“You gonna kill one of the songbirds and then walk out? No.”

—Human rights worker Alvin Sykes left high school early on, but educated himself by spending his days reading across many disciplines at the Kansas City Public Library. He found his calling in seeking truth and justice. One of his early victories was to convince the U.S. Justice Department to take up the murder case of Kansas City musician Steve Harvey, who had been brutally bludgeoned in a public park. The assailant had been found not guilty by an all-white jury, but Sykes was able to find evidence that the murder was racially motivated and that since the attack occurred on public property, it was the duty of the Justice Department to pursue the case on civil rights grounds. The result was that the murderer was retried for the crime, convicted, and given a life sentence.

Alvin Sykes’s astute legal mind, unwavering determination to see justice served, and willingness to work every angle on a case earned him the esteem of attorneys whose paths he crossed and whose advice he sought. Although he knew himself capable of joining their professional ranks, he decided that he would accomplish more for human rights by doing his work on his own terms, even if he would not be paid.

His most celebrated achievement was conceiving, researching, and shepherding the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act through Congress. Sykes noted that “the thing about these famous cases [is that] we get frozen in time and the case becomes symbolic, which renders people thinking that you can never write future chapters.” Signed into law in 2008 by President George W. Bush, the bill authorized $13.5 million annually to fund a separate division within the Justice Department to reopen cold cases.

Embraced by his city, the Kansas City Public Library named Alvin Sykes its first Scholar-in Residence in 2013. Alvin Sykes died on March 19, 2021.