Chapter: Central Kentucky

Danny Cotton, a KFTC leader and member of the Central KY Chapter and the statewide Voter Empowerment Strategy Team passed away earlier this month.  He was 27 years old.

He was a writer, an activist, a great thinker, and a great friend to many of us.  

KFTC first got to meet Danny at Fancy Farm, a political event in far Western KY.  Even before we met, he was holding a big sign opposing a massive state subsidy for Peabody Coal.

After that, Danny became one of our most prolific citizen lobbyists, visiting Frankfort day after day to talk to legislators about a range of issues important to him, though he focused voting rights issues.

And he returned to Fancy Farm and dozens of other events every year, usually in his trademark green KFTC t-shirt with its sleeves cut off.  

He was also a KFTC intern while he studied at UK, and helped to form the UK KFTC group which is still doing great things today.

Danny also loved registering and mobilizing voters and he was good at it, participating in large scale voter registration events in Lexington that brought in hundreds of new voters to build up our Democracy.  

After his funeral over a dozen former UK KFTC members who went to school with Danny gathered for a cook out, to listen to some of Danny's favorite music (Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Led Zeppelin), read some of the things he'd written, told stories about Danny's life.

Stories shared from around the room shifted from off-color stories of shenanigans and misadventures to moments of profound levity, admiration, regret, and hope - the kind of sense one might get from reading Mark Twain or talking to Danny Cotton.

"Danny was a good friend and a good man. His loyalty and friendship was always something I could count on. His passion and empathy will truly be missed" - John Ghaelian

"He was a genuinely kind and understanding person -- the kind that we need more of in this world." - Wesley Robinson

In an attempt to share more of the stories from former felons across the Commonwealth, we’re presenting a series of short interviews every few weeks on our blog and in our newsletter balancing the scales.

Mantell Stevens is a life-long Kentuckian who's a smart guy, works hard, volunteers at Imani Baptist Church, and enjoys the outdoors. “I’m really a country boy. I like getting muddy and riding four-wheelers.”

But what he can't do is vote.  Though he's telling his story to help change that.  

"I was born and raised here in Lexington and been here all my life. I've lived on the Northside of town for the past 33 years. Growing up life was pretty good. I grew up with both parents in the household. I was fortunate enough to witness a good marriage between my parents. I’m really grateful for that."

"In the early years I was into theatre. In elementary school I was a student in SCAPA - the school of creative and performing arts student. When I transitioned to a public middle school is when I started to have more behavior problems – coming from a structured environment to a more chaotic environment. And struggling with a lot of identity issues coming from middle school to high school. I would get called “white boy” a lot because I had light skin, I talked “different” and tucked my shirt in. So, in my neighborhood I felt I had to prove myself and started getting into trouble. I was a big guy so I started trying to prove that I could intimidate people and that I wasn’t soft like they thought I was."