Before I moved to Kansas City almost 56 years ago, I had been here only once — for a brief visit to the Kansas City Press Club when I was attending the University of Missouri School of Journalism. But because of that visit and the fact that I grew up in the Midwest (Woodstock, Illinois, northw est of Chicago) and had lived in both upstate New York and India, I was confident I could adapt well to whatever K.C. had to offer. What I found here in 1970 was a city with a checkered racial history (I moved here the same summer that Black political leader Leon Jordan was murdered), but a community that with some frequency showed what locals called the Kansas City Spirit. At its best, that spirit represented an openness to useful change, a desire to make sure everyone had a chance to dream and succeed, a core friendliness and penchant for fun that drove people to barbecue and jazz joints, to sharing tail-gated meals in parking lots before sporting events and an approach to religion that often was welcoming and made people willing to learn from people of different traditions. I’ve been thinking about all of that — both successes and failures — as some World Cup soccer games are about to take place here. And so has Jeremy Bell. He’s an artist, a federal employee and a military veteran who has lived in several places around the country. After his visiting mother recently convinced him that having World Cup games here will make Kansas City “the next big thing,” Bell decided to create a painting to reflect that idea. Local artist Jeremy Bell created “Heartland Rising: Golden Goal 2026″ to mark Kansas City’s role as a World Cup host city. (Mike Sherry | Flatland) He calls it “Heartland Rising: Golden Goal 2026,” and he hopes it will help area residents get ready to move into our community’s expanding future with confidence and joy. You can find Bell’s new artwork — it’s an aerosol and acrylic painting on canvas — on display now at the IKEA store in Merriam and a half-size model of it at Union Station. The painting is, Bell says, “a kind of statement piece to mark the time that the city is in. This is kind of like a new birthing moment.” He calls it “a cultural market moment.” He added, “For me, this speaks about the spirit of the city and how to move forward. We’ve talked about some of the past wrongs. How do we see those, rectify them and move forward? There will be missteps as we do this collectively. But the strength of the city and of the people is how we then address those wrongs in love and community and how we overcome those things.” I agree. If we grasp the opportunity of being a host for World Cup games, we can make Kansas City an even better place in which to raise families, nurture education, promote equity for all and share our best recipes — not just for barbecue but, in fact, for life. As Bell notes, the World Cup gives us a chance to remember (and try to fix) what over the years we got wrong. That’s part of what the Mayor’s Commission on Reparations is also working on. Beyond that, this time reminds us of something the recent moon trip by astronauts showed us: Our Earth is a gorgeous globe, a tiny fleck in an unimaginably vast cosmos. And we should treat Mother Earth — and other humans — gently and lovingly as we get to know more about both. Jeremy Bell is an artist, a federal employee, and a military veteran. (Submitted) “Other humans” means a lot of people who may not look like us, dress like us, cook like us, talk like us or hold spiritual beliefs like us. Indeed, “us” represents an amazing diversity of humans among the eight-plus billion humans on the planet. Although most of Kansas City’s metro residents are white, the reality is that white people are a minority in the world. Indeed, 60% of the world’s residents live in Asia, and most of those are in China and India. Beyond that, although definitions of what “white” means in racial or ethnic terms vary, there’s evidence that something like 85% of the world’s population is, racially, something other than white. Scientists tell us that the world’s human population started in Africa. But not all descendants of the first humans left that continent. Today, in fact, Africa is home to some 1.58 billion human beings and growing every minute. The wild diversity of the human population will be represented in a modest way here in the World Cup games by the teams that have made their base camps here: Argentina, England, the Netherlands and Algeria. In addition, teams from such countries as Ecuador, Curacao, Tunisia and Austria are scheduled to play here. Those of us who call metro Kansas City home can use this opportunity to learn more about those nation states and their residents. And as they are coming here, we, in turn, can try to go there — in either person or virtually. That will give us a vision that’s broader than what we’re used to seeing here, and that may open our eyes to relating to people who are different from us in many ways despite sharing a common humanity. It’s not as if we’ve never done this. For instance, Kansas City has a national reputation as a leader in interfaith relationships because of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council’s decades of work here. Something similar is true because of the founding here in 1956 of People to People International, with the involvement of Hallmark Founder Joyce C. Hall. Such efforts — including Global Ties KC — have made Kansas City a place that promotes global understanding among people. (The international People to People organization went out of business in the COVID-19 pandemic, but the local chapter continues to operate.) Local officials preparing for the World Cup games here have predicted Kansas City will draw more than 600,000 visitors this summer, though recently there have been doubts it will be that many. Still, Travel + Leisure magazine recently reported that K.C. is the top trending domestic summer destination. And even the BBC says this is a “once in a lifetime” opportunity for Kansas City. So Jeremy Bell’s artistic vision invites those of us who live here to recommit ourselves to making this a community of justice, variety, respect and opportunity for all. Here’s my question: What will your part in that effort be? Bill Tammeus, an award-winning columnist formerly with The Kansas City Star, writes the “Faith Matters” blog for The Star’s website. His latest book is Love, Loss and Endurance: A 9/11 Story of Resilience and Hope in an Age of Anxiety. Email him at [email protected] The post World Cup ‘Statement Piece’ Evokes Best Version of Kansas City first appeared on Flatland. ...read more read less