The Kansas City Defender

Collecting Black authors' books is Willa Robinson's 'thing.' A new generation preserves her legacy At 84 years old, Willa Robinson is retiring and closing Willa’s Books and Vinyl, the store where she’s spent years selling works by Black artists. She’s placing the beloved space in the hands of The Kansas City Defender, which will preserve her vast archive.

At 84 years old, Willa Robinson is retiring and closing Willa’s Books and Vinyl, the store where she’s spent years selling works by Black artists. She’s placing the beloved space in the hands of @kcdefender.bsky.social, which will preserve her vast archive.

Thank you so much friends!! ♥️ It is an honor to be finalists alongside you all and the absolutely incredible, urgent work you continue to lead in.

Congratulations to our colleagues at @kcdefender.bsky.social for winning the 2025 @inn.org Community Champion Award! Read about their groundbreaking B-REAL Freedom School here.

The Small Division winner of the Community Champion Award is “BREAL Academy: Black Radical Education for Abolition and Liberation” from @kcdefender.bsky.social.

Movement media is a key tool to fight fascism.
In the @truthout.org Center for Grassroots Journalism newsletter, see the latest from @wagingnonviolence.org @hammerandhope.bsky.social @convergencemag.com @kcdefender.bsky.social @deceleration.news & more! ❤️
mailchi.mp/truthout.org...

YouTube video by The Kansas City Defender St. Louis Tornado CLIMATE WARZONE and The People Fighting Back

The original video: youtu.be/BhQjYxBcqxw

The creator, @kcdefender.bsky.social , deserves way more views and subscriptions.

As said in this video, this is the future of the United States.

Make it make sense: movement media as political education Even when our stories herald bad news, they can also help people make meaning and figure out our role in responding.

Ever had that "make it make sense?!" feeling when you're reading the news? Yeah. Me too. Conceiving of journalism as political education -- as the @kcdefender.bsky.social does so well -- is one solution and way forward. @objectivejournos.bsky.social objectivejournalism.org/2025/08/make...

YouTube video by The Kansas City Defender The Tornado That Could Destroy St. Louis’ Black Community

North St. Louis is in the middle of a climate warzone. A tornado wiped out 5,000+ homes. Black residents are relying on mutual aid to survive. We went to document climate collapse, ICE kidnappings, and the people fighting back in a city that once sparked a global revolution.

youtu.be/BhQjYxBcqxw

Missouri’s oldest Black bookstore just closed. The Kansas City Defender plans to reopen it as a newsroom and public archive. “The thought of losing that history, particularly in this political moment, was devastating.”

A beloved bookstore about to close; a determined volunteer; a local news nonprofit that got creative.

Got to write about a Kansas City icon named Willa Robinson and what @kcdefender.bsky.social is doing to preserve her remarkable book collection and legacy.

www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/miss...

Missouri’s oldest Black bookstore just closed. The Kansas City Defender plans to reopen it as a newsroom and public archive. “The thought of losing that history, particularly in this political moment, was devastating.”

Exciting developments at the @kcdefender.bsky.social, providing a other example of the importance of grassroots Black Press organising

www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/miss...

Missouri’s oldest Black bookstore just closed. The Kansas City Defender plans to reopen it as a newsroom and public archive. “The thought of losing that history, particularly in this political moment, was devastating.”

absolutely loved this piece about @kcdefender.bsky.social and a bookstore called Willa's by @speppered.bsky.social www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/miss...

Missouri’s oldest Black bookstore just closed. The Kansas City Defender plans to reopen it as a newsroom and public archive. “The thought of losing that history, particularly in this political moment, was devastating.”

The @kcdefender.bsky.social is fundraising to purchase the collection and turn it into a public archive, making “Miss Willa’s” bookstore space into its first-ever public headquarters.

www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/miss...

Truly engaging community: A Q&A with Kansas City Defender - INN News Ken Ward of Mountain State Spotlight talked with INN about how his small team conducted election surveys across the state.

How do you reach young audiences that traditional media misses?

In our latest Q&A, @kcdefender.bsky.social‬ founder Ryan Sorrell explains how "grocery buyouts" built trust with Gen Z audiences.

‘Children Of The KKK’ Stage A Test Run In Kansas City – The Kansas City Defender Kansas City’s brief invasion by white supremacist fascist group, Patriot Front, made two things clear: Missouri is a central theater for 21st-century neo-Nazism, and our state also houses a growing co...

Missouri is home to a growing coalition of people determined to stop the encroachment of white supremacist groups on their communities (via our partner @kcdefender.bsky.social). kansascitydefender.com/justice/fasc...

In our own reporting, various sources we’ve spoken to who are active in the organizing community (who will remain anonymous for reasons of safety), say that organizers were “surprised but un-intimidated by the college republican cosplay.”

In an interview with Bret Hamilton who traveled to the scene after hearing of the arrival of the fascist group, he told The Defender that “a community response had already developed when they got close to downtown,” and that “Kansas City community members were shouting for the fascists to leave.”

Patriot Front members have openly celebrated acts of white supremacist terror, including the mass killing of 22 people in El Paso, Texas in 2019.

Their chat logs framed the massacre as a form of “defense” against demographic change, reinforcing their commitment to the “Great Replacement” theory.

In 2022, the group marched through Boston with over 100 masked men, violently attacking Black artist Charles Murrell in broad daylight.

Civil-rights veteran Rev. Kevin Peterson describes the Patriot Front as “children of the KKK,” in his DemocracyNow interview following the racist Boston attack.

Missouri in particular is fertile ground. An Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights audit ranks MO the third-highest for Patriot Front activity.

The flash-mob-esque military-style performance might appear comedic—if not for the fact that the group is one of the fastest growing neo-Nazi organizations in the U.S., responsible for organizing violent street actions, celebrating mass murder, and spreading white supremacist propaganda.

Leading the march in Kansas City was white supremacist Patriot Front founder Thomas Rousseau.

Rousseau, a figure who goes to great lengths (to little avail) to exude paramilitary bravado, does little to strike fear in anyone.

On Saturday more than a hundred masked white fascists snapped open the rear doors of a convoy of U-Haul trucks and spilled onto the steps of KC’s World War I Memorial.

Faces hidden by white masks, they unfurled inverted U.S. flags and Confederate banners.

‘Children Of The KKK’ Stage A Test Run In Kansas City – The Kansas City Defender Kansas City’s brief invasion by white supremacist fascist group, Patriot Front, made two things clear: Missouri is a central theater for 21st-century neo-Nazism, and our state also houses a growing co...

Kansas City’s brief invasion by white supremacist fascist group, Patriot Front, made two things clear: Missouri is a central theater for 21st-century neo-Nazism, and our state also houses a growing coalition determined to stop it.

kansascitydefender.com/justice/fasc...

This means a lot coming from the 🐐 herself 🥹❤️ thank you!

The reason I’m so loud about my respect and admiration about @thetriibe.com is because they laid the groundwork for me. I’ve learned a lot from the innovation happening in Chicago as a whole. I’m also loud about my love for Scalawag in the south and @kcdefender.bsky.social

A tidal wave of workers, transit riders, and community leaders flooded the steps of KCMO City Hall in a mass demonstration against Mayor Quinton Lucas and the City Council’s proposed transit cuts.

🗞️ NEW from @kcdefender.bsky.social on what’s at stake in our fight to #SaveOurTransit:

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A ‘media organizer’ built an abolitionist newsroom in Kansas City. Is he a journalist? He’s not yet sure. - Poynter At The Kansas City Defender, Ryan Sorrell is following Ida B. Wells and Claudia Jones in honoring the legacy of the radical Black press

My hope in 54 yrs of journalism was to equip the community with facts and solutions that can improve life. Ryan Sorrell at the Kansas City Defender @kcdefender.bsky.social has a 21st Century definition for his newsroom that works for me: "Power-building organization." www.poynter.org/business-wor...

YouTube video by The Kansas City Defender Kansas City Leaders EXPOSE $800 Million Jail Tax Scheme | FULL SPEECH

Kansas City Leaders Speak Out Against New $800 Million Jail

Social First: How Journalists Can Win Gen Z Audiences - National Press Foundation Ryan Sorrell, founder of The Kansas City Defender, and Marian Liu of The Washington Post, share audience engagement tips for journalists.

Journalists should look beyond other journalists for inspo: "Study content creators … I listen to a lot of marketing podcasts because I think that they have a lot of the most innovative strategies," says Ryan Sorrell, @kcdefender.bsky.social founder. nationalpress.org/topic/social...