Diverse Kansas City Book Club Hopes To Defund And/Or Abolish Police

The so-called "Silicon Prairie" startup scene shares coverage beyond the scope of most tech nerds this week.

Here's a glimpse at an online bookseller hoping to bring down "the man" by way of digital bull session.

Take a peek . . .

Their community book chat comes at a crucial time with seasonal gun violence on the rise, noted Cori Smith, the owner of BLK + BRWN.

“We’ve seen how gun violence is a constant uptick in the summertime,” Smith said. “Talking about [gun violence] needs to lead into a bigger conversation around defunding the police or having proper policing of communities. So Derecka’s book doesn’t just challenge what abolitionism is, but is also tells us on a large scale about how defunding the police really factors into all these other caveats of our life.”

Kansas City is currently in the process of searching for a new police chief, Jahna Riley, the founder of Aya Coffee + Books, added — noting that Kansas City does not have local control over the police department. Rather, the department falls under the jurisdiction of the state of Missouri.

“All of that lends itself to this conversation of, ‘what does it look like to support all of the other systems that impact what our police have been like?’” Riley said.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Why this UMKC alumna says police abolition could reduce gun violence in KC

Two of Kansas City's newest Black-, woman-owned bookshops are teaming up to host Derecka Purnell - human rights lawyer, author and University of Missouri-Kansas City alumna - for a community discussion on police abolition and eliminating harm. Aya Coffee + Books and are presenting "Community Book Chat with Derecka Purnell" 6:30 p.m.