Mayor Terry Epps improves Pine Lawn community through collaboration

Mayor Epps at Narcan box outside Pine Lawn City Hall.

According to data from the 2020 U.S. census, the City of Pine Lawn, Mo., in north St. Louis County has over 2,700 residents, a median income of just over $23,000, and the median age is 24.5 years. For the past seven years as mayor, Terry Epps has worked to undo Pine Lawn’s history of local […]

Positive multicultural representation fills the shelves of EyeSeeMe bookstore

Pamela Blair

Pamela Blair taught her children at an early age about the positive, and often hard-to-find, stories and histories of African Americans. When she noticed how other parents and teachers were struggling to find representation, she decided to open her own multicultural bookstore in University City—no business plan, just a hundred books and a passion. History […]

Rev. Shug and her wife stay involved with church and anti-racism education

The Reverend Shug G. will be the first to tell you subtlety is not one of her gifts. She and her wife Doris never dreamed they would end up in the Midwest, be legally married, and be so accepted in church. Shug currently serves as Deacon at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Ladue. On July […]

Physical therapist and Special Olympics coach Melanie K. perseveres through pandemic

At the start of 2020, Melanie K.’s main concern was how her shoulder surgery in July would impact her year. She had no idea the COVID-19 pandemic would threaten even greater limitations. However, Melanie dealt with her obstacles in great form; she provided physical therapy to young clients, coached gymnastics with the Illinois Special Olympics, […]

Ajuma focuses on mental health of Black youth

Ajuma Muhammad

Licensed psychotherapist Ajuma M. uses his life experiences and innate talents to focus on the mental health of young Black men and help them find their path through an obstacle-filled world. He is also a motivational speaker and author who has traveled the world. He learns new languages as a hobby, allowing him to deepen […]

Antajuan A. conveys his activism through urban farming and buttons

Growing up in the 1980s in North Saint Louis—an area with high rates of crime and poverty—Antajuan A. never imagined he would one day farm this area and that it would become a tool in a fight for social justice. New Roots Antajuan works part-time delivering plants to office spaces; this allows him to be at […]

Audrey C. draws from experience, training to help people in crisis

Audrey uses her past struggles to shape the authentic person she is today—a mother of three, a certified peer recovery support specialist, a domestic violence crisis hotline operator, and a powerful advocate for opioid overdose prevention. Her story Drug addiction changed the canvas of Audrey’s life while in college in the late 1980s. Smoking marijuana […]

Matt T. discusses disparities, protest, and your news source

Matt T. has spent over 20 years examining how people think, particularly when it comes to race and ethnicity. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Psychological Sciences and the Associate Dean For Faculty Affairs in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, with an interest in minority mental health. […]