The Arts and Education Council awarded 13 organizations a total of $115,000 in funding through the Arts and Healing Initiative, a new program, in partnership with Missouri Foundation for Health, aimed at increasing the capacity to heal through the arts.

More than just household name among the St. Louis music scene, Kim Massie was proof that living the life you dreamed for yourself is possible from right where you are.  Massie passed away Monday night after battling several health challenges in recent years – including thyroid cancer.

St. Louis has a variety of fun Halloween activities fit for the entire family!

And because we love all things Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, their production company, Higher Grounds Productions, is developing a new animated Netflix series based on the best-selling book by Andrea Beaty, “Ada Twist, Scientist.” As Mother Jones described, the main character Ada Marie Tw…

With his directorial debut “Black Box,” Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. effectively inserts himself among the fresh voices in film that are actively broadening the spectrum of contemporary black cinema. The psychological thriller was among a collection of horror flicks presented by the Blumehouse …

On-the-rise independent singer-songwriter Valencia Rush, also known by the moniker Valencia or Damn Valencia, had an epiphany last year while sipping on gin and champagne with friends to celebrate the new year.

Brittany Packnett Cunningham will be hosting a new weekly podcast for The Meteor called “Undistracted.” The podcast will dive into the news of the day with an unapologetically woman-centered point of view. “Undistracted” will consider the biggest stories through the lens of gender, race, abi…

Artica is an outdoor event that is far-out by just about any standards, with no confines other than the limits of your imagination, so it is better suited to survive in COVID-19 time than just about any festival one could think of.

Isadore Banks was as much of a mogul as a Black man could be in the Jim Crow South. He was rumored to have owned 1,000 acres of land in Marion, Arkansas in addition to having distinction as a World War I veteran, business owner and community leader. With a level of respect that was said to h…

Multimedia contest for college students has $500 grand prize

Art and activism will intersect again this weekend for The Black Rep when they team up with The Organization for Black Struggle, Better Family Life, and Action STL in the effort to get people active in the upcoming election.

The State Historical Society of Missouri and the St. Louis Ambassadors are teaming up to develop a bicentennial time capsule with a goal to collect items that document Missouri’s past, present and future. The two organizations are asking for public participation in this project.

The DREAM (Dismantling Racism through Education, Advocacy and Mobilization) Collective at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville aired the latest episode of its podcast, “Blacktivism in the Academy,” on September 24 and the podcast is now available in its archive. 

“Don’t make excuses, make it happen” is a mantra Aja Owens and Adrienne Draper live by. Collectively, Owens and Draper have published five children’s books that reflect families and children of color. These sisters credit their success as published authors, educators, and civic leaders to th…

We’re less than a week away from the deadline to complete the 2020 Census on September 30, and Black communities in St. Louis are in danger of being undercounted. Only 53% of people in St. Louis have completed the census so far, and the neighborhoods that are at the highest risk for undercou…

Founded in 1983, Better Family Life is a community development organization initially focused on the promotion of art and cultural events such as the annual Kwanzaa expo, Black Family Week, Black Dance USA, and Unity Ball. Today, the multi-million-dollar Better Family Life Cultural, Educatio…

Those who miss the voice of Barack Obama and wish they were hearing it all of the time rather than the voice of the president who succeeded him in the White House are about to get more – much more, 768 pages more – of his eloquent voice. But they will have to wait until after the November 3 …

Watch the critically acclaimed film, "All In: The Fight for Democracy" Tuesday, September 22nd for free on Amazon Prime Video - for 24 hours there will be no paywall and you don't need to have a Prime membership to view it.  It will also be streaming across multiple platforms, including: Twi…

Two special outdoor date night outings, Sept. 19 and 26, offer socially-distanced options for couples.

Lou Brock Jr. was not the only son of Lou Brock nor his first-born child, but he was the first son of the Hall of Fame ballplayer and he bears the man’s name. Perhaps that is why, when offered a chance to talk to him about his father (who passed September 6 at 81), I wanted to start by telli…

With Americans preparing to cast their votes in the next election in less than two months, filmmakers Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés present an urgent message with their film “All In: The Fight for Democracy.”

The Missouri History Museum is pleased to host Vivian Gibson, author of The Last Children of Mill Creek, for a St. Louis History Live virtual program on Zoom on Thursday, October 1, at 6:30pm.

“I have never, in my 60 years of life, seen anything like this.”

St. Louis firefighter Don Lewis adjusted the mask he just placed on a sculpture of former St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame right fielder Enos Slaughter at Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis on Thursday, September 3. The fire department assisted the St. Louis Arts Chamber of Commerce in inst…

Visual artists in the St. Louis region age 13 or older have until October 9 to submit work to a new show “Due Process Denied” being presented by UrbArts and curated by Billy Williams. UrbArts is looking for visual art about police violence that focuses on the perpetrators, not the victims.

The family home I grew up in was raided by cops twice. The second time this happened, I was 20. It was my junior year at St. Louis University. I remember sitting in my room, at my desk, typing a philosophy essay, listening to 1990s R&B on my cheap computer speakers and drinking an instan…

Ronald “Khalis” Bell, composer, musician and producer, who co-founded with his brother Robert "Kool" Bell, and Jersey City neighborhood friends, "Kool & The Gang", one of the most popular funk bands of the 1970s, has died. He transitioned from this world at the age of 68 on Wednesday, Se…

Ebony G. Patterson was speaking by phone from her mother’s home in Kingston, Jamaica, discussing why it is so difficult to experience her complex, three-dimensional, mixed-media art work by looking at photographs of it, when she was interrupted, she said, by the sound of “a man cutting the garden.”

If Henry Dumas were still alive today, it's possible that the world would be different because he would have transformed it in some way. If, however, he were to suddenly return to life today, in the way that long-out-of-print books can suddenly be reprinted, he would be amazed. He would be a…

To “transition,” in western society, means someone has died and moved on to the great beyond. The African tradition of “transitioning,” however, is a lengthier process. Since death is perceived as the beginning of a person's deeper relationship with creation, much attention is given to compl…

Words Chadwick Boseman uttered as he introduced Black Panther to film audiences in “Captain America: Civil War” must now serve as a comfort to the legions of fans currently attempting to process his untimely passing.

For some women, the centennial of the 19th Amendment granting suffrage to women is a moment for celebration, but for countless other women it serves as a reminder of the race-based exclusion that tainted much of the suffrage movement and its representation in history books. The contributions…

“Just Pictures” is an ironic and mischievous title for a new photography show curated by Antwaun Sargent that Barrett Barrera Projects is presenting at projects+gallery, 4733 McPherson Ave., from September 10 to November 21.

Chadwick Boseman, best known for his starring role in the Marvel Studios blockbuster “Black Panther,” passed away on Friday after a battle with colon cancer. He was 43.

Black women artists based in the United States who center their work in stories and narrative – and are focused on issues related to systemic racism and criminal justice reform – have until September 22 to apply for the new BAC Artivism Fellowship.

Ready to get out of the house and go to the movies? Marcus Theatres reopened local movie houses this weekend with stringent health and safety measures in place.

Youth voices are often left out of important conversations about public safety and the public health crisis. But the Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective — a mix of professional artists and minority youth — having been busy creating podcasts this year to encourage social change wit…

St. Louis native Brittany Packnett Cunningham adorns the cover of the September 2020 issue of British Vogue. In an unusual photojournalism power couple move, the photograph was taken by her husband, Reginald Cunningham, who is also a St. Louis native.

Lola Ogbara is one of three St. Louis-based artists featured in “Exposure 21: Three Myths,” an exhibition opening August 29 at UMSL's Gallery 210. 

Xiomara Mass, who was appointed second oboe of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra earlier this year by Music Director Stéphane Denève, is a finalist in the Gen Y category of the inaugural Virtual Oboe Competition.

The idea of a living, breathing sculpture dates back at least to the ancient Roman poet Ovid, who was alive and writing at the time of the birth of Christ (and whose name happens to be encapsulated in “COVID-19”). Sculptures, of course, don’t actually come to life and breathe, and therefore …

The pain and anger sparked by police violence have inspired many rap songs and protest chants. Poetry composed on a page and published in a book might seem a less promising format to approach this troubling subject, but St. Louis native Jabari Asim shows it can be done and done well in Stop …

Muhammad “Mvstermind” Austin has opened up for Travis Scott, Chance the Rapper, Lupe Fiasco, G-Eazy and more. He has been labeled as a Tidal Rising Artist and one of NPR’s 20 Artists to Watch in the entire world. He attributes his success to hard work, consistency and the love from St. Louis.

According to a bet.com article, controversial episode of black-ish that was banned from ABC over two years ago is available for the first time on Hulu. Titled "Please, Baby, Please," involved the show’s lead character Dre (Anthony Anderson) talking to his toddler son about political unrest a…