Minority-Led Stories

Entrepreneur meets with VP Harris; surprised DC already knew about KC’s first Black-owned brewery

Word travels. A roundtable discussion this week with Vice President Kamala Harris gave Kemet Coleman an opportunity to put his city, and specifically the 18th and Vine neighborhood, on an elevated platform, the Kansas City entrepreneur and musician said. Coleman — one of three co-founders of the soon-to-be-opened Vine Street Brewing, Missouri’s first Black-owned brewery…

This startup’s AI, Bluetooth tech could push traffic to businesses, boost equity when World Cup comes to KC

This spring’s NFL Draft served as a beta test for Kansas City’s implementation of Jonathan Ruiz’s bluetooth technology, he said, noting that the tech and data could help better prepare the city for the World Cup in 2026. “We wanted to start collecting this data for our partners in Kansas City’s Downtown and City Market,…

Rhinestone’d to RuPaul reality: Fan-turned-KC fashion icon shines with ‘Drag Race’ design

RuPaul may not know Whitney Manney’s name, but the “Drag Race” host is now acquainted with the Kansas City fashion designer’s work, she said. The owner of the KC-based WHITNEYMANNEY label had the “wild experience” of designing and constructing the trans-pride, “Troop Beverly Hills”-inspired entrance look for Monica Beverly Hillz for Season 8 of “RuPaul’s…

How a KC startup is using Bluetooth to help ranchers ID sick cows days before symptoms

Just-released geolocation technology from MyAnIML can flag and locate sick cattle two to three days ahead of symptoms — protecting the health of the herd and offering a revolutionary new security tool for the beef and dairy supply chain, said serial tech entrepreneur Shekhar Gupta. The Kansas City startup’s patent-pending technology uses artificial intelligence and…

How Urban TEC used eye-opening VR tech to bring teen mental health into the real world

Students at two Kansas City, Kansas, high schools are tackling teen mental health issues with the help of virtual reality, shared youth and tech advocate Ina P. Montgomery. From February through April, 28 students from Wyandotte and JC Harmon high schools learned Unity programming software, identified and researched a health concern for youth ages 13…