This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, May 1, 2013 - For the Beacon's fifth birthday, we've asked people to share five favorite things from over the years.
- Early on, the monthly Beacon and Eggs gatherings took Beacon staffers to such places as Old North St. Louis and Cherokee Street. From Collinsville to St. Charles on the outer edges of the metro StL, and to Maplewood, University City and Ferguson, in between. Each session offered great learning opportunities for all: introducing the Beacon to new audiences, and hearing about new developments or concerns from the people at each locale.
- In St. Louis, race affects politics, the economy, personal relationships, education — virtually every important aspect of community life. Yet it’s difficult to talk honestly and productively about race. In Race, Frankly, the Beacon explored in depth and with fresh eyes how race affects us all.
- Beacon Festivals have offered exciting adventures of many sorts. Picnics, dinners, lectures, gospel music and lunch music, tours, readings, acrobatics, vaudeville, dancing dogs, Lamella roofs and Victorian funerary art, a party with the composer and the stars of a new opera, and a trip back 160 years for a re-examination of the Dred Scott Case, presented at the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis.
- The Kirkwood's Journey series focused on efforts by residents of the St. Louis County community of Kirkwood, as they worked to understand how race affects their city and what role it might have played in the City Hall shootings in 2008 that left six people, including the shooter, dead.
- The Public Insight Network is all about listening to regular, everyday people from throughout the StL. The network relies on people who are willing to share personal observations, insight, experiences and expertise. As the PIN analyst for the Beacon, I love getting to know the amazing people in our community who can help the Beacon tell better stories.
