The Wichita NAACP branch will hold its 96th annual Freedom Fund Banquet Saturday. The civil rights organization will honor local leaders and highlight the need for changes in the criminal justice system.
This year’s theme is “Pursuing Liberty in the Face of Injustice.” Criminal justice reform policy experts Mark Holden, general counsel for Koch Industries, and Carlton T. Mayers II, national NAACP criminal justice division director, are the keynote speakers. NAACP Wichita branch president Kenya Cox says mass incarceration has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, hurt children and disproportionately affected people of color.
"This is why it's so important that we have this opportunity to hear from the policy experts that are going to be here this weekend, to share with us insight on how we can get behind this bi-partisan push for the reform of the criminal justice system," Cox says.
Honorees at this year's banquet include:
- HN Sims Excellence in Education: V. Kaye Monk Morgan
- Clergy of the Year: Minister Sherdeill Breathett
- Janett Jackson Community Service: Dawson Grimsley
- Theo Cribbs Political Action: Commissioner Dave Unruh
- Chester I Lewis Distinguished Service: The Honorable Gwynne Birzer
- Community/Neighborhood/Civic Association: Boys and Girls Clubs of South Central Kansas
- Business of the Year: Spirit AeroSystems
- Ron Walters Achievement: Marquis Murphy
Legacy Awards will be given to:
- Cleo Littleton
- Clarence Wesley
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Carla Eckels is assistant news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.
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