Civil rights leader Samuel Billy Kyles dies; was with MLK in Memphis
Source: USA Today
MEMPHIS — Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles, a noted civil-rights leader who was with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on a Memphis motel balcony when King was killed 48 years ago, died Tuesday, friends of the family confirmed. He was 81.
Kyles had been in ill health for the past couple of years. In October 2014, his declining health led him to resign his leadership of Monumental Baptist Church after 55 years. The church held a ceremony to honor Kyles earlier this month, but he was unable to attend.
Born in Shelby, Miss., in 1934, Kyles and his family moved to Chicago when he was 6. He came to Memphis in 1959 to become pastor of Monumental, which had just formed. Kyles soon became active in the civil rights struggles facing the city.
In April 1968, Kyles helped bring King to Memphis on behalf of the striking sanitation workers. Early on the evening of April 4, Kyles was with King at the Lorraine Motel.
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/04/26/civil-rights-leader-samuel-billy-kyles-dies-mlk-memphis/83574968/
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