December 2020 I FREE I THEPITCHKC.COM
LIFTED SPIRITS Beyond The Veil With KC’s Professional Ghost Hunter BY ALLISON HARRIS
Local Gift Guides For Everyone From Normies To Weirdos BY RILEY COWING & NICK SPACEK
Black Vegans Are Substituting In BY LIZ COOK
Did The Election Reveal Who We Really Are? BY BARBARA SHELLY
Fix Your Heart Or Die With These Introspective Films BY ABBY OLCESE
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CONTENTS
THE PITCH
Publisher Stephanie Carey Editor-in-Chief Brock Wilbur Strategy Director Kelcie McKenney Music Editor Nick Spacek Film Editor Abby Olcese Contributing Writers Emily Cox, Liz Cook, Rachel Potucek, Barbara Shelly, April Fleming, Deborah Hirsch, Brooke Tippin, Beth Lipoff, Riley Cowing, Dan Lybarger, Vivian Kane, Orrin Grey, Adrian Torres, Reb Valentine, Aaron Rhodes Little Village Creative Services Jordan Sellergren Contributing Photographers Zach Bauman, Joe Carey, Chase Castor, Caleb Condit, Travis Young, Jim Nimmo Contributing Designers and Illustrators Katelyn Betz, Austin Crockett, Jake Edmisten, Lacey Hawkins, Angèle Lafond, Alex Peak, Frank Myles, Jon Tinoco Director of Marketing & Promotions Jason Dockery Account Manager John Phelps Director of Operations Andrew Miller Editorial Interns Allison Harris, Joseph Hernandez, Lucia Verzola Multimedia Intern Andrew Dodderidge Design Intern Erin Hoyt, Connor O’Neill Marketing Intern Tyler Infinger
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Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Carey Chief Operating Officer Adam Carey
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DISTRIBUTION
The Pitch distributes 35,000 copies a month and is available free throughout Greater Kansas City, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $5 each, payable at The Pitch’s office in advance. The Pitch may be distributed only by The Pitch’s authorized independent contractors or authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of The Pitch, take more than one copy of each week’s issue. Mail subscriptions: $22.50 for six months or $45 per year, payable in advance. Application to mail at second-class postage rates is pending at Kansas City, MO 64108.
COPYRIGHT
The contents of The Pitch are Copyright 2020 by Carey Media. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without the express written permission of the publisher. The Pitch 3543 Broadway Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64111 For information or to share a story tip, email tips@ thepitchkc.com For advertising: stephanie@thepitchkc.com or 816-218-6702
18 ZACH BAUMAN
4 LETTER
Letter from the Editor The Christmas that changed everything BY BROCK WILBUR
6 NEWS
Election Reflection Kansas City sucks at voting. We need to get better BY BARBARA SHELLY
8 SHOPPING
Shopping Local for Everyone on Your List A Metro-centric holiday gift guide that covers all your bases BY RILEY COWING
12 FEATURE
Who You Gonna Call? Marie Jackson’s story will haunt you BY ALLISON HARRIS
14 FEATURE
Good Grief Keeping your head up through the down bad BY JOSEPH HERNANDEZ
16 CULTURE
Keeping it in the Family KC-raised comedian Jeremiah Watkins releases his hour-long special BY ALLISON HARRIS
18 FOOD
Black Vegans are Carving Their Own Identity Diversity in flavor, composition, community, and cucumber BY LIZ COOK
20 EAT
Eat This Now Peanut Macha Salsa from Taco Naco KC BY APRIL FLEMING
21 DRINK
Drink This Now The Exorcism on Main Street at Swordfish Tom’s BY APRIL FLEMING
26 KC CARES
Jackson County CASA is a voice for the voiceless BY BROOKE TIPPIN
28 HOMETOWN HEROES
Honoring Carol Coe for inspiring us to be a little more fearless, and to occasionally break into an aquarium BY MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS
30 SAVAGE LOVE
Looking for a kinkerella and adding up the numbers to a hundredsome BY DAN SAVAGE
22 MUSIC
A Very Music Weirdo Gift Guide, Charlie Brown What to get for the (impossible to shop for) audiophile BY NICK SPACEK
24 FILM
Auld Lang Cine Emerge from the slog of 2020 and into the promise of tomorrow with these films BY ABBY OLCESE
“Marie Jackson Emerging From Her Shed To Shame Ghostkind” By Travis Young
thepitchkc.com | December 2020 | THE PITCH
3
LETTER
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR THE CHRISTMAS THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING BY BROCK WILBUR
It is possible that I am experiencing The Depression™. I thought I was doing better than usual. Then I saw the magazine stories I approved for this issue. Death is—in some way or another—a cornerstone in almost all of them. Whoops! Didn’t mean to accidentally put together a Death Issue. But hey, it’s the end of an apocalyptic year, the sun is going down at 4 p.m., and I can’t travel home for the holidays because I’m worried I might cough and murder my brother-in-law. I have many excuses to be a bit of a bummer. With that in mind, I’d like to share a Christmas story with you. It has some tragedy, and it has some joy. As all good stories do.
A family friend’s portrait of Roy and Suzanne.
In January 1993, my grandfather (Roy) was recovering from a multiple bypass heart-attack. My grandmother (Suzanne) was barely functioning physically, as a woman crippled by arthritis since her 20’s. They were watching ABC News from their bedroom in Salina, Kansas. They saw something unexpected. During a feature on the genocide happening in Sarajevo, there was a brief aside featuring a boy. His name was Berin. That morning, while waiting in line for fresh drinking water, a mortar shell had been fired into his proximity—as part of an ongoing ethnic cleansing of his people. He awoke to find his body torn through with shrapnel, and began begging the remains of his parents to “wake up.” He was 11 years-old. Berin’s segment took up merely a minute of screen time, but my grandparents could not shake it. The next morning, they cold called the office of Peter Jennings, asking how they could help the little boy from the television. Obviously, that’s not how anyone else in the world would approach such a thing, and ABC News was polite but basical-
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THE PITCH | December 2020 | thepitchkc.com
Berin Lacevic’s first day in America.
ly said “We have no idea?” My grandparents sat around the breakfast table in silence. And then they decided they would find a way to help. Somehow. They spent the next year of lives, in secret from friends and family, trying to find a way to bring the little boy from the war zone to America. Each day, they would meet in the morning and build a new plan of attack. They called everyone from Bob Dole to the Vatican—slowly but surely assembling a weird blacklist coalition of international forces willing to help this orphaned boy. By the only means they had available: good intentions and an infinite amount of time to keep (positively) harassing everyone in a position of power until they gave in. That’s how I wound up, just before Christmas Day, meeting a surprise new addition to the family. My new Bosnian brother Berin. (Technically my uncle, despite being only two years older.) He only knew how to say “hotdog” and “Michael Jordan” in English. But now there was a permanent place in my family, and my heart, for a war-ravaged orphaned Muslim kid from a country none of us could point to on a map. Almost 30 years later, his addition to our lives—and his love for us—remains the greatest gift imaginable. (Perhaps second only to the Game Gear he and I shared for weeks on end, back in ‘93. Sorry for cheating at Mortal Kombat.) Maybe pick a random person in the world and dedicate everything you have to their happiness? Is that the lesson here? If so, maybe that’s the only way for us to survive at this point. I’m glad I got to see that it’s not impossible. Merry Christmas, Berin. Merry Christmas, Roy and Sue. Merry Christmas to all good people, doing their best, wherever you are.
S tay s afe a nd br ing t he light of Chr ist into yo u r ho m e, as we s h are beau t ifu l mu sic, a messag e of ho pe an d th e ch erished t radit ion of passing t h e ca nd l el ig ht in new and inspir ing ways.
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cor.org/Christmas
thepitchkc.com | December 2020 | THE PITCH
5
NEWS
ELECTION REFLECTION KANSAS CITY SUCKS AT VOTING. WE NEED TO GET BETTER BY BARBARA SHELLY
With blaring car horns, victory signs, and dancing in the streets, Kansas City experienced a burst of euphoria after news networks declared Joe Biden president-elect of the United States. It was a fun celebration— but not richly deserved. In this monumental 2020 election, 60.53 percent of registered voters in the Jackson County portion of Kansas City voted. That’s all—six out of 10. Only a tick better than in 2016, when the Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners reported a turnout of 58.57 percent. And worse by far than participation reported in neighboring counties. In an election when Kansas City needed to roar, it whispered. It whimpered. What happened? Geoff Gerling, executive director of the Jackson County Democratic Committee, watched the numbers roll in on election night with mounting dread. The race for Missouri governor and the fate of a crucial ballot question hinged in part on voters in Kansas City’s heavily Democratic wards and precincts showing up. “If we don’t hit 75 percent (turnout) in Kansas City, we can’t win anything,” Gerling says. Not even close. “To hit 60 percent in a presidential election year… I don’t even know what the word is to use for that,” Gerling says. Abysmal? Embarrassing? Shitty? Take your pick. All of the above? Turnout was 84.5 percent in Platte County, 74.85 percent in Clay County, and 80.3 percent in the portion of Jackson County outside of Kansas City. In all of those places, voters by narrow margins supported Republicans Donald Trump for president and Mike Parson for governor. In Kansas, 75 percent of registered voters in Johnson County cast ballots, with 52 percent supporting Biden and Kamala Harris. The only election office to report numbers close to Kansas City’s was in heavily Democratic Wyandotte County, where participation was 63.5 percent. St. Louis City also underperformed, with just 66 percent of registered voters casting ballots. So the trouncing of Nicole Galloway, the Democratic candidate for governor, and other Democrats running for state office can’t be blamed solely on Kansas City. But the anemic numbers here matter.
6
THE PITCH | December 2020 | thepitchkc.com
Without the political clout that comes with a vigorous electorate, Kansas City becomes a doormat for Republican politicians in Kansas City who feel free to enact policies that harm urban areas. Case in point: the Republican Missouri governor and his refusal to enact a statewide mask rule even as cases of coronavirus soar here and elsewhere. In a race that was supposed to be close, Parson beat Galloway by 17 percentage points. “There’s nobody who can deny with a straight face that voters gave Mike Parson a mandate,” says Greg Razer, a Democrat who will represent parts of Kansas City in the Missouri Senate. Even worse than what low voter turnout says to Jefferson City is what it tells us about ourselves. The failure to vote, especially in wards and precincts with high representation of people of color and low-income Kansas Citians, is more proof that whole segments of the city are marginalized and severed from civic networks. It’s the same disconnect that shows up in Kansas City’s low U.S. Census completion rate— also around 60 percent—and the struggles to get residents to help police solve crimes in neighborhoods. “It’s a hope thing,” says Justice Horn, a former student government president at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, who has been advising local and national campaigns on race and LGBTQ+ issues. “A lot of people will simply opt out because they think, ‘My vote doesn’t count, and I have more important issues.’” says Horn. “We really need to go back and instill hope in people.” People cite a host of reasons for why the excitement to evict Trump from the White House wasn’t reflected at the polls in Kansas City. The coronavirus pandemic limited Democrats’ ground game; unlike Republicans, they mostly didn’t knock on doors. The Biden-Harris campaign didn’t set up an office here; it was a foregone conclusion that Missouri’s electoral votes would go to Trump. Missouri’s new rules for mail-in voting were confusing and required a notary’s signature in some cases. But while the circumstances of the pandemic and Missouri’s red state status are surely factors, the inescapable reality is
Manny Abarca offers up what Democrats could have done better.
that, locally and statewide, Democrats lack a workable, sustained structure to register voters and get them to the polls. “We’re not getting into communities,” says Manny Abarca, the Jackson County Democratic Committee representative for Ward 12, a large swath of northeast Kansas City where turnout was just more than 50 percent. Abarca offers a number of things Democrats should have done better: more education about the issues on the ballot and what was at stake; outreach to Latinx voters that didn’t center exclusively on immigration issues; and better connections among the
CATALINA MELGOZA
Democratic establishment and emerging leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement, KC Tenants, and other activist groups. “I have these opinions and thoughts, and I plan to do something about it and be part of the solution,” Abarca says. “If I’m part of the problem, I need to step aside.” Gerling, as the Jackson County Democratic Committee’s lone full-time staffer, says something similar. “I have to shoulder a significant portion of the blame,” he says. “I didn’t come up with any answers.” A leadership vacuum is pronounced on Kansas City’s East Side, where voter turnout
Election Day 2020 at the recreation center on the Eisenhower Middle School campus.
overall was lower than 50 percent and in one ward didn’t even reach 40 percent. Freedom Inc., the Black establishment political club that used to turn out thousands of votes in those neighborhoods, was barely heard from in this election. Barbara Anne Washington, a legislator who will represent much of the East Side in the Missouri Senate, says she witnessed a lot of energy around voter registration. “I had food drives, and I registered people while they were sitting in their cars waiting for food,” she says. “I saw a lot of young people fired up for registration. But getting people to the polls is something different.” Young Black leaders, like Horn, look wistfully toward cities like Atlanta, where a groundswell of enthusiastic new voters, many of them Black and Latinx, is credited with handing Georgia’s electoral votes to the Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1992. Horn says he witnessed a lot of efforts this fall to change the minds of suburban and even rural voters who generally vote Republican but might be swayed to vote against Trump this time. But he didn’t see enough work being done to reach out to young people and people of color, who, if motivated, could form a long lasting Democratic base. “Let’s do the even harder work on trying to expand the electorate,” Horn says. “I feel like there’s no one in the party right now that’s willing to do that hard work.” Kansas City is caught in a downward
CHASE CASTOR
spiral when it comes to recruiting motivated young people of color. Missouri, and even the city itself, is not seen as welcoming for Blacks, Latinx, and other minorities. Republican policies in Jefferson City, like cuts to higher education and health care, make it harder to promote Kansas city as a place of opportunity. In a sense, low voter participation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Discouraged citizens don’t vote. So we get politicians that enact the wrong policies. And citizens become more disillusioned. “The population of the Black and brown base is not increasing or expanding,” Horn points out. “People aren’t going to come here if they see the state is red and not willing to work with Black and brown people.” The remedies for low voter turnout in Kansas City are no different from the steps we already know would make communities healthier and safer: Get leadership in place that people trust. Form coalitions that let a younger, more energetic and diverse generation take the lead. Go into communities and listen to people. It’s tough work, but it’s important work,” Horn says. “I don’t want us to slip farther behind.” This isn’t work that can wait until an election heats up two years, or four years, from now. To gain ground, or at least not lose ground, Kansas City needs to start now. Only if we do the work should we feel entitled to the celebration. thepitchkc.com | December 2020 | THE PITCH
7
SHOPPING
SHOPPING LOCAL FOR EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST A METRO-CENTRIC HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE THAT COVERS ALL YOUR BASES BY RILEY COWING
As we are steeped in the unknown that continues to be 2020, one thing we do have control over is where we spend our dollar. The pandemic has taught us the impact of our choices and actions and shown us the importance of considering those around us. Buying a gift or two for someone on your list from a local business is just one way you can support our local community safely. This gift-giving guide certainly does not include every local business, but The Pitch has compiled a list to jumpstart your brainstorming process this holiday season.
This is the person in your life who appreciates a good meal. Never shies away from ordering another appetizer or wrapping up the evening with some dessert. Savors another glass of wine, even after the plates have been cleared. Loves an excuse to go out instead of trudging through a recipe in their own kitchen. Any meal can be a celebration with them around. The person in mind may have their own KC favorite, and there are many local restaurants to choose from. Here are just a couple ideas for gift cards to cover their next meal. Spicin’ Foods | spicinfoods.com | 111 Southwest Blvd. KC, KS 66103
If you’ve watched Hot Ones interviews on
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THE PITCH | December 2020 | thepitchkc.com
It can be tough to find a satisfying burger when eating out as a vegetarian (or vegan), and Pirate’s Bone rises to the challenge— with a 100 percent plant-based menu. Gates BBQ | gatesbbq.com | 1325 Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd. KC, MO 64110
Nothing beats solid Kansas City BBQ. This is as solid as it gets. Bōru Asian Eatery | borukc.com | 500 W. 75th St. KC, MO 64114
Bōru Asian Eatery (formerly known as Bōru Ramen) reopened in October with new menu offerings, along with a couple options for their familiar, flavorful ramen.
SETTLING INTO A SPACE OR JUST SPRUCING UP A FAMILIAR HOME
handmade and would make a beautiful additon to any home.
PARTICULAR ABOUT THEIR BEVERAGES This person has an iced coffee or travel mug or water bottle practically glued to their hand any day, any time. Or perhaps sits down to work from home with at least three different beverages resting on coasters next to them. Why not contribute to their daily ritual? Ruby Jean’s | rubyjeansjuicery.com | 3000 Troost Ave., KC, MO 64109
Ruby Jean’s, named after owner and CEO Chris Goode’s grandmother, has healthy and fresh options, like juice, smoothies, and performance shakes.
This is for the friend who maybe took on a renovation or redesign project (or two) over the course of the pandemic. Perhaps you know someone who recently moved or even wants to make their space a bit cozier as we transition into colder weather.
GIVE IT: McClain’s Bakery gift cards
FOOD-LOVER AND LOCAL RESTAURANT SUPPORTER
Pirate’s Bone | piratesboneburgers.com | 2000 Main St. KC, MO 64108
YouTube with Sean Evans, you’re probably familiar with Da’Bomb hot sauce. It’s made and available for purchase right here in KC, along with salsa, Bloody Mary mix, BBQ sauce, and other other hot sauces for the person in your life who thinks the spicier, the better. [Editor’s note: Da’Bomb made me hurt so badly on my insides, I had to take a nap for three hours. Highest recommendation.] Heirloom Bakery & Hearth | heirloomkc. com | 401 E. 63rd St. KC, MO 64110
What’s not to love? Seasonal recipes, fresh produce provided by local vendors, family friendly environment, and a honey almond lavender cold brew? Sold. McLain’s Bakery | mclainskc.com | 201 E Gregory Blvd. KC, MO 64114 (multiple locations)
McLain’s will meet whatever mood you’re in, whether it’s an iced oat milk latte, an order of cinnamon rolls to bring to a friend, or a breakfast burrito on the weekend.
colorbloKC | colorblokc.com
These prints, made by Jess Macy, would be a beautiful addition to any space and could be the first frame hung for a personal gallery wall. Each print carries a vintage feel, with its color palette of soft oranges, pinks, and mustard yellow—all inspired by nature, selfcare, and human connection. HammerPress | hammerpress.net | 1413 W. 11th Street KC, MO 64101
Not only can you find unique art prints at Hammerpress that are sure to add some personality and color to your living space, but they also have stationery, letterpress cards, and a curated selection of desk supplies. It’s a gift for that someone who finds comfort in getting the perfect journal, fresh pens, or loves mailing out a handwritten note every once in a while. Archival Designs | archivaldesignskc.com | 805 E. 31st St. KC, MO 64109
Archival Designs started in 2001 with husband and wife duo, Jake and Julie Bond. Their vases, garlic graters, one-of-a-kind mugs, serving bowls, and more are each
GIVE IT: Wild Way Coffee wearable merch CHRISTINE CLUTTON
Wild Way Coffee | thewildwaycoffee.com | 708 E. 19th St. KC, MO 64108
This coffee camper, started by husband and wife duo Christine and Jon Clutton, served its first beverage April 2018 at the corner of 31st and Gillham. Now, you can find them serving lattes or cold brew parked at the Wild Way Warehouse in the Crossroads, the Overland Park Farmers Market, or parked around town. Cafe Cà Phê | cafecaphe.com
Cafe Cà Phê is Kansas City’s first Vietnamese mobile coffee shop, opened at the end of October by Jackie Nguyen. You’ll find them parked outside Firebrand collective most days. Cafe Equinox | cafeequinox.com | 7036 Nieman Rd. Shawnee, KS 66203
In the midst of an almost-always-gray winter, Cafe Equinox offers a welcome reminder that spring is indeed coming. Get your
SHOPPING
Virgil’s Plant Shop | virgilsplantshop.com | 2711 Troost Ave. KC, MO 64109
You may find the perfect plant at either their brick and mortar location or around town in their converted miniature school bus that became Kansas City’s “first mobile houseplant oasis.”
Jungle House
Houseplant Specialty Store 924 DELAWARE St. LAWRENCE, KS 66044 Now Open to the Public Inside! Complimentary Repotting Non-Contact Curbside Pickup
Jungle House | junglehousegoods.com | 924 Delaware St. Lawrence, KS 66044
Shop for a new plant either outdoors on their Lawrence store patio or online with options for delivery or curbside pick-up. High & Dry Cactus Co. | highanddrycactus.co | (showroom visits available by appointment)
Bring the natural beauty of the desert home, without leaving the Midwest.
GIVE IT: Potted cacti from Paradise Garden Club
caffeine-fix while surrounded by dozens of plants and greenery. Equal Minded Cafe | equalmindedcafe. com | 4327 Troost Ave. KC, MO 64110
It’s not only a space to relax and drink a cup of coffee or pick up lunch, but a business that gives back to its community through active involvement, like serving free coffee and hot chocolate at a local voter registration and hiring event.
ZACH BAUMAN
GOES TO PICK UP POTTING SOIL, LEAVES WITH THREE NEW PLANTS
CURIOUS ABOUT LOCAL ART, ARTISTS, AND MAKERS In addition to the artists and makers listed below, you can find even more during the Strawberry Swing Holiday Market. It’s an open-air market that lasts each weekend until Dec. 20. Due to COVID-19, they’ve limited the amount of guests that can visit per hour, so plan ahead and purchase tickets at thestrawberryswing.com.
24/7 online shopping at junglehousegoods.com
Quick hits on Kansas City culture, news, dining, and more thepitchkc.com/newsletters
There seems to be that one person that cannot have enough house plants. And by enough, we mean essentially building their own personal indoor garden, with plants covering more surface area than furniture. Here are some ways to contribute to their plant obsession. Paradise Garden Club | paradisegardenclub.online | 1621 Locust St., KC, MO 64108
GIVE IT: Cafe Cà Phê mug
NOAH URSY
The peach building, neon signage, and natural light filling the interior does create its own tiny slice of paradise among downtown Kansas City. Along with a great variety of plants, including cacti and houseplants big and small, their bags of potting soil (either Amended blend, for indoor plants and gardening, or Cactus blend) are the perfect size to repot plants without investing in a gigantic bag. You can also bring the bag back for $5 refills—sustainability!
GIVE IT: Cow mask from Corntemporary Designs RILEY COWING
Corntemporary Designs | @corntemporarydesigns | etsy.com/shop/corntemporarydesigns
What began as a blind contour drawing of the Mona Lisa with her brother, became the thepitchkc.com | December 2020 | THE PITCH
9
SHOPPING
GIVE IT: Smoke-themed ceramics from Wandering Bud
LAUREN PUSATERI, STYLING BY SHELBY PAGE, RETOUCHED BY HIGH HEART CREATIVE
MackBecks | mackbecks.com
Playful jewelry by Mackenzie Becker, a selftaught metalsmith. Here you’ll find rings that wrap around your finger like a miniature hug, a necklace with desert-themed charms (like a crescent moon and cactus), carrot dangling earrings, and so much more.
THEIR TOREAD LIST IS ENDLESS GIVE IT: Handmade jewelry and accessories from MackBecks, mask by Paulina Otero ARI BONNER, MODELED BY BIANCA FIELDS, MUA SHELBY LOOS OF HELM
charming trademark of Erin Mcanany’s art. Available to browse on Instagram or her Etsy page, tote bags and thrifted t-shirts have that Mona Lisa sewn on them—adding some corny flair full of personality.
Wise Blood Booksellers | wisebloodbooksellers.com | 300 Westport Rd. KC, MO 64111
Hot Tub Crochet Machine | @hot.tub.crochet.machine (Instagram)
Adrienne Bandy started crocheting as a hobby and hasn’t been able to stop since. She can make practically anything from yarn. Seriously.
Wise Blood was born from a small selection of books sold at Mills Record Company, owned by Judy Mills, and a love of reading. They celebrated one year of business this November.
Designs by Bru | @designsbybru (Instagram)
Rainy Day Books | rainydaybooks.com | 2706 W. 53rd St. Fairway, KS 66205
Bruna Guidetto Abdo started Designs by Bru during quarantine, selling acid wash, shibori, and tie dye garments. Along with Instagram, spot her in person at different socially distanced pop-ups.
Browse their website for whatever title is on someone’s wishlist and have it delivered to your home or take advantage of curbside pickup on Saturdays from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Whiskey and Bone | whiskeyandbone.com
Whiskey and Bone offers a mix of modern bohemian with rock ‘n roll vies in their statement necklaces, bracelets, and earrings—all made by artist Tarrah Anderson.
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THE PITCH | December 2020 | thepitchkc.com
There’s a high chance we’ve been guilty of this...or know someone who has...collecting stacks of new books to read while a small stack of them rest, untouched, on a nightstand, or on a desk or coffee table. But hey, it never hurts to have more new reads on hand.
Half Price Books | hpb.com | 1002 Westport Rd. KC, MO 64111 (multiple locations)
GIVE IT: Earrings from Whiskey and Bone
Half Price has bookshelves extending from floor to ceiling with a mix of used, loved, and brand new titles as well as puzzles, records,
journals, and postcards. Plenty to choose from! Prospero’s Books | prosperosbookstore. com | 1800 W. 39th St. KC, MO 64111
Prospero’s, co-owned and operated by Tom Wayne and Will Leathem, is a used, independent bookstore. It was established in 1997, in a historic building from 1890 that was previously home to a grocery store and then a hardware store.
FOR THE PERSON WHO SAYS “SURPRISE ME!” I mean… do what you were asked. Perfect Scents | perfectscentskc.com | 5010 Main St. KC, MO 64112
Perfect Scents has been offering thoughtfully curated, genuine gifts that are perfect for others (and perhaps also to treat yourself) for 30 years. Among dozens of different essential oil blends and perfumes, they have a Headache and Stress essential oil blend that is nothing short of magic (and perfect for all 2020-related stress we’re experiencing). Wandering Bud | 4446 Troost Ave. KC, MO 64110
Smoke-themed gifts that are ceramic, handmade, colorful, and so beautiful you’ll want to display on your coffee table or bookshelf. Fetch | fetchkcmo.com | 1101 Mulberry St. KC, MO 64101
Vintage, modern, cool. Trust us.
FEATURE
WHO YOU GONNA CALL? MARIE JACKSON’S STORY WILL HAUNT YOU BY ALLISON HARRIS
Not everyone has the guts to divert their life of its apparent path and begin a paranormal investigative organization. Of course, not everyone has had a lifetime of haunts like Kansas City native Marie Jackson. After growing up in haunted homes and having a myriad of experiences with the spirit world, Jackson decided it was time to stop running from the things that seemed to follow her—and embrace them. In 2018, she officially started Pink Street Paranormal, and she’s been researching and conducting investigations into haunted locations across Missouri ever since. “The thing that actually kicked off my interest was the fact that I was raised in haunted houses,” Jackson says. “We were exposed to all kinds of paranormal happenings and events as children, and as I got older, I realized that I had some pretty unique abilities that didn’t dissipate when I was a kid. Instead of me pretending that I didn’t have these abilities, I decided to just embrace them, nourish them, and find people out there more like me.” In 2016, Jackson began to make connections with other paranormal experts in the city. This helped her develop her spiritual gifts and collaborate with other like-minded people on investigations. “I decided to open up about what I had been experiencing, and what I had been dealing with as a child, and even as an adult still,” Jackson says. “So I started reaching out to a bunch of different paranormal agencies and facilities, to try to engage with them, just to get a little more education, and also to see and connect with people who were just like me. So that started in 2016, and then I started to do a lot of research into the houses we lived in, and gathering information about events that took place prior to when the houses were built.” Jackson’s sister Melanie Evans can attest to her spiritual gifts and to their haunted upbringing. She explains that, like Jackson, she had many inexplicable interactions growing up that led to her belief in ghosts and spirits. “Well, we grew up in a haunted house,” Evans explains. “And for a long time, we just ignored it. So if we heard bumps in the night, or stuff walking across the floor, we’d think ‘Oh, it’s just somebody [in our family], or the old house.’ But then, after so long, you
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just can’t ignore it. And then when you start to see things, like apparitions and things you just can’t explain, as a kid, an eight-year-old kid, I would think to myself, ‘Okay, did I just see a little girl walk across the floor into the back room, or am I crazy?’” Growing up in a house with brothers and sisters, she just brushed it off as thinking maybe she saw one of them. But when Evans was completely alone, and continued to see spirits, her mindset began to change. “Okay, that happened, that’s there,” she began to assure herself. “There was one experience that me and Marie had, when we were sharing the same room. We were laying in the room together, and we start hearing this banging on the wall—a consistent, loud banging. And then we heard a distinctive sound that said, ‘Get out.’ We got up, and we ran into my dad’s room yelling ‘It’s a ghost! Something’s going on!’ and he just said (deadpan) ‘Kill it.’ He just did not believe it.” Soon, though, Evans explains, even their mother would begin to see things. “She’d be standing in the kitchen and say ‘Hey, go outside, there’s a white guy standing out there!’ She would see me go outside, looking around, and she would still see that apparition at the same time that she saw me. It got to a point that it was just time to go. But then it [their paranormal experiences] followed us, it followed us from house to house. So we’re thinking, the house wasn’t haunted, one of us was haunted. And I think it was Marie.” Because family is such an important part of Jackson’s life, it was integral for the sisters to open up to them about their experiences growing up. Jackson and her sister have begun conversations with their family about their childhood experiences. But for Jackson, telling her three children about her spiritual gifts and having them believe her was one of her most heartening moments, she says. “I think the transition point with me really embracing it, was when I talked to my kids about it, and they accepted me,” she says. “Once they accepted me and my experiences and my past, then I felt like everybody else can follow suit.” “At first, they were kinda like ‘huh?’ And they had never talked to my siblings about it. We never spoke about it to other people. We
Marie Jackson outside an abandoned house is a whole vibe. TRAVIS YOUNG
suppressed it, we kept it to ourselves. So, we took my kids to my siblings to corroborate everything that happened to me as a kid.” “It was definitely an uphill battle, but now they’re my strongest believers,” Jackson says. Going into the world of paranormal investigations just felt like something she had to do, she explains. She’d been developing the skills and the bravery needed to hunt ghosts her whole life—it was only a matter of time before she decided to lean in to it. “It wasn’t hard at all,” Jackson says of her decision to abandon her previous goal of opening a children’s hair salon to do fulltime paranormal investigations. “In life, we are so positioned to do what we’re told to do, and what others will approve of us doing. We never focus on what is our primary purpose [in life]. I kept running from it for years, and I kept hiding it and sheltering it, because I didn’t want people to judge me.” She explains that Pink Street was originally going to be the name of her hair salon, and she decided to keep the meaningful name when she started her paranormal
agency. “I took that name, and said ‘It’s already here,’ and considering I do investigations from street to street, I’ll just keep it sweet, simple, Pink Street Paranormal,” she says. “This actually connects, and I think it connected for a reason, even if it wasn’t for the reason I originally designed it for.” Now that she has fully embraced her talents and begun investigations with Pink Street, Marie is able to affect the lives of others in a positive way. Mecca Hazziez lives in the haunted “Bellefontaine House,” and reached out to Marie to request her skills to help affirm her spiritual experiences while living there. “So, I was scrolling through Facebook, and actually saw Pink Street Paranormal on my timeline,” Hazziez says, of her first contact with Marie. “Coincidentally, I just moved into this residence, and there’s a lot of weird, crazy stuff going on around here, so I’m like, “You know what, I think things may be getting a bit out of control,” and I have children, so I just decided to give it a shot, and I talked to her about it. She agreed to come over here with her team, and do a little work.” While Hazziez was not present for Ma-
FEATURE
rie’s investigation into her home, she says the impacts of her work are felt by her and her family. “I am not sure of the process, but I can tell you, 85-90 percent of what I was feeling in here, it eased up shortly after. I don’t feel it as much at all, since they came here,” she says. “I was actually sleeping on the couch because I felt [paranormal] energy by my bedroom door. I just kind of felt some relief after [Marie’s investigation], and I’ve been sleeping back in the bedroom, and I don’t feel that way anymore.” Jackson’s existence as a Black woman in the paranormal investigative field is something of a shock to many people she encounters. With Pink Street, she wants to break the stigma of belief in the paranormal within her community, as well as break the mold of what a typical ghost hunter may look like. “I want to bring a spotlight to the communities like Black communities, all kinds of culturally diverse communities, where people think that these things don’t happen,” Jackson says. “And they do. Most of the time, on TV, what do you see?” she asks. “Nice, happy, white families. And you don’t ever see a Black family telling their story.” “I wanted to see if I could connect to
other people that have had these experiences, especially when it comes to the African-American culture,” Jackson says. “You don’t hear a lot of people talking about hauntings, or having been in haunted situations, or houses. You don’t hear about that a lot when it comes to the Black culture, so I said I wanted to awaken that dormant idea that people have, that it doesn’t happen to our culture.” “It’s really interesting, I get the weirdest looks,” says Jackson, on being the only Black person in the room at paranormal investigative gatherings. “I consider myself to be an attractive African-American woman. When they see me, they do not see a paranormal investigative person who can see ghosts. It does not dawn on them that this ability is existing within me.” Whether you’re a believer or not in the spirits, Marie Jackson is doing important work. Having someone to validate your experiences of the paranormal in your home or community is valuable to people, especially if they look like you. So if you’re stuck in a haunt, look to Marie Jackson—a fearless and kind-hearted person who seeks out the ghosts in our establishments and ends the stigmas in our communities. thepitchkc.com | December 2020 | THE PITCH
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FEATURE
GOOD GRIEF KEEPING YOUR HEAD UP THROUGH THE DOWN BAD BY JOSEPH HERNANDEZ
Being in a small space for an extended period takes a toll. There are only so many television shows, movies, books, video games, Zoom happy hours, and neighbor walks someone can do before it stops giving them the serotonin they desire. With a lack of new stimulus, it shouldn’t be a surprise that so many of us are looking inward. Reliving memories, whether good or bad, has become both the program running in the background and the feature presentation film in your skull. For me, some of these constantly repeating memories include thoughts of my mom, who I lost nine years ago to a random aneurysm at the young age of 50. I was 13 years old. A year before that, I lost my dad. I’ve thought about my mom for the past 3,483 days, but the pandemic made those thoughts more intense. I’ve always wanted to know what she’d think about me setting a path to journalism, but now I want her opinion on everything that’s happened since her death. What would she say about me falling off my bike or my awful spending habits? How would she react to the first and only time I got real drunk? It’s been difficult to go nearly four-thousand days without having a parent to serve as a barometer on your choices, especially from such a young, developmental age. The day she died replays in my head with terrible frequency, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Seeing her foaming at the mouth on her bed. Hearing her lifeless body gasp as we said our last goodbyes. It’s on a loop inside of me, broadcast with the clarity of a 4K television. I like to tell my close friends that know of my origin story that I’m over it, but that’s simply not true. Out of all of my family members, I’m the one who acts the most like I’ve put her death in the past and moved on. I’m the one who acts like Everything Is Fine Now. The shutdown taught me that I was a clown for thinking I should be emotionally divorced, free and clear, from a traumatic event in middle school. It’s in the past and that’s what brings us here. With all these options available to distract us from our tragic backstories, there’s always something that pops up to remind us of what’s missing—or who is missing—and what they’d think about all this. How they
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The last picture the Banago family took together, Union Station 2020
would process this. Would they do better than me? Would I do better with them? Yes and yes, almost assuredly. The thing that we’re going through? The kids these days call it “down bad.” Grief, avoiding the sickness, politics, and general fear of what the future holds should have everyone going mad. These pains are especially prevalent among those that have lost a loved one due to COVID-19. Those are losses that were avoidable with the proper federal and state response; something the United States didn’t embrace early, and still refuses to treat with respect as the virus has spread to 11.6 million cases and claimed 250,000 lives. [As of press time.] The stories of the lost ones as a result of the virus vary. Some were as cautious as possible and unfortunately caught it. Some were dismissive of the guidance. Others had no choice but to be out in public. In the case of Jhulan Banago’s mother, Celia Yap-Banago, she was one week away from celebrating her 40th year as a nurse for Research Medical Center. COVID-19 took her life on Apr. 21. “I didn’t really cry that evening, and I was more like, ‘Well, this is weird.’ I knew this day would come, but I didn’t realize it would be this soon. I look back at it and I was just there,” Banago says. “I was in shock. I can’t believe this is happening. What do I do?” Jhulan Banago’s mother came into contact with a patient who showed symptoms on Mar. 23, and she took all the necessary precautions to prevent possible spreading. Six days later, her fever was over 101 and she wasn’t eating. She began to feel better over
COURTESY OF THE BANAGO FAMILY
time, but it was too much to overcome. Yap-Banago immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines after graduating from Aquinas University with a Bachelor’s in nursing. She touched down in Florida before finding her way to Kansas City, where she’d start her own little family. A husband, two kids, and all the love anyone could ask for. In an interview with CNN, Jhulan Banago promised that he’ll remember his mother as a strong woman who successfully fulfilled her American dream. While she loved her work, she never missed her kids’ award ceremonies, piano recitals, basketball, or baseball games. Banago’s journey on coming to terms with this loss has gained local and national support. As a member of “The Club” (a group he coined where a requirement for entry is to have lost a parent without warning), family and friends have come together to make their presence felt, despite the pandemic. His friends set up a shared online calendar for making sure the family had meals provided as they navigated this dark period. “I think April and May we had a meal delivered for lunch and dinner and we had variety,” Banago says. “The first few meals were barbeque after barbeque. I love my Kansas City barbeque, but you can only take so much.” Cards, flowers, and texts poured in. Banago noticed that each member of the family processed the loss differently. His father, Amado, couldn’t stop talking about his wife. He would show old photos of her and tell stories to anyone who would listen. For
Jhulan, it took him a few months before he could open up his mom’s photo album. The family opened up a death claim against the hospital. Banago and his family hired the services of legal firm Brent and Kristie Welder. The legal team and married couple seemed to best reflect the ideals and ethics of the Banago family. While myself and Jhulan are just two stories among the millions out there, I noticed some of the similarities that I’m sure whoever’s in the same situation can relate to. For instance, both of our lost parents took care of everyone and anyone that needed help. Whether it was simple or not, they dropped everything to make sure the problem was solved. These troubling moments in our lives happened unexpectedly, but we’ve somehow managed to overcome them and are now using them as motivation to keep grinding. Would I have wanted her in by my side as I grew into the person I am now? Absolutely, but I’d like to think I’ve done alright so far. They may not be with us physically, but they’re with us where it counts and that’s all we need for now. We know we’re making them proud by chasing our dreams. It would’ve hurt them if they saw us curl into a ball and give up. We have to honor their fighting spirits by continuing to strive for greatness. After all, it’s what they did. I wish for that to be true for anyone else dealing with any kind of grief and pain, but if it’s not, I hope you’ll reach that point. It’s not easy at first and it’ll break you at times when you least expect it, but keeping a loved one in your memory is a great way to cope
FEATURE Joseph’s mother and her two kids. If only she knew what they’d become. THE ALANIZ FAMILY
and it’s certainly one of the healthiest ways to do so. I’m not a therapist so I can’t confirm that, but Burton Rogers is. Rogers was born and raised on the east side of Kansas City and celebrated his ninth anniversary in counseling in August. His emphasis is on assisting individuals to find positive coping mechanisms after losing a loved one due to homicide. There is an overlap between losing someone to violence and losing someone to a virus, as they’re both sudden losses that give families and friends
find their support system. Like Banago, it is friends and family that aid the most and it’s with their guidance that they can help the griever make the right steps with what comes next. The other thing he emphasized is to not make any major decisions in the first six to seven months, such as moving. A mind isn’t in the right space to think about what’s going on clearly, so it’s best to stay away from a drastic life choice unless it absolutely has to happen. Flexibility is also key for people who are helping their close ones get through a tough time. There are certain moments or items, such as a song that reminds them of who they lost or the anniversary of when they were taken from this earth, that could trigger them and cause unusual behavior. “The biggest piece and this goes for any trauma piece, but particularly with homicide, is that it’s nonlinear,” Rogers says. “There’s going to be ups and downs. You could have the best treatment protocol and there’s not going to be a scenario where it’s
WOULD I HAVE WANTED HER IN BY MY SIDE AS I GREW INTO THE PERSON I AM NOW? ABSOLUTELY, BUT I’D LIKE TO THINK I’VE DONE ALRIGHT SO FAR. no chance to say goodbye. With the uptick in gun violence in Kansas City, you could be in the wrong place at the wrong time and a shooting could occur where you’re unfortunately hit. With COVID-19, you could take off your mask for one second in public or touch a spot that someone with the virus came into contact with, not wash your hands, and then your situation becomes life-threatening. What comes next and its precarity is a constant background threat. When he’s with his clients, Rogers is looking to see if they re-experience any of the trauma they felt since the loss. If flashbacks or nightmares happen, he’s trying to find out if the frequency of those go down as time progresses. “I’ll look at alterations and cognitions, how they see themselves, how they see others, how they see the future and on top of that, outbursts of anger or just periods of depression,” Rogers says. “I’m looking to make sure that those are being stabilized as well and also just how they’re relating to other people. There could be a scenario where they find themselves isolated and I’m looking for if they’re engaging people along the way.” The first thing Rogers recommended for people seeking help with grief is to
straight to the point.” If there’s one thing that I hope readers take away from this, it’s that there is no timetable for healing. It could be nine days, nine months, or nine years of suffering, and all of it is valid. You have to do what’s best and what’s right for you in order to take the next step. Ride a motorcycle for miles and find your healing road. Impulse buy that missing piece in your collection. Reach out to your friends and family. Tell them you love them and you want to see them shine. Talk to a therapist. They’re here to help, not hurt. There are still good people on this planet and they want you to be the best possible version that you can be. There is no correct way to cope with losing someone who you held so close in your heart and soul. You can have all the help you need, but at the end of the day, only you get to decide what’s right for your mental health. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but we still have to win the race. We all want to see you succeed and overcome the odds. I think I’m doing that in my own way, and I wish the same upon everyone. We’re going to make it. I promise. One way or another. thepitchkc.com | December 2020 | THE PITCH
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CULTURE
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY KC-RAISED COMEDIAN JEREMIAH WATKINS RELEASES HIS HOUR-LONG SPECIAL BY ALLISON HARRIS
When Jeremiah Watkins saw his entire family sitting directly at eye level at his show at the Kansas City Comedy Club, he was horrified. “Wow. This is weird, there’s so many people I know in one room,” he says, laughing, within the first 20 seconds of his performance in his new comedy special, Family Reunion. “Man, I hope this goes alright!” The KC born-and-raised (now Los Angeles-based) comedian prides himself on his ability to roll with the punches. After all, his comedy relies heavily on interacting with his audience. But this was a completely once-in-a-lifetime challenge. It was this bizarre scenario and subsequent commitment to still putting on a stellar act that turned into Watkins’ debut hour-long comedy special, Family Reunion. The special, coming out on December 8, 2020, follows his discovery of many family members and old friends in his audience, and the events that unfold throughout his performance. Spoiler alert: He gets heckled (and then hugged) by his own mom. “It’s definitely something I wouldn’t have set out to plan,” Watkins says about the show. “It just organically happened. I’m the kind of comedian that rolls with everything that’s thrown at him. I committed to what was happening that night, and then I just went for it. I’m really glad I did because I don’t think that something like this will ever happen at one of my shows again.” Things get particularly hairy when he cracks a joke about having a threesome with his parents directly in front of them. Instead of shying away, he doubles down, saying with confidence: “That is the best family incest joke you will hear in Kansas City on a Friday night, guaranteed. I have them all here, how awkward is this for me? You think it’s awkward for them?! I’m comin’ to you guys now. I was timid at the beginning, but I’m losin’ it up here!” With a boisterous stage presence and a penchant for teasing the audience, Watkins’s style of comThe artist in residence.
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CREDIT
THE PITCH | December 2020 | thepitchkc.com
edy isn’t for the faint of heart. He’s learned to have an escape route if it’s not jiving with the particular attendees of the evening. But because he has endless possibilities with a different crowd every night, he guarantees a unique show every single time. It took some time to build up the confidence to work off the crowd, Watkins says. “You fail. A lot,” he says. “And you realize, ‘Oh, well that’s not the way to do it,’ and then you get in a rhythm where you say: ‘Okay, I’ve failed so many times, what’s the worst that could happen at this point?’ and then you get good in that rhythm at working off of people. I’ve been doing it for so long now, that it’s very smooth for me, when I interact with audience members. I trust myself that I will find what’s funny about them and their situation.” Family Reunion not only revolves around Watkins’s show at the Kansas City
Comedy Club, but weaves a central theme of the support (and healthy skepticism) his family has for his comedy. Throughout the hour special, there are multiple segments interspersed where Watkins’s brother, sister, and father tell the camera point-blank just how they feel about his jokes. They laugh nervously, but give surprisingly earnest answers about some of his more raunchy material, and voice their love and support for him. “Well it’s certainly two extremes,” Watkins’s father says, early on in the special. “Having one son as a stand-up comedian and the other training to be a minister. I guess our family’s kinda known for our extremes.” Later in the special, he elaborates on his feelings about his son’s act with a smile. “A couple beers in me, that helps me digest whatever he’s saying about me onstage. Actually, I’ve been the subject of a couple of his comedies’ comments, and survived ‘em both okay, so I think it’s kinda funny.” The idea for the segments came after that fateful show, Watkins says. “It started out [as] me just wanting to have some kind of documentation of what they thought of the shows,” Watkins says of the segments. “I never have really asked them straight-up like I did in the documentary, and I thought they would give some good organic responses, because it’s not something that I prepped them on before I started filming. That’s why you see such natural reactions from my dad and my brother.” “I thought it would be cool as I figured out the theme of the special,” he explains. “I thought it would be a good connective tissue to have the viewers get to know me a little bit better through the eyes of my family.” Comments from the Watkins family and clips of Christmas ornaments that feature photos of a baby Jeremiah invite the viewer into his life more intimately than the average stand-up special of only jokes for an hour. If you’re a fan, it’s a delight to learn more about his family relationships; and to a brand-new viewer of his work, it’s a pretty solid crash course into his act and comedy styles. “I think a lot of specials these days aren’t necessarily ‘special.’ It’s just a comedian doing an hour set in a big theater with fancy cameras,” Watkins says. “But for this, this just happened to me, and I wanted other people to experience what I went through, and be a fly on the wall.” He had no idea his December 2019 show in KC would turn into his special, he says. “It was just one of those magic nights that I wanted other people to see. Especially with the pan-
demic happening [now], I wanted to get this material out.” It is particularly refreshing to watch live material from before the COVD-19 pandemic that revolves around family connections, and from before there was so much risk attached to being around each other. Watkins is still touring several nights a week doing socially distanced shows, but the live experiences of the pre-coronavirus era may not be back for a long time. “The shows on the road now are limited capacity, which means less money for everybody involved: the clubs, the comedians, the waitstaff. So it’s definitely more difficult right now,” Watkins says. Still, there is a silver lining: He is one of the lucky few live performers able to continue supporting themselves through in-person shows, and Watkins prides himself on bringing a moment of escape to a bleak situation. “I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to be in a group of comedians that are still able to tour, because a lot of comedians aren’t able to do that right now,” he says. “My whole thing, when I go on the road, is to try to divert peoples’ attention from all the craziness in the world right now. Let me give you an hour of a mental vacation from your problems, and try to give you some positivity in your life. That won’t just help you the night of [the performance], that’s gonna help carry you through the rest of your week, your month.” Comedy specials seem to lend themselves to the entertainment predicament we’re in right now. They are, after all, a snapshot of one magical night we may never get back. With no real timeline to return to typical live events, virtual and livestream shows still bring joy, but there’s something especially bittersweet about watching the organic laughter come from a packed and unmasked room. Family Reunion proves to any viewer that they too can feel the magic of the performance lo these many months later. Watkins’s style of comedy can seem harsh at times, but moments captured in his special contain genuine love and tenderness that make the viewer feel like they’re a part of his family too. In the middle of his set, he asks the audience to clap for his mom to come on stage. When she does, she attaches herself to his side shyly and refuses to look into the camera. Watkins asks if she’d like to say anything into the microphone. “You know I have laryngitis,” she scolds him with a heavy drawl. She addresses the audience with her arms wrapped tight around her son: “But my baby, he’s the best in the world.” “I got the best mom in the world, I love you so much,” Watkins replies, sending her off the stage with a beaming smile, before he cracks his next joke about her laryngitis making her sound like a rough-voiced stripper. That’s KC. That’s family.
thepitchkc.com | December 2020 | THE PITCH
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FOOD
Left: Mild Nachos at Mattie’s. Above: Arvelisha Woods (left) and India Pernell (right).
BLACK VEGANS ARE CARVING THEIR OWN IDENTITY DIVERSITY IN FLAVOR, COMPOSITION, COMMUNITY, AND CUCUMBER WORDS BY LIZ COOK, PHOTOS BY ZACH BAUMAN
“It’s not just white hippies.”
Gigi Jones is talking about Kansas City’s vegan community—plant-based diners in a notorious Cowtown. The community’s growing fast, and the vegan restaurant scene is growing to meet them. And it’s Black restaurateurs and diners who are leading the charge. Jones is one of several Black entrepreneurs to open a vegan restaurant or catering business in KC in the last couple of years. She works as a health and wellness coach—“stage name, ‘Gigi the Vegan’”—and opened her first restaurant, Gigi’s Vegan + Wellness Café, in Westport this July. Jones has witnessed a surge of interest in plant-based eating recently. But the scene wasn’t always so rosy. When she first went vegan in 2015, she felt alone. “I was the elephant in the room,” she says. “I felt like within my community that I was the first vegan ever. I know I wasn’t, but I felt that way.” Jones worked hard to promote plantbased eating locally, teaching workshops at health-food stores, and expanding her client base. But she knew Black diners needed a targeted approach. Last November, she started Midwest Soul VegFest, a vegan food festival focused on the Black community. More than 3,000 people attended. (COVID-19 put a
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THE PITCH | December 2020 | thepitchkc.com
damper on a repeat festival this year). “I think the face and the culture [of veganism] is changing,” Jones says. “Right now, people are seeking better, healthier lifestyles, and I’m grateful to be a part of this movement—and it is a movement.” The movement appears to be national as well as local. According to a Pew Research Center survey from 2016, Black Americans are almost three times as likely to identify as strict vegans or vegetarians than white Americans. Mainstream perceptions of veganism have been slow to adjust. Type “vegan” into any stock photo site, and you’re still likely to be greeted with variations on a theme of Thin White Woman Trying to Look Through a Cucumber. For a long time, those perceptions guided local restaurant offerings. Sisters and business partners Arvelisha Woods and India Pernell were inspired to open Mattie’s Foods in part because they couldn’t find any restaurants that catered to them. Like Jones, the pair first went vegan in 2015. “At the time, we had Füd and we had Café Gratitude,” says Woods. “The restaurant scene was like a desert. No one African-American was vegan that I knew, no one was talking about it. And when we went to Café Gratitude,
I didn’t even really understand the menu. I was like what is that? There was nothing I can even pronounce.” Woods says she understands the motives behind those menu choices now—but she still craved the comfort foods she’d enjoyed before she switched to a plant-based diet. She wanted mac and cheese. She wanted nachos. “The real deal,” echoes Pernell. “I was tired of leaving hungry.” The pair started making and selling jars of vegan queso at pop-ups and food festivals. Then they launched a successful food truck— Mattie’s Vegan Eats. This September, they updated the name to Mattie’s Foods and moved to a brick-and-mortar restaurant in east Brookside. The new menu features nachos, burritos, and brisket sandwiches. The restaurant’s motto is emblazoned in neat cursive on a bright mural wall: “Comfort food made smart.” Dropping “vegan” from the restaurant’s name was intentional. “Although we are vegan, I don’t feel like we embody the vegan ‘brand’ or the vegan message,” says Woods. “Sometimes [vegans] can be very cruel, especially to newcomers. Whatever your journey is, whatever your start is, I am celebrating you. And sometimes the vegan community doesn’t do a
lot of celebrating because we do a lot of condemning.” “We’re not all mean,” Pernell adds, and both she and her sister laugh. “Listen. We are not all mean.” Woods and Pernell aren’t alone in ditching the “vegan” label. The term has a history that doesn’t necessarily resonate with many Black diners. Although people around the world have been eating plant-based diets for centuries, it was white animal rights advocate Donald Watson who coined the word “vegan” and founded the Vegan Society in 1944. Because of that history, it’s easy to conflate veganism in general with animal rights activists in particular. But doing so collapses the diverse concerns of vegan eaters, who don’t fall neatly into one ideological bloc. Some people eat vegan for climate and sustainability reasons, others for weight loss or health or religion. None of the business owners I spoke to for this story referenced animal rights as their primary motive for going vegan. Although reliable survey data are scarce—and rarely capture details on race—anecdotal evidence suggests Black vegans are far more likely to cite health concerns as the main driver of their diet. Which invites the question: Why aren’t animal rights groups connecting with Black vegans in the same way? It may not help that some groups have coopted the rhetoric of anti-racist activism in clumsy ways—take the PETA-sponsored (and ultimately rejected) Super Bowl ad in which cartoon eagles and bears and mice take a somber Colin Kaepernick knee to a breathily hummed national anthem. Cries of “speciesism,” however well intentioned, can come off at best as tone-deaf—at worst, as blatantly dismissive of anti-Black racism and the ongoing struggle for human rights. And white-led animal rights organizations can’t seem to keep the tofu-egg off their face for long. But the most likely explanation is a simpler one: Black Americans just have bigger fysh to fry. Jones, Woods, and Pernell all started eating vegan due to health concerns. So did Kimberly Vincent, the owner and chef of Topknotch Vegan Vittles. Vincent was inspired to start selling her plant-based riffs on soul food—Southern-fried jackfruit bites, “chicken” wings, fried “fysh” sandwiches—in 2018 after her own success curing digestive issues
FOOD
Top: Kimberly Vincent’s vegan Hot Wings. Above: Kimberly Vincent, holding her vegan Chicken & Waffle.
with a vegan diet. “We have a lot of sick people,” Vincent says. “A lot of people are figuring out because we have a high rate of high blood pressure and diabetes, they can change the way that that runs in their family. Instead of being a statistic, they can change that.“ The statistics back her up. According to the CDC, Black Americans are far more likely
to have hypertension, asthma, diabetes, and heart disease than white Americans. They have a higher mortality rate for most cancers, and they’re likely to die at a younger age than their white counterparts from all causes. In the face of these disparate health outcomes, Black health-care consumers also receive disparate treatment. Several studies have documented that Black patients are less likely to receive major procedures and therapies even after controlling for insurance status, comorbidities, and the severity of their condition. They’re also systematically undertreated for pain. It’s no surprise that many are looking for answers outside of the traditional healthcare system. “They’re being a little more compassionate toward themselves and a little more aware now that we have control over what we put in our bodies,” says Pernell. “I think now it’s like ‘Oh, well let me just at least try it. Let me look into it.’” “Black health matters,” says Jones. “When we look at our health, you know, not only do we not receive the same information from a physician
the way that our [white] counterparts would, certain things, certain foods affect us more.” In that vein, Black-owned vegan restaurants have offered a community-based answer to a community health crisis. “In Black communities, there are as many dialysis centers as there are liquor stores,” says Woods. “There’s things that are not good for us being implanted in our areas. So let me use produce to make something better for my family. I think that’s why you’re seeing more vegan restaurants that are Black-owned popping up.” Although Vincent is operating Topknotch Vegan Vittles as a “ghost kitchen” for now—preparing meals for curbside pickup— she’s likely to be another major player in the restaurant space soon. COVID-19 has disrupted some of her plans, but she says opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant is her ultimate goal. “In my mind, I have to change the perception that people have of vegan food and show them, yes, it’s vegan, yes, it can be delicious, yes it can be good. Even though I serve soul food, I can say that it’s a healthy soul food. That’s how I feel that it can impact the Black community. That’s how it IS impacting the Black community, because it looks good, it tastes good, and they can relate to it.” The proliferation and success of vegan restaurants in Kansas City suggests that that perception is indeed changing. Vincent notes that a large portion of her clientele—she estimates 40 percent—don’t identify as vegan. At least, they don’t identify as vegan yet. Some of them are interested in making healthier choices but not ready to commit to eating plant-based full time. Others are just attracted to the food. Vincent posts frequent photos of Topknotch dishes on her Facebook and Instagram accounts to show customers that vegan food isn’t just “grass and twigs.” Woods and Pernell say they serve a lot of non-vegan customers at Mattie’s, too. And all of the entrepreneurs I spoke to say their customer base is diverse. It’s definitely not just white hippies. “I think that people are waking up,” says Jones. “I think things have shifted. I believe that the African American community is starting to wake up and Left: The know that it’s time for a Wild Burger change.” at Gigi’s Wellness Cafe. Above: Chef Gigi Jones.
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EAT
Eat This Now Peanut Macha Salsa from Taco Naco KC WORDS AND PHOTOS BY APRIL FLEMING
The salsa that is going to come in and upend your condiment and hot sauce rotations is less reliant on summer vegetables and more on the humble, wonderful peanut. This is salsa macha, and this Veracruzan specialty most often features chile de arbol peppers, roasted peanuts, garlic, olive oil, and sesame seeds. Thick and spicy, it typically is viewed less as sauce in need of a chip than one ideal for smothering roasted or grilled vegetables and meat. (Don’t let this stop you from putting it on whatever you want—it is good on anything it touches.) Chef Fernanda Reyes, Culinary Institute of Mexico-trained chef and co-owner of the surprising and wonderful Taco Naco KC pop-up in Overland Park, makes her Peanut Macha with roasted chile de arbol, peanut butter, tomato juice, garlic, and lime. It carries a respectable amount of wave-your-handsin-front-of-your-face heat, but not enough to obscure the nuttiness, citrusy bite, and saltiness of the sauce. It might feel too hot, but then you find yourself going in for more. And more. Taco Naco KC’s Peanut Macha is the condiment that makes all other peanut sauces wish they were less sweet and more bold. We have underestimated what you could be, peanut salsa, and we have atoned for our sins. Taco Naco KC’s salsas—there are several more excellent varieties in addition to the Peanut Macha—are available every Saturday at the Overland Park Farmer’s Market distance market, from about 8 a.m. to noon (the market will continue through the winter this year). Even better news: next year, Taco Naco KC plans to open a storefront and taqueria in downtown Overland Park.
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DRINK
Drink This Now The Exorcism on Main Street at Swordfish Tom’s WORDS AND PHOTOS BY APRIL FLEMING
It’s gonna be a weird holiday season, friends. But it’s not all bad news—delicious, wonderful things are still out there, waiting to be tasted. Jill Cockson and her team at Swordfish Tom’s have long provided Kansas City with well-balanced, smart cocktails, and they are here to help us through what may prove to be a rough season. For $20, you can pick up a bottle of batched cocktails from the bar’s Crossroads location, and each bottle contains about two and a half to three servings. These cocktails include the Four Roses Manhattan and the Exorcism on Main Street, a sweet, tart start to a good night featuring Bombay Sapphire East Gin, Green Chartreuse, violet liqueur, housemade hibiscus-cubeb pepper syrup, fresh lemon juice, and a deep magenta candied hibiscus flower garnish. Seasonal drinks are available as well, like the Brazilian Bombshell, with Cachaca rum, smoked pineapple syrup, Pasubio blueberry, and house-squeezed lime juice, or the Gold Digger, with Rye Whiskey, lemon juice, mustard seed and dill. It’s increasingly apparent that this may be the longest, most hunker down of winters—all the more reason for a high-quality drink. Or few. At home.
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21
MUSIC
A VERY MUSIC WEIRDO GIFT GUIDE, CHARLIE BROWN WHAT TO GET FOR THE (IMPOSSIBLE TO SHOP FOR) AUDIOPHILE BY NICK SPACEK
When it comes to holiday gift-giving, finding something for the music fan in your life can be a hassle and a headache. Rock ‘n’ roll obsessives and vinyl nerds are more than likely to have already purchased the album you overheard them speaking of, to say nothing of likely pre-ordering the record in a bundle with a t-shirt and exclusive colored vinyl LP. In that spirit, we’ve tracked down a variety of merch on offer from local musicians sure to be something new and unique, allowing you to go above and beyond just buying them said vinyl or t-shirt (although that’s worth doing, too, because goodness knows local musicians can use a financial hand these days).
While past creations such as the Dead End Diner were only around for a month or so, the Haunted Bathroom is here to stay. The radio within exclusively plays jingles for long-gone Lawrence businesses, but you can take the experience home with this cassette, featuring music from Jon Linn and Joe and Paul DeGeorge of Harry & the Potters. It’s creepy and catchy all at once. If that’s not your thing, the folks at Wonder Fair commissioned musician Jade Rose to create The Valley, a city pop-inspired collection of electronic music, which is available as a 12-inch vinyl LP.
is available digitally or on 12-inch black vinyl, but that’s so yesterday, you know? Why just listen to the music when you can get all the multitrack stem files so you can remix the album yourself? Or, if you’re not a DJ or producer, it comes housed in a USB drive shaped like a skeleton holding its own skull and includes a band sticker, as well. That’s pretty amazing on its own, to be honest.
Til Willis & Selvedge’s Small Guarantees zine ($6, tilwillis.bandcamp.com)
Anything from Freight Train Rabbit Killer ($5-250, freighttrainrabbitkillerband.com)
The masked doom blues duo of Kris Bruders (Freight Train) and Mark Smeltzer (Rabbit Killer) lends itself to merchandising by sheer visual force. Looking at the pair, one would assume that they have to have something with that iconic imagery, and you’d be right. There’s hot sauce, made by Zims, and featuring ingredients ranging from parmesan cheese to Israeli paprike. Additionally, there are death rattles, handmade by Smeltzer, a comic book, and limited edition prints. They also have t-shirts, hoodies, CDs, and a magnet, for those into the standard things.
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The idea of rootsy Lawrence musician Til Willis teaming up with Selvedge, the experimental noise project of Chance Dibben, seems like a way-out there concept, but it works. The pair’s sounds both have one foot in some quite sad and melancholic aspects, and when put together, the result is not unlike a 21st century Jandek album. Small Guarantees is the sound of searching for “meaning in anxious times,” as the pair puts it. The ‘zine gets you a download of the ninesong album, and features lyrics and digitally manipulated imagery to allow yourself to become fully immersed. Wonder Fair’s Sounds from the Haunted Bathroom ($6.66, wonderfairhomeshopping.com)
Lawrence art supply store and gallery Wonder Fair has been noted for their delightfully creative installations over the years.
Serene Fiend’s Give Fiend A Chance enamel pin ($8, serenefiend.bandcamp.com)
Una Walkenhorst buttons ($10, unawalkenhorst.com)
Lawrence musician Joel Bonner’s project, Serene Fiend, is known for its energetic live performances, with Bonner dressing to the nines to present his goth industrial dance tunes. Thus, it makes a ton of sense that Serene Fiend wouldn’t just offer up a download card for the 2018 EP, Give Fiend A Chance. The cover art for the two-song release is reproduced as an enamel pin with an appropriately sparkly purple background, allowing you to not only rep Serene Fiend, but look dapper while doing it.
These buttons from musician Una Walkenhorst contain multitudes. There’s “Una Walkenhorst made me cry,” featuring a rainstorm of tears, and a bunch of sad faces within some of said tears. There’s a drawing of Walkenhorst playing in front of a bunch of folks with bags on their heads. And, finally, there’s a simple, text-only badge which reads “You don’t wanna fuck with me” and a little heart at the bottom. Given the singer-songwriter’s fierce devotion to local causes and willingness to fight for that which she believes, it’s spot-on in terms of branding, and they’re all designed by the artists herself.
Y god Y Skeleton flash drive ($10, highdiverecords.bandcamp.com)
The Company’s “Choose Doom” t-shirt ($15, thecompanykc.com)
Y god Y’s self-titled 2019 EP on High Dive
Celebrate your love for doom metal and
MUSIC
Wham! with one simple shirt. Designed by Inner Altar’s Neal Dyrkacz, this simple shirt features a discrete Company logo in the lower right-hand corner, but other than that, it’s all about remixing the apparel famously sported by George Michael in the music video for “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.”
Sexy Accident unveiled their 2016 album, Champagne Babycakes, they made it into a playable card game, suitable for two to four players, where you earn points by playing songs and putting on events. It’s astonishingly creative, and if that wasn’t enough, when the Sexy Accident put out a remix album, Chamcakes Babypagne, they included three expansion cards for the game. An entire evening of entertainment, all contained within a card deck. Additionally, the band released 2014’s Lavender 3 as a 48-page hardcover book featuring lyrics, art, and photos, if you’re wanting to go classy.
The Traveller: A Hyborian Tale ($17, hyborianrock.bandcamp.com)
The frontman for Kansas City stoner rock trio Hyborian, Martin Bush, wasn’t just satisfied with making a second album about an interdimensional time traveller, so when the band’s Volume II released earlier this year on Season of Mist, it had a companion novel entitled The Traveller: A Hyborian Tale. The book is a 215 page science fiction story which goes even deeper into the mythos of the character around whom the band’s first two albums have been based. It’s one hell of a concept, taken to the nth degree. The Sexy Accident’s Champagne Babycakes card game ($20, sexyaccident.com)
The world’s first album released as a card game—from right here in KC. When the
Strange Music pendant ($1,499, strangemusicinc.net)
It stands to reason that the biggest name locally would also have the swankest, most decadent merch possible. There are six different jewelry options for sporting the logo for Tech N9ne’s label, Strange Music, with two options for rings, earrings, and pendants, but one stands out above them all. This pendant has a one and a half inch diameter, crafted in yellow gold, with 1.4 Carat Total Weight of diamonds. It’s pure insanity and absolutely the coolest thing we’ve ever seen. No one here would complain if we found it in The Pitch staff stocking. thepitchkc.com | December 2020 | THE PITCH
23
FILM
SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
AULD LANG CINE EMERGE FROM THE SLOG OF 2020 AND INTO THE PROMISE OF TOMORROW WITH THESE FILMS BY ABBY OLCESE
Getting rid of last year’s junk to make way for the promise of a new year (when everything, including you, will be better! Really!) is one of those perpetual cliches that never really takes. As with most things relating to 2020, however, this year is different. We don’t just want a fresh start, we desperately need one. The only appropriate way to end 2020 is to set fire to it and walk away like Angela Bassett torching her husband’s car in Waiting to Exhale. In 2021, we have the opportunity to make some things right (or at least not worse). Whether you’re ringing in the New Year at home alone to avoid COVID-19, or you’re nursing a hangover on the couch come January 1 (or, honestly, both), you’ll want to ring in the new year with movies that get you ready to throw out the crap in your life and embrace the future. Consider this list of options, organized by mood-defining inspirational quotes, your cinematic smudge stick to expel the bad spirits of 2020. Let’s go!
“Leave them at the bottom of the grave they dug for you” ––JORDAN SHIVELEY The Cabin in the Woods
If you’re looking for a “burn it all down” movie, it’s hard to do better than this 2011 Drew Goddard movie. It’s both the ultimate skewering of formulaic horror tropes and a fantastic analogy for how it feels to live in a rigged system. Goddard’s film, co-written with Joss
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Whedon, follows a group of college students (Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams and a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth) as they head to a secluded lake for a weekend of fun and friskiness. Of course, all is not as it seems, not only because of the terrifying zombie redneck torture family that attacks the nubile coeds, but also in the sense of who’s actually pulling the strings behind the scenes. We’ve all felt jerked around this year by coronavirus, politicians, law enforcement, the economy, you name it. It’s easy to feel
like unwilling cogs in a machine designed to crush the human spirit. The Cabin in the Woods reminds us that determined people, in the face of overwhelming, even supernatural odds, can take on the system and win-not just win, but dismantle the whole stupid, unjust mechanism and start over. Ready or Not
The final image of Ready or Not feels like 2020 in a nutshell: Samara Weaving’s Grace sits on the steps of a burning mansion, wearing a wedding dress and high-top sneakers plastered with blood, smoking a cigarette. Grace has been through absolute hell in the last 24 hours, marrying the man she thought was the love of her life, son of a mega-rich family of board game magnates, only to find out family tradition dictates that she survive their homicidal game of hide-and-seek. Like The Cabin in the Woods, Ready or Not is a burn-it-all-down survival movie with a heroine you desperately want to see succeed. This year, we’ve all had to fight for survival at the hands of entitled folks desperately trying to hold on to privileges they believe are theirs by birthright. If you’ve had just about enough of that (and let’s be real, you totally have), Ready or Not is the catharsis you need. In 2020, we are all Grace. That burning mansion? It’s the white heteronormative patriarchy. Get at it.
The Shawshank Redemption
“Andy crawled to freedom through 500 yards of shit-smelling foulness I can’t even imagine.” Morgan Freeman’s Red is describing the prison escape of Tim Robbins’s Andy Dufresne here, but it feels like he could be speaking about any of us. If you identified with the shell-shocked appearance of Grace at the end of Ready or Not, you’ll definitely relate to Andy taking a cleansing shower in the rain after crawling through a filthy sewer, and enduring all that after 20 years of wrongful imprisonment. You’ve probably seen The Shawshank Redemption at some point in your life, but if you haven’t checked it out in a while, there’s no time like the present. Given the hell of the last four years, it’s an extremely rewarding experience. For extra credit, watch it while working on your own homemade version of Warden Norton’s “His judgment cometh, and that right soon” needlepoint.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”––GANDHI Paddington & Paddington 2
Maybe you’re feeling less vengeful and more celebratory, living for the hope of a public discourse defined by actual civility and kindness. If that’s your vibe, Paddington and
FILM
Paddington 2 will make an inspiring, heartwarming double-feature. Join the clumsy-but-sweet refugee bear Paddington and his adoptive Brown family as they discover the value of being open-minded and loving. Witness as Paddington makes a measurable impact on the happiness of his neighbors, and improves the prison system through selfless consideration and an occasionally-employed Hard Stare. Have a cleansing sob as Paddington finally understands the extent of his influence on the people around him. Listen when Paddington says “If we are kind and polite, the world will be right.” Make it your mantra for the next year, and see what happens. Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods is a perky, irrepressible agent of positivity and change, and she makes this movie a delightfully upbeat call to sweep out the cobwebs of the past year and make way for possibility. In her journey to get admitted to and graduate from Harvard Law, Elle defies others’ expectations of her, applying her natural charm and ingenuity to get the most out of the knowledge she already has. She’s also a team player, using her skills to help friends in need. That’s the kind of energy we all should bring with us into 2021. Be your authentic self, and use that identity to help build others up.
“Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds.” ––RAY BRADBURY, FAHRENHEIT 451 Sing Street
It’s hard to be enthusiastic about life right now, but John Carney’s 2016 movie Sing Street might help give you the kick in the pants you need to make 2021 a year of promise and new beginnings. Carney’s film about misfit Dublin teens starting a band in the 80s is full of creativity, charm, and life-affirming sentiment, not to mention some banger tunes. It’s got the wide-eyed optimism of youth, backed up by its characters’ determination to go out and make their dreams happen. If Paddington’s “kind and polite” isn’t the approach to life you’re looking for, maybe Sing Street’s teen rocker declaration of “drive it like you stole it” can be instead. The Personal History of David Copperfield
Maybe your year—or your life—contains more fluctuations of fortune than most. When things get difficult, we can either get despondent, or get creative. The Personal History of David Copperfield argues for creativity as resilience. Armando Iannucci’s adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens novel gives us a hero who uses his experiences and the people around him to help him vibrantly
tell his own story. Every experience, good or bad, contains worthy characters and valuable life lessons. 2021 is likely to contain difficulties of its own, but The Personal History of David Copperfield’s worldview can help you meet those challenges head-on.
“There is only one thing on this earth more powerful than evil, and it’s us” ––BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Pacific Rim
Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim is first and foremost a love letter to Japanese anime and kaiju movies. However, it’s also a movie about teamwork. Nobody in Pacific Rim beats the movie’s giant aquatic monsters on their own. It’s all about finding the people you grok with the most, and using that connection to beat down the baddies. If the end of this year has you amped to start the next one hunting down systemic or personal leviathan, then it’s time to hop in your jaeger and grab a drift-compatible buddy. To paraphrase Idris Elba’s Stacker Pentecost, today you’re canceling the apocalypse. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Even though we’ve spent most of this year in isolation, 2020 has felt like it cemented the importance of community and relationships in our lives. Our friends, mentors, and family help us remember who we are, and act according to our values, even when the world is falling apart. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is inspiring in a lot of ways, but its depiction of how Miles Morales learns how to become a hero with help from alternate-dimension Spider-folk is perhaps its most affecting aspect. Doing the right thing is a lot easier when we know we aren’t doing it alone. Birds of Prey
Similarly to Into the Spider-Verse, Cathy Yan’s gonzo Birds of Prey highlights goals accomplished through teamwork. Given the state of women’s rights recently, it’s also an empowering portrait of female friendship that feels authentic to how female friendships actually work. After her troubling but memorable introduction in Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn gets to re-invent herself with a better wardrobe, independent lifestyle, and a backup crew of awesome women. When Harley helpfully offers Jurnee Smollett’s Dinah Lance a hair tie mid-bad guy battle? That’s sisterhood right there. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s the importance of having a support system that’s got your back. If you’re feeling social, plan a digital watch party with your squad and go into the new year with your head (and middle fingers) raised high. thepitchkc.com | December 2020 | THE PITCH
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KC CARES
KC CARES JACKSON COUNTY CASA IS A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS BY BROOKE TIPPIN
In 1977, Seattle Superior Court Judge David Soukup was faced with making decisions on the behalf of abused and neglected children with only the information provided by the state Child Protective Services. He grew frustrated with making decisions about a child’s welfare without enough family background. Soukup formulated the idea that volunteers could be dedicated to a case and speak for children’s best interests. Fifty volunteers responded to his idea, which started the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program. CASA uses trained community volunteers to speak for abused and neglected children’s best interests in court, so judges have all the facts to make the best decision for the long-term welfare of each child. Jackson County CASA’s mission is to be a child’s voice in Court. They ensure that child involved with the Jackson County Family Court due to abuse or neglect will end up in a safe and permanent home. The children they serve receive more health and behavioral services, are more likely to be adopted and are 50 percent less likely to re-enter the foster-care system. Most importantly, 95 percent of Jackson County CASA children do not suffer additional abuse or neglect after their case is closed–and since 2000, less than one percent of Jackson County CASA children have re-entered the Jackson County court system. The pandemic has hit the children and families they serve especially hard. During the shutdown, in-person visits stopped, and CASA Volunteers maintained contact with their CASA children through phone calls and video conferences. Some CASA Volunteers had visits with their children from the sidewalk as their children played on their grandmother’s porch. Some CASA Volunteers delivered groceries and staple food items for caregivers who could not get to the store. They have been working to address the needs of children’s caregivers, some of whom have lost jobs during the pandemic, and some who are in danger of losing housing. CASA’s Older Youth who are living independently are particularly at risk during the pandemic because many work in food service and their employers have either closed or laid off staff. Two of their teens aged out foster care during COVID, and so
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THE PITCH | December 2020 | thepitchkc.com
COURTESY OF JACKSON COUNTY CASA
they lost the support of the state. At same time, they lost their food service industry jobs due to the shutdown during the pandemic. Fortunately, CASA’s Older Youth program allows them to continue to provide a CASA Volunteer and assistance as long as they still want CASA’s help, up until age 26. They are currently helping both of these individuals pay their utilities to keep them from becoming homeless. Six CASA Staff Attorneys and 11 CASA Case Supervisors work with over 300 CASA Volunteers to advocate for over 1,100 children in Jackson County this year. Their Volunteers visit the children in their placement at least once a month, and determine what medical, educational, or therapeutic interventions they might need to recover from the trauma they have experienced. The CASA Volunteer becomes the trusted adult who remains a constant in a child’s life for as long as they are in care, no matter how many different placements or caseworkers they may have. The goal for each child is to secure a safe and permanent home for them, with family when it is safe to do so. On average, children with a CASA Volunteer spend less time in foster care (around 18 months), are moved from placement to placement less often than children without a CASA Volunteer, and are less likely to suffer additional abuse during their time in care. With the holidays coming up, they are working to collect holiday gifts for approximately 400 children who are placed with extended family. You can help make the holidays brighter this year for a child who has experience neglect or abuse. You can donate at jacksoncountycasa-mo.org or send a check marked “Holiday Gift Drive” to Jackson County CASA, 2544 Holmes, Kansas City, MO 64108. If you would like to purchase gifts, please email LMartin@jacksoncountycasa-mo.org for a list of most needed items.
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KC HEROES
HOMETOWN HEROES HONORING CAROL COE FOR INSPIRING US TO BE A LITTLE MORE FEARLESS, AND TO OCCASIONALLY BREAK INTO AN AQUARIUM BY MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS
The weekend before the 2019 mayoral election, former Councilwoman Carol Coe and I broke into East High School. Earlier in the week, she insisted on taking me on her personal tour of the Third District, an area we had each proudly represented in the Kansas City Council, albeit in different centuries. So, on that morning, we began the tour with a stop at McDonalds—of course— where Carol ordered a “Big Mac Sack Pack,” as she likes to call it. I drove us around while, from the passenger seat, she pointed out the last name of the people who lived in this home, the best spaghetti at that restaurant, and the speech she gave on this street during that event— all with her own touch and story attached.
where Carol insisted we stop. She wanted to show me the aquaponics system she told me she’d secured for the school. Of course, since it was a Saturday in June, the school was deserted and most definitely closed to the public—but not to Carol. We snuck through the back gate and into the greenhouse outside the main building. Inside the aquaponics system Carol had just gushed about, instead of a wonderful world full of sea life, we found a tank of dead fish. While Carol was disappointed, she also laughed it off. This is one story of many that exemplifies Councilwoman Carol Coe’s fiery passion for her constituents and community. While that passion often poured out in different ways, like breaking into a high school to
Outspoken former State Representative and Councilwoman Carol Coe in 2017.
Council in honoring Carol with the Charles Hazley Fearless Leader Award. Because that’s what she is—a fearless leader. As a political activist, a lawyer, a city councilmember, and a mother, Carol never fails to do what is right and make sure everyone around her
“SHE IS A FEROCIOUS DEFENDER OF THOSE WHO ARE OFTEN OVERLOOKED OR UNDERREPRESENTED IN OUR COMMUNITY. A TIME OR TWO, I HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN ON THE RECEIVING END OF HER FIERCE OFFENSES. AND I’M BETTER FOR IT.” I had represented these neighborhoods for the past four years, and spent much more of my life living in them, and I thought I knew them and the people in them better than anyone. I was wrong. Carol Coe saw my hand of four years and raised it with a lifetime. The tour took us by East High School,
check on some fish, it’s a passion that still shines bright. She is a ferocious defender of those who are often overlooked or underrepresented in our community. A time or two, I have actually been on the receiving end of her fierce offenses. And I’m better for it. In 2015, I was proud to join the City
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does it, too. At the same time, she doesn’t care much for rules that hold our own people back. She instead makes her own. Carol grew up on the east side of Kansas City and has dedicated her life to advocating and fighting for her community. She understands that just because someone
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doesn’t understand the complex intricacies of government and politics, it doesn’t mean they don’t care about how those entities affect their lives. She’s reminded me on several occasions that just because someone doesn’t attend a City Council meeting, it doesn’t mean they won’t be upset when their trash isn’t picked up. Carol knows that while the big things might make a difference, it is the little things that really matter. She is not impressed by power or prestige—I was a firsthand witness to her making U.S. senators squirm. Twice! Her politics is a type we see less and less of these days. The politics that cares about its people. She doesn’t care about status quo or what is “socially acceptable”. She stands up to power, has snuck into a high school to check on some fish, and she’s never stopped fighting for her people. Carol Coe, I appreciate you. [Editor’s Note: the City Council just unanimously passed a resolution naming a bridge after Councilwoman Coe.]
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SAVAGE LOVE
SAVAGE LOVE LOOKING FOR A KINKERELLA AND ADDING UP THE NUMBERS TO A HUNDREDSOME BY DAN SAVAGE
Dear Dan: I’ve always been excited by BDSM, but I’ve only minimally explored this side of myself until very recently. I’m a straight woman, and it was difficult to find men who wanted more monogamish relationships on the traditional apps and a challenge to be honest about what I am looking for where kink is concerned. I’d often get through a month or so of seeing someone before finding out they wanted a completely monogamous relationship and that they were very vanilla in the bedroom to boot. I was tired of wasting my time and needed to find a partner who wanted to enjoy a kinky relationship, so I moved from traditional dating apps like Bumble and Hinge and to apps like #Open, Fetlife, and KinkD. While I’ve had a few amazing conversations and meet ups, they’ve primarily been with men in open relationships, couples, or guys *only* looking to hookup. And it seems most people on kinky apps want to only talk about sex. While I do feel drawn to this lifestyle, I am also looking for a partner. I want someone to spend my life with who can also enjoy the kink community with me. How can I find a guy that wants a life partner *and* a fun and kinky sex life? Seeks Partner And Needs Kink P.S. One more question: I’m currently enjoying casual sex with a male partner who only buys magnum-size condoms but who does *not* need magnum-size condoms. It’s like fucking a half-empty grocery store bag. How do I tell him regular condoms would be soooooo much better without making him feel bad? Dear SPANK: Whether you’re on kinky dating apps or mainstream dating apps or both, SPANK, you’re gonna have a lot of interactions with a lot of guys who aren’t right for you before you find the guy (or guys) who are right for you. And since there are plenty of kinky people on mainstream dating apps—you were one of them—you should be on both. Of the happily partnered kinky people I know, SPANK, half met their partners in “traditional” spaces (bars, workplaces, mainstream dating apps) while the other half met their partners in kinky spaces (munches, fetish parties, kinky dating apps). And while no one should be meeting anyone in a bar or at parties right now—there’s a pandemic on—the more places you advertise online, the likelier you are to line up a compatible partner for when this is all over. And you shouldn’t be surprised—or put off—when someone you meet on KinkD wants
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THE PITCH | December 2020 | thepitchkc.com
to talk about their kinks. When you meet someone via a dating app that brings people together around a shared interest, it’s only natural that your initial conversations revolve around that shared interest. If you were posting ads on Farmers Only or Christian Cafe, your first chats would very likely revolve around, I don’t know, the price of corn or the exact moment you sold your soul to Donald Trump. Whichever kind of app you meet a guy on, you’re going to have to do the same two things—the same work, the same vetting, the same screw diligence—just in a different order. When you meet a guy on Bumble, SPANK, you establish baseline emotional compatibility first and then eventually you have a conversation about sex. With guys you meet on KinkD, you establish baseline sexual compatibility first— by talking about your mutual sexual interests—and eventually get around to determining whether you’re emotionally compatible. And, again, since you could meet someone with whom you are emotionally *and* sexually compatible on either kind of dating site—mainstream or kinky—you should keep your ads up on both. P.S. Loose condoms come off and loose condoms leak, SPANK, so a guy who uses XXL condoms on a medium dick puts you at greater risk of contracting an STI or having an unplanned pregnancy. And for what? To impress the checkout clerk at CVS? Don’t worry about making him feel bad. Tell him he gets condoms that fit or he finds someone else to fuck. Dear Dan: I’ve lived with my girlfriend for over a year now until about a month ago when she moved to the East Coast, so now we’re in a long-distance relationship. I supported her move because she’s following her dream career, and we decided to stay together since communication nowadays is pretty easy. But every time I try to text or call, she responds that she’s too busy or exhausted. I could understand if this was once in a while, but it’s literally all the time. This has put a strain on our communication. I became irrational with these red flags, and I looked up her address and a guy’s name popped up including his phone number. Then I did perhaps the most irrational thing ever and looked up our phone bill and his number is everywhere on her section of the bill. I asked her who this dude is, and she states he’s her landlord and employer. That’s not a red flag, but him calling at 1 a.m. when I was working nightshifts before she moved is. I confronted her, and she became defensive and turned everything back on me. She called me crazy and hurled more than one “fuck you” at me and threatened to call the cops on me. I’ve admitted to my wrongdoing in violating her privacy, and I’ve repeatedly asked her to talk about it, but it always turns into a fight. We’ve been together two years, and I’ve never met any of her friends or her 20-year-old son. What do you think? I’m Getting Nothing Outta Relationship Except Drama
Dear IGNORED: I think there’s only so much time you should waste on a person who doesn’t have time for you—to say nothing of a person who isn’t particularly kind to you and, after two years, hasn’t integrated you into her life in a meaningful way. I also think you need to ask yourself what’s more likely, IGNORED: Your girlfriend—who can’t take your calls now but could take that guy’s in the middle of the night when you two were living together—is living with and working with a guy she knew before moving away or that your girlfriend is living with and working with and fucking with a guy she moved across the country to be with? I think the latter is far more likely. But even if she’s not fucking him—even if she isn’t holding on to you as a backup or doesn’t want to end things because you pay her phone bill— she doesn’t make time for you, and it doesn’t sound like she’s particularly kind to when she can spare you a moment. I don’t know why she hasn’t done the right thing and ended it, IGNORED, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do the right thing for yourself and end it. ear Dan: I expect many of your astute readers D will have written to you about this, but here goes anyway: You described the wannafuckmath when arranging a foursome as far more complicated than the wannafuckmath when arranging a threesome. But the wannafuckmath isn’t actually very complicated. For any n-some, the Wannafuck number = n • (n-1). So for the humble twosome, it’s 2 • 1. Two! Just what you’d expect. For a threesome, it’s 6. For a foursome, it’s 12. So a foursome is wannafuckmathematically six times more complicated than a twosome but only twice as complicated as a threesome. Even the rarely seen hundredsome only has a wannafuck number of 9900: large, perhaps unachievable, but not infinite. Math Is Sexy Today and Yesterday Dear MISTAY: I was once in a room where at least a hundred people were having sex— in Berlin, naturally—so I have seen the elusive hundredsome with my own eyes. Or the hundred-and-then-some, I should say. (And to be clear: I was a witness, not a participant.) But unlike a threesome or a foursome, a hundredsome isn’t an arranged-in-advance/ by-invitation-only affair. It’s more of a booka-large-enough-space-and-advertise-it-extensively-and-they-will-come affair. So paradoxically, hosting a by-invitation-only threesome or foursome—or even a by-invitation-only tensome—where you establish in advance that everyone is attracted to each other may be more difficult to pull off than hosting a Berlin hundredsome. Question for Dan? Email him at mail@savagelove. net. On Twitter at @fakedansavage.
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