KC filmmakers to debut documentary on historic 12th Street
For decades Kansas City's historic 12th street area was a thriving Black community
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Updated: 10:19 PM CST Feb 19, 2021
By Jackson Kurtz
For decades Kansas City's historic 12th street area was a thriving Black community
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Updated: 10:19 PM CST Feb 19, 2021
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BLACK HISTORY IN KANSAS CITY HAS LONG BEEN UNTOLD. NEW TONIGHT, KMBC 9’S JACKSON KURTZ TELLS US TWO K.C. FILMMAKERS HIGHLIGHT THAT HISTORY IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY ABOUT A ONCE BOOMING BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD. >> IN ITS HAYDAY, IT WAS THE EPICENTER OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY. JACKSON: FOR DECADES, KANSAS CITY’S HISTORIC 12TH STREET AREA WAS A THRIVING BLACK COMMUNITY. >> WE HAD OUR OWN STORES WE HAD OUR OWN ENTREPRENEURS. WE HAD OUR OWN EVERYTHING, CLUBS, STORES. JACKSON: IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY CALLED "I REMEMBER 12TH STREET," K.C. FILMMAKERS RODNEY THOMPSON AND STINSON MCCLENDON ARE CHRONICLING THE AREA’S HISTORY, TELLING STORIES OF THE PEOPLE WHO ONCE LIVED THERE. >> WHAT WE WANTED TO DO WAS TELL STORIES THAT WERE NOT BEING TOLD BY MAINSTREAM FILM. WE INTERVIEWED SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO WEREN’T STARS, THAT WHO JUST LIVED THERE JACKSON: MCCLDENDON SAYS THE AREA ROUGHLY WENT FROM TROOST TO PROSPECT AVENUES, BUT WELCOMED STARS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. >> COUNT BASIE, ELLA FITZGERALD, THEY COULDN’T STAY DOWNTOWN. SO THEY WOULD STAY DOWNTOWN IN HOTELS ON 12TH STREET. JACKSON: AFTER DESEGREGATION, MANY PEOPLE LEFT THE 12TH AREA, GOING SOUTH. BUT THE FILMMAKERS HOPE THE NEIGBORHOOD’S STORY INSPIRES OTHERS >> THIS FILM IS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS OF KANSAS CITIANS, BOTH BLACK AND WHITE. MAYBE THERE WILL BE ANOTHER 12TH STREET. JACKSON: IN KANSAS CITY, JACKSON KURTZ, KMBC 9 NEWS. HAYLEY: "I REMEMBER 12TH STREET" WILL HAVE A SCREENING FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26 AT 6:30 P.M., FOLLOWED BY A VIRTUAL Q&A AT THE BLACK ARCHIVES OF MID-AM