Brooks was determined. He became one of Kansas City's few black officers in 1954.
Seg. 1: School Walkout. Seg. 2: Alvin Brooks.
Segment 1: The National School Walkout In North Kansas City.
A check-in with our reporter, who covered today's National School Walkout from Oak Park High School.
Elle Moxley, KCUR education reporter.
Segment 2, beginning at 5:41: A Portrait Session with Alvin Brooks.
On April 9, 1968, five days after the killing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., civil unrest in response to long-standing racial tension broke out in Kansas City. But what really happened 50 years ago? Last week, KCUR hosted the panel "Reaction or Riot?: Understanding 1968 in Kansas City" for community members to share their own experiences and recollections. Today, we revisited that conversation about the ways our city has — and hasn't — changed in the last half century.
Longtime civil rights activist Alvin Brooks is stepping down as a Kansas City Police Commissioner so he can serve on the Hickman Mills Board of Education.
Brooks, 85, says it was time. His term is about to expire, and he doesn’t think Republican Gov. Eric Greitens will reappoint him.
Kansas City Mayor Sly James won’t commit to a timeline for hiring the next chief of police.
"The goal isn't to do this fast,” James said at a news conference at police headquarters Monday morning. “The goal is to do it right. If it takes us a year to find the best person, it’ll take us a year. If we can find the best person in 30 days, we’ll do that.
Leeds Cemetery doesn’t look like a typical cemetery. A couple of miles from the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, Missouri, it has no headstones and no green lawns. It's just an empty field filled with dry grass and Queen Anne’s lace.
For more than half of the 20th century, though, this was Kansas City’s "potter’s field," or final resting place for the city’s unclaimed bodies — those too poor for a proper burial.
Since becoming a Kansas City, Missouri police officer in the 1950s, Alvin Brooks has spent a lifetime working to reduce crime and injustice in his city. Even as we look back at all he’s already done, we ask the equal rights activist what Kansas City still needs to do.
On Tuesday, Alvin Brooks was awarded at lifetime achievement award from the South Kansas City Alliance. He is also this year's recipient of the Truman Public Service Award.
A new bridge is unveiled on Troost. The Kansas City Council passes truancy ordinance. Two Kansas City notables—Alvin Brooks and Walt Bodine—receive an honor from the city council. It’s a daily digest of news from KCUR.
Two notable Kansas Citians have been honored by resolution in city hall council chambers. Walt Bodine and Alvin Brooks were picked for singular achievements.
Both men were lauded for forms of public service, Brooks for government work and civic anti-crime fighting, Bodine for broadcasting.
The resolution congratulated Alvin Brooks on his 80th birthday.
Every couple of days, another person is murdered in Kansas City.
On Thursday's Central Standard, we ask, how do we make the killings stop? Is it even possible to turn things around in 2012?