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Every Saturday at 4:00pmAbout the Show
Urban Connections
Urban Connections conducts guest interviews covering issues effecting our local, national, international and global communities from a Black perspective. Subjects include current events, trends, history, education, economics, science, political science, health, race, law and more.
Sylvester “Sly” James, Jr. served as Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri from 2011 – 2019. During his tenure, Kansas City enjoyed a renaissance boasting nationally recognized successes in modern transportation development – from a new streetcar to a new, single terminal airport – third-grade reading initiatives, SMART City technology deployment, and adoption of a 20-year infrastructure repair program. He served on the advisory board of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and is a past president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors, and the African-American Mayors Association.
Before holding the Mayoral office, James practiced as a trial attorney with trial, litigation and mediation experience as both a defense and plaintiff’s attorney with over 70 cases tried to juries and over 800 mediations. He was the first African American Associate and Partner in the Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary & Lombardi Law Firm.
Sly James was born and raised in Kansas City on the city’s eastside. He graduated from Bishop Hogan High School in Kansas City in 1969. After serving his country as a military police officer in the Marines from 1971-1975 in California, the Philippines, and Japan during the Vietnam War, Mayor James graduated cum laude from Rockhurst College with a B.A. in English. He then went on to earn his law degree, also cum laude, from the University of Minnesota in 1983.
Host/producer/engineer: Donna Morrow Wolfe
Co-host: Karen E. Griffin
