Opening
The opening of United Market marks a major milestone and a hard-fought victory for our community. Owner Anthony Estrada will provide an update on early operations and what it will take to keep the store strong and successful.

Retail Alcohol Impact Area Ordinance
The ordinance passed — but now faces pushback and legal resistance from the liquor retail industry. We'll discuss implementation, next steps, and how to defend this critical public safety tool as the community continues organizing for safer neighborhoods.

Public Safety & Law Enforcement Updates
Task force partners will share current conditions and coordinated enforcement strategies in the corridor.

Featured Guests Include:
Lace Kline, Assistant City Manager – Public Safety | Mario Vasquez, City Manager | Anthony Estrada, United Market | Dion Sankar, Chief Deputy – Jackson County Prosecutor's Office | Marquita Brockman Taylor | Major Chris Young, KCPD | Neighborhood leaders and Prospect Corridor stakeholders

Racial Discrimination & Hostile Workplace Culture at KCFD
Public safety must include accountability within our institutions. We'll have a direct conversation with KCFD Chief Craig Buckley regarding reports of racial discrimination and a hostile workplace culture — addressing leadership, equity, and institutional accountability.

📅 Friday | 8:30–10:00 AM
Morning Star Community Center or join virtually: urbansummitkcmo.com
🍳 Breakfast served at 8:00 AM

05/26/2026

⏰ There's still time to register! Join us Saturday, June 6th for the 19th Annual Urban Summit Conference — Power to the People: No Vote. No Hope.

Doors open at 8AM and we go until 3PM at The Gathering KC | 2500 E. Linwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO

🎤 Hear from two powerful voices:
Qiana Thomason — Morning Keynote
Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant — Afternoon Keynote

Plus on-site Employment Opportunities, Voter Registration, and Mobile Unit Screenings.

Don't sit this one out. Your voice. Your vote. Your power. 🗳️✊🏾

Register now at www.urbansummitkcmo.com

05/13/2026

Reconnecting the East Side: Repairing Past Harm and Reimagining the Future

Friday, May 15, 2026
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM
Morning Star Community Center
Breakfast Served at 8:00 AM
Zoom: Meeting ID: 854 0710 2600 Passcode: 592381

Before there was Highway 71, there were thriving Black neighborhoods and generations of families who built lives, wealth, and stability in the heart of Kansas City’s east side. Then came “urban renewal.”

And like so many Black communities across America, our neighborhoods paid the price for someone else’s progress. Highway 71 did not simply cut through land. It divided neighborhoods, destroyed homes and businesses, accelerated disinvestment, and deepened racial segregation. The scars are still visible today.

We will focus on the Reconnecting the East Side Initiative, a transformative effort to address the historic harm caused by the construction of Highway 71, and we will explore opportunities to reconnect neighborhoods long divided by destructive transportation policy.

Project representatives and community stakeholders will discuss:
The historical impact of Highway 71 on Kansas City’s Black neighborhoods
The displacement and economic destruction caused by the corridor
Current planning efforts and proposed redesign concepts
Community priorities and engagement opportunities
Economic development and neighborhood reinvestment possibilities
Transportation equity and quality-of-life impacts
What true repair and restorative investment should look like

For decades, Kansas City has invested billions to redevelop affluent areas, while communities east of Troost have been disconnected, displaced, and ignored.

Kansas City cannot continue celebrating downtown growth while ignoring the communities sacrificed to create it. If we are serious about equity, then “reconnection” cannot become another planning slogan. It must lead to real investment.

Real healing.
Real opportunity.
And real accountability.

The east side was divided by policy. It must now be restored through policy.

05/13/2026

We showed up. We showed out. ✊🏾

Kansas City was in the building — alongside advocates from all across Missouri. Activist groups, community members, and everyday people united at the Statewide Rally for Voting Rights to demand fair maps and fight for what's right.

This is what a movement looks like. 💪🏾