KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Bobby Adams sings Quincy Jones’ “Everything Must Change,” the lyrics hit close to home.
On the surface, the change he’s seen to his neighborhood has been negative.
“We have vandalism at the museum, at the old Quindaro cemetery, different things of that nature, and that puts a blight on us,” Adams said.
KSHB 41 first met Adams last year when he and fellow community workers were raising money and awareness to renovate Old Quindaro House, which housed the Old Quindaro Museum of artifacts and stories of enslaved and free people in Wyandotte County.
Adams said even after a benefit concert in 2023, they haven’t gotten the financial support necessary to make the changes they need to fully renovate the property.
“It's very, very hard to do when you don't have funding,” Adams said.
Luther Smith knows that tune all too well.
“If they could just give us say, you know, $300,000 you know, something like that, that'd be all we really need to get this building brand new again,” Smith said.
Smith has been running the neighborhood’s Underground Railroad Museum since 2008.
It’s housed in the Vernon School, which educated Black children in the early 20th century.
“I really want to see this building come back to life again, and I want to see Quindaro come back to life again,” Smith said.
He’s doing his part every time he comes to work.
The museum was reduced to appointment-only tours during COVID when we first met Smith, but now, it’s open to the public during the building’s normal business hours.
“The big goal I want for Quindaro is, I would like to see it be a national park,” Smith said.
Smith said they’re close to making that happen, but that it’ll take help from congressmen.
It’s a goal he’s working toward year-round, but this Juneteenth, he took time to reflect on the universal idea of freedom.
“People were just trying to exist, I guess,” Smith said.
Years and years of trying is documented in this museum, but Smith and Adams say it’s the present day that also needs attention.
“All we’re asking is just to help us preserve American history,” Adams said.” It’s not Black history, cause when you do that, you separate the individuals. We are Americans just like everyone else.”
They’re learning to embrace change — both positive and negative — to reach their goals.
“I knew it was going to be this hard simply because for 400 years, people of color have had to deal with all types of adversity,” Adams said. “Until we understand how those people sacrificed and did what they did for us, we're destined to make the same mistakes.”
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