At 84 years old, Willa Robinson is retiring and closing Willa’s Books and Vinyl, the store where she’s spent years selling works by Black artists. She’s placing the beloved space in the hands of @kcdefender.bsky.social, which will preserve her vast archive.

Congratulations to our colleagues at @kcdefender.bsky.social for winning the 2025 @inn.org Community Champion Award! Read about their groundbreaking B-REAL Freedom School here.

The Small Division winner of the Community Champion Award is “BREAL Academy: Black Radical Education for Abolition and Liberation” from @kcdefender.bsky.social.

Movement media is a key tool to fight fascism. In the @truthout.org Center for Grassroots Journalism newsletter, see the latest from @wagingnonviolence.org @hammerandhope.bsky.social @convergencemag.com @kcdefender.bsky.social @deceleration.news & more! ❤️ mailchi.mp/truthout.org...

The original video: youtu.be/BhQjYxBcqxw The creator, @kcdefender.bsky.social , deserves way more views and subscriptions. As said in this video, this is the future of the United States.

Ever had that "make it make sense?!" feeling when you're reading the news? Yeah. Me too. Conceiving of journalism as political education -- as the @kcdefender.bsky.social does so well -- is one solution and way forward. @objectivejournos.bsky.social objectivejournalism.org/2025/08/make...

North St. Louis is in the middle of a climate warzone. A tornado wiped out 5,000+ homes. Black residents are relying on mutual aid to survive. We went to document climate collapse, ICE kidnappings, and the people fighting back in a city that once sparked a global revolution. youtu.be/BhQjYxBcqxw

A beloved bookstore about to close; a determined volunteer; a local news nonprofit that got creative. Got to write about a Kansas City icon named Willa Robinson and what @kcdefender.bsky.social is doing to preserve her remarkable book collection and legacy. www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/miss...

Exciting developments at the @kcdefender.bsky.social, providing a other example of the importance of grassroots Black Press organising www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/miss...

absolutely loved this piece about @kcdefender.bsky.social and a bookstore called Willa's by @speppered.bsky.social www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/miss...

The @kcdefender.bsky.social is fundraising to purchase the collection and turn it into a public archive, making “Miss Willa’s” bookstore space into its first-ever public headquarters. www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/miss...

How do you reach young audiences that traditional media misses? In our latest Q&A, @kcdefender.bsky.social‬ founder Ryan Sorrell explains how "grocery buyouts" built trust with Gen Z audiences.

Missouri is home to a growing coalition of people determined to stop the encroachment of white supremacist groups on their communities (via our partner @kcdefender.bsky.social). kansascitydefender.com/justice/fasc...

Kansas City’s brief invasion by white supremacist fascist group, Patriot Front, made two things clear: Missouri is a central theater for 21st-century neo-Nazism, and our state also houses a growing coalition determined to stop it. kansascitydefender.com/justice/fasc...

The reason I’m so loud about my respect and admiration about @thetriibe.com is because they laid the groundwork for me. I’ve learned a lot from the innovation happening in Chicago as a whole. I’m also loud about my love for Scalawag in the south and @kcdefender.bsky.social

🗞️ NEW from @kcdefender.bsky.social on what’s at stake in our fight to #SaveOurTransit:

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My hope in 54 yrs of journalism was to equip the community with facts and solutions that can improve life. Ryan Sorrell at the Kansas City Defender @kcdefender.bsky.social has a 21st Century definition for his newsroom that works for me: "Power-building organization." www.poynter.org/business-wor...

Kansas City Leaders Speak Out Against New $800 Million Jail

Journalists should look beyond other journalists for inspo: "Study content creators … I listen to a lot of marketing podcasts because I think that they have a lot of the most innovative strategies," says Ryan Sorrell, @kcdefender.bsky.social founder. nationalpress.org/topic/social...

As Kansas City’s most powerful unelected official, Brian Platt has built his career on lies, retaliation, corruption, targeting Black employees, women, and whistleblowers who dared to challenge him. This exposé uncovers the shocking truth behind Platt’s reign. kansascitydefender.com/politics/kan...

@kcdefender.bsky.social is dropping bombs. Follow them. And read this insane news (because you need more of that IYL right now sorry: #KC #KCMO #BrianPlatt

Thank you for your reporting, @kcdefender.bsky.social Oof! I had no idea about this Hernandez suit too. kansascitydefender.indiegraf.com/lt.php?x=3DZ...

As Kansas City’s most powerful unelected official, Brian Platt has built his career on lies, retaliation, corruption, targeting Black employees, women, and whistleblowers who dared to challenge him. This exposé uncovers the shocking truth behind Platt’s reign. kansascitydefender.com/politics/kan...

🚀 In February 2025, The Defender officially launched B-REAL Academy, a radical education & organizing initiative born out of crisis. Our first cohort brings together Black radicals ages 11-86, equipping them with organizing skills, Black radical movement history, abolitionist writing and more.

CoreCivic is quietly planning a new ICE detention camp in Leavenworth, Kansas – a for-profit facility designed to cage immigrants. This dystopian ICE facility, fueled by political lobbying and blood money, echoes the horrors of history’s concentration camps.

CoreCivic is quietly planning a new ICE detention camp in Leavenworth, Kansas – a for-profit facility designed to cage immigrants. This dystopian ICE facility, fueled by political lobbying and blood money, echoes the horrors of history’s concentration camps.

Private prison company wants to turn Leavenworth prison into ICE camp (via our partner @kcdefender.bsky.social) kansascitydefender.com/national/imm...

📢The Kansas City Defender, a Pivot Fund grantee, hires Mili Mansaray as its new Editor and Director of Radical Media Initiatives! 📢 A fearless journalist committed to Black liberation, Mansaray is dedicated to community-driven media. #BIPOCMedia #News @kcdefender.bsky.social 🔗 More: bit.ly/4hqmoy6

@officialznet.bsky.social x-posted my latest piece for the @kcdefender.bsky.social: znetwork.org/znetarticle/...

My latest for the @kcdefender.bsky.social is available here: kansascitydefender.com/aboltion/abo...

Pivot Fund grantee partner, @kcdefender.bsky.social 's Ryan Sorrell, named among "Journalists to Watch in 2025." It's a stellar list!

Being able to pardon or commute the sentences of cops reverses the ostensible virtue of the pardon power, giving citizens even less protection from the Justice system

Same Governor who just a few months ago refused to pardon Marcellus Williams, a black man on death row even his prosecutors said was most likely innocent after new DNA evidence was introduced. He was executed. This is also terrorism. kansascitydefender.com/justice/pars...

what a country

BREAKING: Missouri Governor Pardons Eric DeValkenaere, the First White Cop in KC History Convicted for Lynching a Black Person kansascitydefender.com/justice/pars...

6/ @kcdefender.bsky.social – Kansas City Metro 🏙️ Investigative journalism envisioning equity & well-being for KC. Harvey World Herald – Illinois 📰 Changing the narrative in Harvey through impactful local news.

My kid interviewed Ryan Sorrell from @kcdefender.bsky.social on their podcast on youth activism. Check it out here: creators.spotify.com/pod/show/k4j....

We need to preserve our movements. AirGo is part podcast, part revolutionary historical archive. Our last ep takes place at the Socialism Conference in Chicago. Hear from @lewispants.bsky.social, @theforge.bsky.social, and @kcdefender.bsky.social. Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

The Kansas City Defender @kcdefender.bsky.social has released a powerful resource for activists, community leaders, and organizers fighting for justice: the Defender Handbook! Share it widely, and let’s keep building a better future together. #DefenderHandbook #CommunityPower #JusticeForAll

@kcdefender.bsky.social continues to do the work others only talk about. This is the kind of world building, and community organizing we need. I'm so excited to see what blooms from their Abolitionist Freedom School. kansascitydefender.com/the-defender...

Over 250 Clothed and Hundreds Fed at KC Defender “People’s Mass Food & Clothing Giveaway” kansascitydefender.com/mutual-aid-c...

I'm sad for this baby, this woman and their loved ones. We can't reform this y'all.

What a horrible, tragic story from my hometown metro area. So glad for the truth-telling of @kcdefender.bsky.social on this to investigate the outrageous police violence and subsequent cover-up here.

A Missouri Family Called 911 for a Domestic Dispute. Police Arrived and shot a 2-month old baby in the head, then shot and killed her mother. kansascitydefender.com/justice/inde...

I hope the @kcdefender.bsky.social posts the same thread here that they did on Twitter, which is thorough and devastating. Also, a reminder that one of Trump’s campaign promises was FULL IMMUNITY for the police.

If you’re unsure of which news media to consume in the light of legacy media capitulating to Trump may I heartily endorse @kcdefender.bsky.social & @unicornriot.bsky.social Both absolutely incredible outlets with true journalists & editors & integrity.

Incredible reporting by the @kcdefender.bsky.social on one of the worst cases of police murders you’ll read about. Police shoot 2yr old in the head in response to domestic dispute and it appears a full cover-up is underway kansascitydefender.com/justice/inde...

A Missouri family called 911 for a domestic dispute. Police came and shot a 2-month old baby in the head, then shot and killed her mother. h/t @kcdefender.bsky.social kansascitydefender.com/justice/inde...

CW: cops, DV While my inner domestic violence counselor is trying to drive into the ocean 😣… Cops shoot the safest person involved in the conflict. That’s how they end it. Victims of domestic violence are no safer calling them than any marginalized group - less safe than many.