St. LouiS AmericAn
Program helps fathers deepen family bonds
By Ashley Winters St. Louis American
Learning how to stay calm under pressure and show up consistently for his children was one of the biggest lessons Mikhail Foster Sr. took away from six weeks in the Responsible Fatherhood program at Fathers & Families Support Center.
The father of six said the program challenged him to look inward, manage his emotions and strengthen his faith so he can be a better father and role model for his children.
“I have to stay positive for my kids. Everything starts with me”
– Mikhail Foster Sr.
“I have to stay positive for my kids,” Foster said.
“Everything starts with me.”
As families celebrate Father’s Day this weekend, research continues to challenge long-standing stereotypes about Black fatherhood. A landmark study by the National Center for Health Statistics found that Black fathers are highly engaged in their children’s lives and, in several measures of daily caregiving, reported higher levels of involvement than white and Hispanic fathers.
Researchers found Black fathers were more likely to help young children with activities such as bathing, dressing and diapering and were often highly involved in daily routines such as reading, playing and helping with homework.
Studies have also linked positive father involvement to stronger social-emotional development, improved academic outcomes and healthier relationships for children.
For nearly three decades, Fathers & Families Support Center has worked to help fathers build on that involvement by strengthening parenting skills, improving communication and increasing emotional and
See Fathers, A11
Juneteenth –STL remembers
Four generations share how Juneteenth shaped their understanding of history
By Lauren Marisol Preston For The St. Louis American
Elizabeth Nash was well into adulthood before she heard much about Juneteenth. Her family’s understanding of freedom began instead with survival — escaping the 1917 East St. Louis Race Massacre.
As Juneteenth celebrations draw thousands across the St. Louis region, Nash represents a generation of Black Americans who did not grow up observing the holiday, even as its themes shaped their lives.
“We lived it,” Nash said. “It wasn’t anything to celebrate.”
On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in See Freedom, A10
St. Louis seeks to grow pipeline of skilled-trades workers
By Na’Porsha Williams St. Louis American
Erion Johnson spends his summers teaching teenagers how to frame walls, wire electrical systems and work with the
$8 million investment will help The Opportunity Trust expand career training See Workers, A10
tools of the construction trades. As a fourth-generation carpenter and founder of Youth Builder STL, Johnson sees skilled trades as more than a career path. He sees them as a way to
strengthen families, create opportunity and help rebuild neighborhoods. His mission aligns with a new effort to expand skilled-trades training in St. Louis. The Opportunity Trust recently announced
it will receive $8 million over three years through a Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative aimed at helping high school students enter careers in construction, manufacturing and other skilled trades.
The funding will support the expansion of Next Prep, a program that connects students with technical training, industry credentials and apprenticeship opportunities while they are still in high school.
Johnson said the need for trained workers has become even more apparent since the May 16, 2025, tornado that damaged thousands of homes
Alyssa Harris paints the face of Dominique Walker, 1, as she sits with her mother, Tamara Beasley, during the Soulard Juneteenth event last weekend.
Photo by Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
Elizabeth Nash holds a family photo inside her home as she reflects on her family’s survival after the 1917 East St. Louis Race Massacre.
More Juneteenth coverage on pages A3, B1, B6-B9.
Photo by Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
Editorial / CommEntary
Guest Editorial
Obama Center an investment in justice
Center offers a hopeful blueprint on growth
“This is an economic engine, not just for the South Side of Chicago … most certainly here, but it’s going to be an engine for the city and the region. It’s going to be a beacon of hope to the world at a time where I think we can all use a little hope.”
— Valerie Jarrett
By Marc Morial
At a moment when a sitting president squanders resources on hollow symbols of personal aggrandizement, the Barack Obama Presidential Center stands as a transformative investment in community, economy and civic life.
I recently had the opportunity to visit the Obama Presidential Center, and I plan to attend its grand opening on Juneteenth. I found it to be a powerful testament to leadership, community and the ongoing mission to create opportunity.
Rooted in the values of service, democracy and advancement, this critical space reminds us what’s possible when we invest in people, in hope and in shared progress.
President Obama has called the Center “a living destination for people who refuse to accept the status quo.”
Economic projections tied to the Center estimate hundreds of thousands of annual visitors and billions in long-term economic activity, with thousands of jobs created during construction and ongoing operations. In communities that have endured decades of disinvestment, that level of investment represents economic mobility for residents who have too often been left out of the wealth generated in their own neighborhoods.
Like Chicago, cities across the country are grappling with the challenge of attracting investment while protecting vulnerable communities from displacement. The Obama Presidential Center is unfolding in real time as an example that policymakers, advocates and developers alike will study closely. The Center can demonstrate that economic development and equity are not competing goals but complementary ones. It can show that inclusive planning, community input and enforceable protections can produce growth that benefits everyone.
space, human health, and the arts finds expression everywhere, for everyone; and the future appears collaborative and hopeful.”
Columnist Marc Morial
Our own Urban League Empowerment Center was conceived in this very same spirit, with a projected economic impact of $300 million right here in Harlem.
But the Center’s mission, like our own, goes beyond economic impact. As Chicago Tribune art critic Lori Waxman wrote, “Visiting the OPC felt like being in an alternate reality. One where people of diverse origin, ability, and belief co-exist peacefully and productively; the value of the environment, public
More than a traditional presidential library, the Center’s Forum includes the Hadiya Pendleton Atrium, a media suite for recording music and podcasts and the Elie Wiesel Auditorium for performances and lectures. The campus includes a regulation-size basketball court, a branch of the Chicago Public Library and the Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden. The campus playground even includes a sledding hill; Michelle Obama had always wished for one when she was growing up in the largely flat neighborhood.
The Obama Presidential Center is a reminder that development can be a catalyst for both growth and justice. When we center community, honor history and invest with thoughtful intention, we can build institutions that uplift neighborhoods rather than displace them. At a time when our nation is searching for models of progress that are inclusive and sustainable, the Center offers a hopeful blueprint.
Marc Morial is National Urban League president and CEO.
Donald M. Suggs Publisher ADMINISTRATION
Dina M. Suggs – Sr. Vice President
Julie Erickson – Chief Operating Officer Raven Whitener – Director, The St. Louis American Foundation and Special Events Reba
How the Democratic party lost its way
By Ben Jealous
The party of Andrew Jackson has spent a decade running from him. It should keep the two things he got right. It was Andrew Jackson’s plantation, outside Nashville. More than 300 men, women and children were enslaved there. The ground is sacred, and it is stained. The man who made it was a proponent — and often an active participant — in nearly every vicious form of racism of his day.
For that reason, the party he founded has spent the last decade distancing itself from him. Dinners renamed. Statues removed. Traditions reconsidered. Most of Andrew Jackson’s legacy troubles me deeply.
And yet.
His is the third-most-visited presidential plantation in America. Presidents made the trip. They came to pay homage to the man who founded a party to fight for working people.
He was wrong about almost everything that matters.
And yet, again. He was right about two things.
Working people deserve a party that will fight for them. And they deserve a party with the courage to take on the financial powers that strip-mine families and wreck the American dream itself.
Those two convictions are the only true spine this party has ever had. They carried it through Franklin Roosevelt. They carried it through Lyndon Johnson. Both men had real sins. Roosevelt put Japanese American families behind barbed wire. Johnson sank us into Vietnam. But on those two issues — the worker and the powers arrayed against the worker — they held the line. The country was stronger for it.
Jesse Jackson spent his life advancing a single idea: that working people of every color belong in one coalition. He
Commentary Commentary
called it the Rainbow Coalition, and the name itself was the argument. Andrew fought for the working man and drew the circle around white men only. Jesse drew it around all of us. They came for Jesse in 1984, and again in 1988. They came for Bernie Sanders in 2016, and again in 2020. Each time, the offense was the same: a candidate would not choose between fighting for working people and fighting the powers that prey on them.
It is never what happens to one candidate that matters. It is the pattern.
The pattern is a class of corporate consultants who hijacked the party of the working man and rented it back to the highest bidder. They poll-tested the conviction out of it. They taught it to fear its own base and court its own predators..
So where did the party lose its way? It strayed from the only two things the two Jacksons ever agreed on...
We climbed the mountain on race — the work of generations, against fierce resistance, much of it our own. I gave my life to it. But somewhere on the way up, we let go of the ground we started from. Fighting for working people and standing against the powers that prey on them was not a plank. It was the cornerstone. Pull the cornerstone, and one day the house comes down.
So where did the party lose its way? It strayed from the only two things the two Jacksons ever agreed on: that the American worker deserves a champion and that the greediest interests in this country deserve a foe. That is the reconciliation I am after. Not of the men. The two Jacksons will never sit easily together, and they should not. It is the principle. Keep the two they shared. Finish the work the first one would not.
Ben Jealous is a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania and former president and CEO of the NAACP.
Sliding back to racial tyranny
By Barbara Reynolds
When U.S. Rep. James Clyburn warned that America risks sliding backward toward the post-Reconstruction era, many heard the words but failed to grasp the horror behind them.
They should.
The soft-spoken South Carolina congressman is not given to exaggeration. When Clyburn invokes the specter of post-Reconstruction America, he is not quoting a distant chapter in a textbook. He is warning of a period so brutal, so morally disfiguring, that its scars remain visible in the American landscape more than a century later.
conducted a reign of terror. In fact, more than 6,500 Blacks were lynched, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, from 1830 to 1950.
Courts weakened civil rights protections. States erected barriers to voting. Poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses and intimidation campaigns transformed constitutional rights into empty promises.
Today, similar circumstances that disenfranchised Black people are arising. The Supreme Court has issued a series of rulings that critics argue have weakened protections for Black voters.
His warning came after he narrowly survived a congressional redistricting battle that threatened to erase the district he represents. Had it succeeded, many Black South Carolinians would have seen their political influence diminished in a state where Black voters have long fought for fair representation.
Clyburn’s warning reminds us of the tyranny that followed slavery’s end.
After the Civil War, America entered Reconstruction, which lasted from 1865 to 1877.
Nearly four million formerly enslaved people were recognized as citizens rather than property.
In addition, President Trump has instituted one of the most antiBlack campaigns that suggests the return of the post-Reconstruction period. This includes firing Black administrative and military leaders, dismantling civil rights protections, gutting federal jobs that helped build the Black middle class and canceling diversity programs that aided Black colleges. In fact, 300,000 jobs held by Black women were terminated last year.
300,000 jobs held by Black women were terminated last year.
The passage of the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, the 14th granted citizenship and the 15th protected the voting rights of Black men. Women would not gain the right to vote until 1920.
Black Americans voted. They organized. They built businesses, churches, schools and communities. More than 1,500 African Americans held public office. Twenty served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Two served in the U.S. Senate. Then came the backlash.
The U.S. Supreme Court aided and abetted a rising anti-Black campaign to suppress Black political advancement. In 1896, the high court’s Plessy v. Ferguson decision legalized racial segregation. Without the protection of the legal system, the KKK and white vigilantes
Trump officials are ordering GOP leaders in Southern states to gerrymander voter districts to curtail Black voters who are key to the Democratic base. Missouri is included.
That is why Clyburn’s warning deserves attention.
He recounts in his book, “The First Eight,” how eight Black men from South Carolina were elected to Congress during the post-Reconstruction era. Yet within a decade, a combination of violence, voter suppression and legal barriers drove them from office.
As the doors of democracy begin to close again, we must remember: What is taken from one group is taken from us all. If America returns to the spirit of Jim Crow, the greatest loss will not be Black political representation alone. It will be the moral core of the nation itself. And as Clyburn warns, some damage would take generations to undo.
Barbara Reynolds is a former columnist and editorial board member for USA Today, where she served from 1982 to 1996.
Columnist
Barbara Reynolds
Columnist
Ben Jealous
The Barack Obama Presidential Center Photo by Fred Sweets / St. Louis American
“Enough is enough. If they not killing us, they throwing us in jail!!”
— Rapper Yung Miami, claiming racial disparities in the sentencing of Black Texas teen Karmelo Anthony
Black rodeo returns
Event celebrates Juneteenth, the overlooked Western legacy
By Zaria Mac St. Louis American
The Southeastern Rodeo Association’s annual Black Rodeo returns to St. Louis on Juneteenth weekend with a mission beyond entertainment: highlighting the overlooked legacy of Black cowboys and cowgirls. The event will be held Saturday, June 20, at Chaifetz Arena, with performances at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
SERA founder Walter Hull said the rodeo was created to bring families together while educating audiences about the history of Black cowboys and cowgirls.
“I was in entertainment all along and then the idea of a Black Rodeo came to me,” Hull said. “Family entertainment was lacking at that time. ... We want to educate people on the history of the Black cowboy and cowgirl that helped tame the Old West.”
The event is held during the Juneteenth season by design.
“June 19th was a historical day for the African American cowboy, cowgirl — and, of course, the African American people in general as well,” Hull told attendees at last year’s rodeo. “1865 is a year and June 19th is a day that we will always remember.”
Historians estimate
The Southeastern Rodeo Association’s Black Rodeo returns to Chaifetz Arena on Saturday, June 20. The event has become a Juneteenth-weekend tradition in St. Louis since its first appearance in 2019.
that as many as one in four cowboys in the American West were Black. Many were formerly enslaved people who found work in the cattle industry after
the Civil War, helping drive herds north along trails that became central to the mythology of the American frontier. Despite their contri-
butions, Black cowboys were largely absent from many popular depictions of the West in movies and television.
“On TV we never
saw Black cowboys and cowgirls,” Hull said. “We only saw the Lone Ranger, Rawhide and people like that — nobody that looked like us.”
The first SERA rodeo was held in 2013 in Montgomery, Alabama. Since then, the organization has staged events across the South, Midwest and East Coast.
Representation remains a central part of the mission.
“The rodeo is done out of a love for horses and western culture,” Hull said. “And if you have aspirations to be a cowboy, you’ll see somebody in the ring that looks just like you.”
Saturday’s rodeo will feature events including barrel racing, bronc riding, tie-down roping and steer wrestling.
Steer wrestling itself has roots in Black rodeo history. Bill Pickett, a Texas cowboy born in 1870, is credited with creating the event, which remains a staple of professional rodeos today. Pickett became one of the first Black stars of the rodeo circuit and was later inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame.
Hull said many of the competitors have spent their lives in the sport.
“The people we have performing have been part of the rodeo all their life,” he said. For Hull, the event’s purpose extends beyond competition.
“When you come out to the rodeo,” he said, “know that you’ll see somebody that looks like you.”
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Commentary
Aldermen advance major St. Louis water-rate increase
St. Louis aldermen have given initial approval to a plan that would raise city water rates by more than 80% over the next six years to help pay for infrastructure upgrades and improve the financial stability of the city’s water system.
The proposal includes two 18% increases in 2026 and 2027, followed by smaller annual increases through
2032. City officials say the additional revenue is needed to maintain and modernize an aging system. Under the proposal, the average residential bill would increase by about $7 to $9 per month in 2026 and by a similar amount in 2027.
The measure still requires final approval.
Judge upholds police funding requirement
A judge has ruled that Missouri’s requirement that St. Louis devote a minimum level of funding to its police department does not violate the state constitution.
The decision rejects a challenge to the law approved by state lawmak-
ers in 2022. Supporters argued the funding mandate helps ensure public safety, while opponents contended it infringes on local control.
The ruling allows the funding requirement to remain in effect unless overturned on appeal.
Bell joins House Foreign Affairs Committee
U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell has been appointed to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, adding responsibility for issues including foreign aid, arms control and international relations.
Bell, a Democrat from St. Louis,
said he hopes to counter foreign policies he believes have weakened the nation’s global standing.
Bell will retain his seats on the House Oversight and Armed Services committees
Sen. Sanders backs Bush comeback bid
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has endorsed Cori Bush in her bid to return to Congress representing Missouri’s 1st District.
Bush, who lost the 2024 Democratic primary to now-U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, is seeking a rematch in 2026 as Bell runs for re-election.
Bush said Sanders’ support reflects their shared progressive priorities on economic issues, health care and housing.
Sanders previously endorsed Bush during her successful 2020 campaign that unseated longtime incumbent William Lacy Clay.
SIUE to host crime scene, courtroom workshop
Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville will host its free Crime Scene to Court program June 22-26 at the Southwest Illinois Center for Justice and Workforce Development in Belleville.
The program is open to students entering grades 10-12 and will intro-
duce participants to crime scene investigation, forensic evidence analysis and courtroom procedures. Lunch will be provided.
For information, contact De’Angelo Williams at deangwi@ siue.edu or 618-660-9838.
A presidential prince and the paupers
By Julianne Malveaux
America once worried about an imperial presidency. Now we have an imperial presidency merged with a family business. And somehow, too many Americans are shrugging.
Perhaps that shrug is less agreement than exhaustion. Americans are tired — tired of the scandals, the outrage cycles, the endless circus where every day produces another ethical breach, another fundraising scheme, another spectacle competing for attention. People are struggling with rent, groceries, health care, caregiving and retirement. Corruption fatigue has become part of our political culture, and that exhaustion is dangerous because corruption flourishes when people become too weary to resist it.
Donald Trump did not invent corruption. He simply removed the curtains. Previous presidents at least understood that public office required the appearance of restraint. Trump has transformed the presidency into something between a branding opportunity, a grievance machine and a family business.
same way. Poor people are investigated for survival. Working people are lectured about personal responsibility. Black families are criminalized for minor infractions. Yet wealthy elites convert influence into wealth and are celebrated as savvy businessmen.
A poor woman receiving excess food stamps is treated like a criminal mastermind. Billionaires gaming the tax code are called “smart.”
Trump did not create that system. He understands it instinctively because he has benefited from it for decades. But his presidency has accelerated something even more corrosive: the collapse of ethical expectations altogether.
Campaign fundraising, cryptocurrency ventures, donor cultivation, luxury branding, political memorabilia, legal defense funds and efforts to monetize political influence now swirl together into one giant transactional enterprise where political power and private wealth are increasingly difficult to separate. The presidency is no longer merely an office; it is becoming a monetization platform.
Multiple news organizations have reported that Trump-linked cryptocurrency ventures have generated substantial revenue for Trump-affiliated entities while the administration oversees policies affecting the broader crypto industry. In another era, such conflicts would have triggered bipartisan outrage. Today, many Americans barely react before the next scandal arrives.
Corruption survives when exhaustion sets in and citizens begin believing that everybody is dirty anyway, although everybody is clearly not dirty in the
A democracy cannot function when citizens conclude that public office is simply another avenue for private enrichment. Once people stop believing government serves any public purpose, cynicism replaces citizenship. Voters disengage. Institutions weaken. Democracy itself becomes transactional and transactions always favor the wealthy.
What worries me most is not merely Trump himself, but the national adjustment surrounding him. Americans are not embracing the circus so much as surrendering to it. The daily chaos creates a numbing effect. Every scandal competes with five others. Every outrage is replaced before citizens can fully absorb its implications.
That shift in public consciousness is profoundly dangerous.
History teaches us that republics rarely collapse in one dramatic moment. More often, they are hollowed out gradually — one indulgence, one rationalization, one ethical compromise at a time.
The presidency is not supposed to be a family inheritance project, a licensing operation or a speculative investment vehicle. Public office is supposed to be a public trust.
Yet public trust is eroding rapidly.
The grift matters. But the greater danger is the national numbness surrounding it.
Julianne Malveaux, a former college president, is an economist, author and commentator based in Washington, D.C.
Julianne Malveaux
FEMA helps make a vision a reality
Centennial Christian Church awarded $3 million to rebuild
By Andrea Y. Henderson
St. Louis Public Radio
Centennial Christian Church has received more than $3 million in federal funding to help rebuild its tornado-destroyed North St. Louis worship center. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved more than $77 million in post-disaster funding through its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which helps repair, rebuild and stabilize
communities affected by recent disasters. The Fountain Park neighborhood church is the only nonprofit in the St. Louis area that received FEMA’s most recent disaster-related funding grant.
“We have found this [FEMA] staff to be dedicated and helpful in our journey.”
_Dietra Wise Baker
It has been a painful year for the church family, but
FEMA’s recent funding investment is a step in the right direction, said Dietra Wise Baker, Centennial Christian Church’s transition pastor.
“We have found this [FEMA] staff to be dedicated and helpful in our journey, but this is a story
that’s really about the resilience of a congregation in the community that will not give up on the dignity, the historic value of our community, and won’t give up on our people,” Wise Baker said.
FEMA awarded a supplemental grant of more than $2 million to help Centennial with rebuilding the historic structure and more than $1 million to assist with replacing contents inside the
Church, A6
Funding will support 34 housing units, including new homes in The Ville
St. Louis American staff
The city of St. Louis has awarded nearly $3.9 million in federal housing funds to support affordable
Mya Walker Lawrence has been named executive director of Southwestern Illinois College’s Sam Wolf Granite City Campus.
Lawrence named executive director at SWIC Mya Walker Lawrence
Lawrence brings more than 21 years of higher education experience. She previously held leadership positions at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas; Park University in Parkville, Missouri; and William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Kansas, an MBA from Keller Graduate School and a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Lindenwood University.
STL Confluence elects treasurer, adds to board
St. Louis Confluence, a nonprofit that supports TEDxStLouis and TEDxStLouis Women, has elected Esmeralda Aharon as treasurer and appointed Huvona Watkins, Larry Morris and Lyah B. LeFlore-Ituen to its board of directors.
Aharon serves as faculty, staff and community engagement program director in the Office of Ignatian Mission in Medicine at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. An Army veteran, she is also co-founder of Latinas Rising, an organization focused on leadership development and mentorship for women.
Watkins is executive director of Almost Home, a nonprofit that helps teen mothers achieve self-sufficiency and build stable futures for themselves and their children.
Morris serves as programs and partnerships director for the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, where he oversees artist residencies, community engagement initiatives and institutional partnerships.
LeFlore-Ituen is director of African American History Initiatives at the Missouri History Museum. She is a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning producer and NAACP Image Award winner with more than 30 years of experience in media, history and storytelling.
The organization also selected Sarah Arnosky Ko, a civic and economic development leader at Greater St. Louis Inc., to serve as board chair. Jia Lian Yang of Forward Through Ferguson was elected secretary.
Promotion, board appointment, new hire, award... please submit your People on the Move item (including photo) to areid@stlamerican.com
Photo courtesy of the city of St.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Esmeralda Aharon
Centennial Christian Church sits at the front entrance of Fountain Park and was severely damaged by the high winds that crossed over Kingshighway into the Fountain Park neighborhood late Friday afternoon May 16, 2025.
Huvona Watkins
Larry Morris
Lyah B. LeFlore Ituen
Amazon commits $10B to data center campus
Amazon plans to invest $10 billion in a data center campus in Montgomery County, increasing the project’s projected cost by $2 billion.
The company said the development will create more than 400 permanent jobs and thousands of construction jobs. Amazon also announced more than $7 million in community investments and said it will pay the costs of connecting
Church
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building and restoring the church’s operations and community services. These funds are reimbursed to the church in part as the grant-funded project moves toward completion.
Before the church can start rebuilding, Wise Baker said leaders are required to go through the New Beginnings process with the Christian Church Disciples of Christ. It includes helping Centennial redefine its mission and performing needs assessments and demographic data collection to help the church gain a clear idea of its future.
“The church’s intention is to be a historic church again in Fountain Park,” she said. “It now has to go through a deeper planning process to make that vision a reality, that’s not a 1-2-3 process, that’s going to take some time.”
On May 16, 2025, Centennial’s roof and steeple caved in as an EF3 tornado ripped through parts of St. Louis. Three people were trapped inside,
the campus to Ameren Missouri’s electric grid. The project is one of two massive data center developments planned for the county, alongside a proposed $15 billion Google campus.
Lambert security officers ratify 1st union contract
More than 100 security officers at St. Louis Lambert International Airport have approved their first union contract,
along with longtime church member Patricia Penelton, who was killed. Penelton’s husband filed a lawsuit against the City of St. Louis and the church in April.
The tornado-destroyed church was demolished in April. After the storm, the congregation began holding worship services at Florissant Valley Christian Church in Florissant.
As the church moves through the rebuilding process, Wise Baker said it will need continuous financial help from the community. It is accepting donations to support recovery and rebuilding, and to support the Fountain Park community and surrounding areas with social services.
“We have a family that’s grieving still that we care for and that we are in relationship with, alongside of a city that is still struggling deeply to recover and is not getting fully all the support that it needs to do that,” Wise Baker said. “It’s not just about Centennial, we care deeply about what’s happening in Fountain Park and in North St. Louis.”
securing wage protections, seniority-based raises and expanded paid leave.
The agreement covers 111 GardaWorld employees represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1 and runs through April 2029.
The contract also establishes a “just cause” standard for discipline and a grievance process for disputes. Union leaders said the deal is intended to improve retention and stability among workers responsible for airport security screening and traffic operations.
Wellston industrial site slated for redevelopment
A 28-acre industrial property in Wellston is slated for redevelopment into a business park focused on manufacturing and logistics, local officials announced.
The former Wellston Industrial Park, at 1335 Ogden Ave., is owned by the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of St. Louis County and will be purchased and redeveloped by THO
Investments LLC. Officials said the site could support as much as 300,000 square feet of industrial development.
The project is part of Wellston’s 2023 Empower Wellston Community Plan, which calls for housing, economic development and reinvestment in historically disinvested areas.
Officials said construction is expected to take about 36 months once work begins. The site is near the Wellston MetroLink station and other community amenities.
MetroTix, United Way launch donation program
MetroTix customers can now make donations to United Way of Greater St. Louis while purchasing tickets under a new partnership announced by the two organizations. The program allows ticket buyers to add donations of $1, $5 or $10 at checkout. Funds will support United Way programs and services across its 16-county region in Missouri and Illinois.
the air, as demolition continues on the
Housing
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Among the largest awards is nearly $835,000 for The Ville Generations project, which will bring nine newly constructed homes to North Sarah Street in the tornado-impacted Greater Ville neighborhood. The homes are planned for blocks north of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive that were affected by the powerful tornado that struck St. Louis on May 16, 2025.
The funding comes as city leaders continue efforts to rebuild damaged neighborhoods and address a shortage of affordable housing.
Other projects receiving funding include seven new homes in Fox Park, 11 rehabilitated homes in
Among the largest awards is nearly $835,000 for The
Generations project, which will
nine
Hyde Park, two housing units in Gravois Park and additional rehabilitation work in Dutchtown.
Several projects received supplemental funding to complete previously approved developments.
The awards are funded through the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program and Community Development Block Grant program, both administered locally by the Community Development Administration. Funding recommenda-
tions were originally part of the agency’s Spring 2025 affordable housing competition but were delayed as staff shifted resources to tornado response and recovery efforts.
The Community Development Administration said the projects will return vacant properties to residential use, support homeownership opportunities and expand the city’s supply of affordable housing.
Ville
bring
newly constructed homes to North Sarah Street in the tornado-impacted Greater Ville neighborhood.
Photo by Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
An excavator crashes through the front corner of Centennial Christian Church, sending bricks and debris into
tornado-damaged structure from the May 16, 2025 storm.
HealthMattersHealthMattersHealthMatters
Co-grand marshals Morgan Harris and Jordyn Burrell walk with Jaxson Creswell during the fourth annual J Steppin’ 4 Autism Fun Walk at MRH High School in Maplewood on Saturday, June 6. The event brought families, community partners and supporters together to promote autism awareness, acceptance and inclusion.
Autism and advocacy
Mom-founded walk highlights challenges facing Black families
By Lawrence Bryant St. Louis American
When Kimberly Creswell’s son was diagnosed with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic, she found herself searching for support, understanding and spaces where children on the spectrum could feel accepted.
Four years later, that experience has grown into a community effort aimed at connecting families with resources and one another while raising awareness about autism and the challenges many families face.
The fourth annual J Steppin’ 4
Autism Fun Walk recently drew about 75 people to the Maplewood Richmond Heights High School track for a morning focused on autism awareness, acceptance and inclusion.
The free event was founded by Creswell in support of her son, Jaxson, who was diagnosed with autism at age 2½ in 2020.
“Jaxson brings so much joy into my life that I felt a calling to share that happiness and advocate for him and the wider community,” Creswell said. “I wanted to ensure he and every child like him grows up in a world where they feel safe, seen and loved.”
The event’s message carries added significance in Black communities, where families have historically faced barriers to diagnosis and support services. Researchers reported in a 2023 review published by the National Library of Medicine that Black children with autism have often been diagnosed later than white children, delaying access to therapies and support services. The review also found Black children were more likely to receive other diagnoses before autism was identified.
Never too old to take the plunge
Doctors warn ballot initiative could raise medical costs
St. Louis American staff
Physicians and health care advocates opposed to a ballot measure that would eliminate Missouri’s income tax and could lead to higher sales taxes are warning that the proposal could increase health care costs for Missouri families, seniors and patients.
Amendment 5, which will appear on the Aug. 4 ballot, would gradually reduce and eventually eliminate the state income tax if certain revenue-growth benchmarks are met. The proposal would also give lawmakers broader authority to modify sales taxes and other revenue sources to offset the loss of income tax revenue.
Supporters of the measure, including Gov. Mike Kehoe, say eliminating the income tax would allow Missourians to keep more of their earnings while strengthening the state’s economy. The physicians and advocates said replacing income tax revenue could eventually lead to higher costs for goods and services, including health care. They said their concerns center on how rising costs can affect patients’ ability to obtain care, fill prescriptions and seek preventive treatment.
“As physicians, we see every day what happens when health care becomes unaffordable,” said Dr. Priya Pal, a physician-scientist specializing in HIV research. “People delay appoint-
Making waves against fear
Senior swimmers overcome barriers passed down through generations
By Jennifer Porter Gore Word In Black
Raised by her grandparents from the time she was 8 months old, Velmar Byrd grew up on a farm in North Carolina under the shadow of Jim Crow. She and her family grew their own vegetables, raised chickens and pigs, and lived largely off the land. It was a full life — but
Inez Watson began swimming as a youngster at Druid Hill Park, one of the few city pools open to Black people.
swimming wasn’t part of it.
“Nobody in my family talked about swimming,” Byrd recalls, even though there were ponds, creeks and beaches nearby. “I wasn’t going to jump into any of those creeks. No,
no, no.” Inez Watson is a child of Jim Crow, too, and grew up in segregated Baltimore. But she began swimming as a youngster at Druid Hill Park, one of the few city pools open to Black people. She swam every day during the summertime and, as a teenager, took diving lessons and taught people to swim.
Her community, however, wasn’t so interested.
Persistent problem
“The fear may be instilled in young children,” Watson says. “People hear reports of a child drowning or an
adult drowning, and then it becomes, ‘You’re not going near the water.’ And that fear gets passed down.”
adults say that they have never taken a swimming
Fund, A8
Photos by Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
Envato photo
A senior swimmer swims laps for her daily exercise. Swimming is a great form of exercise by most Black
See Autism, page A8
Now, Byrd and Watson, both senior citizens, are swimming ambassadors of a sort. They are not only swimming regularly for
their own health but also encouraging other Black people to learn a skill
See Ballot, A8
Priya Pal
Christian Hendrix Leslie Ortbals
Inez Watson
Ballot
Continued from A7
ments, skip medications, postpone screenings and arrive sicker than they otherwise would have.”
Pal said future tax changes could make health care less affordable for some Missourians.
Dr. Christian Hendrix,
Swimming
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many in their communities never had the opportunity to develop.
Last month, two U.S. soldiers who went missing during a training exercise in Morocco were later found to have drowned. Both were Black, and one was known to be a non-swimmer — a tragedy that reflects a longstanding disparity.
Almost 40 million U.S. adults report being unable to swim. Roughly 1 in 3 Black adults say they can’t swim, compared with about 15% of adults overall. Most Black adults have never taken a swimming lesson.
Researchers say the causes are layered, including a legacy of segregated pools and beaches during the Jim Crow era, generational gaps in swimming culture and fears about water that have been passed down through families for decades.
No fear here
Both Watson and Byrd are living proof that fear can be overcome.
Watson, 89, calls her athleticism “a gift from God.” She still teaches
Autism
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 1 in 31 8-year-old children were identified with autism spectrum disorder in 2022. The agency also found that Black children with autism were more likely than white children to be identified with an intellectual disability, a pattern
an internal medicine physician training in infectious diseases and critical care medicine, said the proposal could make it harder for patients to afford doctor visits, medications and other necessities.
“If this bill will make affording doctor visits and medicines harder for patients, while having the ultra rich pay less to help their neighbors,
HealthMattersHealthMattersHealthMatters
‘Taking Care of You’
this is nothing more than a wealth transfer from everyday, working people to billionaires,” Hendrix said.
Leslie Ortbals, a health care advocate who lives with multiple chronic illnesses, said families already struggling with medical expenses could face additional financial pressure if everyday costs rise.
“If Amendment 5 pass-
es and makes health care and everyday necessities more expensive, it won’t be the politicians making these decisions who bear the consequences,” Ortbals said. “It will be people trying to afford a prescription, seniors stretching a fixed income, parents caring for children with disabilities and young families like mine trying
to build a future while managing the rising cost of simply getting by.”
The Missouri Budget Project, which opposes the amendment, has argued that replacing income tax revenue would likely require higher sales taxes or expanding sales taxes to additional goods and services. The organization estimates that between 60% and 80%
fitness classes with her daughter and remains active in her community.
“Everything I’ve done has been about quality of life. I saw that it was fun and when I got older, I realized it [swimming] can
researchers say may reflect missed opportunities for earlier diagnosis and intervention.
Advocates say Black families often face barriers to diagnosis and treatment, including limited access to specialists, long waits for evaluations and challenges finding culturally responsive services.
Before the walk begins each year, Creswell asks participants to repeat the event’s motto: “Autism is a part of them, but it does
save your life,” Watson says. Byrd swims and does water aerobics at least twice a week.
“I come out feeling good,” she says simply. Her path to the
not define them.”
She said the ritual allows parents, caregivers and supporters to affirm that message while setting the tone for the event.
“For me, I preach acceptance of kiddos on the spectrum,” Creswell said. “With so many things going on in the world and our kids being bullied or attacked, I think it’s important that we continue to foster inclusion.”
Anitra Little attended the walk in support of her
water was much longer. When Byrd moved to Connecticut as a young woman, a friend offered to teach her to swim, but the lessons never took hold.
“I wanted to learn,” Byrd says.
son, who has autism.
“I’m here for the Autism Walk, of course, to support autism,” Little said. “My son has autism, and I just want to be here to support others that are like my son.”
Little said events such as J Steppin’ 4 Autism help families build connections and find support.
“Autism is common, and it’s important that we have events so that we can know that there are others who are like us that we can go to if we need assistance,” she said. “Support is a big thing in the autism community.”
She also emphasized the importance of early intervention.
“It’s not easy, but it’s something that you want to make sure that you notice and take care of immediately,” Little said. “Early
Never too late
Decades passed before she took her first formal lesson.
Learning to swim became about more than exercise. It was also about
intervention is the key. Go ahead and do the therapies, whatever it takes to make sure that he or she has what they need to thrive.”
Community partners included Autism Support Now, Latitude Therapy and St. Louis Arc.
Creswell’s advocacy efforts began in 2021 with Jaxson’s Give the Gift of Play, an annual holiday toy drive that provides sensory-friendly and developmentally supportive toys to children with autism. The effort recently completed its fifth year, donating more than 500 toys and surpassing 1,000 toys distributed since it began.
The first J Steppin’ 4 Autism Fun Walk followed in 2023, growing from about 10 family members and friends into
of Missourians could see a net tax increase under a system that relies more heavily on sales taxes. Amendment 5 has been the subject of court challenges over its ballot language. Missouri appellate judges recently ordered revisions to the summary language voters will see but allowed the measure to remain on the Aug. 4 ballot.
confronting a fear she had carried for years.
“I had to unlearn some of those fears in order for me to move forward,” she says. Around age 69, Byrd enrolled in swim lessons and eventually found an instructor who would not let her quit. She began taking regular lessons at 70.
“That’s where I really learned,” she says.
‘Fear is blockage’
Watson hopes more people will see swimming not only as recreation but as a life-saving skill. That message resonates with Byrd. “Any kind of fear is a blockage,” she says. “That comes with swimming, too.”
She believes the most powerful intervention begins with parents, encouraging children to become comfortable around water before fear takes root. She also believes the way adults talk about water can either reinforce fear or build confidence. Her message to anyone still hesitant is straightforward.
“There are hundreds of thousands of swimmers. They’re still living,” Byrd says. “I can learn to swim and live.”
a larger community event.
Creswell said the walk is intended not only for families affected by autism but also for people who want to learn more and help create a more welcoming community.
“A walk like this brings the community together,” she said. “It shows our kiddos and adults who are on the spectrum that we support them. It also brings those without autism to the table and lets them know a little bit more about them.”
For Creswell, awareness is important, but acceptance remains the larger goal.
“The more we get together and promote autism awareness and acceptance, hopefully we can continue to grow and get support for our kiddos,” she said.
Envato photo
A senior swimmer tracks laps for another swimmer while competing at the Senior Games. Roughly 1 in 3 Black adults say they can’t swim, compared with about 15% of adults overall.
Keke Palmer opened up about how early fame affected her and her family during a conversation with Whoopi Goldberg at the Tribeca Festival. Palmer said that while she was becoming a star in projects like Akeelah and the Bee and True Jackson, VP, her family was dealing with the pressures that came with her rising profile.
She said they were all “being traumatized by fame,” but in different ways — with her parents and siblings adjusting to life in her shadow while she tried to stay grounded.
“So it’s easier for them, I think, to under-
stand each other than it was for them to understand me because they’re still trying to understand and metabolize their very crazy experience,” Palmer remembered.
“While I’m experiencing what it’s like for everybody around me to be now affected by everybody’s perceiving me when really I’m the same as I’ve always been.”
Palmer, who grew up in Illinois before her family moved to Los Angeles to support her career, is one of four children raised by Sharon and Lawrence “Larry” Palmer
Tyra Banks is preparing to take legal action against Netflix over its new America’s Next Top Model documentary — and she’s making it clear she did not sign off on the project.
According to multiple reports, Banks says the streamer used her image and likeness without permission.
In a statement shared through her representatives, Banks said she was “blindsided” by the documentary and “never agreed to participate in or authorize the use of my name, image or story in this
A street naming ceremony honoring DMX in Yonkers took a sharp turn when his eldest son, Xavier Simmons, publicly challenged how the rapper’s “original family” was treated during the event.
The ceremony, meant to celebrate the unveiling of Earl “DMX” Simmons Way, had already featured remarks from several speakers — including DMX’s fiancée, Desiree Lindstrom, who co-administers the estate with his daughter Sasha. It appeared the program would end without hearing from the children DMX shared with his former wife, Tashera Simmons
Allhiphop.com reported that Xavier was given time at the last minute, and he used it.
“There is absolutely no way that you will close this ceremony and we will not hear from his original entire family,” he said, calling his mother and siblings to the stage. He thanked Tashera for helping push the street-naming effort forward and acknowledged Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano and city officials for supporting the project.
Then Xavier addressed Lindstrom directly, accusing her of excluding DMX’s children and mother from key moments tied to the rapper’s legacy. His microphone was cut almost immediately after those remarks.
Lindstrom had been scheduled to unveil the street sign, but the mayor did it instead. While not confirmed, witnesses said Lindstrom appeared to have left after the incident.
The Hollywood Reporter said that Banks claims the series used selective editing and missing context to misrepresent her answers. Banks alleges that the documentary created a false narrative about her role in some of the show’s most serious controversies. The complaint says the finished series damaged her reputation by making her appear dismissive, forgetful, or responsible for situations she says were not fairly presented to her. Netflix has not publicly responded to Banks’ claims.
Kevin Hart says Spike Lee deserves championship ring
Kevin Hart and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith are among those calling for Spike Lee to get a championship ring after the New York Knicks won their first title in 53 years.
Hart posted a video on Instagram saying the longtime Knicks superfan has earned it. “Give Spike a ring,” Hart said, noting that Lee has spent “many millions” supporting the team over the last four decades.
Lee has been a courtside fixture at Madison Square Garden for decades and has held Knicks season tickets since 1985.
Hart said that loyalty alone should qualify him for a championship ring.
Hot Sheet Sources:
Keke Palmer
Tyra Banks
‘Each generation should teach the next’
Continued from A1
Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved people they were free — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The message had traveled slowly. The memory of that day traveled much farther.
For generations, Black communities kept Juneteenth alive through church gatherings, family reunions, neighborhood cookouts and local celebrations. Juneteenth gained broader national attention following the racial justice protests of 2020 and became a federal holiday the following year after decades of advocacy.
Yet behind the festivals, parades and public celebrations are personal stories that reveal how Black Americans have experienced freedom, resilience and progress across generations.
For Nash, 84, the first Black and first female postmaster in Central Illinois, Juneteenth was not part of her childhood. Raised in East St. Louis, she said she did not learn much about the holiday until recent years.
Her family’s story is tied directly to the 1917 East St. Louis Race Massacre, one of the deadliest outbreaks of racial violence in American history.
“My family survived the race riots because the white people my grandmother worked for helped get us across the bridge to St. Louis safely,” Nash said. “Without that, there’s no me, and there’s no rea-
son to celebrate anything. That is where my story starts when it comes to freedom.”
Her mother was born the following year in 1918.
Despite that history, Nash remembers a childhood shaped by strong families and close-knit neighborhoods.
“I didn’t know life was not good for us because my parents and community protected us from that,” she said.
Today, Nash volunteers with Bridges Ministry in East St. Louis, helping provide meals to residents in need.
“You have to look out for other people,” she said.
If Nash represents a generation that lived through history without formally celebrating Juneteenth, Joyce Hughes, 75, represents a generation determined to preserve those stories.
Hughes, president of Neighbors Impacting Communities and founder of the Soulard Juneteenth Festival, remembers attending Juneteenth celebrations at Fairground Park in the 1970s. She worries many people know the celebration without fully understanding the history behind it.
“I love Blackness. I love my people. I love history,” Hughes said.
What began as a small festival with vendors and music has grown over five years into a community celebration that attracts thousands of attendees, artists, educators and community organizations.
For Hughes, however, Juneteenth is about more than entertainment.
“I hope they learn the true history,” she said. “There was a cost paid.”
That commitment led her to partner this year with local educators and historians, including The 13th Amendment Freedom Week Movement.
MK Sadiq, 47, came to know Juneteenth through the arts.
A George Mason University research fellow and cultural researcher at the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission, Sadiq was involved in St. Louis’ Black arts community around 2000 through Legacy Books and Café
when he first heard about a Juneteenth jazz event, long before the holiday gained national recognition.
Later, while researching Black arts and culture in Missouri, he discovered the state had its own emancipation tradition, known as Jubilee.
Missourians celebrated the end of slavery in January 1865 — months before Juneteenth became part of Texas history. Yet Jubilee largely disappeared from public memory.
“As somebody from St.
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and buildings across North St. Louis.
“You see how the city looks right now. Something happens to your house right now it’ll take you so long to get a handyman,” Johnson said.
The initiative comes as employers continue to report shortages of skilledtrades workers. Missouri is projected to have thousands of annual openings in occupations such as carpentry, electrical work and plumbing, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.
Riley Foster, director of Next Prep, said the program is designed to combine classroom instruction with hands-on experience that allows students to explore careers before graduating from high school.
“That is why we are leaning so heavily into apprenticeships and earn-
Louis, I had never heard of Jubilee,” he said.
For Sadiq, that disappearance underscores the importance of preserving history.
“Documentation determines what survives,” he said.
He embraces the joy of modern Juneteenth celebrations but hopes they are paired with education and reflection.
“I think dance is a sublime way of celebrating liberation,” Sadiq said.
“But if we’re celebrating
and-learn opportunities,” Foster said.
The program is scheduled to launch this fall with 40 students and is expected to grow to serve 100 students annually by 2029. Participating students will receive training in fields including electrical work, carpentry, construction, HVAC, welding and advanced manufacturing.
Johnson said skilled trades deserve the same respect as traditional college pathways because they offer opportunities for students whose strengths are better suited to handson learning.
“I don’t talk against college because somebody has to make the blueprints. Somebody has to be able to read the blueprints,” Johnson said. “Everybody ain’t gonna be made for college.”
Participating students will receive technical training, industry credentials and exposure to apprenticeship opportunities while still in high school. Funding also will support
that Black people are free, the other question is: Are Black people free?”
That question lands differently for younger generations, including Alyssa Harris, 19, who has never known a world without Juneteenth. Unlike Nash’s generation, Harris grew up with Juneteenth as a familiar holiday on the calendar.
Originally from St. Louis, Harris now attends Marquette University in Milwaukee, majoring in psychology. She is also the owner of Create the Aura Studio, where she offers face painting at Juneteenth events.
“Kids get so excited because they kind of get to become this personality for the day,” she said.
Harris first learned about Juneteenth in fifth grade at City Academy in North St. Louis. Her mother, she said, made sure she understood not just what the holiday was, but why telling its stories mattered.
“My mom gave us a lot of information about what Juneteenth was, why it’s important that we know, and why it’s important that we share our stories,” Harris said.
To her, the holiday is both a celebration and a reminder of progress made and struggles not yet finished.
“We have a really big focus on trying to find ways to make changes and end the things that have been going on for so long,” she said. Across four generations, their stories reflect how the meaning of Juneteenth continues to evolve while remaining rooted in history.
“Each generation should teach the next generation,” Hughes said.
transportation, career coaching and work-based learning experiences.
Foster said the initiative is intended to connect students directly to skilledtrades careers through apprenticeships and other work-based learning experiences.
Johnson, whose Youth Builder STL program provides 10 weeks of training in carpentry, framing and electrical work, said not every student learns best through lectures and traditional classroom instruction.
“We have to have a skill. This is something AI is not going to take over,” Johnson said.
The Opportunity Trust will lead the effort through a coalition of more than 40 employers, labor organizations, schools and community partners. Participating schools include Gateway Science Academy, Kairos Academies and University City High School.
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the $90 million national initiative June 9.
Paulia Simmons helps her daughter, Gabriella, with an arts and crafts activity during the Soulard Juneteenth event at the Loop.
Photo by Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
By Jamala Rogers
Wishing the future were rosier
‘Tis the season for graduations. Graduations from kindergarten, middle school, high school and college. These are joyful milestones in the life of a loved one to be celebrated by family, friends and community. For the recent college grad, after the champagne stops flowing and the cell phone cameras cease clicking, the prospects are more sobering, maybe even somber. Careers and job stability are most uncertain in these turbulent political and economic times.
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financial support for their children.
Founded in 1997 by Halbert Sullivan, the St. Louis organization offers parenting education, employment services, legal assistance and mentoring programs designed to help parents become more emotionally and financially involved in their children’s lives.
The Family Formation Program, the organization’s cornerstone initiative, begins with an intensive six-week course focused on parenting, communication, healthy relationships and financial responsibility, followed by at least a year of supportive services.
Since its first Responsible Fatherhood class nearly 28 years ago, the organization has served almost 23,000 fathers and positively impacted more than 57,000 children.
The organization reports measurable results.
Since COVID, Black college graduates have found the job market to be unforgiving. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the unemployment rate in 2024 for Black workers with a bachelor’s degree stood at nearly 6%. .
Facing no job, underpaying jobs, racial discrimination and crippling debt is a depressing forecast for any human being, let alone the young, gifted and Black who were poised to set the world on fire. Currently, anti-Black and anti-Black women policies and practices are real. MAGA’s contempt for Diversity, Equity
In 2025, 81% of participants said they improved their parenting skills, 78% reported stronger co-parenting relationships and 71% said they increased interactions with their children.
For Foster, those findings reflect what he and his fellow graduates worked toward during the six-week program.
“My biggest takeaway was learning how to get outside of myself,” he said. “Looking at myself and learning how I can better myself.”
He said the program taught him the importance of controlling his emotions, strengthening his faith and allowing spirituality to serve as a guide in his life.
Cheri Tillis, CEO of Fathers & Families Support Center, said she watched significant changes unfold during the sixweek program.
“In those six weeks, lives were transformed,” Tillis said. “Frowns were turned into smiles. Men who may have been experiencing loneliness now
and Inclusion (DEI) has come at a steep cost. Between February and July 2025, Black women lost roughly 319,000 jobs while other demographic groups posted gains. Economists have pointed to federal workforce cuts and attacks on DEI programs as major contributors to those losses.
Black workers have always been the last hired and first fired. In between time, they faced unfair workload expectations and
harsher consequences for work violations. The endless stress negatively affects relationships, health and productivity. I believe society, and particularly the African American community, has given our young people rose-colored glasses when we should’ve been fighting harder for a rosier future. We have drilled into our young people to work hard, be well-rounded and tap into their social capital. That’s only half of the for-
have a brotherhood.”
She said the fathers made a conscious decision to invest in themselves and their children.
“Most importantly, your children have role models they can look to,” Tillis told graduates during the ceremony. “They can feel the difference.”
Darryl Covin, a facil-
mula for success. The other half is that we must all be contributing to the elimination of the class, racial, gender and disability-related barriers that prohibit opportunity for growth and advancement. It is disingenuous to tell our children they can be anything they want to be, and we have not wrestled racism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination to the ground.
Have we told our daughters that they will typically earn 65 cents on the dollar compared to white men, regardless of their education? Have we
He encourages participants to practice patience, listen more carefully and communicate more effectively with their families.
“We encourage the men to take their rightful place as leaders in the family,” he added.
The emphasis on emotional intelligence mirrors what researchers have found about effective fatherhood. Studies show children benefit not only from financial support but also from consistent emotional connection, guidance and engagement. Experts say fathers who are actively involved in their children’s daily lives can have a lasting impact on their confidence, behavior and overall well-being.
itator with the program, said the curriculum goes beyond teaching fathers how to provide financially. It also focuses on emotional intelligence, communication and accountability.
“We know how hard you can be as a man, but let’s see how soft you can be,” Covin said.
The program also seeks to strengthen families through economic stability. The center served 977 individuals in 2025, while 267 participants gained or maintained employment, earning an average wage of $18.65 per hour. According to the organization, those employment gains translated into more than $10 million reinvest-
warned our Black boys that this racist society is willing to cage them at $65,000 than invest in their well-being? I have silently vowed to redouble my efforts to fight for a world where merit and character are valued and protected. African American young adults don’t need empty promises or false narratives. They are the future and deserve so much more.
Jamala Rogers is an opinion writer and one of the founding members of the Organization for Black Struggle, based in St. Louis.
ed into the local economy. Between 2019 and 2024, participants in the Family Formation Program contributed nearly $5.9 million in child-support payments, helping provide greater financial stability for children and families throughout the region. The organization estimates that for every dollar invested in its programs, nearly five dollars are returned to the St. Louis community through increased employment, family stability and reduced dependence on public assistance.
For Tillis, the graduation ceremony was not the finish line but the beginning. “I’m most proud that they took a leap of faith and stayed committed,” she said. “Showing up is the first step.” She hopes graduates continue applying the lessons learned long after the certificates are handed out.
“There is no playbook for parenthood,” Tillis said. “But if they utilize what they’ve learned here, they will be better for it.”
Envato photo
Jamala Rogers
For nearly three decades, Fathers & Families Support Center has worked to help fathers build on that involvement by strengthening parenting skills
ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JUNE 18 - 24, 2026 St. Louis American Reader’s Choice Awards 2026
The St. Louis community weighed in, casting about 60,000 votes in the inaugural St. Louis American Reader’s Choice Awards. The winners and finalists are listed below. A special Reader’s Choice tabloid featuring the winners is scheduled to be published Thursday, Aug. 6. The complete list of winners and finalists will remain available online until next year’s nominations begin.
CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT
Janelle Stowers - Winner
Ebony Ingram - Finalist
Rhonda Liddell-Davis - Finalist
Best Tax Professional
Darlene Davis- Winner Francine Cody - Finalist Steven Harris - Finalist
CHURCH
Best Choir
Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church- Winner
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church - Finalist
Shalom Church (City of Peace) - Finalist
Best Church (Larger Congregation)
Shalom Church (City of Peace)Winner
Living The Word Church - Finalist
Friendly Temple Church- Finalist
Best Church (Medium Size Congregation) Open Door Christian Center- Winner
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church- Finalist
Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church- Finalist
Best Church (Smaller Congregation)
Haven House - City of Refuge Church-
Winner
Unity Chapel Church- Finalist
Washington Tabernacle MBC- Finalist
Best Deacon John Hayden- Winner
William Joseph- Finalist
Sylvester Dunn- Finalist
Best Minister
Pastor Shaun Williams (Christian Believers Ministries) - Winner
Minister Aaron Letcher (Pleasant Green
Missionary Baptist Church) - Finalist
Bishop Lawrence Wooten (Williams
Temple Church of God in Christ) - Finalist
Best Music Ministry
Living The Word Church- Winner
Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist
Church- Finalist
Jesse Williams and Total Praise- Finalist
Best Recording
Jesse Williams and Total Praise
Shalom Church (City of Peace)- Finalist
Levi “Too” King- Finalist
Best Senior Pastor
Pastor Shaun Williams (Christian Believers Ministries)- Winner Reverend Freddy J. Clark (Shalom
Church (City of Peace)- Finalist
Dr. Anthony L. Riley (Central Baptist Church)- Finalist
Best Songwriter
Pastor Shaun Williams (Christian Believers Ministries) - Winner Corn Robinson Jr.- Finalist
Levi “Too” King- Finalist
Best Usher
Sherwin Zenon - Winner Christine Allen- Finalist
Glenn Bond- Finalist
Best Youth Pastor
Pastor Marvin Blake - Winner
Minister Preston Williams (Shalom
Church (City of Peace) - Finalist
Dr. Michael Jones, Jr (Friendly Temple) - Finalist
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS
Best Asst. Principal Courtney Rachel - Winner Dr. Rapheal Rogers - Finalist Pamela Hamilton - Finalist
Best Charter School
Lift for Life Academy High SchoolWinner KIPP - Finalist Momentum Academy: Fox ParkFinalist Best Coach Earnest Cheatham- Winner LaTesha Alexander - Finalist
LaQuita and Jarrett Campbell - Finalist Best College St. Louis Community College - Forest Park - Winner Ranken Technical College - Finalist Columbia College-St Louis- Finalist
Elementary School City Academy- Winner Adams Community School - Finalist Gateway Elementary School - Finalist
Fraternity Graduate Chapter
Sigma Chapter - Finalist
Best Teacher Leigh Cleggett- Winner Wilma Higgins - Finalist
Shaniya Gilmore - Finalist Best University
Zeta
State University - Winner
University in St. Louis Finalist University of Missouri-St. Louis Finalist
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Best
Mia’s Treats Delight Finalist
Best Bar/Bartender
KJ’s Bar and Grill - Winner Renee’s Restaurant & Bar - Finalist Terminal 3 Bar & Grill - Finalist
Barbeque Bandana’s Bar-B-Q- Winner BobaQue Finalist
Red’s The One And Only BBQ Finalist
Best Brunch/Breakfast
Latté Lounge + HG Eatery- Winner Elicious Southern Style Breakfast and Brunch Finalist
First Watch Finalist
Best Burger Bus Loop Burgers- Winner
Wine Down Cafe - Finalist
and CateringFinalist
Best Club/Afterhours
Ash Cigar & Bar Lounge- Winner
After Hours Bar and Grill - Finalist
TopShelf Bar and Grill- Finalist
Best Ethnic Cuisine King Of Soul- Winner Mi Ranchito- Finalist
Africana Restaurant & Adinkra Lounge on Delmar- Finalist
Best Fine Dining
801 Chophouse- Winner Ferguson Chophouse- Finalist
Ramsay’s Kitchen St. Louis- Finalist Best Food Truck Pure Catering STL- Winner A’Deans Kitchen & Catering- Finalist Ron Ron’s Fried Rice- Finalist
Best Fusion of Non-Traditional
Pop Pop Hurray! Gourmet PopcornWinner Lefty’s Fried Rice Finalist French Frie Factory Finalist
Best Ice Cream Clementine’s Ice Cream- Winner Crown Candy Kitchen- Finalist Ted Drewes Frozen Custard - Finalist
Best Latin American Restaurant El Maguey Mexican Restaurant- Winner Mi Ranchito- Finalist Las Fuentes Mexican RestaurantFinalist
Best Pop-up
Pharoah’s Donuts- Winner
WillieAnn’s Snack Shop Finalist
Crispy Sips - Finalist
Best Restaurant
Vails Brothers Shrimp Chicken & Fish-
- Finalist
Nurse Kayla A. Ross, LPN- Winner
Muhammad, DNP- Finalist
Taylor-Spencer, APRN- Finalist Best OB/GYN Dr. Andrea Sample- Winner
Eboni January- Finalist Dr. Carolyn J. Pryor- Finalist
Best Oncologist
Dr. Lannis E. Hall - Winner
Dr. Jovita Oruwari- Finalist
Dr. Mia Weiss- Finalist
Best Pharmacy GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness at Delmar DivINe- Winner Affinia Healthcare- Finalist CVS (Clayton Road) - Finalist
Best Physician Dr. Janiece N Stewart- Winner Tracy Norfleet, MD Finalist Jacqueline Hayes, MD - Finalist
Best Therapist
Dr. Jameca Woody Cooper- Winner Emme Harms, LCSW Finalist Brianne Overton Finalist
HOME & GARDEN
Best Air Conditioning/HVAC Service
Design Aire Heating and CoolingWinner Hoffmann Brothers - Finalist (Tied)
Duane’s Heating & Air Conditioning
Finalist (Tied)
Evans Heating and Cooling - Finalist (Tied)
Best Architect Kaelo Architecture LLC- Winner Kwame Building Group Inc Finalist
KAI Enterprises - Finalist
Best Contractor
Deidre Lewis - Winner Walter Neely Finalist We Improve Finalist
Best Home Construction | Home Improvement
Kwame Building Group Inc- Winner
Keely Construction Group - Finalist
We Improve - Finalist
Best Landscaping
Barnes Landscaping- Winner Fletcher’s Creations Finalist BlackBerry Landscaping Finalist
Best Pest Control
Rottler Pest Solutions- Winner St. Louis Pest Control - Finalist
Midwestern Termite & Pest Control
“We did it! It’s been 53 years. Fifty-three years!” – Spike Lee
Musical salute to fathers and mentors
ETA Boule Foundation hosts Jeffrey Osborne
By Zaria Mac St. Louis American
Support, celebration and a healthy dose of nostalgia were on display at An Evening with Jeffrey Osborne, presented by the ETA Boule Foundation as part of its 8th Annual Salute to Fathers and Mentors. Held at the historic Sheldon Concert Hall in Grand Center, fathers, sons and the women who support them gathered ahead of Father’s Day to honor the dedication of the men in their lives.
“The ETA Boule Foundation celebrates 10 years of honoring fathers, father figures and mentors who have shaped our lives,” said chairman Darryl Jones. “The men who have encouraged us, guided us, challenged us and helped open doors for those going behind them.”
that benefit Black males, their families and with organizations including Big Brothers Incarnate Word Foundation, the Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation, BJC Children’s Hospital, Gateway to Medicine and Lincoln University.
Since its inception a decade ago, the foundation has donated $300,000 in educational assistance to more than 80 St. Louis students and contributed $150,000 to youth, family and See Osborne, B4
By Zaria Mac St. Louis American
There was little standing around and even less sitting down. The playlists were curated to keep people moving.
energy atmosphere where friends reunited, strangers became dance partners and the soundtrack reminded everyone why the era’s music still resonates. With rotating sets from local DJs Zari Ferrari, Nyara and
See Sunday, B3
By Kenya Vaughn St. Louis American
Music is the thread that weaves together the Black experience in America. The contributions of Black people to the canon of American music represent more than creative expression through sound. They are volumes of American history in their own right — art that reflects the unshakable will and resilience of a people who have defied the odds at every turn.
Before freedom came, Black Americans sang about their hope for it. And even without liberation, they proved their determination to survive so that future generations could experience the freedom they had been denied for centuries.
Photo by Taylor Marrie / St. Louis American
See SLSO, B4
‘Second Sunday: The Cookout’ brought early 2000s hiphop, R&B and pop to Atomic by Jamo on Sunday, June 7.
Photos by Lawrfence Bryant / St. Louis American
Pop, funk and soul music veteran Jeffrey Osborne
JUNETEENTH EVENTS
Fri., June 19, 9
a.m. – 4 p.m., Rest
Reimagined—A Juneteenth Celebration presented by Frizzy By Nature, honoring Juneteenth and the power of rest, reflection, and release, Saint Louis Art Museum. For more information, visit www.slam.
org.
Fri., June 19, 10
a.m., Summer Family Fun Series: Celebrating Juneteenth, Missouri History Museum, Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park. For more information, visit www.mohistory.
org
Fri., June 19, 12
noon, House of Soul’s 7th Annual Juneteenth Festival Block Party, House of Soul, 1204 Washington Ave. For more information, visit www. houseofsoulstl.com
Fri., June 19, 12 noon, JuneteenthSTL Festival Parade & Cultural Celebration presented by the City of Dellwood, featuring a blend of national and regional talent, including Southern soul sensation Pokey Bear and hip-hop artist Lil Scrappy, Dellwood Recreation Center, 10266 W. Florissant Ave.
Thurs., June 18, 5
p.m., Missouri Historical Society’s African American History Programs, Thursday Nights at the Museum presents Joyful Juneteenth: An Evening of Performances, Missouri History Museum, Lindell and DeBaliviere
in Forest Park. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org
Fri., June 18, 7 p.m., The Gateway Festival Orchestra presents A Juneteenth Orchestral Event conducted by TJ Abernathy and featuring baritone Vince Wallace, Ritenour High School Auditorium, 9100 St. Charles Rock Road. For more information, visit www.gatewayfestivalorchestra.org or call 314-741-5948.
Fri., June 19, 7:30 p.m., Soul of a People A Juneteenth Celebration of Black Music featuring LaKisha Jones (American Idol) and Ryan Shaw (America’s Got Talent) alongside the SLSO and IN UNISON Chorus. Powell Symphony Hall. For more information, visit www.slso.org
Fri., June 19, doors 8 p.m. The Juneteenth Joint w/ Frankie DoWop, The Key, 3225 Olive St, St. Louis, MO 63103. For more information, visit www.thekeystl.com
CONCERTS
Fri., June 19, 8 p.m. (7 p.m. doors) The Gogel Law Firm welcomes The R&B Meets Throwback Hip Hop Tour with Stokely and Kool Moe Dee, The Pageant, 6161 Delmar. For more information, visit www.thepageant.com
Fri., July 10 doors 7 p.m. St. Lunatics 25th Anniversary Show, The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis, MO
63112. For more information, visit www.thepageant.com
Tue., July 21, 7 p.m. The R&B Tour starring Usher and Chris Brown, The Dome. See https:// explorestlouis.com
SPECIAL EVENTS
Sat., June 20, 1p.m. and 7:30 p.m. St. Louis SERA Rodeo, Chaifetz Arena, find more information at www.chaifetzarena. com
Fri., June 26, doors 7 p.m. Strawberry Bounce, The Golden Record, 2720 Cherokee St. St. Louis, MO 63118. For more information, visit https:// thegoldenrecord.com
Sat., June 27, 1 p.m., Black Wall Street 314 Festival, Wellston Loop.
R&B veteran Stokely and hip-hop legend Kool Moe Dee will perform at The Pageant for The Gogel Law Firm’s presentation of The R&B Meets Throwback Hip Hop Tour. See CONCERTS for details.
Sq, St. Louis, MO 63103. For more information, visit https://kranzbergartsfoundation.org THEATRE
Through June 21, 8:15 p.m. The Muny presents Hairspray, The Muny, 1 Theatre Drive, St. Louis, MO 63112. For more information, visit https:// muny.org/
Through June 21, 8 p.m., St. Louis Shakespeare Festival presents The Tempest, Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park. For more information, visit stlshakes.org
For more information, visit www.blackwallstreet314. com
COMEDY
Fri., June 19 - 20, doors 6:30 p.m. Comedy Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents “Comic Book Killer”, The Lemp Mansion Restaurant and Inn, 3322 Demenil Pl, St. Louis, MO 63118. Recurring event. For more information, visit www. lempmansion.com
Fri., June 26th, 7:30 p.m. Tee Sanders, City Winery, 3730 Foundry Way, St. Louis, MO. For more information, visit https://citywinery.com
Fri., June 26 - 28, 7 p.m. Special Event: Earthquake, Helium Comedy Club, 1151 St Louis Galleria St, St Louis
MO 63117. For more information, visit https:// st-louis.heliumcomedy. com
ST. LOUIS MUSIC SPOTLIGHT
Wed., June 24, 6 p.m.
Live music at Buddy’s Wine Bar & Bistro with Sya Collins and Antonio Foster, 1001 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63101. For more information www.drinkingbuddys.com
Thurs., June 25, 7:30 p.m., Wellston’s own A.J. McQueen, City Winery, 3730 Foundry Way, St. Louis, MO. For more information, visit www.citywinery.com
Sat., June 27, 8 p.m. doors, Raashad the Dude & Friends, The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel
Through June 27, 8 p.m. We Will Rock You, The Marelle, 3310 Samuel Shepard Dr, St. Louis, MO 63103. For more information, visit www.newlinetheatre.com ART
Through June 28, Martine Syms: Soliloquy, St. Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63110. For more information, visit www.slam.org
Through June 2026, The Future Is Female, 21c Hotel and Museum Hotel St. Louis, 1528 Locust St, St. Louis, MO 63103. For more information, visit https://21cmuseumhotels.com
Through Aug. 9, Teaser by Ayana Evans, Contemporary Art Museum, 3750 Washington Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108. For more information, visit https://camstl.org
Osborne
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health organizations.
Members also give up to $1,500 individually as a demonstration of personal commitment. In addition, more than $150,000 has been donated to community relief efforts, including support during the COVID19 pandemic and following last year’s May 16 tornado. The Salute to Fathers and Mentors serves as both a celebration and a fundraiser, with attendees raising an additional $5,000 last year.
“This celebration gives us an opportunity to use this platform for a great purpose,” Jones said. “Raising funds, supporting academic excellence and helping create opportunities for deserving students to continue their educational journey.” The audience was then introduced to the scholarship recipients — HarrisStowe State University students pursuing fields ranging from biology and communication to secondary education and business administration.
Throughout the year, these young men — along with their fathers and mentors — work to build a world where representation, equity and prestige can coexist. This evening offered a chance to pause and celebrate that progress.
The program opened with comedian and radio host Darius Bradford, best known for his appearances on The Ricky Smiley Morning Show. Bradford took the audience back to growing up in the 1980s, when fast food was actually fast and cousins often felt like siblings. He joked about house phones connecting entire families at once and how pay phones limited how often someone could reach you — unlike today’s cell phones that ring day and night. He closed his set with a nostalgic roll call, inviting attendees to share their name, zodiac sign and, of course, their high school — a moment that quickly energized the room.
With the audience fully warmed up, Jeffrey Osborne emerged from the back of the hall wearing an indigo blue suit and performing L.T.D.’s “We Party Hearty.” Singing as he made his way to the stage, he was joined by a full band and two background vocalists. He moved into “Stranger,” prompting the crowd to sing along from the opening chords.
The energy rose as the band launched into “Don’t You Get So Mad,” filling the room with a warm glow and a groovy bass line. Osborne kept the momentum with “Eenie Meenie,” “Holding On” and “Stay With Me Tonight.”
He shifted the mood with romantic ballads including “We’re Going All the Way,” “On the Wings of Love” and “We Both Deserve Each Other.” Couples slow danced in the aisles while others sang along, savoring a rare evening of slow jams.
With the crowd already on its feet, Osborne moved into “You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song).” The audience recognized it instantly. He stepped offstage to hand the microphone to several attendees, including one man celebrating his 35th wedding anniversary who serenaded his wife. St. Louis jazz legend Denise Thimes also took a turn, showcasing the voice that has made her a local favorite.
Osborne closed with “(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again,” sending the room into full celebration. Fans danced, clapped and sang along as the song’s bright rhythm filled the hall, creating a moment of joy and release.
An Evening with Jeffrey Osborne served as a heartfelt tribute to fathers, mentors and the communities they help build. Through music, laughter and shared memories, the event offered families a chance to honor the men who guide them and reflect on the lasting impact of mentorship and love.
Sunday
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Second Sunday curator
DJ Naybahood, the event moved seamlessly from 1999 to the 2000s, keeping the dance floor full from afternoon into evening.
Unlike nightlife events where phones often take center stage, Second Sunday has built its reputation on presence. The party encourages guests to put devices away and stay in the moment. Aside from a few clips that surfaced online, the experience lived mostly in real time — in the room, not on the camera roll. There was little standing around and even less sitting down. The playlists were curated to keep people moving, and they did exactly that.
Zari Ferrari opened with crowd-pleasing hits from artists like Nicki Minaj and Soulja Boy, instantly pulling guests into the nostalgia of school dances and house parties. The room sang along to every word, dusting off dance moves many hadn’t performed in years.
DJ Nyara followed with a set that pushed the energy even higher. One of the night’s standout moments came when Yung Joc’s “It’s Goin’ Down” blasted through the speakers. The crowd responded immediately, filling the floor to hit the motorcycle dance that defined the song’s rise. Nyara closed with “NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye,” sending the room into another wave of early2000s memory. Still, the night’s biggest musical moment belonged to DJ Naybahood. Opening with “Get’cha Head in the Game” from High School Musical, they captured the crowd instantly. The familiar bounce of basketballs and squeaking sneakers drew cheers before the set shifted into Rihanna’s “Pon de Replay,” prompting an eruption on the dance floor. Women danced like they were stepping into a music video, while others crowded the floor to sing along. Naybahood kept the momentum with a nonstop run of favorites from Nelly, Omarion, Lloyd and The Cheetah Girls — one of the most energetic stretches of the night.
The event’s defining moment came with a surprise appearance from Ray Ray and Roc Royal of Mindless Behavior — the first celebrity guests in Second Sunday’s history. Their performances of “My Girl” and “Mrs. Right” brought a wave of nostalgia, complete with a classic boyband dance break that transported fans back to the group’s peak. Attendees sang every lyric while capturing what may become one of the series’ most memorable moments.
As the afternoon shifted into evening, The Cookout continued without interruption — just joy, laughter and togetherness. In a time when many events compete for online attention, Second Sunday stands out by prioritizing genuine connection and shared experience.
With growing attendance, rising buzz and now its first celebrity appearance, Second Sunday is positioning itself as one of the region’s most anticipated monthly events — proving that some of the best memories are still made on the dance floor.
Finding our way back to Black joy
By Lyah B. LeFlore-Ituen, Missouri Historical Society
There was a time when summer in Black St. Louis arrived long before the calendar said June.
For me, it began with the May Day Parade.
As a child in the 1970s, I remember standing along the route, eyes wide, watching the drum majors, majorettes, marching bands, drill teams, fraternities, sororities, church groups, and neighborhood organizations pass by. By the 1980s, I was no longer watching from the sidelines. I was in the parade, marching alongside members of the Divine Nine, community leaders, and young people proud to represent their schools and neighborhoods.
The parade wasn’t simply an event. It was a declaration. It announced that summer had arrived. And what a summer it was.
Long before Juneteenth became a national holiday, Black families in St. Louis understood June as a season of celebration, reflection, and gathering. Forest Park came alive with family picnics. Fairground Park filled with reunions, music, laughter, and children racing across open fields. Churches organized outings. Neighbors pulled lawn chairs into front yards. Backyard grills fired up on Friday evenings and often didn’t cool down until Sunday night.
Families are more dispersed.
Screens often compete with faceto-face connection. Many young people know more about what is happening across the country than what happened on the block where they live.
And while every generation faces its own challenges, I sometimes wonder if what we’ve truly lost is not the parade, the picnic, or the penny candy. Perhaps we’ve lost some of the spaces where community was regularly practiced. The places where children saw elders. The places where neighbors became family. The places where history was passed from one generation to the next through stories, traditions, and shared experiences.
The good news is that history is not only about what happened. History is also a guide for what is possible. At the Missouri History Museum’s African American History Initiative, we spend our days preserving the stories, photographs, archives, and memories of Black St. Louis. Every collection tells us something important: the people who came before us built community intentionally. They understood that culture does not survive by accident. It survives because people choose to gather.
They choose to mentor. They choose to celebrate. They choose to remember.
The soundtrack of summer drifted through open windows and across front porches. Summer meant running through sprinklers until the streetlights came on. Walking to the corner store with a few dollars and returning with enough candy to share with friends. It meant double-dutch ropes slapping against concrete, basketball games that lasted until dark, and elders sitting outside keeping watch over the block.
The question is whether we can recover the spirit that made those summers meaningful.
Looking back, I realize what made those summers special wasn’t simply the activities themselves. It was the feeling we belonged to one another. That sense of togetherness existed despite the realities of segregation and discrimination.
Our history reminds us that places like Fairground Park also carry painful memories. Yet even in the face of exclusion, Black St. Louis created spaces of joy. We built traditions, institutions, and communities capable of nurturing hope. Today, much has changed. Neighborhoods have shifted.
As we move deeper into this summer, perhaps the question is not whether we can recreate the St. Louis of 1975 or 1985. We cannot. Nor should we try The question is whether we can recover the spirit that made those summers meaningful. Can we create safe spaces for our children to play and dream? Can we support local parades, festivals, drill teams, and youth programs? Can we spend less time documenting every moment and more time fully experiencing it? Can we reconnect with the simple but powerful act of knowing our neighbors?
Black joy has always been more than happiness. It is resilience. It is love made visible. And perhaps that is the lesson summer has always offered us.
Not that life was perfect. Not that hardship didn’t exist. But that even in challenging times, we found ways to gather, celebrate, and remind one another that we belonged. Maybe that’s what this generation needs most. Not a return to the past. But a return to each other.
Lyah LeFlore-Ituen
Photo by Taylor Marrie / St. Louis American
The crowd enjoying Ray Ray and Roc Royal of Mindless Behavior — the first celebrity guests in Second Sunday’s history.
The Black Rep’s golden season. When I tell you I was outside this weekend – I’m talking all over this town, all weekend long. I got things started in Lafayette Square – where me and several of my favorite folks came to toast the Black Rep’s 50th anniversary at a fabulously converted firehouse that now serves as a swank event space. Ron Himes also gave us some tea by sharing the lineup of their golden anniversary season – or as I like to call it, “The Colored Season.”
What? Before you start throwing shots at me on social media, let me share the show titles so you can tell me how right I am. The season kicks off with “The Color (ed) Purple,” then carries on with “The Colored Museum” and includes a special 50th anniversary presentation of St. Louis’ own Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.” The season also includes “Purpose.”
And would it really be a Black Rep season without sprinkling some August Wilson up in there? Of course not! They will be closing season 50 out with “Gem of the Ocean.”
But let me tell y’all about who was up in there with raised glasses. Denise Thimes, Heather Himes, Cheryl Beal, Rudy Nickens, Andreal Hoosman, Pops Jackson, Phil Graves and the Adewales were just a few.
Speaking of toasts, was I the only one fighting for my life after only one of those “Color Purple” margaritas?
PJ Morton’s surprise pop-up. I thought I was gonna have to wait until MATI next month (July 19 to be exact) before I had a chance to spend some time with one of my favorite singer/songwriters in the game. So imagine my delight when my girl Beth Hoops hit me up to say that PJ Morton was on his way to the STL for a pop-up listening party for his new album Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, which drops on June 19.
When I tell you it’s a bop, trust that I wouldn’t lie to you! And he was as kind and humble as ever when he spent hours engaging with STL fans and the creative community at Sophie’s on Friday.
I saw some of my absolute faves – Tiffany Elle (remember when she sang the stage down when he popped up at the late great Lola?), Theresa Payne Vanita Thompson are just a couple. Bates was doing her thing behind the bar. It felt like Cheers up in there.
I cannot wait until PJ and dozens of others take the stage next month for MATI 2026. He will be in good company when the can’t-miss musical experience returns July 17–19. Get your tickets at matistl.org.
Jukin with Jeffrey. I don’t know what kind of Silver Sneakers fitness regimen Jeffrey Osborne is on, but SIGN. ME. UP! Y’all, he is almost 80!
Mr. “Woo Woo Woo” made all my Gen X and Millennial veteran R&B singers look downright silly when he hit the stage as the headliner for the Eta Boule Foundation’s 8th Annual Salute to Fathers and Mentors Saturday at The Sheldon.
Y’all, he worked that stage with a corded microphone! I was so nervous he was gonna pull a Lloyd or Ginuwine and tumble clean off the stage. And didn’t! He got caught up one time, but spun out of it cleaner than a male figure skater closing out a perfect routine.
Scott Hamilton, you better be lucky Jeffrey had the gift of song. Otherwise, we never would have known your name!
Anyway, a time was had and the folks went crazy – as they should have for the type of show he served up. I was worn out just by watching him work the whole venue. And when he shared the microphone, the folks slayed as much as
Denise Thimes! Girl! How you gonna out “woo” the headliner! I wouldn’t expect any less!
Sunday funday shenanigans. Now you heard me say I was outside Thursday, Friday and Saturday. You would have thought that the folks would have let me get some R&R on Sunday, but nawl (yes, nawl) the people had to have two of the hottest sets so far this season. So much for my Killer Beside Me binge-watch plans.
And then they had the nerve to be on opposite sides of town. I must say that they were worth the commute!
Morgan Casey and ‘nem had Atomic by Jamo and the surrounding area in The Grove looking like the Budweiser Superfest with their R&B Block Party! I was expecting Kurtis Blow or Doug E. Fresh to pop out on the stage. But STL folks were the main character and a time was had.
I made the mistake of wearing my church shoes. I cut up so bad that I’ve been in Skechers all week and these feet still haven’t fully recovered.
To male matters worse, I limped over to Clayton for Tongue and Groove on the rooftop of The Ritz. Keith from Koncepts and Fred Finley did the doggone thing so tough that I didn’t notice my feet were on fire until I hopped in the car to head home!
SLSO
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The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra will honor that legacy with Soul of a People: A Juneteenth Celebration of Black Music — a concert centered on the history, healing and hope that Black music has carried through generations. Conducted by Kevin McBeth and featuring vocalists LaKisha Jones and Ryan Shaw, the June 19 performance at Powell Hall will blend gospel, soul, R&B and pop classics. The music reflects nearly a century of Black creativity, backed by the full force of the SLSO and the IN UNISON Chorus.
For Jones, the invitation felt different from the symphonic shows she’s used to. “This one is more personal, because it’s celebrating us as a people,” she said. “To be able to do that with the symphony orchestra — and to sing the classics and the songs that we all know — is just a beautiful thing.”
McBeth said the program was designed to feel like a dance party as much as a tribute. “It’s a really feel-good concert,” he said. “We came to have a good time.”
The setlist includes Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” backed by full orchestra — a sound McBeth said transforms the familiar into something electric. The program moves through Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long,” Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration,” and orchestral features including Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke.” There will also be moments of reflection. The chorus will perform “A Change Is Gonna Come,” a song McBeth said “hits different” in 2026 than it did when Sam Cooke first recorded it. “That song
was released at a time that is so much different from today, but also kind of similar,” McBeth said. “There are so many people who still identify with what Sam Cooke talks about when he was singing the song.”
Jones will bring her own history to the stage with “I’m Here” from The Color Purple. She performed in the musical alongside fellow Idol alum Fantasia on Broadway.
“It’s such a meaningful song for the moment,” she said. “I absolutely want the spirit to move in the atmosphere.”
Jones and McBeth both spoke about the deep connection between Black music and Black freedom — a through line that makes this Juneteenth performance more than a concert.
“Music was a healing for us as a people,” Jones said, noting how hymns and spirituals carried enslaved Africans through the harshest conditions and how music continued to anchor the Civil Rights Movement. “To be able to do that on stage, and come together as one to celebrate us is a beautiful thing.”
McBeth echoed that sentiment, saying the program reflects the defiant idealism that has always lived inside Black music.
“We sing when we have tragedy, we sing out of our defiance, and we sing to celebrate,” he said. “We use music in all areas of our lives.”
He added that presenting this music in a symphonic setting challenges assumptions about who orchestral music is for.
“It’s our job to help people come up with a new narrative,” he said. “Come and experience it for yourself and realize that the heart of music for everybody comes from the same place.”
While Jones and Shaw are both known
from national television American Idol and America’s Got Talent, respectively — McBeth said St. Louis audiences are about to discover the depth of their artistry.
“These are rock stars in their field,” he said. “They bring emotion, spirit, professionalism — and they can truly sing.” Jones said she’s excited to share the stage with Shaw for the first time.
“He is dynamic,” she said. “We have some duets in the show, and I’m excited to be sharing the stage with such a talented, blessed performer.”
While the SLSO has presented Juneteenth programs in partner churches for years, McBeth said this is the first time the orchestra is offering a Juneteenth concert of this scale inside Powell Hall. “We want this to be a destination event,” he said. “When 7:30 rolls around, we want this to be the event that’s on everybody’s minds.”
Jones said she hopes audiences leave with a deeper appreciation for the contributions of Black artists — and for the resilience behind the music. “I hope they leave enriched in their hearts and spirits,” she said. “We should be celebrated not one day, but every day.” And for her, the night will feel like something familiar. “I feel like I’m going to have a family reunion,” she said. “I’m ready to celebrate us.”
Soul of a People: A Juneteenth Celebration of Black Music takes place Friday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Powell Hall. The concert will feature the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the IN UNISON Chorus, as well as guest vocalists LaKisha Jones and Ryan Shaw. For tickets and more information, visit www. slso.org
he did.
Dr. Pam with music veteran Jeffrey Osborne and his backup singers following the Eta Boule Foundation’s Salute to Fathers and Mentors Saturday at The Sheldon
Photo by Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
Jocelynn and Grammy-winning singer/songwriter PJ Morton at a special pop-up album listening party for ‘Saturday Night/Sunday Morning” Friday at Sophie’s
“I didn’t respond to them then, I’m damn sure not gonna respond to them now.”
— New York Knicks player Jalen Brunson, responding to critics who said he was too small to lead a team to an NBA championship
SportS EyE
With Alvin A. Reid
Lewis Hamilton makes Ferrari dream an F1 reality
Lewis Hamilton won his first Formula One race and a drivers’ championship with McLaren before moving to Mercedes and becoming the sport’s most dominant driver for more than a decade.
When Hamilton joined Ferrari two seasons ago, many expected him to add another championship to his résumé. Immediate success proved elusive, with a bewildered Hamilton questioning his form and wondering aloud whether he was still a championship-caliber driver during last season’s disappointing campaign.
But the F1 superstar bounced back in 2026.
provide a competitive car. The team went back to the proverbial drawing board to design and build a machine capable of competing under Formula One’s new technical specifications.
Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix by more than 19 seconds using a brilliant three-stop strategy — and a bit of good fortune.
A late virtual safety car following Kimi Antonelli’s retirement with 24 laps remaining allowed Ferrari to bring Hamilton in for fresh tires, helping propel him to victory over former Mercedes teammate George Russell.
“I started out with a dream last year, which seemed almost impossible during my time last year. But we never gave up hope. The team just continued to lift me up,” Hamilton told Sky Sports after the race.
Hamilton’s previous victory came nearly two years ago when the British driver won the Belgian Grand Prix in July 2024.
While Hamilton struggled mightily last season, Ferrari often failed to
“We made so many changes and so many improvements. On top of that, I’ve got the greatest fan base an athlete could ever ask for. Thank you. Thank you to everybody,” Hamilton said. Count me among that fan base for nearly 15 years. F1’s move from ESPN and ABC to Apple TV has caused me to miss more races than I’d like. Fortunately, Samsung TV re-airs races, allowing me to catch Hamilton’s victory at 2 a.m. Monday. Hamilton said his dream of driving for Ferrari began when he watched races as a child and imagined competing in the iconic red cars of the Italian manufacturer.
“I watched Ferrari have all that success when I was younger, watching it on TV, and as I’ve been racing here, I’d always watch the screens and wonder what it would be like to win in that car, and it’s come,” he said.
The victory raised Hamilton’s Formula One record to 106 career wins, but he noted this one was different.
“They’re all special in their own way but this one’s something else,” he said.
“I guess I’m just happy in my life, so I’m in a good place. I love doing what I do — there’s no
Hamilton celebrates his first victory as
greater feeling than racing a Formula One car.”
Hamilton acknowledged that Mercedes remains the team to beat in the Constructors’ Championship. He trails Antonelli 156-115 in the drivers’ standings, with Russell third at 106 points.
“We’re going to keep working, we’re going to keep trying to close that
gap. It’s not over, that’s for sure,” said the victorious Hamilton.
The Reid Roundup Jalen Brunson scored 45 points to lead yet another New York Knicks double-digit comeback over the San Antonio Spurs and win the NBA Finals title last Friday. He is a very deserving Finals
driver after winning the Spanish Grand Prix.
MVP, but…All this talk of Brunson being the Knicks all-time greatest player is ridiculous. Bill Bradley Walt Frazier, and the late Willis Reed were on both the 1970 and 1973 world championship teams, with Frazier still serving as the team’s TV analyst. This is a classic example of ‘recency bias.’…Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs could win the next
InSIdE SportS
With Earl Austin Jr.
three titles and not live down blowing a 29-point second half lead in Game Four of the NBA titles… I’d rather party with Seth Jarvis and K’Andre Miller this week than any of the Knicks. The players helped the Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Las Vegas.
Local players shine at Midwest Showcase
One of my favorite high school basketball events to attend during the summer is the Midwest Showcase. This year’s event was held last weekend at the Columbia Fieldhouse in mid-Missouri. I cannot stress enough how much I love and look forward to attending this event every year. My friends at the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association put on a tremendous showcase featuring high school teams from six different states. This year’s event featured boys teams from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The elite teams get a chance to test themselves against the best from other states. It makes for some high-level basketball.
The event is held during an NCAA live recruiting period in June, which allows college coaches to attend. And a slew of college coaches were in attendance. Some of the schools whose staffs attended included Missouri and
Saint Louis University, Iowa, Oklahoma, Utah State, DePaul, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas State, Tulsa, Lindenwood, SEMO, Austin Peay and many, many others. The St. Louis area was well represented with many teams in attendance. Local powerhouses Principia and Vashon were among the showcase teams for the event. On Sunday, the two teams played their respective games simultaneously on adjacent courts. A swarm of college coaches attended those games, and for good reason. Both teams look to be not only the best in the state but among the best in the country. Principia features one of the tallest front lines in the country in 6-foot11 senior Tyran Frazier, 6-foot-9 senior Sekou Cisse and 6-foot-9 sophomore Majok Ater. The Panthers also feature a strong set of guards in 6-foot-3 seniors Gassim Toure and Kingston Money.
Vashon looks to be recharged after a fourthplace finish in the Class 4
outstanding throughout the weekend in Columbia. They are the sons of former Vashon greats Jimmy McKinney and Leon Powell, continuing a strong family tradition. By the way, Vashon and Principia are scheduled to play each other at the Edwardsville Live event on Friday, June 26 at 6 p.m.
Several other players from the St. Louis area also put in strong performances during the Midwest Showcase. Here are five players I watched who really stood out.
• Scottie Adkinson: The senior guard of Webster Groves was playing in:front of his future coaching staff at the University of Missouri.
• Sebastian Bolden: A 6-foot-4 senior guard from Clayton who is a smooth perimeter shooter.
• Elijah Poniewaz: A physical 6-foot junior point guard from Chaminade who can really score.
• Nolan Struckman: A
6-foot-8 senior forward from St. Dominic who is an excellent ball handler and perimeter shooter
• Coleman Watson: A smooth 6-foot-4 junior point guard from Lafayette who is very fluid.
Girls Midwest Showcase event set for this weekend
The Midwest Showcase resumes this weekend with the girls event, which will also be held at the Columbia Fieldhouse in mid-Missouri.
The event will feature 75 high school teams from seven different states, including Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Florida.
Several of the top programs in the St. Louis area will also be on hand to compete. These include Incarnate Word Academy, Lift for Life, Cardinal Ritter, University City, Troy, Marquette, Lutheran North, Hazelwood West and Francis Howell.
The action will begin Thursday afternoon and run through Saturday.
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Alvin A. Reid
state tournament. Seniors Jimmy McKinney III and Leon Powell Jr. were
Vashon High’s Jimmy McKinney was one of the top players competing at the Midwest Showcase in Columbia last weekend. McKinney led the Wolverines to a 4-0 record during the event. He is shown here against Webster Groves on February 14.
Photo courtesy of Formula One
Earl Austin Jr.
Photo Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
J E E H E
Local firm plays key role in Juneteenth museum
St. Louis-based firm KAI helping lead project slated to break ground Oct. 7
By Rod Hicks St. Louis American
The $63 million museum is planned for Fort Worth’s Historic Southside neighborhood and will serve as a national center for exhibitions, education and public programming focused on the history and legacy of Juneteenth.
The museum is closely associated with Lee, whose yearslong campaign helped make Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed legislation establishing the observance nationwide. She has long advocated
A St. Louis architecture firm is helping bring the long-planned National Juneteenth Museum closer to reality as the project moves toward a groundbreaking in Texas scheduled for Oct. 7, 2026 — the 100th birthday of activist and educator Opal Lee. Fort Worth officials’ acquisition of the final parcels needed for the site and approval of plans to relocate a community center occupying part of the property have helped advance the project after years of fundraising, planning and delays.
See
B8 A
Rendering courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group & KAI Enterprises
Museum,
rendering of the National Juneteenth Museum scheduled for an Oct. 7, 2026 groundbreaking in Texas.
Juneteenth celebrations across St. Louis and the Metro East will offer a variety of opportunities to commemorate the holiday through history, music, community service, education and entertainment.
From festivals and parades to concerts, museum programs and community gatherings, organizations throughout the region are planning events to honor freedom and reflect on the significance of June 19. Here is a guide to some of the activities scheduled for Juneteenth 2026.
Thursday, June 18
3 p.m. — JuneteenthSTL Meet and Greet, Firehouse 282 Restaurant and Bar, 1315 Vandeventer Ave.
5 p.m. — Missouri Historical Society’s African American History Programs, Thursday Nights at the Museum presents “Joyful Juneteenth: An Evening of Performances,” Missouri History Museum, Lindell Boulevard and DeBaliviere Avenue in Forest Park. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org
7 p.m. — The Gateway Festival Orchestra presents “A Juneteenth Orchestral Event,” conducted by TJ Abernathy and featuring baritone Vince Wallace, Ritenour High School Auditorium, 9100 St. Charles Rock Road. For more information, visit www.gatewayfestivalorchestra.org or call 314-741-5948.
Friday, June 19 (Juneteenth)
9 a.m.-4 p.m. — “Rest Reimagined — A
Juneteenth 2026 events
Juneteenth Celebration,” presented by Frizzy By Nature, honoring Juneteenth and the power of rest, reflection and release, Saint Louis Art Museum. For more information, visit www.slam. org
10 a.m. — Summer Family Fun Series: Celebrating Juneteenth, Missouri History Museum, Lindell Boulevard and DeBaliviere Avenue in Forest Park. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org
11 a.m. — Freedom in Equity Festival, presented by Juneteenth Freedom Day-East St. Louis, Jones Park, 2900 Argonne Drive, Washington Park, Illinois. 11 a.m. — Juneteenth at The Garden, featuring St. Louis Black Authors, Story Time, Spoken Word and a book giveaway. A screening of “Annie Malone Turnbo: The Untold Story” follows at 1 p.m., Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd. For more information, visit www.mobot.org
11:30 a.m. — Griot Museum’s Juneteenth Festival, Griot Museum of Black History, 2505 St. Louis Ave.
Noon — House of Soul’s 7th Annual Juneteenth Festival Block Party, House of Soul, 1204 Washington Ave. For more information, visit www. houseofsoulstl.com
Noon JuneteenthSTL Festival Parade & Cultural Celebration, presented by the city of Dellwood, featuring national and region-
al performers, including Southern soul artist Pokey Bear and hip-hop artist Lil Scrappy, Dellwood Recreation Center, 10266 W. Florissant Ave. Noon — Illinois Black Woodstock Festival’s Juneteenth Edition, featuring DJs, food vendors, Black-owned business showcases and family activities, 8206 State St., East St. Louis, Illinois.
7:30 p.m. — “Soul of a People: A Juneteenth Celebration of Black Music,” featuring LaKisha
Jones (“American Idol”) and Ryan Shaw (“America’s Got Talent”) with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and IN UNISON Chorus, Powell Symphony Hall. For more information, visit www.slso.org
8 p.m. — The Juneteenth Joint with Frankie DoWop, The Key, 3225 Olive St. For more information, visit www. thekeystl.com
Saturday, June 20
1 p.m. — Juneteenth Holiday Inc. Parade & Celebration, Beckett Park, 1201 N. Taylor Ave. Described as St. Louis’ oldest annual Juneteenth parade. Includes live performances, African dancers and drummers, raffles, board games, food and other activities.
1 p.m. — Fountain Park Juneteenth Community Celebration. The 2026 theme, “Resilient Roots: Honoring Freedom, Remembering Lives, Strengthening Community,” recognizes the community’s resilience and recovery following the May 16 tornado. Fountain Park, 4861 Fountain Ave.
Monday, June 22
6:30 p.m. —
Meaningful Conversations St. Louis presents “From Tolerance to True Unity,” University City Public Library, 6701 Delmar Blvd.
Saturday, June 27
1 p.m. — Black Wall Street 314 Festival, Wellston Loop. For more information, visit www. blackwallstreet314.com
Photo by Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
Gentlemen of Vision perform at the Juneteenth Celebration in University City’s Delmar Loop on Saturday, June 13, 2026.
Howard said the institution is intended to help tell the story of Juneteenth to a broader audience.
for a national institution dedicated to preserving and teaching the history of Juneteenth.
Before plans for the national museum took shape, Lee operated a smaller Juneteenth museum in Fort Worth for nearly two decades.
“Seeing the national museum moving forward is a dream fulfilled,” Lee told Architect magazine.
Museum CEO Jarred
“The reality is, we think America needs to know what Juneteenth is,” Howard said in a recent interview with Atlanta public radio station WABE.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved people they were free more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation
Proclamation.
The museum is intended to provide a permanent home for that history while serving as a community anchor in the neighborhood where it is being built.
Plans call for a 50,000-square-foot facility featuring exhibition galleries, a theater, a food hall, a business incubator that will support entrepreneurs and community gathering spaces. Museum leaders say the facility is intended to be more than a traditional museum, with space designed for educational
programs, community events and neighborhood activity.
That mission is closely tied to Fort Worth’s Historic Southside, a historically Black neighborhood that was once a center of Black culture and commerce. Community leaders say the area experienced decades of disinvestment after construction of Interstate 35W divided the neighborhood.
St. Louis-based KAI Enterprises is serving as executive architect for the project alongside the Bjarke Ingels Group,
known as BIG. In that role, KAI is overseeing coordination among designers and consultants and helping guide the project through final design work and preparation for construction.
KAI’s involvement predates the museum itself. The firm became involved through broader revitalization efforts in the Historic Southside and participated in some of the initial discussions surrounding formation of the National Juneteenth Museum Foundation before being selected through a com-
petitive process.
Darren James, president of KAI Enterprises, said the firm’s “passion for engaging the local community” and experience working in similar neighborhoods helped position it for the project. The project is also notable for the role Blackowned firms are playing in its design and construction. According to Shoppe Black, KAI is among several Black-owned companies serving in leadership roles on the project team.
James told Architect magazine he was “honored to contribute to this significant and important part of U.S. history.” The museum is expected to be KAI’s most internationally recognized museum project to date. The firm previously worked on projects including the Saint Louis Art Museum expansion and the Museum of Westward Expansion at Gateway Arch National Park. KAI said final construction plans are about 90% complete and are expected to be finished later this summer.
Organizers unveiled plans for the museum in 2022 and initially hoped to begin construction much sooner. Fundraising challenges, site issues and property negotiations contributed to delays.
With land acquisition complete, final construction plans nearing completion and a groundbreaking date now on the calendar, the museum is closer to construction than at any point since it was first announced.
Museum
Continued from B6
Rendering courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group & KAI Enterprises
A rendering of one of the exhibition galleries inside the National Juneteenth Museum.
Juneteenth and the covenant of economic liberation
By Orvin T. Kimbrough
Freedom was declared. But the news arrived late. And for far too many, the fullness of freedom is still delayed.
On June 19, 1865, under the blistering Texas sun in Galveston, the last enslaved people in America heard the words that should have reached them years earlier: You are free.
But as our ancestors quickly learned, freedom is more than the absence of chains. Freedom is access. Freedom is agency. Freedom is ownership. Freedom is the ability to build, protect, pass down and determine the future of your family.
On that sacred day, we were promised a beginning. Forty acres to till. A mule to move forward. A chance to build something of our own. The Freedman’s Savings Bank opened. Black families placed their hopes, wages and futures into that institution. When it collapsed, it did more than destroy savings. It shattered trust. It delayed dreams.
And yet, we are still here. Still building. Still rising. That is why Juneteenth cannot only be a day of remembrance. It must also be a day of
recommitment to the unfinished work of economic liberation. Because liberation is not only what we are freed from. It is what we are freed to build.
On this Juneteenth, I believe we are called to rebuild a covenant. A commitment to build wealth, pass down wisdom and make sure our descendants do not always have to start from scratch. And to our allies — our neighbors, co-workers, board members, civic leaders and friends — this is not only Black history. It is American history. When communities rise, we all gain. So let these be more than ideas. Let these be our covenant.
The 10 Black Commandments for Legacy and Liberation
1. Thou shalt own property and land Ownership is power.
Our ancestors worked soil they did not own. They built wealth for others while being denied the right to build stability for themselves. We must claim what they were denied. Land is leverage. It is security.
2. Thou shalt engage politics — from the block to the ballot Freedom without voice is fragile. From zoning laws to school boards, from city halls to state legislatures, policy shapes life. We must vote with intention, serve with conviction and hold power accountable.
3. Thou shalt be educated — in mind, trade and spirit
There was a time when our people were punished for learning to read. Today, knowledge remains one of our greatest forms of resistance. Whether in schools, churches or living rooms, we must learn, teach, question and
Black Commandment number 6 states that thou shalt be present in the lives of our children.
liberate.
4. Thou shalt own and champion Black enterprise and leadership
Freedom must have a storefront and a seat at the table. From corner businesses to corporate headquarters, Black entrepreneurship and Black leadership are resistance in motion. We must build, buy, believe in and support Black enterprise.
5. Thou shalt work hard and work smart
We come from people who worked for nothing. But hard work alone is not enough. We must also teach strategy, discipline, ownership and discernment.
6. Thou shalt be present in the lives of our children
Legacy begins when a child knows someone is watching, listening, correcting, encouraging and expecting more from them. Everyone can invest in a child’s future — through
mentoring or simply being a steady adult in an unsteady world.
7. Thou shalt pass down knowledge and wealth
If we die with our wisdom, we have failed the next generation. We must pass down more than money. We must pass down stories, values, faith and ambitions.
8. Thou shalt master financial literacy and strategy
Wealth that is not managed is wealth that disappears. We must budget and teach others to do the same. Real estate. Stocks. Business ownership. Side hustles. Retirement accounts. Insurance.
Estate planning. Stack it. Grow it. Protect it. Pass it on.
9. Thou shalt build networks and influence institutions We must build bridges in institutions. Build coalitions rooted in integrity and shared purpose. We must not only enter these institutions. We must influence them.
chains, build institutions and honor the sacrifices of those who prayed for a future they would never see.
From emancipation to empowerment
Juneteenth is not only about what was denied. It is about what we are still determined to build. From the silence of delayed freedom, we raise a new sound — a sound of strategy, stewardship, ownership and faith.
Legacy begins when a child knows someone is watching, listening, correcting, encouraging and expecting more from them.
10. Thou shalt be anchored in faith and purpose
We are not chasing riches for riches’ sake. With every dollar, we honor something bigger than ourselves. Wealth rooted in faith becomes a tool for service — a way to bless others, break
This is our covenant. Not merely a list of goals, but a spiritual contract with those who came before us and those yet to come. Here is the charge: Choose one commandment. Live it this week. Share it with someone you love. Then choose another. And another. Because freedom must be remembered. But it must also be built. May our labor yield legacy. And may our children never experience the chains we broke — only the doors we built.
Orvin T. Kimbrough is chairman and CEO of Midwest BankCentre and author of Twice Over a Man, More Than a Conqueror and Ward and the State. The column was trimmed for space. For the full version, go to OrvinKimbrough.com.
Orvin T. Kimbrough
SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
iBrain Technologies, an IT Consulting Services Firm in Chesterfield, MO seeks professionals:
• Software Developer with MS degree in Comp. Sci., Info. Tech., or Mgmt Info. Sys. plus completed college coursework in Bus App Database Mgmt Syst; Bus1 Syst Analysis & Design; Applied Business Analytics SAS; C Prg. & Data Structures; Database Management Systems; Object Oriented Programming. Ref# IT-2026-002
Must be willing to work at unanticipated worksite locations for all positions. Telecommuting permissible. The positions do not require travel in order to perform the duties of the position.
Resumes to: Recruiting, iBrain Technologies, Inc., 1018 Wilmas Hollow Drive, Chesterfield, MO 63005 or ibjobs@ibrain-tech.com
SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
Vizva Tech Solutions, LLC, an IT Consulting Services Firm in Chesterfield, MO seeks professionals:
• Software Developer with MS degree in Comp. Sci. or Info. Tech. plus 1 year of experience in Python; SQL; GCP; Machine Learning; DevOps. Ref#IT-2026-001
Must be willing to work at unanticipated worksite locations for all positions. Telecommuting permissible. The position does not require travel in order to perform the duties of the position.
Resumes to: Recruiting, Vizva Tech Solutions, LLC., 1018 Wilmas Hollow Drive, Chesterfield, MO 63005 or vijobs@vizva-tech.com
REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENT/ NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWG) is inviting public review and comment on the draft of its updated FY 2027-2030 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Bi-state area residents will have the opportunity to engage with this important regional planning document by attending four in-person meetings. The draft TIP includes detailed maps, project statuses, and funding information. The TIP outlines planned or active state and federal transportation projects throughout the region over the next four years. These projects, including roads, bridges, transit, and supporting infrastructure, are aligned with the region’s Long-Range Transportation Plan, also produced by EWG.
The public comment period begins Wednesday, 7/1/26, and ends Friday, 7/31/26. The draft TIP will also be posted online for comment at www.ewgateway.org on 7/1/26. Residents are encouraged to review the TIP and provide feedback online through EWG’s interactive eTIP database at ewgateway.ecointeractive.com. Comment forms may also be submitted in writing or digitally at scheduled in-person meetings. Comments can further be submitted by email to TIP@ewgateway org or by mail to East-West Gateway Council of Governments, Attn: TIP, 1 S. Memorial Drive, Ste. 1600, St. Louis, MO 63102. Public input is a vital part of the regional planning process, helping ensure that transportation investments reflect the needs and priorities of local communities. Throughout the comment period, EWG staff will answer questions on the document. Comments or questions must be received or postmarked by midnight, Friday, 7/31/26.
The public is invited to view these documents and supporting materials at a series of open house meetings. Dates and locations are listed below.
• Tuesday, 7/7/26 – Washington, MO City Hall – 405 Jefferson St., Washington, MO 63090, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
• Thursday, 7/9/26 –Richmond Heights Community Center- 8001 Dale Ave., Richmond Heights, MO 63117, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
• Monday, 7/13/26 – Belleville, IL City Hall – 101 S. Illinois St., Belleville, IL 62220, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
• Thursday, 7/16/26 – Lake St. Louis, MO City Hall – 200 Civic Center Dr., Lake St. Louis, MO 63367, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
EWG is committed to ensuring that all meetings are both ADA and LEP accessible. To request a reasonable accommodation for the open house meetings please contact EWG’s Title VI Coordinator at least 48 business hours prior to an open house meeting at (314) 421-4220 or (618) 274-2750 or titlevi@ewgateway.org.
REQUEST FOR BIDS
Great Rivers Greenway is requesting bids for St. Vincent Greenway: Eskridge High School to St. Charles Rock Road. Go to https://greatriversgreenway.org/bids/ for details and submit by June 18, 2026.
The City of Richmond Heights is accepting applications for the position of Paramedic or Firefighter Paramedic $66,400 - 78,161. To apply go to https:// richmondheights.applicant pro.com/jobs/ .
Publish every Thursday Newspaper and Online
PUBLIC NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Requests for Quotes, Bids and Proposals are posted online for public download. Please navigate to www.msdprojectclear.org
> Doing Business With Us > View Bid Opportunities
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)
Service: Emergency Medical and Ambulance Services
Pre-Proposal Meeting Date: June 30, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. local time Meeting will be held via Zoom. See RFP for details.
Question Due Date: July 2, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. local time
Proposal Due Date: July 22, 2026 at 2:00 p.m.
Point of Contact: Delia Cummings –dfcummings@flystl.com
Proposal documents may be obtained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., or by calling (314) 426-8174. This RFP may also be obtained by visiting our website at https://www.flystl.com/business/ contract-opportunities/ Robert Salarano Airport Properties Division Manager
CODE ENFORCEMENT
The Village of Hanley Hills is seeking requests for proposals for code enforcement services from qualified professionals to enforce the city code throughout the Village. Please submit all proposals to the attention of Gregory Robinson at 7713 Utica Drive, St. Louis, MO 63133.
CITY OF PINE LAWN PROPERTY AUCTION
Sealed Bids Due FRIDAY - JULY 10, 2026 - 10 am @ Pine Lawn City Hall for 26 Pine Lawn owned residential properties. Properties are “sold as is” @ starting bid $5,000. Auction Bid Requirements & address list available at PL City Hall (6250 Steve Marre Ave., STL 63121). Bidders Q&A Workshop 6 pm June 15 and Bid opening 6 pm July 10 @ PL City Hall.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The International Institute of St. Louis is seeking bid proposals for Programmatic and Networking Services as part of the STL Career Pathways Program.
Interested parties should submit at https://www.iistl.org/ workforce-solutions/ on or before Friday, July 31st no later than 5pm.
SEALED BIDS
Bids for Jefferson City Readiness Center Building 1, Repairs to Interior/ Exterior, 801 Armory Drive, Jefferson City MO, 65109, Project No. T2505-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, July 28, 2026. Project information available at: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities
SEALED BIDS
Bids for Accessibility Improvements, Multiple Group Camp Assets, Crowder State Park, Trenton, MO, Project No. X2534-01will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, July 23, 2026. Project information available at: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
PAGEDALE CITY HALL 1420 FERGUSON AVENUE PAGEDALE, MO 63133
On Thursday, July 9, 2026, at 6:30 p.m., at the City of Pagedale City Hall located at 1420 Ferguson Avenue, Pagedale, Missouri, 63133, there shall be a public hearing by the city’s Board of Alderpersons to hear, review and render a decision as to whether to accept or reject the recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Commission as to the City of Pagedale’s Application(s) to create and adopt a Planned Use Development (“PUD”) and incorporate same into the city’s zoning code, thereby amending same, with respect to the Lulu Heights neighborhood development and to apply the PUD to the Lulu Heights neighborhood development.
CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
SOLICITATION FOR BIDS (SFB)
Service: Oxygen Inhalators Equipment and Services
Pre-Bid Meeting Date: June 17, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Local Time
Question Due Date: June 18, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Local Time
Bid Due Date: July 6, 2026 at 2:00 p.m.
Local Time
Point of Contact: Delia Cummings –dfcummings@flystl.com
Bid documents may be obtained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., or by calling (314) 426-8174. This SFB may also be obtained by visiting our website at https:// www.flystl.com/business/contract-opportunities/
Robert Salarano Airport Properties Division Manager
TO SAINT LOUIS ZOO PRODUCE PROCUREMENT RFP 2026
The Saint Louis Zoo seeks bids from qualified vendors. Bid documents are available as of 6/17/26 on the Saint Louis Zoo website: stlzoo.org/vendor.
NOTICE The Ferguson-Florissant School District (District) will accept proposals as described in the attached request. Qualified organizations (Respondent) are invited to submit an electronic copy of a proposal as described herein.
PROPOSAL SHALL BE LABELED: “PROPOSAL-Districtwide Job Description Review and Modernization Consulting Services”
AND SUBMITTED TO: Chris Schwan, Administrative Assistant to the Chief Human Resource Officer cschwan@fergflor.org
All Request For Proposal packets should be submitted by 4:00 p.m on June 29, 2026. The email subject line for information packet submissions should be ““PROPOSALDistrictwide Job Description Review and Modernization Services”. The document must be a single file in PDF format. An email receipt will be sent when a packet is received. Any submissions received after the specified date will be excluded from consideration.
Questions may be directed to Katy Chambers Phone: 314-250-8879 Email: kchambers@fergflor.org
General District Information: www.fergflor.org FFSD Equity Resolution: www.fergflor.org/equity
The Ferguson-Florissant School District reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, to waive technical defects, and to select the proposal deemed most advantageous to the District.
PUBLISHER’S NOTICE:
Advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, imitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial\status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.“We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.”
Call Angelita Houston at 314-289-5430 or email ahouston@stlamerican.com to place your ads today!
By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American
What began six years ago at one St. Louis church has grown into a weekly summer outreach effort involving 351 churches across the St. Louis region and beyond.
The Grill to Glory initiative, coordinated by the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and participating congregations, provides free hot dogs and other community services on Saturdays at churches throughout St. Louis, St. Louis County and the Metro East.
“We have gone from 12 churches to 22, to 65, to 112, to over 250 last year. This year, we have 351 churches,” said James Clark, the Urban League’s vice president of public safety.
Churches participating in the program distribute food and connect residents with services from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays during the summer.
Clark said the effort began at Leonard Missionary Baptist Church as a response to the opioid crisis.
“Leonard Baptist Church is where it all started in response to the opioid crisis,” Clark said recently during the annual
Churches fire up grills for summer outreach
Grill to Glory program returns with food and community services at 351 locations
kickoff event and cookout at Urban League headquarters. “There are things you can’t deal with in an office (or) in a building. You have to be out and be visible.”
Many participating churches offer more than food. Some provide hair-
cuts for young people, clothing, toiletries, recreational activities and information about community resources.
According to the Urban League, more than 80% of participating churches reported increased Sunday attendance. The organiza-
Tony Robinson and Jackie Carpenter prepare food during the Grill to Glory initiative which had grown to 351 churches.
tion also said the initiative helped place more than 100 people in jobs last year and assisted residents with housing and utility needs. Organizers said the program also has helped resolve more than 100 arrest warrants during the past three years.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides thousands of hot dogs for the effort each summer. Douglas K. Weible of Fred Weber Inc. has donated grills for participating churches, purchasing more than 400 since 2017, organizers
said.
Minister Anthony McMiller of Leonard Missionary Baptist Church said the program is intended to strengthen connections between churches and their surrounding neighborhoods.
“Grill to Glory is not just feeding the community; it is feeding the spirit,” McMiller said. “It’s about drawing the community to the church.” Clark said the initiative, which also launched in Memphis six years ago, has expanded to include churches in Indianapolis, Seattle, Houston, Dallas and Nashville.
He said organizers see the program as a way to address challenges such as addiction, violence and social isolation by building stronger ties between churches and the communities they serve.
“The Black church was a cornerstone of the civil rights movement,” Clark said. “It again can be a spark for this mission to take on opioid addiction and violence in the community through Grill to Glory.”
For more information about Grill to Glory, visit the Urban League website at ulstl.com.
Photo by Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American
