Author

Tiffany Watts

Tiffany Watts is the Lead Reporter for Black Economic Justice, Food & Culture at The Kansas City Defender. A fierce storyteller and sharp analyst, Tiffany documents the brilliance of Black entrepreneurs while exposing the systems that seek to erase them. Her work sits at the crossroads of media, memory, and movement—spotlighting chefs, hustlers, healers, and visionaries shaping a liberated Black economy in Kansas City and beyond.

Tiffany's Latest Articles

Kansas City Winter Resources for the Unhoused: What to Do and Where to Go When Temperatures Drop

By Tiffany Watts ● Housing ● December 22, 2025

As winter settles in, hundreds of Kansas Citians are facing the cold without shelter. This guide pulls together shelter, food, medical, and warming resources so people living outside, families navigating homelessness, and those looking to help know where to turn.

Where Creativity Meets Community: Inside DISTRKCT, Kansas City’s New Black-Owned Content Hub

By Tiffany Watts ● Arts & Culture ● November 17, 2025

This 7,000-square-foot space on Agnes Ave. offers artists, podcasters, and entrepreneurs the access, equipment, and support they’ve long been missing.

The News Is Heavy. Here’s How to Carry It.

By Tiffany Watts ● Health & Wellness ● September 5, 2025

Protecting Mental Wellness Through Action.

Kansas City’s East Side Demands Environmental Equity

By Tiffany Watts ● Black Economic Justice ● August 14, 2025

Toxic creek, crumbling sidewalks, and decades of neglect spark renewed demands for action.

She Didn’t See Herself in KC’s Food Scene—So She Built Her Own

By Tiffany Watts ● Food ● August 4, 2025

A queer Black woman’s journey from backyard pop-up to Orange by Devoured: a pizzeria that claims space, sparks joy, and leads without apology.

A New Era on 39th Street: An Alcohol-Free Bar Takes Root

By Tiffany Watts ● Food ● July 15, 2025

In a neighborhood built to keep them out, three sober visionaries create space for healing, joy, and radical inclusion.

Why Black Capitalism Won’t Save Us

By Tiffany Watts ● Black Economic Justice ● June 20, 2025

In a system built on our exploitation, profit will never equal liberation.

KC Defender Launches Black Economic Justice Desk & Names Tiffany Watts As Lead Reporter

By Tiffany Watts ● Black Business ● May 30, 2025

We’re thrilled to welcome Tiffany Watts as our first-ever full-time reporter. In her inaugural piece as Lead Reporter for Black Economic Justice, Food & Culture, Tiffany investigates the forces threatening Black economic survival—and just as powerfully, celebrates the brilliance of Black chefs, salon owners, growers, and organizers reimagining what a liberated economy looks like in our city.