This is the season finale of The Check-In! Guest hosts Isabella Paxton and Hannah France discuss graduation and entering new phases of life.

Valérie Berta's photography presents an unfiltered look at the marginalized communities across mid-Missouri, and the subjects provide information about their lives to accompany the intimate photos. Now, in collaboration with The WE Project, two exhibitions of portraits by Berta, founder of The WE Project, are open to the public.

When Raven Leilani wrote her debut novel Luster, she never imagined its themes of contemporary sexuality and race relations would feel so pressing on its release. But with race on the forefront of the nation’s collective conscience, the book feels like a reflection of our current landscape.

When student-led protests erupted at the University of Missouri in 2015, first-year student Lauren Brown didn’t feel like the causes of the demonstrators were accurately reflected in the media.

As hundreds of citizens show up in town squares and streets to call for justice in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, many people are asking: How can this happen? How can police violence and the deaths of black citizens at the hands of police happen over and over again in our American democracy?

The world is coming off of a weekend of protests, rallies and gatherings calling for justice after the killing of George Floyd. They're also calling for attention to police violence against unarmed black citizens and continuing to call for action.

In this episode, we're checking in with people who have been and currently are on the frontlines of the civil rights movements of today and years ago.

We are in the midst of turbulent, and for many, dangerous times. And having the current crises played and re-played in the media and in real life for us day after day can take a toll -- especially for our black families and kids.

It’s impossible to talk about the events unfolding today with this double crisis we’re in - the virus and the widespread public outcry against racism within American law enforcement - without wondering how we got here and whether history can help us understand it.

Citizens in Columbia and across the country have spilled on to the streets to call for justice for George Floyd.