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At the Table and Dismissed

Dr. Will Ross poses in a suit and bowtie in the Public Media Commons outside of St. Louis Public Radio

In the late 1970s, Dr. Will Ross was told to stay away when applying for medical school in St. Louis. He was told the city was too racist and that he’d be better off on the east coast. But Dr. Ross decided to dig in, and he’s spent a career trying to alleviate massive racial disparities in health outcomes.

He’s convinced that the only way to clear a path toward meaningful policy changes is by unifying fractured governmental structures in St. Louis City and County. And a couple of years ago, that belief landed him at a crossroads. He would join powerful people who wanted to create a new way to govern a divided region. But things didn’t exactly go as planned.

We tell the story of how Dr. Ross’ recommendations and his criticisms were received because it says a lot about how race and power continue to work in one of the nation’s most segregated cities.

Ashley Winters
Jia Lian Yang holds a Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Divinity from Eden Theological Seminary. She is the co-founder of the St. Louis-based Who Raised You? podcast, which explores culture and family with a focus on stories from people of color. The show won the Arts & Education Council of St. Louis’ 2018 stARTup competition and was named the best local podcast of 2019 in St. Louis Magazine. Jia brings her experience with LGBTQ advocacy, mental health, workers’ rights, mutual aid, anti-racism and the arts to her coverage.
Lauren Brown holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri where she also studied Social Justice. Lauren joined St. Louis Public Radio in June 2019 as an associate producer for the We Live Here podcast. In March 2020 she became the co-host and producer for We Live Here.