The median credit score in St. Louis is 665, just a few points beneath the national median. But a closer look at ZIP-code-level data shows a median score of just 532 in areas of the city that are predominantly non-white, whereas the median credit score for predominantly white areas is 732. “That’s a very large […]
Posted inJamala rogers
Indictment of cops is not enough
Every so often the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department gives the community a gift. Sometimes that unplanned generosity is at cost of some poor soul – usually black in skin color. Such is the case of Luther Hall. Prior to 1983, the African-American community complained of throw-away guns and drugs that cops keep in their […]
Posted inHealth news
Charlotte Ottley needs a new kidney
Charlotte Ottley’s new kidney. She knows it’s out there. And she and a cadre of supporters are using social media, videos and everything they can to locate that generous someone – the matching donor with a gift of life – one new kidney. A group of about 200 held a rally on November 26 to […]
Posted inHomegrown black males
Learning to nurture
Part of a year-long series, presented by The American and the Brown School at Washington University, on changing the narratives and outcomes of young black males in St. Louis. I grew up in a two-parent, two-income household in Jennings. I would say I had it pretty good. In the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Jennings […]
Posted inLiving It
Punk Rock in Wonderland
As the 200-plus elementary students from the Normandy School District filed into the Grandel Theater to catch a morning matinee, I couldn’t help but wonder how these children would connect with Metro Theater Company’s staging of Rachel Rockwell and Michael Mahler’s “Wonderland: Alice’s Rock & Roll Adventure.” The playbill cover’s illustration of a little black […]
Posted inHigh school
St. Louis area schools dominate state championships
It was a tremendous season for high school football in the St. Louis metropolitan area. A highly successful 2018 season in St. Louis culminated with a historic showing at the annual Show-Me Bowl, where four St. Louis teams brought home state championships. It was the first time that it has happened in the history of […]
Posted inHealth news
Free program helps school districts cope with substance abuse
In the midst of a nationwide opioid epidemic among U.S. adults, one organization in the St. Louis region is seeing some more positive trends among younger people when it comes to substance use. On Monday, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse-St. Louis Area (NCADA) announced that of the nearly 600 St. Louis-area adolescents […]
Posted inSports eye
An open letter to incoming state Rep. Wiley Price IV on sports wagering in Missouri
To: Wiley “Chip” Price From: Alvin A. Reid Greetings Chip, and congratulations on your election as incoming Democratic state representative for the 84th District. I’ll save all the “I’ve known you since you were a kid” talk, because I’m sure you’ve already grown weary of it. You’re a bright young man with a solid political […]
Posted inLiving It
Denise Thimes to host and perform at annual Bach Society holiday concert
“This is really a huge step that Dr. [A.] Dennis Sparger, who is the conductor of The Bach Society – and Melissa Payton, who is the executive director, took for diversity,” said jazz diva Denise Thimes. “They didn’t have to do this.” Thimes will serve as host and featured performer for the 67th annual The […]
Posted inEditorials
Another speech for Mayor Krewson to give on police management
In our October 4, 2017 edition, for our editorial we published a “speech for Mayor Krewson to give on police management.” This was during ongoing citizen protests of the bench verdict in the murder trial of former St. Louis Police Officer Jason Stockley and shortly after the brutal mass arrests of protestors in downtown St. […]