Two Kids And A Job: Former Foster Youth Struggles To Fit In Education

Kierra Kinton portrait

Kierra Kinton began living with her grandmother at the age of 3. When Kinton was about 13, her grandmother decided she couldn’t manage the teen any longer, and Kinton began her path through Missouri institutions. Her grandmother sought help through a handful of behavioral health organizations, including Crittenton Children’s Center and Synergy Services, both of…

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Sympathetic Vibrations | Setting the Record Straight

a female rocker on the scales of justice

For many musicians, writing and performing music for the public is a privilege. And though artists rights typically don’t factor into the general perception of being a kick-ass rocker, that doesn’t mean those rights should be ignored. But safeguarding those rights can often be more difficult for female artists. In my time as a practicing…

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Chef Lidia Bastianich’s New Autobiography Recalls Life as a Refugee

Lidia Bastianich’s Grandpa Giovanni and Nonna Rosa

As migrant children were recently being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, Lidia Bastianich’s own refugee story has an eerily familiar ring. The accomplished Italian chef and restaurateur takes a break from award-winning cookbooks to unpack her own immigrant story in the just-released “My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family, and Food.”…

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To Diversify The Landscape, Diversify Who Works It

Two women standing on a college campus.

Farmers in the U.S. like to point out that their products feed people all over the world. And while this is a diverse country, the people working on farms and elsewhere in agriculture often don’t reflect the nation’s demographics. Changing that is becoming a priority, in hopes new people will bring fresh ideas to meet…

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