We here at The Pitch have partnered with a coalition of Black businesses and organizers to help push for systemic change in our community. All day today, we’ll be pushing out #GiveBlackDay videos and other information produced by our partners. To explain more, here is a statement from Brandon Calloway: Over the past few months there has been an ongoing…
Brea Grant. // Courtesy Brea Grant. When you think of slashers, there are serial killers and then there are the murderers. And by murderers, I mean the people that are straight murdering it out there. Where their slashes are more about being multi-hyphenate creators. Brea Grant has plenty of both. Your initial recognition of her might be from her acting…
Mural work in progress at 4620 J.C. Nichols Parkway // Photo credits Lucia Verzola Spray KC, American Shaman, and Block and Company, INC, Realtors have collaborated to allow artists to create a five-story mural at the Country Club Plaza. The canvas of choice: The Plaza Medical Building. Located at 4620 JC Nichols Parkway, the brick structure was provided by Block…
Unbound supports children and families in 19 countries // Photo courtesy of Unbound Thursday, October 15, Unbound is hosting a webinar in honor of International Eradicate Poverty Day. A global anti-poverty organization founded by five Kansas Citians in 1981, Unbound is the highest-rated child sponsorship organization in the U.S. It also offers sponsorship to families and is the only major U.S.-based…
Author Photo T. Kingfisher. // Photo J.R. Blackwell Under her given name, writer Ursula Vernon is known for the children’s fantasy series Dragonbreath and the webcomic Digger whose collected works won the Hugo for Best Graphic Story in 2012. In recent years, however, the author has begun writing under the pseudonym T. Kingfisher as a way of differentiating between her books…
The Cajun Buttermilk Sandwich at Sauced. // Photo by April Fleming Worth checking out: A new burger stand in the Crossroads Nestled into the courtyard at Corrigan Station 1881 Main Street, a brand-new lunch stand is now serving giant “smash” burgers, buttermilk-drenched fried chicken sandwiches, and hand-cut fries smothered with slow-cooked brisket, provolone, and caramelized onions. Sauced, owned and operated…
Courtesy KC Glory One story we do not get tired of following here at The Pitch is that of the Kansas City Glory. This women’s tackle football team has long been poised to become a fan favorite team in our community, despite constant setbacks from… y’know, 2020. In our September issue, we included Glory as one of our big bets…
KC diners. // Image courtesy of KC Restaurant Week Kansas City Restaurant Week is returning for its 12th year in a row, come January 2021. The ten-day event celebrating KC’s incredible restaurant scene will feature hundreds of local restaurants and special deals for foodies of every kind. KC Restaurant Week will be showcasing area restaurants through three affordable price tiers:…
Give Black Day is a collaborative fundraiser between G.I.F.T., The Greenline Initiative, and The Urban League of Greater Kansas City set for this coming Thursday, October 15th. The goal is to raise $600,000 in one day and have a massive impact on Black business expansion, affordable homeownership, and access to higher education in the urban core. The Pitch has partnered with the…
Courtesy HBO media kit. At the initial kick-off of HBO/Showtime, there was a Wild West of what original film production could look like. Just all over the place. In my head, the period is defined by a film that came five years later: 1996’s The Late Shift. That low-budget monstrosity about the late-night TV comedy wars remains equal parts dead-on…
Photo courtesy the Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equality Since 2018, KU’s Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equality has hosted the annual Feminist Fright Fest, an event which screens horror classics and facilitates discussions from a feminist critical perspective. In previous years, the Lawrence Public Library has hosted the events in-person, with panel hosts that range…
Khitam Jabr is a director based out of Kansas City. She currently lives in New York in the Queens borough. // Photo provided by Khitam Jabr. Born in Jerusalem, but growing up in Kansas City, Khitam Jabr (not Jhibar, as the clown who wrote October’s magazine story had her name listed as originally) abandoned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry to…
Protesters outside Arrowhead Stadium // Photo By Jared Nally On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs were set to honor local non-profit organizer Edgar Palacios. Then it all fell apart. Palacios is the founder and CEO of Latinx Education Collaborative, who work to provide the community with better educational resources. The Chiefs invited Palacios to take part in a National Hispanic…
Founder Karl Koelle from Olathe, K.S., and Amy Summers from N.Y. // Photo courtesy of Karl Koelle. 1DOS, a foundation to provide financial support to people who want to live a healthier lifestyle, will be hosting their second annual fundraiser 5k race at Frontier Park in Olathe, KS on October 24th, 2020. The event, “1DOS Mileage Monsters 5k” is $35…
The Mortuary Collection. // Courtesy Shudder If you followed The Pitch’s Fantasia Festival coverage this past August, you may have happened upon our review of The Mortuary Collection, an ambitious and entertaining horror anthology by first-time feature director Ryan Spindell. You can experience its atmospheric and visual delights for yourself when the film debuts on Shudder later this month. The…
Mangrove. // Photo credit Amazon Prime Video A classic West Indian proverb, popularized by Bob Marley, reads, “If you are the big tree, we are the small axe.” It’s the inspiration for Steve McQueen’s upcoming Small Axe anthology series, which presents five tales set in London’s West Indian community from the 1960s to 1980s. Although Mangrove was the second of…
“Christ Child” by Ryan Wilks Local artist Ryan Wilks is showcasing some of his new work in an exhibit titled ‘Heaven’ at Smalter Gallery in Kansas City from October 4th to November 12th. “Cross as Aesthetic” by Ryan Wilks. Wilks, a self-taught artist based in KC, explores the various realities of queer existence. In Wilks’ own words on their website,…
Photo courtesy of Barrier Babes Barrier Babes was first conceived in 2018, when Maddie Womack decided to put 100 condoms in both the male and female bathrooms on a Friday at RecordBar in Downtown Kansas City. By Sunday morning, no condoms were left in either of the bathrooms—and one of the buckets holding the condoms was missing too. (Hope it…
Models stand in the middle of West 18th Street while filming the fashion show. // Photo by Jeff Evrard When COVID-19 hit the country in mid-March, it put everything in the future on hold. Concerts, clubs, sports, museums, and just life in general shut down as we found ways to combat the virus and stay safe. Events racked up cancellation…
Models wearing Civic Saint merchandise. // Photo courtesy of Godfrey Riddle. Godfrey Riddle has launched Civic Saint with an intention to uplift. The lifestyle company is set to provide clothes and accessories with a conscience, as a portion of each item sold will be donated to organizations like the Bail Project, the Equal Justice Initiative, and the NAACP Legal Defense…
Today on Streetwise from The Pitch we discuss vet costs, check out Ebony Tusk’s track “Chuck Ds”, enjoy a reading of our deep-dive into haunted houses, and chat with Lise Pearlman about her new book on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, Suspect No. 1: The Man That Got Away. Streetwise is hosted by Brock Wilbur, editor in chief of The Pitch. Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify….
Dog on a bed. // Courtesy of MMGY. For those who patiently waited until the dog days of the season to use their precious days off, a trip with their adorable puppy is the perfect way to use it. Crossroads Hotel in Kansas City’s Art District has just the idea for a feat to be accomplished. The hotel is offering…
Briarcliff BLM mural with vandalization incorporated // Photo courtesy of Crissy Dastrup On September 5, the community came together to create Black Lives Matter street murals at six different locations across Kansas City neighborhoods. Less than two weeks after this event, the street mural located at Northwest Briarcliff & North Mulberry Drive was vandalized with white paint and burned rubber….
Event promo. // Courtesy the University of Kansas. Judith Heumann, a lifelong disability rights activist and former adviser to former President Barack Obama, will host the University of Kansas’ celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month and the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (or ADA). Heumann, a civil rights icon, is internationally recognized for being a leader in the…
