\nIn honor of Black History Month\, Kansas City PBS has announced the premiere of Preserving Our Past: Kansas City Stories of Black History\, a new special from Emmy-winning producer Catherine Hoffman. Featuring a selection of local stories of Black excellence\, sacrifice and perseverance\, Preserving Our Past premieres Thursday\, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. on Channel 19.1.
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\n&ldquo\;Preserving Our Past pays tribute to Kansas City&rsquo\;s Black community and its vibrant history that includes triumphs as well as trauma\, &rdquo\; Kliff Kuehl\, President and CEO of Kansas City PBS\, said. &ldquo\;Every month\, but especially during Black History Month\, it&rsquo\;s imperative we wrestle with where we&rsquo\;ve come from as a country - and how much further we have to go. I am enormously proud of Catherine and her work on bringing these often underrepresented stories to our audience.&rdquo\; In Preserving Our Past\, Hoffman uncovers the racial divide of midwifery\, revisits the 1882 lynching of Levi Harrington in Kansas City\, recounts the legacy of two women from Merriam\, Kansas\, who worked to integrate South Park Elementary\, explores the role and influence of the Black church\, and speaks with organizers of a local project focused on a systematic review of World War I veterans who were denied a Medal of Honor because of their race or religion. &ldquo\;By stitching together these stories for broadcast\, we&rsquo\;re creating a narrative and adding larger context to the originally published reports\,&rdquo\; Hoffman said.