Some of the most notable A-List winners are those devoted to an age-old issue: race

St. Louis has no shortage of new and noteworthy offerings: game cafés, emerging arts districts, mobile bike repair, an overhauled plaza, a riverside oyster bar, a ballyhooed fashion incubator…

But among the most notable local offerings in this month’s A-List feature are those devoted to an age-old issue: race.

After the death of Michael Brown, in August 2014, two local women, Laura Horwitz and Adelaide Lancaster, launched We Stories, a nonprofit that uses children’s books written by authors of color to spark discussions of race at an earlier age.

Artist Damon Davis is also shedding light on the subject with his documentary Whose Streets?, opening nationwide next month, on the anniversary of Brown’s death. It shares the heartfelt stories of Ferguson residents and activists who were often overlooked by the national press. He’s also one of the forces behind The Reclamation Project, an ongoing art series that reclaims materials as a means of examining community, heritage, and identity.

Finally, there’s the Missouri History Museum’s #1 in Civil Rights, an eye-opening exhibit that explores how race relations have shaped the region—and the country at large.

It comes just as East St. Louis is marking the centennial of the 1917 race riots, which writer Tony Rehagen describes in gut-wrenching detail and illustrator Michael Byers depicts in a visceral, haunting way, reminiscent of March, Congressman John Lewis’ award-winning graphic novel trilogy. This ghastly, brutal low point in our region’s history bears eerie similarities to today’s events. As Rehagen notes, the riot was largely “rooted in unfounded fear of migrant workers, vote fraud, and ‘fake news.’” It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come—and how far we have yet to go.