Police brutality shocked Kansas City’s Black community in 1941. Community members took action.

By: Margie Carr

Outlets: Kansas Reflector

Published: February 7, 2026

Words: 988

Last Updated: 3 weeks ago

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Recent accounts of a brutal law enforcement presence descending on a city recalled an earlier moment in Kansas City’s history, when Black civic leaders successfully forced the removal of the city’s police chief.

I wrote about the removal of Chief Lear Reed in “Kansas City’s Montgall Avenue: Black Leaders and the Street They Called Home” from the University Press of Kansas. That episode underscores how a determined and unified community was able to achieve …

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