jul 21, 1956 - Alvin Sykes

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Alvin Sykes was born July 21, 1956, in Kansas City, Kansas. His mother was a teenager and unwed at the time of his conception. Her family relocated her to a home for unwed mothers in Topeka, KS. After his birth, Sykes and his mother returned to the Kansas City area, but separately.

A domestic worker by the name of Burnetta F.Page, a widow, became his natural mother. He used her last name and called her Mama. She deeply cared for him, instilling in Sykes that he could accomplish anything in life if he learned to read. As a child, he was very analytical and enjoyed learning new things. Mama Page would bring him all kinds of materials she thought would interest him.

One day, a nearby couple manipulated Sykes with candy to enter their home. Page had continuously warned him of the dangerous pair. The couple sexually abused him. Later, the abuse happened again in his effort to return and handle the matter on his own. On both occasions, no one was around to save him. Over time, Sykes began to think about the need for a mediator between the people and law enforcement. He decided he would be that person for others.

Sykes loved music. He made many friends and business acquaintances being the manager of a band called Threatening Weather. One of his friends was Steve Harvey, a local musician known for playing the flute and saxophone in performances across the Kansas City Metro area.

On November 4, 1980, Steve Harvey, who was black, was murdered at Liberty Memorial in Penn Valley Park. A white 19-year old male named Raymond Bledsoe and his friends assumed Harvey was gay as they approached him in the men's restroom. Harvey ran away, being pursued by Bledsoe into an open area. Bledsoe struck Harvey continuously, crushing his skull. Months later, an all-white, Jackson County male jury found Bledsoe not guilty. The U.S. Constitution prohibited double jeopardy, meaning Bledsoe could not be tried for murder a second time.

Many area musicians who were former friends with Harvey were devastated about the outcome. Sykes, determined to seek justice, spent countless hours researching laws at the Kansas City Public Library and making phone calls for approximately three years. By contacting the Justice Department, he met with attorney Richard Roberts in the Civil Rights Division. They worked together, and by May 1983, Bledsoe had been retried for murder and sentenced to life in prison for violating Steve Harvey's civil rights.

Over the years, Sykes's research into unsolved civil and human rights abuses earned him a reputation nationally and internationally. In 2007, he testified in Congress to support the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, a law allowing the cold cases of suspected violent crimes committed against African Americans before 1970 to be reopened.

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