Civil rights leader John M. Perkins will lie in state at Jackson City Hall in honor of his life, legacy, and decades of service to the city.
Mayor John Horhn announced that Perkins will lie in state on Friday, March 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A police motorcade will then escort his casket from city hall to New Horizon Church International, where a wake is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. A homegoing celebration, with Horhn delivering remarks, will be held at New Horizon on Saturday at 11 a.m. Interment is set for Sunday at 11 a.m. at Oak Ridge M.B. Church Cemetery in Perkins’ birthplace of New Hebron.
Perkins – a Baptist minister, author, and key figure in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement – died March 13 at the age of 95.
“Dr. John Perkins was one of the moral giants of our time, and our city is grieving his loss. He poured his life into the work of justice, reconciliation, and community, and Jackson is better because he chose to make this city home,” Horhn said.
Born into poverty during the Jim Crow era, Perkins later moved to California as part of the Great Migration. After a religious conversion, he returned to Mississippi in 1960 and founded Mendenhall Ministries, a faith-based community development organization. At the same time, he helped lead voter registration drives, desegregation efforts, and economic boycotts. Despite being jailed and severely beaten for his work, he remained committed to nonviolence and reconciliation.
In the early 1970s, Perkins relocated to Jackson, expanding his focus to a broader urban ministry. He worked closely with Voice of Calvary Ministries in west Jackson, mentoring young leaders and supporting community development initiatives aimed at addressing poverty and inequality.
Perkins’ work to bring races together through the Christian community reached beyond state lines, as well. Through partnerships with churches, universities, and organizations across the country and internationally, he became a leading voice in faith-based reconciliation. He authored several widely respected books, including his 1976 memoir, “Let Justice Roll,” and his final work, “One Life Well Lived.”
“What I will remember most about Dr. Perkins is he never gave up on people, and he never gave up on this city,” Horhn continued. “On behalf of the City of Jackson, I extend my deepest condolences to his wife, Dr. Vera Mae Perkins, to the Perkins family, to the [John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation], and to all who were shaped by his teaching and his example. As we mourn his passing, we also commit to carrying his work forward.”
Perkins is survived by his wife of more than seven decades, Vera Mae, and six children. He was also a grandfather and great-grandfather.
