Congratulations to GLBTRT member Wick Thomas, a Kansas City librarian and youth activist. Tony’s Kansas City editorial board selected Thomas as one of the top 13 most influential Kansas City 20-somethings for 2013. Each one of these 13 choices “define what it means to be a ‘rising star’ in Kansas City.†Earlier this year, Thomas earned the Keith Spare Youth Leadership Award, “For your dynamic leadership of the next generation of Civil Rights soldiers.”
As lead singer in a band with his name, he hangs out in the places where the “cool kids†gather, and with his focus on LGBT advocacy and youth mentoring, he’s working on the creation of a teen literary magazine. Thomas started his activism early:
“I had a lot of formative experiences as a teenager that really influenced the way I see stuff. I held my first protest at 16 against the Missouri Marriage Amendment, got my friends together and just held up signs . . . I went on the Equality Ride at 19. That was a trip to conservative religious colleges that had been discriminating against LGBT students, and while I was on that trip, I read a lot of Gandhi and Thoreau. Gandhi really resonated with me in helping me think of activism and public service as an aspect of every part of my life rather than just something I do.”
Thomas’ plans are “to work on amplifying the voices of teenagers in the urban core of Kansas City. The way that we talk about young people in this city is very discouraging at times. The language in stories regarding young people is exceptionally negative from Plaza ‘flash mobs’ to a great deal of education reporting. The words being used discount young people are unfair.â€
The young people in Kansas City are lucky!
For more info about this, you can visit:
http://magpielibrarian.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/better-know-a-badass-librarian-wick-thomas/
http://www.tonyskansascity.com/2013/04/wick-thomas-stays-winning.html
http://www.tonyskansascity.com/2013/12/tkc-breaking-and-exclusive-news-kansas_31.html
