Rise Up Kansas City!

Watch now and get inspired.

In 2011, Cornel Hutton first started a project called Rise Up St. Louis. During that time, he found the same problems happening in St. Louis that he saw right here in Kansas City.

Hutton decided it was time to pick up the camera, go into the streets, and talk to those that live it every day. NO SCRIPTS, NO ACTORS, JUST REAL LIFE. Hutton says a couple of things allowed him to find the people featured in the document:

First, “God. He told me to pick up the camera and just keep talking to as many people as I can,” Hutton said.

The second, PTSD. The Vietnam War veteran says there is very little that scares him. Many people will not take the opportunity to drive into the inner city and actually talk to the people who call the area home. He knows that there is good in all, and without fear, ventures in to capture their story.

The goal of RISE UP KC, Hutton says, is to change lives. “If I can just keep one person out of jail, if I can stop just one murder. I did my job.”