Freedom, Inc.

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Plaque on rear of base of statue at Leon M. Jordan Memorial Park in Kansas City, Missouri LeonJordan Memorial (18).jpg
Plaque on rear of base of statue at Leon M. Jordan Memorial Park in Kansas City, Missouri

Freedom, Inc. or Freedom, Incorporated of Kansas City Missouri is a political organization founded in 1961 [1] by five African-American political activists, [2] [3] [4] [5] Bruce Watkins, Howard Maupin, Charles Moore, Fred Curls, Leon Jordan. This was crucial to desegregation of Kansas City Missouri public facilities, the election of many black Missouri State Representatives since 1963, the "strong" candidacy of Bruce R. Watkins for Mayor of Kansas City in 1978-79, the 1982 election of Alan Wheat, the first black Congressman to represent a majority-white district in the Greater Kansas City Missouri Metropolitan Area, [6] the 1991 election of Emanuel Cleaver as the first black mayor of Kansas City, and—according to new information reported on KKFI on February 18, 2012 during an on-air interview of filmmaker Emiel Cleaver, possibly a blueprint responsible for elections of "First Black Mayors" in New Orleans, Louisiana and other major U.S. cities. The organization was reportedly the brainchild of Leon M. Jordan and Bruce R. Watkins, who were elected its first chairman and co-chairman, respectively.

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Bruce Riley Watkins and his stepfather Theron B. Watkins (1877–1950) were prominent political and social activists in Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri. The younger Watkins was the first African-American elected to Kansas City's City Council, in 1963; the first African-American elected to office in that county's administration, in 1966; and the first African-American to nearly win election as Kansas City Mayor, in April 1979. Watkins was a Republican and served as Chair of the Jackson County Democratic Committee. Watkins and his close friend Leon Jordan established the political club "Freedom, Inc." in 1962.

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References

  1. ↑ Christensen, Lawrence O. (1999). Dictionary of Missouri biography. University of Missouri Press. pp.  402. ISBN   978-0-8262-1222-1.
  2. ↑ "Freedom, INC official history by Jackson County Democratic Committee Jackson County Democratic Committee". Archived from the original on 2009-12-12. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  3. ↑ http://gradworks.umi.com/14/33/1433019.html The founding of Freedom: A Kansas City civil rights organization since 1962 (Leon Jordan, Bruce R. Watkins, Missouri, by Hart, Amy, MA, Central Missouri State University, 2006, 0 pages; 1433019)
  4. ↑ http://www.kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Local&CISOPTR=36762&CISOBOX=1&REC=8 Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine "History of Freedom, Inc., and Its Early Leaders" Master of Arts thesis at Missouri Valley Special Collections of Kansas City Public Library
  5. ↑ "Filmmaker Emiel Cleaver tells the story of Freedom Inc". Kansas City Star. 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  6. ↑ Lublin, D. (1999). The Paradox of Representation: Racial Gerrymandering and Minority Interests in Congress. Princeton University Press. p. 42. ISBN   9780691010106 . Retrieved 2015-04-01.


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