Civil Rights

Members of the Commission on Racial Equity and Justice express an interest Thursday in increasing diversity of listening session communities. (Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas Commission on Racial Equity and Justice turns focus to community involvement

BY: - July 23, 2020

Wichita police Chief Gordon Ramsay says throughout his career in law enforcement he has noticed, and often been told of, the need to address the system of fines leading to the removal of driver’s licenses and sometimes incarceration. “Once you get into that cycle of debt, you lose your license and then you can’t get […]

Rep. Troy Waymaster, left, a Republican from Bunker Hill, says the COVID-19 pandemic will erode casino and lottery revenue relied on by the state government to invest in economic development programs. (Nick Krug for Kansas Reflector)

State Finance Council complicit in cloaking financial terms of lawsuit settlements

BY: - July 22, 2020

State Finance Council, comprised of the Kansas governor and eight legislators, test transparency limits by avoiding public discussion of lawsuit settlements.

The University of Kansas School of Law on Tuesday hosted a panel discussion on racial injustice with, clockwise from top left, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett; Lauren Bonds, legal director, ACLU of Kansas; Melody Brannon, federal public defender in Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas; Ursula Minor, president of the Lawrence branch of the NAACP, and Catina Taylor, founder of DREAMS KC. (Composite from submitted photos)

Kansas activist, attorneys say police reform needs transparency

BY: - July 21, 2020

When Ursula Minor, president of the Lawrence branch of the NAACP, sat down with a former member of the Lawrence Police Department, she was surprised to hear his cavalier attitude toward issues of racial justice. “They said they didn’t see any problems. They told me minorities hadn’t told them about any problems,” Minor said at […]

U.S. Rep. John Lewis was the youngest and last surviving member of the Big Six civil rights activists who led the fight to end legalized segregation and overturn Jim Crow laws. He was arrested dozens of times and beaten as a Freedom Rider. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Civil Rights hero John Lewis changed America making ‘good trouble’

BY: - July 18, 2020

Civil Rights icon and longtime Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who advocated for change through nonviolence, died late Friday night at the age of 80. The Atlanta Democrat was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in late December. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed his death, saying the country had lost “one of the greatest heroes of […]