Alvin Sykes engineered the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act, which creates a cold-case component within the United States Justice Department. Crimes committed in the pre-civil rights era are able to be reopened.Mr. Sykes dropped out of high school in the tenth grade. He used the public library system to educate himself, and he began sitting in on courtroom trials to learn the law. He has been active for decades helping solve racially-motivated murders.
Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American in 1955, when he was murdered for whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. His death is credited for initiating the civil rights movement.
Photograph © 2018 Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.
UPDATE: Alvin Sykes passed away today, March 19, 2021. Alvin was a remarkable gentleman, and it was an honor to know him. L.F.L.
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