Freedom Inc. turns 60. Kansas City needs its voice to be even louder in the future

Kansas City’s preeminent Black political club, Freedom Incorporated, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Last weekend it held a brunch to talk about the past, and the future.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones co-chaired the event. Both are Black. Freedom Inc. has much to celebrate.

“Freedom continues to be relevant because we pay attention to the needs of our community, and we try to still articulate those information points to (voters),” said Freedom Inc. board member Rodney Bland.

In the years to come, though, endorsements may not be enough. While Black politicians are no longer standing on the outside, Black political influence hasn’t ended the struggles facing the region’s poorest residents. Violence, uneven schools, poor health outcomes and substandard housing remain stubborn issues on the East Side.

Freedom, Inc. — not just its candidates, but the organization itself — must be a leading voice in addressing those concerns.

Freedom dates its founding to 1962. Five activists, including Leon Jordan and Bruce Watkins, formed an organization designed to consolidate the Black vote in the city and the county, turning aspiration into real political power.

It was a different time. Kansas City was in the middle of a fierce debate over a nondiscrimination ordinance: At the time, it was legal for a bar owner to ban Black customers, a concept that seems beyond imagination today. (One bar owners’ group passed out flyers claiming “it is not feasible to integrate the Black and white races at this time.”)

With Freedom’s help, two Black members were elected to the City Council in 1963, a first. A year later, Kansas Citians approved the nondiscrimination ordinance. Black candidates prevailed in county races. The Missouri legislature welcomed Black representatives from Kansas City. (Sadly, in 1970, Jordan was murdered.)

For the next 25 years, Freedom was generally recognized as the dominant political organization on the city’s East Side. It routinely provided 25,000 votes for favored candidates, enough to provide a margin of victory for citywide races. Its endorsement was coveted by all politicians.

Its get-out-the-vote operation was critical for local and statewide candidates and the Democratic Party. Black candidates continued to win races. In 1991, Emanuel Cleaver became the city’s first Black mayor.

In the 1990s, however, and in the years to follow, Freedom’s influence began to slip. Some of the problems were inevitable: Younger voters, disinclined to join clubs their parents embraced, started to drift away. Freedom now delivered 5,000 votes, not 25,000.

Some candidates became distrustful of Freedom’s endorsement. Scandal at City Hall, and beyond, played a role.

Freedom wasn’t blameless for the slump. It changed leadership frequently. Its bookkeeping was a mess, earning a rebuke from the Missouri Ethics Commission. The feeling grew that Freedom’s endorsement was more a matter of money than commitment.

Bland says he understands that history, but “those days pass … we actually look at a candidate (now), and see their ability to answer questions and demonstrate their ability.”

We’ll see Freedom’s influence, up or down, at the polls next Tuesday. But we think the club must continue its efforts beyond Election Day, by insisting all candidates address ongoing challenges in the city’s poorest neighborhoods: Vacant lots, trash, abandoned buildings all plague the inner city still.

Murders ravage the Black community. Guns and violent crime must be addressed as well — by all of us, including Freedom Inc.

Kansas City needs and deserves a political organization focused on giving voice to the voiceless. For 60 years, Freedom, with a few hiccups, has achieved that goal. We need its work now, more than ever.