Alvin Sykes, a civil rights legend and longtime Kansas City community activist, died Friday morning, according to his friends.
Sykes was best known for his work opening up cold cases of African Americans, such as the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till in Mississippi, and was the impetus for the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, which led to the formation of the FBI’s Cold Case Initiative. Sykes worked to get the act reauthorized in 2016.
Sykes also was primarily responsible for Kansas City police reopening their investigation into the 1970 murder of politician and business owner Leon Jordan. In 2010, new evidence suggested local mobsters or their associates were involved in his murder.
“What a phenomenon he was,” Kansas Sen. David Haley said Friday.
Haley said Sykes always called him his “Big, Little Brother” as a term of endearment.
Haley said the cornerstone of his advocacy and larger accomplishments in the Kansas Legislature were “purely the inspiration and the motivation and dogged determination of Alvin Sykes.”
When his phone rang with Sykes’ number, he initially thought it was about something social — that they might go out and have a bite to eat.
“Or if it’s usually something he has seen as a national agenda related issue, I’m going to have a lengthy conversation,” said Haley, who had planned to see Sykes at a rehab center where he was living.
Sykes had a rough start early in life and never finished high school, Haley said. He was self-educated at libraries.
“There are appellate judges who could not hold conversations on the law successfully with him — that’s the truth,” Haley said. “He influenced U.S. senators, U.S. congressional members, state legislators on issues of human rights and social rights, remaining committed to a more just and equitable society.”
A 2016 story in The Star about Sykes’ efforts to get the Emmett Till Act reauthorized described him as a walking encyclopedia of information about old civil rights murders and the case law that can be applied to reinvigorate them, even when federal statutes of limitations have closed.
“All of my victories have always started with a ‘No,’ ” Sykes said at the time.
He also was into holding law enforcement accountable, Haley said. Sykes had a “dogged advocacy that was finessed, but irritating.”
“He could really pester you,” Haley said. “We will not have anyone who can replace him. He is irreplaceable.”
The Star’s Glenn E. Rice contributed to this story.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 3:45 PM.
Katie Bernard
The Kansas City Star
