TKC BREAKING NEWS!!! PROMINENT KANSAS CITY ATTORNEY AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST MIKE BATES PASSES AWAY!!!

Today Kansas City lost a longtime leader in the struggle for civil rights.

Michael Bates worked for decades locally as a tireless advocate for equality and social justice.

He served as the director of the Human Relations department in Kansas City, MO and then for Olathe. Later he worked at UMKC as the Affirmative-Action director.

In 2012 he was awarded the Judge Arnold Krekel Trailblazer Award for serving as a lifelong advocate for civil and human rights in the State of Missouri.

Mr. Bates received the award from the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. They stated that since receiving his undergraduate degree in 1969, Bates has “worked unswervingly to address civil rights problems in our state.”

Political denizens of KCMO might remember him as a strident Democratic Party advocate or as the husband of Ruth Bates who launched a hotly contested lawsuit against former Mayor Funkhouser's office over discrimination.

Mr. Bates suffered from MS but managed to serve as a fellow for the UMKC Law School. He passed away peacefully at his home last night.