C-SPAN was in the house last Thursday night, when more than a hundred people gathered at the Kansas City Public Library to hear hometown civil rights activist Alvin Sykes talk about his life's work.
Sykes mostly recapped a story that Pitch readers might already know: that of a kid from a troubled family, a high-school dropout -- he likes to say he "transferred out of public school and into the public library" -- who taught himself so much about the law that, many years later, he was able to convince the U.S. Justice Department to open an investigation into one of the most heinous crimes of the Civil Rights era. Sykes has since succeeded in getting both the House and the Senate to pass the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act, which will fund investigations into unsolved murders up until 1970.
"Thirty-five years ago I was sitting in the library all by myself," he
began, appreciating the fact that he was now surrounded by so many other people.
At the end of the night, he had one request of his audience: He wanted people to go home and talk to their relatives. Was there anyone in the family who suddenly disappeared one night in the '50s or '60s? Anyone in the family who bragged about making someone disappear?
"We need to know the names of victims," he said, so the Justice Department can open cases. "And we need to know the names of
perpetrators. Because they'll need to get a good defense attorney and
plea bargain. Those who come forward early will get better
deals. We mean it. The people who were doing the lynching back then
were sending a message -- well, we're using the same approach.
Perpetrators need to know they'll be the subjects of the most
comprehensive manhunt in the country. They need to sit in fear that the
next knock on the door will be for them."
Sykes looked cool in a tan suit and one of the
black T-shirts that the Emmett Till Justice Campaign is selling to raise funds. The Kansas City-based organization is growing, adding staff, soliciting members and starting to look more sophisticated. At the moment, Sykes is preparing for a July 27 meeting with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to talk about a possible grand jury investigation into the deaths of slain civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney.
There were lots of moving moments, and the audience broke into applause several times. Sykes has told his story thousands of times (by now his punch lines come easily), but one moment last Thursday took him off guard.
During the Q&A, an old man in a red shirt stood up. He noted that music, and musicians, had played a big role in Sykes' early life. "I played music in Kansas City, Kansas, years ago," the old man said. "I knew a piano player named Forrest Sykes."
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please provide me with MR.Alvin Sykes CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST Phone number, EMAIL, Or any way to contact him. Ihave A matter he can help me with.
George Wasouf says:
Dear Sir / Madam :
Can you please provide me with Mr. Alvin Sykes ( Civil Rights Activist ), work street address, email address, or phone number, or any informations that I can use in order to contact him, please.
send me the info to : wasoufgeorge@yahoo.com
please
Thank you
George Wasouf
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