The Wichita NAACP Blog: The Wichita NAACP Youth Council meets with City Leaders to address Police response to violence

Profile in Courage: Dr. Ronald W Walters

As the President of the Wichita NAACP Youth Council in July of 1958, Dr. Walters led the group as they conducted the first successful student-led sit-in of the Civil Rights movement. Sit-Ins were not an approved tactic of the NAACP in 1958 so when the Branch and Youth council asked for the support of the National Office, they were turned down. It required an extraordinary amount of courage for Ron as the Youth President and Chester I Lewis, the branch President, to press forward over the objections of the National Office. When the sit-in ended in August of that same year, the Dockum drug store on the corner of Broadway and Douglass in Wichita Kansas was integrated - along with the entire Rexall Drug store chain and all its subsidiaries. Following the success of the Dockum Sit-In, the Oklahoma City Branch Youth Council conducted a sit-in that August. From there, the tactic spread throughout the Midwest. In 1960, a group of young men and women from SNCC conducted a sit-in in Greensboro North Carolina which many mistakenly believe to have been the first... Dr. Walters went on to become known throughout the world for his knowledge of African American politics and leadership. He headed the African American Leadership Institute and Scholar Practitioner Program of the University of Maryland, served as Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, and retired as Professor Emeritus of the University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Walters was a dear friend, a supporter, and a mentor, and he will be sorely missed... July 1938 - September 2010

Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Wichita NAACP Youth Council meets with City Leaders to address Police response to violence

On November 21st, the Kappa Leadership League sponsored a party on the campus of Wichita State University. The party was intended to be a "coming-out" event for the newest inductees into the Leadership Organization. Around two hundred 14 through 17 year olds were in attendance.

At one point, a fight broke out within th building which was quickly stopped. However, as the youth who were involved were exiting the building, they began to fight again in the stairwell. At this point, campus police decided to shut the party down and send everyone home. Police started moving all of the students into the parking lot.

At one point, gunshots were heard coming from the parking lot. WSU Police are now investigating an officer who reportedly fired their weapon at a vehicle from which additional shots may have also been fired.

Once the shooting began, the frightened crowd of 14 through 17 year olds began running back towards the building, trying to get away from the gunfire in the parking lot. But the Campus Police were still posted at the building forcing the High School students out into the Parking lot.

Because these were High school students, most of them did not have cars and had no way to get home. The party was stopped an hour before it was scheduled to end so most of the students had to wait for rides, but virtually none felt safe waiting around in a parking lot where they've just heard gunshots and so many left to wander through the neighborhoods at 11pm while waiting for family members.

Last Tuesday, members of the Wichita NAACP Youth Council met with City Manager Bob Layton and Deputy Police Chief Tom Stoltz. Representing the youth were Kyron Cox (President of the Wichita NAACP Council and President of the Kappa Leadership League), Isaiah Myles (First Vice President of the Wichita NAACP Youth Council), Kendall Graham (NAACP Youth Council Secretary), Jowonia Bowen, Kelsie Graham, and Amani Myles (President of the Kansas State NAACP Youth Conference).

The Youth stressed the fact that they were not seeking to excuse bad behavior and that they understood that the ultimate responsibility for the events that evening was with the bad actors at the party. But they also wanted to express their concerns about policy; namely the fact that children, without cars or a way to exit, were being pushed into a parking lot where gunshots were being fired. The youth also sought to explore ways in which event organizers and the City can better coordinate to avoid these types of incidents in the future.

The investigation into the incident is still ongoing and the youth will continue to meet with the other involved agencies. And they will also begin working to create a dialogue within the community and among their peers about stopping the violence.

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john doe · 753 weeks ago

the facts are off

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Kevin Myles 50p · 753 weeks ago

The facts are truncated - The investigations are ongoing so I limited the detail...

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Roderick · 751 weeks ago

Don't you think we need to be asking our kids what the heck were you thinking? Don't blame the police, they were doing their jobs. Come on now lets be real about this. We always seem to want to blame someone for our problems. This is an old mentality that is changing with President Obama. Take responsibility for your lives young persons. Don't get yourselves into these positions.

3 replies · active 751 weeks ago

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Kevin Myles 50p · 751 weeks ago

Roderick, I understand and share your passion, but you are a bit off-base on this one...

No one (not the Youth and not the Branch) is defending those who came to start trouble. The youth made it clear in their opening remarks that they were happy that the police responded quickly, and that they too believed it was a travesty that a handful of knuckleheads ruined the event for everyone.

Certainly, if we were talking to the 5 or 6 youth who started fighting, your question (namely: What were you thinking?) would be first and foremeost.

But in our frustration, WE MUST NOT LOSE SIGHT of the fact that there were 200 other youth there. 200 young people who were not fighting, who were not causing trouble, and who were simply having a good time celebrating the 'graduation' of a group of young men from a leadership program.

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Kevin Myles 50p · 751 weeks ago

when the fights broke out and a campus police office began firing his weapon in the parking lot, the other campus police officers began herding ALL of the youth INTO the parking lot... Yes, the very same parking lot where the shooting was taking place. (The Officer claims he was attempting to shoot the tires out of a vehicle)

These youth were between the ages of 14 and 16. The vast majority of them had no cars and nowhere to go. The party was stopped early so their rides were not there to pick them up. So these 14, 15, and 16 year olds were pushed off campus and left to wander the neighborhood at 11:00pm.

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Kevin Myles 50p · 751 weeks ago

In their discussion with the youth group, the police acknowledged that tactical mistakes were made and that the youth were treated as if this were a college party where the attendees had vehicles or dorms they could return to. And that putting the youth into a parking lot where shots had just been fired when no one (at that time) knew who the shooter was or if the shooting would continue, was not appropriate.

The youth also asked if there was some training they could attend to assure that when future events are planned, they can have better coordination with Law Enforcement and the Party wreckers and Knuckleheads can be screened out