Earlier this year, Kelly Frickleton was selected to be a member of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Leadership Academy. During the program, participants met with leaders from many corners of Kansas City to learn critical skills needed to become a leader in both the legal field and the greater community. One way they worked on these skills was by developing a CLE program. Six groups worked to organize presentations on a topic of their choosing. Kelly and her group members created a program titled “An Exploration of Segregation in Kansas City.” The program was based on research Kelly has been doing for the past two years and was selected by their peers to be presented to the group in October 2018.
To begin the program, Kelly presented to the group a timeline detailing the historic context of racial segregation in Kansas City with a focus on housing discrimination and school segregation. Following the presentation, Judge Jalilah Otto led a discussion with esteemed panelists Janna Cooper, Quinton Lucas, John Kurtz, and Alvin Brooks to explore ways to better understand this history and how to move forward toward racial equity.
“I have been researching this topic for so long, and it was such a joy to share my work with this group and hear from the fabulous panelists about their experiences and on how these issues still affect the city today,” Kelly said after the presentation.
