Alvin Brooks was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, to a 14-year-old mother and 17-year-old father. It was 1932.
His mother had been living with an older sister, however it was not working well. The Brooks family lived across the road, and they let her and Alvin stay with them.
Eventually, they adopted Alvin.
His adoptive father killed a white man in 1933, and although he was arrested, no charges were filed. The order from the sheriff was to leave town.
Alvin and his adoptive parents moved to a racially-segregated Kansas City, Missouri.
His career in Kansas City: Police officer, Chief of Police, Police Commissioner, community activist, founder of Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, civil rights advocate.
In meetings with Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, Alvin communicated the correlation of poverty to crime and violence.
President George H.W. Bush appointed Alvin advisor to the National Drug Advisory Council in 1989, and named him one of, "America's 1000 Points Of Light."
May 3 is Alvin L. Brooks Day in Kansas City.
Photograph © 2017 Larry F. Levenson.
All rights reserved.
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