Defender People’s Programs

KC Defender & Urban League Join Forces: People’s Free Food Program Delivers to 100+ Black Families Across KC Metro

By Ryan S. ● Mutual Aid & Community Programs ● November 18, 2025

This weekend, the KC Defender and Urban League delivered fresh food to over 100 Black families across Kansas City, sourced from the city’s last remaining full-service Black owned grocery store, to circulate our dollars back into our community. Each box included the KC Defender’s latest edition with investigative reporting, practical resources, and political education.

Latest in Defender People’s Programs

Missouri’s Longest-Standing Black Bookstore Faced Closure. The Defender Pulled Up

By KC Defender Staff ● Kansas City ● June 26, 2025

How the KC Defender organized & fought to keep Missouri’s oldest Black bookstore alive (& What Comes Next).

Hundreds of Black People Pack Out Harris Park for KC Defender & Decarcerate KC People’s Cookout

By Ryan S. ● Defender People's Programs ● June 26, 2025

In a time of rising fascism and constant fear-mongering about Black gatherings, our people proved what we’ve always known: we don’t need overseers & state agents to be safe. We keep us safe. And we make it joyful.

KC Defender Distributes $5000 to Black People on 31st & Prospect & Happy Foods

By Ryan S. ● Defender People's Programs ● June 25, 2025

We gave $5,000 in no-strings-attached cash to Black people at 31st & Prospect as a declaration that our people deserve love, not surveillance. Resources, not cages. In a city built to crush our joy, we chose to flood it with life.