Springfield, Missouri honors Freedom Rider, former City Councilman

(From the City of Springfield, Missouri)

City Council unanimously passed a resolution honoring former Councilman Denny Whayne for his service on Council and his decades-long commitment to justice and equal rights. The Busch Municipal Building’s fourth-floor conference room is now known as the “Councilman Denny Whayne Conference Room.”

“We felt it was fitting to name this particular meeting space after former Councilman Whayne because it’s where we have our weekly council workshops and council committee meetings and frequent community-wide collaborations occur,” said Mayor Ken McClure. “In the many years I have known Denny, he has always been about bringing communities of people together.”



Whayne was the first African-American elected to City Council since the Council/Manager form of government was adopted in 1953 and served as the Zone 1 representative for two consecutive four-year terms. First elected in 2001, Whayne served until 2009 and was a member of the Finance, Plans and Policies, Administration and Public Involvement committees.

“My time on council was one of the best experiences of my entire life,” Whayne has said. “My mindset on council was to try to move the city of Springfield forward.”

Whayne, who grew up in Springfield, joined the NAACP at 11, later participating in the Freedom Rides of 1961. He continued his civil rights work in Tulsa, where racial tensions were high in the late 1960s. He moved back to Springfield in 1972 and served as president of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP from 1980 until 1988. He worked for the City’s Finance department from 1975 until 1985.

Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Civil Rights icon Rev. James Lawson

(From Missouri Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver)

This week, I had the privilege, along with my colleagues, of introducing legislation to honor a man who helped changed history.

Reverend James Lawson is one of the most consequential Civil Rights leaders in American history.
I along with, Congressmen Ro Khanna, John Lewis, and James Clyburn, introduced legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the civil rights icon.

Rev. James Lawson was well known for his non-violent stance which influenced the direction of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. His fingerprints can be found on every major civil rights victory.

Among his many feats, he trained young protesters and activists and launched the Nashville, Tennessee sit-ins to challenge segregation in downtown stores. He also helped develop the strategy for the Freedom Riders who rode buses in southern states to challenge segregated seating on public buses.

When you look back at the historic videos and see the protesters withstand food thrown in their faces and the vile name-calling, it is hard to watch. But those determined protesters never lifted a hand in anger. Even when they were punched, kicked and pushed their silence and unwavering stand was their way of fighting back.

This was the teaching of Rev. Lawson who spent three years in India as a missionary and studied Mahatma Gandhi’s strategy of nonviolent struggle before returning to the United States.

He became a leader in the Civil Rights movement and worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to achieve equality through peaceful activism. Dr. King called Lawson the “leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.”

This year, Rev. Lawson will be celebrating his 90th birthday. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of the distinguished Gold Medal.

Life of civil rights pioneer Rev. Oliver Brown to be celebrated during event at Springfield Central High School

(From Springfield Public Schools)

Central High School, Drury University and the Springfield Branch of the NAACP will celebrate a civil rights pioneer at a special public event dedicated to the commemorating the life of Rev. Oliver Brown. Brown was a civil rights leader and local pastor who was the namesake of the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision ending legal racial segregation in American schools.

“We’re excited to partner with Drury University and the Springfield NAACP to celebrate and honor this hero,” says Marty Moore, executive director of learning support and partnerships. “This event will celebrate the life of a man who was an advocate for equity and access to public education for all. We honor his memory today by continuing to commit to removing barriers with our words and our work.”

Hosted by Drury University, “Celebrating the Legacy: Commemorating the 100th Birthday of Rev. Oliver Brown” will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 19. The event will begin in the Central High School atrium, featuring a series of speakers, including one of Brown’s daughters, Cheryl Brown Henderson. Brown Henderson is the founding president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research, which works to preserve the legacy of the Brown decision.

About the events, Cheryl Brown Henderson says, “I am honored by this opportunity to represent my family as well as the attorneys, community activists and several hundred plaintiffs in the five cases consolidated by the U.S. Supreme Court under the heading of Brown v. Board of Education. This is an opportunity to recognize the courage of ordinary people who would not be denied their constitutional rights. Their efforts profoundly impacted the lives of every citizen and influenced human rights struggles around the world.”

Central High School also holds a connection to the Brown family. Linda Brown, Rev. Brown’s oldest daughter on whose behalf he joined the class action lawsuit in Topeka, Kansas, graduated from Central High School in 1961.

Following the program at CHS, the event will move one block south to Benton Avenue African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, where Brown was pastor from 1959 until his death in 1961. After its final services in 2013, Drury University purchased the church in 2014. Drury intends to eventually honor Rev. Brown through re-use of the building as an academic and teaching space.