On Saturday, March 19th, at 12:00pm, the Kansas NAACP, the Topeka Center for Peace and Social Justice, Kansas Equality Coalition, the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, Kansas National Organization for Women, and the Kansas League of Women Voters will stand together in an historic alliance to oppose the systematic dismantling of civil and equal rights protections in Kansas.

These organizations, their members, allies, and supporters, will meet at Monroe Elementary School in Topeka (the Brown Vs Board Historic site), and we will march to the Capitol Building. Put on your walking shoes and meet us at the Capitol!!!

Contacts:
Reverend Ben Scott, President, Topeka NAACP
785-266-5688 / naacptopeka1@att.net

Jim McCullough, Director, Topeka Center for Peace and Social Justice
785-232-4388 / topekacpj@aol.com

Thomas Witt, Chair, Kansas Equality Coalition
316-683-1706 / chair@kansasequalitycoalition.org

Holly Weatherford, Program Director, ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri
816-756-3113 x 234 / hweatherford@aclukswmo.org

Kari Ann Rinker, State Coordinate, Kansas NOW
620-245-4904 / coordinator@ksnow.org

Ernestine Krehbiel, President, Kansas League of Women Voters
316-652-9229 / ekrehbiel@cox.net

The Kansas State Conference of the NAACP has sent a formal request that an investigation be conducted into the hiring and employment practices of the City council and Mayor of Nickerson Kansas. The complaint stems from a case filed with the Hutchison Branch of the NAACP by April Addis, the former Police Chief of Nickerson Kansas.

Through our investigation we have discovered what we believe to be a clear pattern and practice of racial discrimination. We affirm Chief Addis' assertion that she was directed to fire a newly hired and qualified Officer (Officer Bembry) because of his race. Further, we believe that the firing of Officer Bembry solely on the basis of his race was a clear violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights act.

We attempted to address this case through the Mayor's office, who referred us to the City's Attorney. We met with the City Attorney and again relayed our concerns, and he stated he would have to go back and talk to the Mayor. We waited a reasonable amount of time to allow the City to effectively address the issue, but no direct action was taken.

The case has now been filed with the EEOC.

Several members of the Kansas State Conference of the NAACP and regional activists attended a meeting with Tom Perez; Assistant Attorney General of the United States and head of DOJ Civil Rights Division, to discuss the strengthening of the agency's Civil Rights enforcement efforts. In attendance were Kevin Myles; President of the Kansas State Conference, Henry Lyons; President of the Olathe Branch, Katrina Robertson; President of the Johnson County Branch, Loris Jones; State Conference Education Committee Chair, Former State Conference President Charles Jean-Baptiste, and Mary Ann Flounder. Also in attendance Nimrod Chapel; Political Affairs Chairman for the Missouri State Conference, Marvin Szneler of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau, Gwen Grant of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, Mona Lee Perry of the American Indian Council, Alvin Sykes of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign, Jessica Piedra of the Coalition of Hispanic Organizations, and several representatives of the US Attorney's Office and the Kansas City Human Relations Department.

The Kansas State NAACP Delegation called for the agency to focus additional attention on:

• Child Welfare disparities in removal and reunification rates
• Non-Compliance of States with the National Voter Registration Act of 94
• Unitary Status/Re-segregation and the inequitable distribution of talent and teaching experience in recently desegregated districts
• Ricci Vs DeStephano and its impact on Title VII enforcement
• Wren Vs the United States and why we believe statistical Racial Profiling data rises to the level of a 14th amendment claim
• The underfunding of Public Defender's offices and the resulting effect on poor and low income peoples ability to obtain adequate representation
• And Employment Discrimination; namely how shifting interpretations of the term "similarly situated" creates a practically insurmountable standard that makes racial discrimination cases almost impossible to win.
• We were also given direct contact numbers for the registering of complaints and in the coming days, we will be re-filing complaints that were overlooked or dismissed by the previous administration; foremost among these - the case of Rowana Riggs...

Nimrod Chapel, Political Affairs Chairman of the Missouri State NAACP, presented a detailed synopsis of the Heather Ellis case with a request for follow-up from the DOJ. NAACP National Board member Anita Russell and Missouri State Conference President Mary Ratliff were scheduled to attend but were delayed in their return from the rally for Heather Ellis in Kennett Missouri...