We Live Here

Living life in a larger body, especially as a woman, comes with scrutiny and assumptions about acceptability, worthiness and quality of life. Today we follow the story of one woman who intentionally de-weaponized and reclaimed the word FAT as an adjective.

Today we’re joined by Ben Molina. Originally from Bolivia, Ben is passionate about elder care and his work at the Alzheimer’s association is making a difference in the Hispanic community.

Today we spend time with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis - a connection and central resource in the St. Louis region for 40 years.

For Ricardo’s immigrant parents, DACA meant their children would have temporary, renewable permission to be in the United States. Meanwhile, they had to learn how to make things work without documentation of their own. Every two years they lived day-to-day without knowing, for sure, if DACA would continue or not. For Ricardo, DACA granted the opportunity to keep moving forward.

In this episode of We Live Here Auténtico!, get to know THE ultimate connector, storyteller and collaborator, Suzanne Sierra. Suzanne struggled to find her purpose. Now she helps people find their voice and tell their story.

Gabriela and Alejandro take us back to our roots with the incredible Junior Lara. In 2018, Junior and Gabriela started Auténtico Podcast, now in its partnership form with St. Louis Public Radio as We Live Here Auténtico!

There is powerful science behind the consciousness movement and there’s no one better to learn from than transformational coach Harry “Boom Boom” Lopez.

Mexican-born Tania Interian Used Her Struggle, Passion for People and Native Language to Educate and Open Doors for Community

How Can I Help You ?| Literacy, Service and the Love of A Librarian Centered on Fairmont City

What is a Wet Taco? Discover its Journey to Dutchtown and the Woman Who's Dream Brought Them to Us.

“Sometimes all the crappy things and all your trauma can actually make you money”, Emilia Serrano

Immigration | Acclimation | Love | Work | Family | Carlos Glynias Restrepo

Identity | Advocacy | Representation | Kendall Martinez-Wright, an Afro-Puerto Rican transgender woman and the fight of her life.

For years, Black people have been working on the ground and behind the scenes to create a better world for the next generation. We have seen a number of great activists over the years who challenged the status quo and promoted a more equitable society. I sat down with Ben Jealous, President of People for the American Way, a proressgive advocacy organization created to fight extremism and restore democracy. In this episode we hear from Ben about the changing landscape of activism work, his excitement for events to engage with communities, and the legacy he wants to leave behind.

Seldom are Black journalists allowed the opportunity to tell their own stories. In this episode local Black journalists share personal experiences about reporting on stories while living with the very same realities of the communities they serve.

The COVID-19 pandemic flipped the education system on its head. Teachers had to find new ways to engage with students virtually. Students had to learn how to navigate chrome books, laptops, and other devices in order to complete their studies. Everything changed and a lot was uncovered such as the lack of resources in minority school districts. In this episode we hear from a young school board member working to change the educational landscape in her hometown, a professor with years of experience with a new outlook on education, and community members share their thoughts on the state of education.

This time around we’re going to do things a little differently. We partnered with Dr. Kira Banks and the Raising Equity podcast on this episode to discuss movement and mental health. Dr. Banks and I wanted to understand more deeply how people are coping with the feeling of loss, the loss of normalcy, loved ones, jobs, and more. In this episode we hear from a yoga instructor and math teacher about how he combined his passion for yoga with education and then Dr. Banks and I sit down with a local Black therapist who talks about how he shaped the mission of his private practice.

I wanted to hear from Black women in our region about what the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) act means to them and discuss their own personal journey with hair. In this episode we visit Frizz Fest 2021, hear from a beauty salon owner about the importance of individuality, and an African American history professor breaks down the history of Black hair.

This is the second of a two-part tribute to the late Dr. Jonathan Cedric Smith, whose commitment to cultural memory we shared in our most recent episode. In this episode, we’re handing over the mic to family, friends, and community members who were impacted by Jonathan’s passion for social justice and will be carrying forth the legacy of love that he left them.

This episode is the first of a two-part tribute to a man whose passion for social justice and cultural memory impacted hundreds of people in the St. Louis region: Dr. Jonathan Cedric Smith, who died this year on Juneteenth. Among many community roles, he served on the board of St. Louis Public Radio. Last year, Lauren and Jia Lian had the opportunity to interview Dr. Smith about his perspective as Co-Chair of the Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project. To introduce you to this project and Dr. Smith’s role in it, we speak with Marissanne Lewis-Thompson, afternoon newscaster and general assignment reporter at St. Louis Public Radio. Then, we travel back in time to share Jonathan’s own words about what the Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project meant to him. Finally, historian Dr. Kelly Schmidt will explain how Jonathan’s care for descendant communities shaped the project and his youngest brother, Jacques, will share how Jonathan’s passion for cultural memory, ancestry, and history began.

Jia and Lauren sit down in the studio for the first time since March 2020 to discuss reporting during the pandemic and how life has been for the past year. As they discuss personal trials and tribulations the We Live Here team is also excited about the new listener survey. Whether you are a long time listener, contributor, or community member we want your input. What do you enjoy, what can we do better, and what does We Live Here mean to you? Check out our new listener survey by visiting our website at welivehere.show/survey or check us out on social @weliveherestl on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Throughout this season, we’ve shared stories of those living in unhealthy environments, how those environments came to be, and what we can do to create a better environment for the future. But in order to complete this series on the environment, we had to discuss land, the people who originated from that land and the movements to restore and give back to Indigenous people. In this episode, we hear from a PhD student working on a research project to combat Indigenous people's invisibility in the St. Louis region and a Director providing a space for students to learn about American Indian history and culture.

Throughout this season we have introduced you to small urban farmers, people working on the ground to change their environment, politicians working to pass environmental legislation, and more. But there are also many environmental scholars working to provide a space for Black environmentalists to thrive. That’s why we are introducing you to Dr. Dorceta Taylor, an author and professor at the Yale School for the Environment. In this episode, we hear about Dr. Taylor’s work in environmental studies, the contributions Black folks have made to the environmental justice movement, and the power community leaders have to transform the environments where they live.

We wanted to share a follow-up conversation with Myisha Johnson, one of the three working members of State Street Tenant Resistance and the founder of Community First Plus, a new housing and environmental justice organization. She’s been connecting the dots between health problems and pollution from facilities like Kinder Morgan for over a decade. In this episode, we hear how Myisha felt when residents like her were asked to sign onto an administrative complaint to the EPA about the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Then, attorneys Sarah Rubenstein and Bob Menees of Great Rivers Environmental Law Center will share about what happened when they filed the administrative complaint to the EPA on behalf of the Missouri and St. Louis City NAACP and Dutchtown South Community Corporation. -- This is Part II of a two-part series on how tenants are organizing to hold problem landlords accountable, and what happens when large companies and the state need to be held accountable too. If you haven’t listened to Part I: Tenant Rights and Resistance, listen to it now!

The pandemic triggered a major housing crisis, resulting in millions of renters and unhoused people across the country becoming at risk for being evicted or displaced. Meanwhile, those living in apartments with mold or pests have been stuck with environmental conditions that exacerbate asthma and COVID-19. Locally, tenants and housing advocates are pushing back by advocating for eviction moratoriums, holding landlords accountable, and working to create a tenants bill of rights. In this episode, we hear from the three working members of State Street Tenants Resistance about what motivates them to advocate for a tenants bill of rights, and the Community Empowerment Organizer of a local community development corporation will explain how to hold problem landlords accountable and what’s at stake when large companies and the state need to be held accountable, too.

Democratic Representative Cori Bush made history when she became the first Black Congresswoman for Missouri, unseating the Clay political dynasty. She brought her background as a nurse, activist, organizer, single mom and pastor to her new role and has jumped headfirst into advocating for issues ranging from reparations for Black Americans to taxing billionaires to Medicare for All. She teamed up with Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey and Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth to introduce a bill that would bring together federal agencies and create a mapping tool to help allocate environmental funding from the Biden administration. Just last week, she also joined forces with New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to introduce a $1 trillion dollar bill to fund environmental justice projects for the next four years. In this episode, we’ll hear from Senator Tammy Duckworth and Congresswoman Cori Bush about three major environmental justice bills: the Environmental Justice for All Act, the Environmental Justice Mapping and Data Collection Act, and the Green New Deal for Cities Act.

We wanted to share the stories of the people who are at the heart of the environmental justice movement: urban farmers. In St. Louis, urban farmers have made great strides and continue to educate the next generation about the importance of growing their own food. In this bonus episode, we visit an urban farm, then hear from a food justice director advocating for a healthier environment and the founder of a nonprofit that provides equitable access to food, education, and employment.

The We Live Here team balances deep dives into systemic issues with inspiring stories about people working to make a difference in their own communities. So when a listener reached out and introduced us to the work of Jeffrey “JD” Dixon, an activist organizing cleanups and coalitions in East St. Louis, a predominantly Black city in Illinois, we knew that we’d have to drive across the river to share his story. In this episode, we’ll learn about JD’s demand for legislative reform, hear from a political science professor about the legacy of industrial suburbs, and talk to a reporter about how JD is one of many Black residents in the Metro East area of Illinois who are pushing back against environmental racism.

We wanted to know how environmental issues affect babies and birthing people during childbirth, one of the most delicate life processes. In the U.S., Black babies are two times more likely to die before their first birthday than white babies, and Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications then white women. So in this episode, we hear from a documentary filmmaker about humanizing Black birthing people, a neonatal hospitalist about the effects the environment has on newborns and mothers and an executive director of an Equal Access Midwifery Clinic about supporting people of color through the birthing process.

St. Louis is consistently listed as one of the worst “Asthma Capitals” in the country by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. During the pandemic, environmental issues such as dust from demolitions and housing conditions make it even harder for people to breathe. In this episode, we hear from a chronic disease epidemiologist and health education coordinator about an initiative to create healthier homes, an educator who collects racial and ethnic data to help us understand environmental issues in our region, and a reverend putting matters into his own hands to help his community live in a healthier environment.

In St. Louis, there are many stories about how environmental racism impacts everyday people and their health, housing, and daily lives. So in this season, we’ll use the Washington University Interdisciplinary Environmental Law Clinic’s 2019 report on Environmental Racism in St. Louis to guide us through conversations about the top environmental issues facing the most vulnerable communities in St. Louis. In this episode, we look back at how St. Louis’ history of systemic racism has impacted the living environments of low-income and Black residents, how the report featured stories of everyday people, and what type of environment the report’s recommendations could create for the next generation. 

In this episode, we introduce you to two Black artists who teamed up to heal and educate their community through an urban farm in predominantly Black North St. Louis City. They share their vision for building an education garden with accessible raised beds, and growing flowers and healing herbs alongside chickens and bees. Then we learn about how they encountered a major obstacle that put their dreams on hold... 

In the last two seasons of the show, we have covered the COVID-19 pandemic and the current uprising for Black lives, both of which continue to shape society today. The pandemic and the uprising also raised two major questions, which we’ll be addressing in our new season on environmental racism: How do we achieve a healthy life? And what kind of world do we want to leave for the next generation? These are profound questions for a region that boasts some of the most prestigious hospitals in the nation and is home to residents with some of the worst health outcomes. So in this season, we’ll trace the connection between systemic racism, housing conditions, and health outcomes. But we’ll also highlight the organizers, tenants rights advocates, and urban farmers who are working to improve conditions in their communities. The first episode of the environmental racism season drops on Friday, February 12th, anywhere you get podcasts.

This year, we produced a season that put a racial equity lens on the COVID-19 pandemic and a season about the current uprising for Black lives. As a collective, we have faced this season's challenges head first and continue to press on by producing meaningful and impactful stories, which is why we wanted to know what other journalists in our region experienced during this time. In this episode, we’ll hear from a correspondent for Kaiser Health News about the importance of telling the stories of everyday people during this time and a reporter from the St. Louis American will share what it’s like to work on a year-long fellowship to produce stories about COVID-19 affecting the Black community.

Over the past months, we’ve seen civil unrest across the country in a renewed uprising for Black lives and the fight to hold police accountable. But we should not forget the painters, poets, musicians, and more who have decided that through their art they can motivate people to move into action. In this episode, we’ll hear from a young man who found beauty in destruction and created a group for local Black artists, the founder of ART House will share about how she is building a place for artists of color to thrive in their own community, and the founder of UrbArts will teach us about art’s ability to uncover systemic racism and how we can create a marketplace to support Black artists in a more meaningful way.

The call to defund the police has gained steam as activists and advocates bring attention to police budgets that they believe could be better allocated to education, healthcare, and social services. At the heart of this call is the question of whether or not police increase public safety. Growing numbers of people are joining a movement to abolish the current system of policing and imagine new structures for responding to mental health crises, domestic violence, and social problems created by poverty and racism. In this episode, we talk to the co-chairs of St. Louis’ Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression about police accountability and the tension between efforts to reform and desire to abolish the current system of policing.

Many schools have started hybrid in-person and online learning, even as coronavirus cases keep rising and students continue to experience disparities in accessing technology, meeting their daily needs, and learning at home. So in this episode, we’ll hear from a first generation college student who has been helping her community navigate the education system and an executive director of a local education-based nonprofit will share what parents and families face when navigating the St. Louis Public Schools system and how that impacts students’ experiences with higher education. And then, we’ll zoom all the way out to examine why St. Louis’ educational landscape remains uneven and segregated over six decades after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision.  This episode was produced with the help of Lindy Drew, Lead Storyteller and Co-Founder of Humans of St. Louis, which is a paid content partner of Navigate STL Schools and Forward through Ferguson. As always, We Live Here’s coverage remains independent. 

Back in early March, we were collecting stories from first generation college students about their experiences on campus. Since then, COVID-19 hit college campuses across the country and we’re seeing a rising number of cases since students have returned for in-person classes. So in this episode, we hear from a first generation college student about navigating post-grad life during a pandemic, a health reporter will share what it’s like to report about the virus at a university, and a student activist will tell us about how they are fighting to uplift the demands of Black students on campus.

Back in 2014, after the police killings of Michael Brown Jr. in North St. Louis County and VonDerrit Myers Jr. in South St. Louis City, the St. Louis University Clock Tower became a site for Occupy SLU, six days of teach-ins, community conversation, and an occupation by community activists and students, which resulted in the creation of 13 Clock Tower Accords to advance racial equity at the school. This year, after a grand jury in Kentucky declined to indict three Louisville police officers for shooting and killing Breonna Taylor, students gathered at the Clock Tower again to hold a vigil in memory of Breonna Taylor and make new demands to change culture and policies at St. Louis University. On this bonus episode, we’ll hear from three students who organized direct actions and a new list of demands to advance racial equity at St. Louis University.

The uprising for Black lives has amplified the names of Black people who have been killed by police and in racist attacks. But the names of people who are Black and trans are lesser known due to transphobia and a lack of understanding from media and society. In St. Louis, organizers have been uplifting the name of Kiwi Herring, a Black trans woman who was known by her loved ones as a playful nurturer, adored by neighborhood kids and her own children, who she taught to value education and hard work. In this episode we’ll hear more from organizers who are supporting people who are Black and trans, using art to promote social change, and staying inspired through the uprising.

The uprising for Black lives has disrupted the social and economic status quo through protests, highway shutdowns and occupations. It has also been an opportunity for activists and organizers to build power and engage people politically. But the pandemic, changes to the postal service, and the increasingly polarized political climate will impact the upcoming general election in major ways. So in this episode, we hear from a state representative who helped to come up with new absentee and mail-in balloting guidelines and two ministers who are part of multi-racial and multi-faith coalitions that engage voters and increase voter turnout. 

In less than a year, the coronavirus has changed life as we know it-- from job losses to evictions and even the loss of loved ones. As we enter the fall and back-to-school season, we wanted to know: what does education look like in the midst of a pandemic and how can we keep students, educators, and workers safe? So in this episode, we hear from two teachers: one who will share what it’s like to teach through a pandemic and another who has been organizing teachers to advocate for safer policies and practices in the St. Louis Public School system. We’ll also talk to a student advocate and financial aid advisor from a local nonprofit scholarship organization about how COVID-19 is affecting college students and what it means to put a racial equity lens on the student loan crisis. 

This is a bonus episode about the making of Black at Mizzou: Confronting Race on Campus, an audio documentary that was recently released by American Public Media. It provides a window into the community of Black students at the University of Missouri-Columbia and the impact of the Concerned Student 1950 movement. In this episode, we hear about the process of hosting and producing the documentary from someone that you already know, but are about to get a whole lot more familiar with: Lauren Brown, co-host and producer for We Live Here.  Black at Mizzou: Confronting Race on Campus from APM Reports is out now-- on the Educate podcast from American Public Media-- everywhere you get podcasts. You can also find it online at apmreports.org.

As layoffs and furloughs continue through the coronavirus-induced recession and eviction moratoriums are being lifted, the U.S. is facing a major housing crisis. In St. Louis, people have been holding rallies and occupying City Hall to call for a moratorium on evictions for tenants and unhoused people alike, and framing this demand as a racial equity issue. So in this episode, we trace the story of two tent encampments: one occupied by people who are unhoused under an overpass and one occupied by activists and advocates at St. Louis City Hall. We also hear from the executive director and community engagement specialist of a fair housing enforcement agency about what racial equity means during a housing crisis.

Fighting for Black lives isn’t new and some say that this uprising isn’t new either. It’s a familiar fight that Black people have been fighting for centuries. The difference is that now this fight is happening as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, especially within the African-American community. The pandemic, state violence, and racist attacks all have devastating physical consequences, but there is also a mental toll. In this episode, we hear from a Black healing practitioner and two Black psychologists about how the pandemic and the uprising are impacting the mental health of African-Americans and how Black people can maintain and promote their mental wellness during these stressful times.

Even though we are currently in a pandemic, the recent killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Nina Pop, and more have led people to take to the streets. Protests and marches around the world have sparked a renewed uprising for Black lives and when looting and vandalism began to impact large chain stores and small Black businesses alike. Many began asking how can they support small Black businesses during this time and people began following campaigns such as #BuyBlack, #BankBlack, and #BlackoutDay2020 to uplift Black business and communities that have been devalued and poverty-stricken for years. In this episode we hear from two small Black business owners about what’s like to own a small business during this time and we ask an economic development specialist and a scholar of race and structural inequality about what’s at stake if we continue to devalue Black businesses in the midst of an uprising for Black lives and beyond.

We wanted to give you an inside look into our next season on how people are rising up for Black lives around the world because for every moment captured on the news, there are a series of decisions that led us here to a time when record numbers of people are discontent with the status quo. What decisions will lead us to a more racially equitable future that truly values Black lives? We want to hear from you-- so send us a message on Twitter or Instagram at WE LIVE HERE S-T-L or call ‪314-396-2953‬ and leave a message about why you’re rising up for Black lives and what you hope will happen next.

The pandemic has upended the lives of countless people across the world, but for refugees who fled their countries of origin to escape persecution based on race, religion, nationality, or ideology, COVID-19 makes it even harder to navigate healthcare, employment, education, and daily life. New restrictions on refugee resettlement and immigration add yet another layer of concern for people seeking a new life in the U.S. In this episode, we hear from a refugee who is a college student about what it’s like to learn and live through COVID-19 and we ask a social worker and an immigration attorney about what social support and legal services are needed by refugees through the pandemic and beyond.

Masks, social distancing, and diligent hand washing have become the new norm in the era of COVID-19. But for many, following CDC guidelines to prevent the spread is nearly impossible. That’s the case for people in jails, prisons, and detention facilities which are now understood to be major hotspots for the virus. And that’s why advocates, public health officials, and public defenders are calling for decarceration-- reducing the number of people held in jails, prisons, and detention facilities-- as a strategy to flatten the curve and prevent massive outbreaks among people who are already vulnerable to the virus. In this episode, we hear from decarceration advocates, the Director of the Missouri Public Defender system, and the Director of Public Safety for the City of St. Louis about what can be done to reduce the number of people held in jails, prisons, and detention facilities, what’s at stake for public health and public safety if no changes are made, and how courts and jails have shifted their operations during the pandemic.

The Ferguson uprising catalyzed conversations and sparked action around racial equity in the St. Louis region. In the following years we’ve seen the growth of new research, movements, and programs that center the experiences of Black people. The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on African Americans across the nation and in St. Louis raises a crucial question about how to work toward racial equity during a pandemic. In this episode, we talk to three Black leaders who’ve been centering racial equity in their work and learn their perspectives on investment, community health, and regional response during the pandemic.

Food insecurity has long been a problem facing people across the country and for many children, not knowing where their next meal is coming from or only eating food that lacks nutrition devastates their ability to focus, learn, and stay healthy. More recently in St. Louis black-led efforts like STL Lunch and the Hands Up United Books and Breakfast program have recognized that food access is a racial equity issue and the need that arises especially when school is out of session for summer. Now with COVID-19 closing schools until the next school year, food insecurity for children has become even more pressing than before. In this episode, we talk to a parent, a school board member, and a community advocate about the struggle to ensure that students in North St. Louis County are educated and fed during the pandemic.

The response to COVID-19 has varied across the country and across the globe. By now the especially devastating toll on black Americans has been well documented with death rates disturbingly and disproportionately higher than whites.The city of St. Louis made national headlines when its first 12 recorded deaths from COVID-19 were black. The peak of the first wave of cases expected to hit around the same day this episode is being released, which is why we wanted to better understand how the outbreak is touching the lives of black St. Louisans. In this episode a doctor, a mayor, and a nurse share their stories about how COVID-19 is affecting black residents in the St. Louis region and how they're working to make sure everyone in our town can stand a chance against the deadly virus.

If you’ve been tuning into our recent episodes, you’ll know that a couple of weeks ago, we did an episode about anti-Asian xenophobia. We collected so many revealing and inspiring interviews for that episode that we couldn’t use them all. We decided that a special conversation we had with two Vietnamese American doctors which has continued to stick with us through this time is befitting especially since the St. Louis region is still expecting some very difficult weeks ahead. In this episode, we wanted to take some time to share two interconnected and inspiring stories about healing and community in the face of xenophobia and an invisible enemy.

States across the country have announced shelter-in-place orders but for many that is not an option. The challenge for St. Louis and elsewhere is how to curb the spread of the coronavirus among people who are unhoused. This virus has highlighted how the same inequities in St. Louis are found in towns across the U.S. which is why we are partnering with our public radio friends at America Amplified to help explore how the spread of the coronavirus is affecting those who are unhoused in St. Louis and beyond.

By now, there are reports about Chinatowns across the country that are hurting for business because of anti-Asian xenophobia. We wanted to understand how anti-Asian xenophobia has impacted Asian Americans and Asian American-owned small businesses here in St. Louis. In this episode, we hear from a Taiwanese American therapist, a Chinese American organizer, and two Asian American small business owners about how the rise of anti-Asian xenophobia has affected their lives.

Schools are closed across the country and some are done for the rest of the academic year. The shift to online learning for many schools can also reveal the deep economic and racial inequities that characterize schools in our hometown and yours. We wanted to understand how this sudden change could affect long-standing racial and economic disparities in education outcomes. In our first first episode about the COVID-19 crisis, we will hear what the director of a local education nonprofit and a teacher are doing to keep kids from falling behind.

We’ve spent the past couple of months preparing for a season on the theme “black on campus.” But with efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, like many of you, we can no longer go on with “business as usual.” Instead, we’ll be putting a racial and economic equity lens on the outbreak of COVID-19… and recovery from it. We want to hear your stories about how COVID-19 is affecting you, so send a voice memo to weliverhere@STLPublicRadio.org or you can call 314-516-5588 and leave a message. We’ll be dropping episodes at least once a week starting March 26.

The We Live Here team is about to start dropping episodes for our brand new season! This time, we’re talking about what it means to be black on campus. And we’re working with Educate, a podcast from American Public Media that explores stories about education and opportunity across the country. In the coming weeks, we’ll share the stories, experiences, and movements shaping the lives of black students across the country. And reveal the work being done to impact black students for generations to come.

St. Louis is home to longest running school desegregation program in the country. For generations it has shaped the students’ lives and how they see race in one of the most segregated places in America. On this episode we share five firsthand accounts of the trials and triumphs experienced during the program’s long history. What’s revealed is a portrait of a community that still struggles to make every student feel welcome in the classroom.

Up to this point in our season, we’ve been talking about big, top down structures and practices that create municipal divides, and how they’ve made St. Louis one of the most segregated cities in America. So we decided to flip the script and talk about bridging those divides from the ground up. On this episode, we tell you how Mayor McGee went from sharecropping in the deep south to helping a group of mostly black mayors share resources in the fractured system they inherited.

On this bonus episode, historian Colin Gordon will explain how St. Louis was divided by design, how its municipal divides impact public goods and services, and what can be done about the policies that perpetuate segregation today.

What happened to Missouri’s first all black town?What does home mean to you? Is it a physical place? Or maybe a specific person.Maybe it’s a feeling.Now how would you feel if home was literally torn down under the promise that something big would come that could change the economy of an entire city. But then that thing never materialized. And what’s left of home is pavement, empty lots and warehouses. This is what happened to Alana Marie’s dad and thousands of other black residents in a small municipality in north St. Louis County called Kinloch. On this episode we tell the story of Kinloch’s rise and decline, and how Alana is working to preserve the history of Missouri first all black town.

We collect sooo many stories while producing this show and we can't always squeeze them into a full episode. So we figured it would be cool to start sharing some with you as bonus episodes. We’re going to make them short and sweet, and we’re hoping that they give you a little more context to the larger stories we tell. This time, we tell the story of how black people now hold significant political power in a town that was explicitly created for racist reasons.

In the late 1970s, Dr. Will Ross was told to stay away when applying for medical school in St. Louis. He was told the city was too racist and that he’d be better off on the east coast. But Dr. Ross decided to dig in, and he’s spent a career trying to alleviate massive racial disparities in health outcomes. He’s convinced that the only way to clear a path toward meaningful policy changes is by unifying fractured governmental structures in St. Louis City and County. And a couple of years ago, that belief landed him at a crossroads. He would join powerful people who wanted to create a new way to govern a divided region. But things didn’t exactly go as planned. We tell the story of how Dr. Ross’ recommendations and his criticisms were received, because it says a lot about how race and power continue to work in one of the nation’s most segregated cities.

The new We Live Here team have been working hard putting together new shows for our upcoming season! In the coming weeks, we’ll bring you stories of how race and class contributed to dozens and dozens of governmental divides in St. Louis City and County’s municipal courts, police departments and school districts. And uncover the stories and costs behind the fractured governmental systems that define the town we call home.

We’ve got new hosts! We know it’s a big change, but trust us, we care deeply about issues of race and class. And we want you to get to know us.

Just before Thanksgiving, a housing crisis popped up in the infamous St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo. The county housing authority had stepped in to demand repairs from a property management company. The property company responded by kicking out residents. It’s a mess. And in the middle are residents who are hustling to find safe housing during the coldest months of the year.

With our season winding down, we decided to dedicate the rest of the show to listening to a man who has been leading a team of some of the smartest people in the region with the goal of dismantling divides and creating a new path forward.

Join us as we listen to a stellar cast of youth storytellers who performed during our first ever house party at St. Louis Public Radio.

The Grove neighborhood is in a part of St. Louis that has seen an uptick in new housing and business development. While many in the area welcome the new development, there are concerns that rising housing costs are pushing out longtime residents.

Housing Choice vouchers are supposed to give families more options about where they can live. Yet, in St. Louis, very few actually end up in high-opportunity middle class neighborhoods.

On this episode, we tell you what life is like for our neighbors living in two of the last remaining vestiges of St. Louis’ public housing past.

What happens when real estate agents try to make amends for their industry’s past transgressions?

Rosetta Watson has won her fight against the city of Maplewood, Mo., which kicked her out of town after she generated too many calls to police. Now what?

Earlier this season we brought you the story of Rosetta Watson, a woman suing in federal court after she says she was kicked out of Maplewood, Mo. for calling police too many times for protection from an abusive ex-boyfriend. Two days ago we got a tip that she had won.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case of Shelley v. Kraemer, which ended racially restrictive housing covenants. On this episode, we listen to the descendants of J.D. and Ethel Shelley tell the story of their family’s place in American history.

The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled on a case we highlighted at the beginning of our season. That of Latasha Johnson, whose eviction case made it to the state's highest court because of it's importance to tenants rights.

St. Louis is home to the country's oldest land banks and has thousands of abandoned and vacant homes. Meet the 20-something trying to chance that, one house at a time.

Hear stories from our annual storytelling event

This is the story of Westland Acres, a historic black community in west St. Louis County fighting to hang on to its land, history and future.

What's up with all the gated streets in St. Louis?

Author Richard Rothstein breaks down the government's past and present role in housing segregation

In a country where fair and affordable housing is becoming harder each year, we profile the people who are standing in the gap: the lawyers.

In the second of a two-part episode, Tim and Kameel bring another side of the Maplewood nuisance ordinance story

In some places, public nuisance laws have been weaponized against people of color, women and victims of domestic abuse. On top of that, some housing advocates say one of the country’s worst offenders is in We Live Here’s backyard.

Tim and Kameel give you a preview of what is coming in show’s fourth season, with an extra emphasis on the LIVE HERE part of We Live Here.

On this bonus episode we tell you the story of how listening to our podcast played a part in one young woman’s decision to leap in the startup world. Pretty cool, right? We sure thought so, and after listening, we bet you'll feel the same way.

We crack open our vault and share never-before-heard parts of a mesmerizing interview with Wiley, the famous black artist who who just unveiled the official portrait of the first black U.S. president

Last year we collaborated with the very cool producers at Baltimore’s Out of the Blocks and brought you voices from the Ville, a historic black neighborhood in north St. Louis. This is the second show from that podcast mashup with some extra stories at the end.

Jesus is back! Our favorite black spiritual adviser returns to judge our third season

What was -- and is -- it like to live in the historically black Ville neighborhood in St. Louis? Legacy and contemporary residents from the neighborhood show us through their stories

Hear the second half of our live storytelling event

We hand over the mics to the community as part of our annual storytelling event

As outiside pressure from ongoing protests and police accountability advocates builds in St. Louis, we take a look at the decades-long fight of black police officers to change their department from the inside.

Two women, a generation apart, sift through the scars of segregation and returning to a neighborhood that doesn't resemble what they remembered

Hosts Tim and Kameel get a little personal, answer listener questions and give you a peek behind the podcast curtain.

Inside the seemingly never-ending fight to raise the minimum pay for workers in St. Louis and beyond

On this episode we explore the idea of a woke spectrum. You longtime listeners probably knew we would end up here eventually. After all, it is our new tagline.

Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan, producers of the critically acclaimed documentary ‘Whose Streets,’ talk about their choice to make the film and how they hope it will become a lasting document.

On the third anniversary of Mike Brown's killing, we share the story of three playwrights who penned monologues about their experiences as black men in America.

Take our quiz to find out!

Earlier this spring, the nation was transfixed with the fight in New Orleans over the removal of its confederate monuments. That spread to other cities -- including here in St. Louis, which just removed a confederate memorial from its lauded and most...

In this episode, we get a seemingly simple question from a regular guy who wants St. Louis to do better around race and economic progress. And then we take that question to woman who wants the same, and just so happens to have...

Hey everyone, we’re official back! On the first episode of season three, a very, very special guest helps Tim and Kameel explore the whitewashing of Jesus. And we meet a local minister who’s trying to help his mostly white congregation rethink...

Get pumped - Season 3 of your favorite race and class podcast from St. Louis is back June 13! Subscribe now. Jesus wants you to. We'll explain later :)

We cap our second season by examining the ultimate system, one that can literally make the difference between life and death: the healthcare system.   In particular concerns about what changes could be coming to the Affordable Care Act...

Why aren’t investors flocking to the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs? And what are people doing to change that?

How a controversy at a St. Louis museum exposed a long-running conversation in the art world about identity, power and race. 

About six months ago, we took an intense look at racial disparities in early-grade school suspensions in Missouri. We revisit the topic in this week's episode and bring you a big update – on the people and policy changes that've happened in...

There’s been a lot of chatter in recent years about inclusiveness in the tech world. Companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook have all been called out for their mostly white and male staffs. But what if, instead of an afterthought,...

The U.S. has a long history of choosing who it will and won’t let participate in the voting system. So as the nation prepares to choose its next leader, with a wave of voter ID laws on the books, and with fears about fraud now a major narrative...

In the community development world it’s widely understood that bringing any kind of change to a struggling neighborhood can take years. Yet the need for change is urgent. Research suggests blight is associated with serious health problems,...

ON THIS EPISODE … we tell you what happened after our investigative show earlier this season about school suspensions. And we plant ourselves in Adams Elementary, a neighborhood school in south St. Louis, that is on a serious mission:...

The relocation of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to north St. Louis has been heralded as a big win for the region. But it also meant relocating some 200 residents. St. Louis Public Radio’s business reporter Maria Altman has been...

Our first live show! We teamed up with two local St. Louis orgs (UrbArts and Second Tuesdays) to bring you a night of live storytelling about race, class, poverty and power. This is just a teaser though. Find more at WeLiveHere.show.

We take a break from public policy and social systems, and instead explore different perspectives about what "My America" means to our listeners.

In our episode last week, we brought you stories of people navigating the nation's biggest program aimed providing housing for the low income, elderly and disabled. This week's podcast widens the scope a bit, and takes a look at the changes...

Housing choice vouchers -- commonly known as Section 8 -- are supposed to give people with low incomes the freedom to pick where they want to live. But for many voucher holders, that's not how the story actually plays out. With help from reporters in...

In 2015, 188 people were victims of homicide in St. Louis. In this episode, we bring you stories of those who have to cope and carry on. Because from a family, to a neighborhood, and beyond...as you follow the wake of  each homicide, the ripples...

What's the Missouri legislature done in the two sessions since Michael Brown's death? A little, but not nearly as much as was anticipated in 2014, when Ferguson was in the international spotlight. In this episode, veteran political reporter Jason...

Despite the decades-long fight for school desegregation, America is, for the most part, still sending its white and black children to separate schools. Here in St. Louis, this angst over school segregation and integration never really went away. In...

We Live Here investigates school suspensions in the early grades. We dig into state discipline data and find: In Missouri, when white kids in K-3 act out, they’re kicked out of class. But the black kids get kicked out of school. We also take a...

We start Season 2 of We Live Here by exploring a concept we're calling "burden of proof." And we ask why is it that race and class have such a huge impact on who gets believed in society. We explore this through the narrative of St. Louis lawyer...

It’s the holiday season, and like many of you, we’re taking stock. Taking stock of what we accomplished with this We Live Here project; the stories and...

The nationwide debate about gun control, mass shootings, and violent crime was once again jump-started in the wake of recent massacres at a county...

This week’s show started with a simple question we could not get out of our heads as we followed the recent shakeups at Mizzou. We’re referring to, of...

There is this term that gets thrown around in education circles that we felt needs some exploring. School to prison pipeline. It sounds like schools...

Racial disparities are a huge topic in education. And Missouri schools — specifically those in the St. Louis area — have been singled out as having some...

The arcane world of school finance in Missouri can be harder to understand than the most obscure poem or the most difficult calculus problem. But clear...

This is Kameel Stanley's inaugural article for St. Louis Public Radio's We Live Here project. We asked her to introduce herself. Here is what she wrote:...

This week's We Live Here podcast is something a little different. Recently, we've been looking at health and the way that toxic stress can impact...

A year after Michael Brown’s death, is the landscape around racial and economic disparities in St. Louis and beyond starting to shift? Can some changes already be seen?

A single school can tell us a lot about the health of the community in which it exists. It can also tell us a lot about how systemic problems with transportation, food, housing and crime adversely impact impoverished communities and the health of the...

Given that treating people is already a challenging task, imagine the extra challenge that comes from treating people who experience toxic stress — the stress that comes from constant exposure to poor housing conditions, lack of quality food or...

While most people think of the "Delmar Divide," as simply a line that separates a mostly white community to the south and a mostly black community to the north, the reality is that the divide represents huge disparities in health.

A sliver of the 1.5 million people in federal and state prisons will remain in prison for life. But the vast majority are released at some point. How does someone adjust to life outside after spending years behind bars?

Even pleading guilty to a misdemeanor can come with some other penalties. These are called collateral consequences, and they're the focus of this episode of We Live Here.

In this episode of We Live Here, we explore the price and perils of our public defender system.

On this episode of We Live Here we introduce you to four police officers who discuss not only what life is like during the day-to-day grind of work, but also the question of whether or not race makes a difference for African-American officers in...

We Live Here spent the last several weeks ramping up to explore race in St. Louis and, specifically, how systems intersect with people to create a lot of the inequality in our region ... and around the country. Now, we are moving from the general to...

This episode of We Live Here is all about talking about race without actually talking about race.

Now that we've looked at the jigsaw puzzle of St. Louis County, we consider the children. In a place where people from different backgrounds — and especially different races — seldom live next to each other, we ask the question: What does that...

Within St. Louis' system of municipalities, people are largely divided — white, black, rich and poor. They rarely live next to each other.

We didn’t want to just tell another story about the inequalities that exist in our region. We wanted to tear into the issues, break apart the theory from the reality, demonstrate how the systemic problems that plague our region play out in real...