The Nicest Bulldog in Town

 

Bryant, a real estate attorney in the Kansas City office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, started his advocacy because of his family. In the mid-1960s at Kansas City’s Southeast High School, African Americans made up 25 percent of the student body and 65 percent of the athletic teams but still encountered a fair amount of prejudice. Cheerleaders, for example, were elected following an open competition in front of the entire student body. In 1967, Bryant’s sister Stephanie was the only African American to try out, but when the votes were tallied she was not elected. With six white girls and one African American in the running, and each student required to cast six votes, the race card was stacked against her.

 

“No one perceived the election results as unfair until they were announced,” recalls Bryant. “But the difference in her agility, crispness of routine and personality was so pronounced, that African-American students could not believe the outcome of the election. Once students and school administrators analyzed the election results, it was obvious that students of both races had cast their ballots, in part, on the basis of race. Given that fact, it was virtually impossible for an African American to be elected as a cheerleader.”

 

When administrators failed to respond to the injustice, Bryant led a class boycott. As a result, the election procedure was changed and his sister was elected cheerleader.

 

Despite such advocacy, back then Bryant was hardly a stellar student; but after stumbling across a family scrapbook he discovered his mother had been the first African-American woman admitted to the School of Education at what was then the University of Kansas City. She graduated first in her class, and Bryant got motivated. “Understanding what she was able to accomplish, seven years after graduating from high school, with three children, motivated me to continue her legacy.”

 

Interest in politics was honed at the family dinner table. His father was a dining-car waiter on the Kansas City Southern for 30 years. Upon his retirement, he sought elected office. In the early 1960s, no African Americans held elected office in Kansas City, so his father joined an organization called Freedom, Inc., which was founded in 1962 and is dedicated to unifying African-American voters to maximize their political leverage. Thereafter, Freedom, Inc., was hugely successful in electing African Americans to the Missouri General Assembly, Jackson County Legislature and Kansas City, Missouri, City Council. Unfortunately, Bryant’s father lost two successive elections for state representative. “Each time my dad lost, I felt his pain,” Bryant remembers. “Worse, I felt guilty because I had not helped him enough. After I graduated [from University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law in 1975], I wanted him to be proud of me, so I decided to seek elected office hoping he could enjoy victory vicariously.”

 

In preparation, Bryant joined the boards of directors of a host of civic and political organizations. “You have to remember,” he says, “there weren’t very many African-American lawyers in the late 1970s and early 1980s so it was easy for me to participate.” In 1980, he was elected as a trustee of the Metropolitan Community Colleges. In 1982, he lost an at-large election for the Jackson County, Missouri, Legislature, but a year later he defeated the incumbent in an at-large election for the City Council of Kansas City, Missouri. He served until 1991.

 

“It’s just been remarkable,” says the elder Bryant. “In July, Mark took me to a [Royals] ballgame and he was able to throw out the first pitch. It’s enough to make a father gloat.”

 

 

Bryant’s proudest achievement came on the City Council. It was the settlement of litigation surrounding what is now the Bruce R. Watkins Roadway. The Missouri Department of Transportation had proposed the widening and extension of 71 Highway through the urban core of Kansas City when Bryant was in elementary school. “People were concerned that it would create disruptive noise,” Bryant remembers, “cause pollution, separate African Americans from essential services, be a traffic hazard for children and divide the African-American vote.”

 

With the help of the Legal Aid & Defender Society, litigation was undertaken to halt the road expansion, but the Missouri Department of Transportation continued to assemble land, and the surrounding properties deteriorated in anticipation of condemnation. By the time Bryant was elected, the combined effect of the acquisitions and litigation was urban blight, two miles wide, from Bannister Road to Truman Road, through the African-American community. Bryant used the power of his office and brought the parties together to negotiate a settlement. Today, the Bruce R. Watkins Roadway benefits the entire metropolitan area.

 

Although he no longer seeks elected office, Bryant’s political involvement, and his political power, is greater than ever. In 2000, he was elected president of Freedom, Inc.

 

“He’s one of the top ten political leaders on this side of the state,” says Kansas City political consultant Pat Gray. “If you’re a candidate running for an at-large position in Kansas City or Jackson County, and don’t know enough to have him on your list, you may want to rethink your decision about running. He’s a sharp attorney who’s well connected — from the streets to the mayor’s office to Congress.”