Cara Anthony

Visit kff.org to read Cara's bio.

canthony@kff.org
@CaraRAnthony

Volunteers Help Tornado-Hit St. Louis Amid Wait for Federal Aid

KFF Health News Original

As St. Louis deals with more than $1.6 billion in estimated property damage from the May 16 tornado, locals are pouring in to help the hard-hit area of North St. Louis. It’s unclear if residents can count on federal support as they rebuild.

Listen: Black Swimmers Make Waves Overcoming Fear and Old Perceptions

KFF Health News Original

Segregation and lack of access have kept many Black Americans from learning to swim, which raises their risk of drowning. Groups across the country are working to teach more Black kids and adults the skills to save their lives, or someone else’s.

Watch: ‘Silence in Sikeston & The Effects of Racial Violence’

KFF Health News Original

KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony talks about how racism affects health on Nine PBS’ “Listen, St. Louis with Carol Daniel,” stemming from her reporting for the “Silence in Sikeston” multimedia project, on the impact of a 1942 lynching and a 2020 police killing on a rural Missouri community.

Watch: ‘Breaking the Silence Is a Step’ — Beyond the Lens of ‘Silence in Sikeston’

KFF Health News Original

KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony discusses her reporting for the “Silence in Sikeston” multimedia project, which explores the impact of a 1942 lynching and a 2020 police killing on a rural Missouri community — and what it led her to learn about her own family’s past.

Silence in Sikeston: Is There a Cure for Racism?

Podcast

In the finale of “Silence in Sikeston,” Black residents organize a Juneteenth barbecue. The Department of Public Safety chief encourages officers to attend to build trust. But improving relations between Sikeston’s Black community and the police won’t be easy. Host Cara Anthony discusses the possibility of institutional change in Sikeston.

Silence in Sikeston: Trauma Lives in the Body

Podcast

Denzel Taylor, a young Black father, moved from Chicago to Sikeston, Missouri, for a fresh start in life. There, he proposed to his girlfriend, started a family, and then, in April 2020, was fatally shot by police officers. Taylor had two young daughters and another on the way when he was killed. Pediatrician Rhea Boyd talks about how children process such loss.

Watch: What You Reveal, You Heal — Meeting the Makers of ‘Silence in Sikeston’

KFF Health News Original

KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony sat down with WORLD executive producer Chris Hastings to discuss the origins of the “Silence in Sikeston” project, which explores the impact of a 1942 lynching and a 2020 police killing in the same rural Missouri community.

Watch: New Documentary Film Explores a Lynching and a Police Killing 78 Years Apart

KFF Health News Original

The “Silence in Sikeston” documentary film explores how the nation’s first federally investigated lynching and a police killing 78 years apart haunt the same rural Missouri community. The film from KFF Health News and Retro Report explores the lasting impact of such trauma — and what it means to speak out about it.

Silence in Sikeston: Hush, Fix Your Face

Podcast

In Episode 2 of the “Silence in Sikeston” podcast, host Cara Anthony speaks with Sikeston, Missouri, resident Larry McClellon, who grew up being told not to talk about the 1942 lynching of Cleo Wright. He is determined to break the cycle of silence in his community. Anthony also unearths a secret in her own family and grapples with the possible effects of intergenerational trauma.

No One Wants To Talk About Racial Trauma. Why My Family Broke Our Silence.

KFF Health News Original

Every family has secrets. I spent the past few years reporting about racial violence in Sikeston, Missouri. Interviewing Black families there helped me uncover my family’s traumatic past, too.

Silence in Sikeston: Racism Can Make You Sick

Podcast

The “Silence in Sikeston” podcast explores what it means to live with racism and violence, then charts the toll on health — from hives and high blood pressure to struggles with mental health. The deaths of two Black men killed nearly 80 years apart in the same Missouri community anchor a conversation about the public health consequences of systemic bias.

When Gun Violence Ends Young Lives, These Men Prepare the Graves

KFF Health News Original

Just outside St. Louis, a cemetery for children sits on a hill. A wooden, weather-worn sign welcomes mourners to “Baby Land.” The gravediggers who made the special spot work quietly in the shadows.

Survivors of Gangs and Gun Violence, These Women Now Help Others Navigate Grief

KFF Health News Original

As teens, these three women lived amid street gangs around East St Louis, Illinois. Now, as adults, they support the families who have lost loved ones to gun violence. And because of their past, some residents trust them more than they do the police.

Para combatir la violencia con armas de fuego, artista convierte las balas en arte

KFF Health News Original

Según datos de los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades, a nivel nacional, más de 47,000 personas murieron por heridas de bala en 2021: la cifra más alta desde principios de la década de 1990.

To Combat Gun Violence, This Artist Turns Ammunition Into Art

KFF Health News Original

In a city plagued by gun violence, Mykael Ash is turning ammunition into art. Ash, who lives in East St. Louis, Illinois, frequently walks through parts of the city where bullet shells aren’t hard to find. The shell casings represent a cycle of inequality, Ash says, and the art he makes with it serves as a call to action.

Race Is Often Used as Medical Shorthand for How Bodies Work. Some Doctors Want to Change That.

KFF Health News Original

Physicians have long believed it’s good medicine to consider race in health care. But recently, rather than perpetuate the myth that race governs how bodies function, a more nuanced approach has emerged: acknowledging that racial health disparities often reflect the effects of generations of systemic racism, such as lack of access to stable housing or nutritious food.

Caskets Wrapped in Colorful Images Pay Tribute to Young Lives Lost to Trauma and Violence

KFF Health News Original

Mourners are wrapping caskets in imagery, similar to the way companies wrap logos around cars, trucks, and buses. Across the country, casket-wrap companies create custom designs, too often for grieving parents who have lost their children to gun violence.

Black Tech Founders Want to Change the Culture of Health Care, One Click at a Time

KFF Health News Original

Just as Uber Eats and Grubhub revolutionized food delivery, Black tech entrepreneurs want to change the way patients connect with doctors. They are using technology to match people of color with culturally competent professionals and the transportation they need to get to them.