KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It was while flipping through one of the saddest chapters of her life that Cori Smith decided to rewrite her own story.
"Cody was friends with everybody and anybody," Cori said, as she remembered her sibling.
She lost her brother in a crash in March of 2019 when he was only 29 years old.
"Of the two of us, he was the creative one," Smith said.
She keeps his memory alive every time she opens the doors of her book store, BLK + BRWN.
"I'm showing up and offering this as a safe space," Smith said. "I feel like that’s what Cody always represented to me."
She wants her bookstore to provide others the same sense of safety she once found in her brother.
"We just need spaces where we don't have to code-switch, where we don’t have to walk in assuming that we are the 'other,'" Smith said. "My mission is always going to be to protect our stories and honor them as art."
Her book store includes stories written by Black and Brown authors — including local ones.
"If we can’t amplify the voices we have here, we'll never actually be able to push them to the New York Times, right? That’s the power of the people," she said.
While working on her shelves, Smith is also working on herself.
"I don't think my job is just getting to the table — my job is always going to be opening the door, helping build some tables, helping build some chairs, and making sure that we can continuously take up space," Smith said.
A space she is not afraid to claim and provide.
According to her, everything about BLK + BRWN is for Black, Brown and Indigenous people "first and foremost."
"If I make you uncomfortable, then it probably wasn’t for you," she said. "But are you welcome to be here? Absolutely."
With doors opened, Smith is drafting the next chapter of safe spaces in Kansas City.
"My big dream is a community center," she said. "I want a space where kids can come and feel safe and not, you know, have to be on the street."
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KSHB 41 reporter Fe Silva covers education stories involving K-12. Share your story idea with Fe.